$2500 Car Audio System suggestions?

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Ok thanks everyone, I think I will decide from there. I might take some pictures of the process and come back with any screw ups or things I learned, if anyone is interested in seeing how it turns out. It will likely be a little while before I get the car and everything ordered and installed.

YOU ARE going to need a HO alternator. That has to be the first upgrade when running that kind of power. A 270a-300a with a good XS power battery under the hood, A full run of 1/0 gound AND power to the back. DO NOT cheap out on the electrical.

 

[4Exile]

YOU ARE going to need a HO alternator. That has to be the first upgrade when running that kind of power. A 270a-300a with a good XS power battery under the hood, A full run of 1/0 gound AND power to the back. DO NOT cheap out on the electrical.

I did buy the car, I'm looking at buying this for the HO Alternator:270 Amp XP HO Alternator and one of these batteries depending on what will fit in it for the main battery 1800w Kinetic 12v Battery

Does this look good for electrical? I'll be doing the big 3 and 1/0 throughout, however I was going to hold off adding a second battery until I set up the system and see if there is any dimming.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I did buy the car, I'm looking at buying this for the HO Alternator:270 Amp XP HO Alternator and one of these batteries depending on what will fit in it for the main battery 1800w Kinetic 12v Battery
Does this look good for electrical? I'll be doing the big 3 and 1/0 throughout, however I was going to hold off adding a second battery until I set up the system and see if there is any dimming.

You might not need one in the back yet. Kinetic left me stranded in lowes parking lot once. Go XS

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I did buy the car, I'm looking at buying this for the HO Alternator:270 Amp XP HO Alternator and one of these batteries depending on what will fit in it for the main battery 1800w Kinetic 12v Battery
Does this look good for electrical? I'll be doing the big 3 and 1/0 throughout, however I was going to hold off adding a second battery until I set up the system and see if there is any dimming.

You might not need one in the back yet. Kinetic left me stranded in lowes parking lot once. Go XS. You can have perfect electrical and still have dimming, it don't mean much. You need to hook a decent voltmeter to the amp to see what's really happening.

 

[4Exile]

You might not need one in the back yet. Kinetic left me stranded in lowes parking lot once. Go XS. You can have perfect electrical and still have dimming, it don't mean much. You need to hook a decent voltmeter to the amp to see what's really happening.

Is the XS D3100 overkill for my 2k rms system and do you know the CCA on it? Also is the alternator brand I listed good or do I need to look for a Stinger alternator?

Edit: I also see the XS D3400 and D1200 are quite a bit cheaper, would either of these suffice? Some of the reviews said the battery with stock alternator was enough for 2kw rms as well, I just don't want to spend most of my budget on electrical and not have enough for the system and vice versa.

I might just get the XS D3100 and a volt meter and see how the stock alternator holds up and buy the HO alt if I get some big voltage drops. What do you think of your XS D3400s and why did you decide to go with a D3100?

Also a side question, do you think I will need a second amp for the SA door speakers or will a 50wx4 rms HU be enough to power them? For the HU, is it legal to bypass the parking brake?

Thank you

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Personally if you are going to do an alt I would go with singer or mechman as I hear that the brand you listed has a hell of a wait time if you don't mind the wait the answer is yes they have good alternators. As for the battery I can't see you being able to fit a 3100 under the hood the 3400 is a more common under the hood battery especially for gm cars I'm not too familiar with Subaru's battery sizes. Basically I would measure the stock battery and get an agm with similar dimensions or slightly larger if you think it will fit. You will most likely want to go with an amp for the components they will sound alright on head unit power but an amp will make them come alive. Also the 50x4 is peak power not rms rating so you will be likely to see about 18 rms per head unit channel. You are undoubtedly one of the most polite newcomers I have seen that is very eager to learn so props to you for that.

Edit: To be honest you might not need a high output alternator that large unless you plan on going much larger later as in theory the alternator alone has enough power to support 2500 rms but there is nothing wrong with electrical overkill.

