MarcRocks
10+ year member
Member
Hi Guys,
Brand new to this particular site, and I've only ever casually done car audio. I'm hoping to get a new car soon, and since I'll finally have a car worth putting work and money into, I want to make sure I do it right this time. Please let me know your thoughts on my variety of concerns; some are simply opinion and some are more factual. If there are already threads out there answering my questions I apologize, I didn't see them.
Introduction: The car is a sedan, the total car audio budget (including every aspect, HU, speakers, subs, amps, wiring and installation parts, alarm, etc) is about $2000. I don't care about SPL or competitions or anything like that, I just want something that's all around clean, accurate, and reasonably loud and deep. It's more important to me to have it sound good with all types of music (everything from techno to rap to pop) than to have it amazing with only one type of bass and hertz range. I have no problem building a custom box (it would be partially MDF/part fiberglass). I don't want any heavy modifications of the car or anything like that. The trunk will retain the spare tire (under the trunk floor); the sub box will be built to accomodate that. The box could probably be up to around 3-4 cubic feet, and could be compartmentalized internally if desired.
1) I don't like the idea of having muddy sounding ported boxes or sealed ones that aren't that loud and can't go deep (to speak generally). Is it a good idea to have one box that's ported to get the deeper long bass, and then at least one sealed sub box to get the punchier bass, or is that just retarded? I never see multiple types in one car and I don't know why...
2) Assuming I was doing one or more subs ported, is it good to port them into the cabin via the rear seat armrest fold down, or should I just port it into the trunk like normal?
3) If one subwoofer ported requires a 3"x9.25" port tube, if I have two in the same enclosure without seperate compartments, would I need two 3"x9.25" tubes, or one 6"x9.25" tube? Or one 3"x18.5"?
4) How about a mixture of subwoofer sizes, a 12" for deeper bass, 1-2 10" for more accurate (presumably in separate boxes).
5) I'm a big fan of Infinity speakers and subs. I'm torn however on the amps to use. I've always liked the idea of Phoenix Gold, but they don't seem to be that popular (never used them myself). I'm not looking to go crazy with this system, but the amp requirements would be something to hit the subs with around 3-400watts rms each, and around 75w rms per speaker (front and rear doors). Definitely will be multiple amps, I'm thinking one or two monos for the subs and one 4 channel for the speaks. What can I get that will be clean sounding, reliable, and not crazy expensive? Is PG good but just not mass appealing?
6) In terms of sound deadening, is it all the same or is dynamat or some brand name like that really worth the extra money? Similarly, with wiring, is it all the same or is brand really important?
7) Assuming I was running a 2-3 amp system with a distributer block in the trunk, would I need a 4AWG power cable to that block (the amps I was looking at require 8awg power/ground cable), or 2AWG? Also, is using a block for the ground cables also acceptable?
8) With the system I'm talking about (something like 1000w rms) would I need a capacitor? What's the proper wiring method to adding one? I have no idea what one is, how it is rated, what I'd need etc so please be thorough. Also, is the stock alternator (110a) good enough?
9) What are good head units? I've been all over the board, but I've never found one I really really liked, so I'm open to advice. I really don't like Sony, I liked Blaupunkt alright, I liked JBL alright, I'm not a big pioneer fan. Probably something in the $2-300 range.
10) For some reason, the speakers for the front doors (6.5" components) seem to be 4ohm, and the rear doors (6.5" coax) seem to be 2ohm. What's up with that? Can I run both sets off one 4 channel amp? Aren't most multi-channel amps rated for 4ohm only? What is there to do?
11) Do I need additional cross overs or will my amps, being of reasonable quality, have internal crossovers so I won't have to worry?
12) My final question deals with my current system. It's a Sony HU, a MTX sub amp, and a MTX sub. The bass worked great, it was a pretty solid hit for a single 10" in a sealed box. One day it started to make a weird sound, it was like a wavering strong-weak-strong-weak output. Does it at all audible gain levels. Doesn't do it without a bass line signal, or it it's not hooked up or anything. Does it at all bass levels, btw, it's not bottoming out or something like that. At first it would only do it after it was on for a minute or two, now all the time. I checked the sub, it's still good (checked it with the multimeter, still the correct impedance 2ohms wired DVC), and sent in the amp to MTX under warranty, they tested it and sent it back with a new test sheet and said it was perfect. I've tried it singly on each voice coil, and for curiosity's sake tried it using each of the 3 sets of pre-outs on the HU. Everything I've changed (also tried it in and out of the box) does not seem to affect this weird wavering bass. It's obviously completely unusable. I don't want to go buying a new HU (especially cause I may be getting a new car soon), plus all the other features work correctly. I wasn't sure if there is some other installation tips to check or if I should buy one of the amps that I'll be using for my new system to try that out and just hold on to it until I get the new car. I need some new friends cause nobody I know has a system or I'd just yank the box and amp and try it off someone else's HU. Any advice would be appreciated. FYI, if it matters, it's hooked up with 4 gauge power and ground.