 

[4Exile]

Personally if you are going to do an alt I would go with singer or mechman as I hear that the brand you listed has a hell of a wait time if you don't mind the wait the answer is yes they have good alternators. As for the battery I can't see you being able to fit a 3100 under the hood the 3400 is a more common under the hood battery especially for gm cars I'm not too familiar with Subaru's battery sizes. Basically I would measure the stock battery and get an agm with similar dimensions or slightly larger if you think it will fit. You will most likely want to go with an amp for the components they will sound alright on head unit power but an amp will make them come alive. Also the 50x4 is peak power not rms rating so you will be likely to see about 18 rms per head unit channel. You are undoubtedly one of the most polite newcomers I have seen that is very eager to learn so props to you for that.
Edit: To be honest you might not need a high output alternator that large unless you plan on going much larger later as in theory the alternator alone has enough power to support 2500 rms but there is nothing wrong with electrical overkill.

Thank you for the compliment, I try to be I know there is probably nothing more that you hate than a newcomer getting on here and right away asking a hundred questions. I do apologize for all my questions by the way, it's just quite a bit more than I have spent on a system before and sadly each question I ask usually leads to many others on my part. The majority that have responded to my questions have been very polite and patient with me as well, I know I'm quite new to this and don't know everything so I appreciate all of you taking the time to respond.

I probably do have a few more questions before I finalize my build, just so I get the correct high quality components and do the install right. I think I will go with the Fi Audio Bl15 (The only thing that is off putting is the build/wait time) if I can find a fairly small enclosure for it, I still want room to load things in my car and stuff since it is a hatchback.

Do you know of any good pre fab enclosures for this sub, to hold me over for a while until I get one made? Also I see you run Tsunami Wire as well as KNU, do you have a preference on either?

Again I appreciate you and the other posters for bearing with me, I'm really excited to see how my first big system turns out with the amazing help of this forum on my side.

 

[4Exile]

Edit: I apologize my page refreshed and double posted my response for some reason.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

I would rather answer a million questions from a polite person than 1 for someone who is rude so you don't need to apologize. I understand the whole wait thing as I am currently waiting for sundowns new woofers FI is a little slow but from what I hear they are catching up. As to a good pre fab I don't think that there is such a thing yet the reason why they are frowned upon is because they aren't made to suit the sub and they are always tuned so high that you lose a lot of the low end bass that so many of us love you may try finding a temporary enclosure on your local craigslist some people put their old custom boxes for sale on there. As to the wire I don't really have a preferance I run auditechnix as well to me it's all wire personally if I was to buy more wire I would go with Audiotechnix because their wire is nice and flexible and good wire for the price although I wouldn't mind trying Sky High's wire. I think I covered all of your most recent questions let me know if you need more explanations or anything.

Yeah double posts happen no big deal.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I prefer Singer and I've had good luck with excessive amperage. I had a very bad experience with DC Power. If you want to keep your amps making clean, cool, full power they need current. Current comes from the alternator. That should be your first and largest upgrade. People go crazy with these giant battery banks thinking they don't need an alternator. All they are doing is killing theirs and killing the battery bank. Batteries are only going to store what comes through them. If nothing is coming through or what is is getting used up just as fast then what good is the battery.

 

[4Exile]

I would rather answer a million questions from a polite person than 1 for someone who is rude so you don't need to apologize. I understand the whole wait thing as I am currently waiting for sundowns new woofers FI is a little slow but from what I hear they are catching up. As to a good pre fab I don't think that there is such a thing yet the reason why they are frowned upon is because they aren't made to suit the sub and they are always tuned so high that you lose a lot of the low end bass that so many of us love you may try finding a temporary enclosure on your local craigslist some people put their old custom boxes for sale on there. As to the wire I don't really have a preferance I run auditechnix as well to me it's all wire personally if I was to buy more wire I would go with Audiotechnix because their wire is nice and flexible and good wire for the price although I wouldn't mind trying Sky High's wire. I think I covered all of your most recent questions let me know if you need more explanations or anything.
Yeah double posts happen no big deal.

I can say so far this thread is infinitely more helpful than the couple other audio forums I tried to get suggestions on. On those people suggested things that didn't match what my goals were and they went off on their own side conversations for pages. I'd like to take the advice I'm getting from here, my own experiences when I make my system and help some friends with local builds and other people on this forum like me.