Ok, I think that's it (for now). I really really do appreciate any and all information, opinions, and tutorials you fine people can give me. I looked through some of the forums to see if I could get my questions answered but I didn't seem to be able to find applicable information. Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Thanks again,
Marc
Brand new to this particular site, and I've only ever casually done car audio. I'm hoping to get a new car soon, and since I'll finally have a car worth putting work and money into, I want to make sure I do it right this time. Please let me know your thoughts on my variety of concerns; some are simply opinion and some are more factual. If there are already threads out there answering my questions I apologize, I didn't see them.
Introduction: The car is a sedan, the total car audio budget (including every aspect, HU, speakers, subs, amps, wiring and installation parts, alarm, etc) is about $2000. I don't care about SPL or competitions or anything like that, I just want something that's all around clean, accurate, and reasonably loud and deep. It's more important to me to have it sound good with all types of music (everything from techno to rap to pop) than to have it amazing with only one type of bass and hertz range. I have no problem building a custom box (it would be partially MDF/part fiberglass). I don't want any heavy modifications of the car or anything like that. The trunk will retain the spare tire (under the trunk floor); the sub box will be built to accomodate that. The box could probably be up to around 3-4 cubic feet, and could be compartmentalized internally if desired.
1) I don't like the idea of having muddy sounding ported boxes or sealed ones that aren't that loud and can't go deep (to speak generally). Is it a good idea to have one box that's ported to get the deeper long bass, and then at least one sealed sub box to get the punchier bass, or is that just retarded? I never see multiple types in one car and I don't know why...
2) Assuming I was doing one or more subs ported, is it good to port them into the cabin via the rear seat armrest fold down, or should I just port it into the trunk like normal?
3) If one subwoofer ported requires a 3"x9.25" port tube, if I have two in the same enclosure without seperate compartments, would I need two 3"x9.25" tubes, or one 6"x9.25" tube? Or one 3"x18.5"?
4) How about a mixture of subwoofer sizes, a 12" for deeper bass, 1-2 10" for more accurate (presumably in separate boxes).
5) I'm a big fan of Infinity speakers and subs. I'm torn however on the amps to use. I've always liked the idea of Phoenix Gold, but they don't seem to be that popular (never used them myself). I'm not looking to go crazy with this system, but the amp requirements would be something to hit the subs with around 3-400watts rms each, and around 75w rms per speaker (front and rear doors). Definitely will be multiple amps, I'm thinking one or two monos for the subs and one 4 channel for the speaks. What can I get that will be clean sounding, reliable, and not crazy expensive? Is PG good but just not mass appealing?
6) In terms of sound deadening, is it all the same or is dynamat or some brand name like that really worth the extra money? Similarly, with wiring, is it all the same or is brand really important?
7) Assuming I was running a 2-3 amp system with a distributer block in the trunk, would I need a 4AWG power cable to that block (the amps I was looking at require 8awg power/ground cable), or 2AWG? Also, is using a block for the ground cables also acceptable?
8) With the system I'm talking about (something like 1000w rms) would I need a capacitor? What's the proper wiring method to adding one? I have no idea what one is, how it is rated, what I'd need etc so please be thorough. Also, is the stock alternator (110a) good enough?
9) What are good head units? I've been all over the board, but I've never found one I really really liked, so I'm open to advice. I really don't like Sony, I liked Blaupunkt alright, I liked JBL alright, I'm not a big pioneer fan. Probably something in the $2-300 range.
10) For some reason, the speakers for the front doors (6.5" components) seem to be 4ohm, and the rear doors (6.5" coax) seem to be 2ohm. What's up with that? Can I run both sets off one 4 channel amp? Aren't most multi-channel amps rated for 4ohm only? What is there to do?
11) Do I need additional cross overs or will my amps, being of reasonable quality, have internal crossovers so I won't have to worry?
12) My final question deals with my current system. It's a Sony HU, a MTX sub amp, and a MTX sub. The bass worked great, it was a pretty solid hit for a single 10" in a sealed box. One day it started to make a weird sound, it was like a wavering strong-weak-strong-weak output. Does it at all audible gain levels. Doesn't do it without a bass line signal, or it it's not hooked up or anything. Does it at all bass levels, btw, it's not bottoming out or something like that. At first it would only do it after it was on for a minute or two, now all the time. I checked the sub, it's still good (checked it with the multimeter, still the correct impedance 2ohms wired DVC), and sent in the amp to MTX under warranty, they tested it and sent it back with a new test sheet and said it was perfect. I've tried it singly on each voice coil, and for curiosity's sake tried it using each of the 3 sets of pre-outs on the HU. Everything I've changed (also tried it in and out of the box) does not seem to affect this weird wavering bass. It's obviously completely unusable. I don't want to go buying a new HU (especially cause I may be getting a new car soon), plus all the other features work correctly. I wasn't sure if there is some other installation tips to check or if I should buy one of the amps that I'll be using for my new system to try that out and just hold on to it until I get the new car. I need some new friends cause nobody I know has a system or I'd just yank the box and amp and try it off someone else's HU. Any advice would be appreciated. FYI, if it matters, it's hooked up with 4 gauge power and ground.
Ok, I think that's it (for now). I really really do appreciate any and all information, opinions, and tutorials you fine people can give me. I looked through some of the forums to see if I could get my questions answered but I didn't seem to be able to find applicable information. Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Thanks again,
Marc