If you don't mind me asking is there a reason why you are going Sundown (also what size sub(s) ) over someone like Fi and also why did you choose your current components? Do you know if places like local audio shops would build a custom box? I can pretty much hold my own with computers and electronics but when it comes to building things out of plywood and stuff I'm at a loss with both experience and tools.

Thanks, am I better off PMing with questions or should I stick with this thread?

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

I know we all like are underground brands but we're coming off as car audio snobs jl MTX Fosgate kicker Alpine all make good s*** just because they are mainstream doesn't make them bad and if you look at prices a lot of the mainstream stuff is not that far off from the underground stuff, now I do agree when it comes to subwoofers the underground product has more to offer but everything else is a toss up

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Stick to the thread it's yours to ask whatever you like as to the box some local shops do build boxes you'd have to inquire around your area or as the others have mentioned double07 on here or something like that makes nice custom enclosures and ships them here is his website Home might be a better option than a local shop anyways. As to why I run sundown it is because they have great customer service and great products, I pre ordered a couple of the new x 10's that I plan on putting in a sixth order bandpass in my trunk I had SA-12's before but I wanted a change and an upgrade. I ran a DD 9515 in the past that I loved as well but I feel sundowns subs are a little more musical, sure I would like to try other things but I went with these new sundowns because they look very promising if I hadn't went sundown I probably would have tried tantric. I don't have any components the reason being that my stock ones are good enough for me at the moment and I like putting the money towards bass.

Edit: I did have an FI BL in the past that I liked but I upgraded to the DD soon after I find that this is a hobby where people are always looking to change things up.

 

[4Exile]

I prefer Singer and I've had good luck with excessive amperage. I had a very bad experience with DC Power. If you want to keep your amps making clean, cool, full power they need current. Current comes from the alternator. That should be your first and largest upgrade. People go crazy with these giant battery banks thinking they don't need an alternator. All they are doing is killing theirs and killing the battery bank. Batteries are only going to store what comes through them. If nothing is coming through or what is is getting used up just as fast then what good is the battery.

Ok I will see if I can find a compatible Stinger alternator and would you also pair a Stinger battery with one of their alternators, or would you say a XS D3400 (What has been your experience with it) would be superior? Sorry I'm quite indecisive when purchasing and the fact that there are many companies to choose from with all these items doesn't help me, haha.

I know we all like are underground brands but we're coming off as car audio snobs jl MTX Fosgate kicker Alpine all make good s*** just because they are mainstream doesn't make them bad and if you look at prices a lot of the mainstream stuff is not that far off from the underground stuff, now I do agree when it comes to subwoofers the underground product has more to offer but everything else is a toss up

I'm pretty much set on underground stuff now, if for no other reason then to change it up from someone who is used to buying mainstream. The only reason why I even listed them is because it is mostly what I have heard about and what is sold in local shops.

Stick to the thread it's yours to ask whatever you like as to the box some local shops do build boxes you'd have to inquire around your area or as the others have mentioned double07 on here or something like that makes nice custom enclosures and ships them here is his website Home might be a better option than a local shop anyways. As to why I run sundown it is because they have great customer service and great products, I pre ordered a couple of the new x 10's that I plan on putting in a sixth order bandpass in my trunk I had SA-12's before but I wanted a change and an upgrade. I ran a DD 9515 in the past that I loved as well but I feel sundowns subs are a little more musical, sure I would like to try other things but I went with these new sundowns because they look very promising if I hadn't went sundown I probably would have tried tantric. I don't have any components the reason being that my stock ones are good enough for me at the moment and I like putting the money towards bass.
Edit: I did have an FI BL in the past that I liked but I upgraded to the DD soon after I find that this is a hobby where people are always looking to change things up.

Haha that is a bad thing, I also like to build computers and am constantly changing parts and it turns into a money sink when you are never content. That being said what is your opinion on the Fi BL vs the SA and DD you had? Also, what has been your experience with the Crescendo BC2000D?

As far as this being my thread, I just didn't want to detract from other peoples' threads by constantly taking this to the top with millions of questions.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Singer. Not stinger.

Crescendo amps do not like vibration. They do make good power.

I'm a DD and XS power nutthugger. I've had about every sub out there and the new DD lineup is treating me very well. Soon as I swap out my sub amp to the DD ill be totally done with the audio. I am that happy.