Budget Build advice for 2005 Toyota Corolla

[jordon]

Again there is no such thing. You dont have to use all 800 watts. Its all in the gain setting. I can run a 10,000 watt amp on a stock setup and never encounter any real issues as long as I'm smart about the gain. You aren't setting the gain for the full 10k watts, you play music and raise the gain up until your voltages are at most dropping to low mid 12 volts on the hardest basslines.
It'll be the same with any setup you have so no there is no such thing as too big of an amp power wise.

So for your setup

80$

This head unit is 4 volt pre-out, 13 band eq, has time alignment and NETWORK mode. Just no cds but the bluetooth and usb is just as good imo. 80 dollars and includes install gear aka dash kits and wiring harness. This head unit will set you up to have a very good front stage speaker setup with it's network mode

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-cUSavaSGxRo/p_105KDX340B/JVC-KD-X340BTS.html

100$

these tweeters and mids are the budget choice for high quality good for an active setup.

https://www.parts-express.com/peerless-by-tymphany-xt25sc90-04-1-dual-ring-radiator-tweeter--264-1014

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/silver-flute-woofers-6-7/silver-flute-w17rc38-04-ohm-6-1/2-wool-cone/

125$

4 channel amp with plenty of power.

https://www.amazon.com/Soundstream-TN4-900D-Tarantula-4-Channel-Amplifier/dp/B009NLNY14

100$

subwoofer

SoundQubed HDS2.115

95$

I know its boss but this legit does a 900 watt at 1 ohm on the amp dyno, plenty of power. Of course you dont have to use all of it. Just set gains till your voltages only dip to 12.4 to 12.5 volts. Your stock corolla should handle this and the 4 channel just fine.

https://www.amazon.com/BOSS-Audio-AR4000D-Monoblock-Amplifier/dp/B004RS9UTI

Thats 500$ right on the dot and you have a full system. Probably another 100 for box materials and wiring, Build your own box or else it'll be costly. Free design plans everywhere.

Do you think these tweeters would be worth the price differences of the ones you listed?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WCQ4DG/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A385A0XNQBW8HY

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Do you think these tweeters would be worth the price differences of the ones you listed?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WCQ4DG/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A385A0XNQBW8HY

not really. they play deeper but they are huge, mounting will be a pain in the @ss.

 

[jordon]

Well i'm using the spot that was created for a 3.5 speakers for a 3 way set up. My factory A Pillars are garabage and I wont be able to use the factory tweeters hole there(they cracked and are spilting from the sun) So a large tweeters like that will be much easier to mount actually.

 

[Water Bear]

80$

This head unit is 4 volt pre-out, 13 band eq, has time alignment and NETWORK mode. Just no cds but the bluetooth and usb is just as good imo. 80 dollars and includes install gear aka dash kits and wiring harness. This head unit will set you up to have a very good front stage speaker setup with it's network mode

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-cUSavaSGxRo/p_105KDX340B/JVC-KD-X340BTS.html

That's a really good head unit for that price.

 

[jdubu]

I really don't care for highs at all. I'm not that concerned about the mids either. I live for the bass, and the bass alone.

My 2000 toyota tundra had some Alpine Type S 6.5 & 6X9 Coax speakers in it. Not sure if they were stock or not. Either way, they were awesome and were more than enough to make me happy. I ended up using only the 6.5" pair in my next ride and was satisfied with just those and my SA X12's.

I don't think one 15" 600W sub is going to move enough air to do it for me. I am thinking maybe this setup might be better:

2 * Sundown Audio LCS-12 D4 12" Dual 4-Ohm 300 Watts RMS Subwoofer ($170 new, probably can find some B-stock much cheaper.)

Skar RP-800.1D 800W RMS Monoblock Amplifier ($140)

JVC KD-X340BTS ($80)

2 * Alpine SPS-610 6.5-Inch 2-Way Type-S Series Coaxial Car Speakers ($60 for the pair.)

$60 for custom box

$80 for amp kit, big 3 (4 gauge) kit, harness, single din kit, battery terminals

$104 for AutoCraft Gold AGM Battery (350CCA)

Looking at about $700 for everything... But may not even need the AGM battery only pushing 600W.

I found an interesting method for determining the max your car can likely handle:

80 amp alt * 0.4 = 32 amps.

32 amps is what is safe to draw with amp.

800 watts / 13.8 volts = 57.97

57.97 / 3 (since music is dynamic as everyone loves to say.) = 19.3 amps *average* draw.

38 amps is double the average, so yes, I should be more than safe like everyone is saying with an 800W amp. And hopefully I won't notice any voltage drop. Hopefully I won't need the AGM. That being said, I do always play my music loud-as-possible (when it's possible without bothering everyone.) Hearing be damned!

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I really don't care for highs at all. I'm not that concerned about the mids either. I live for the bass, and the bass alone.My 2000 toyota tundra had some Alpine Type S 6.5 & 6X9 Coax speakers in it. Not sure if they were stock or not. Either way, they were awesome and were more than enough to make me happy. I ended up using only the 6.5" pair in my next ride and was satisfied with just those and my SA X12's.

I don't think one 15" 600W sub is going to move enough air to do it for me. I am thinking maybe this setup might be better:

2 * Sundown Audio LCS-12 D4 12" Dual 4-Ohm 300 Watts RMS Subwoofer ($170 new, probably can find some B-stock much cheaper.)

Skar RP-800.1D 800W RMS Monoblock Amplifier ($140)

JVC KD-X340BTS ($80)

2 * Alpine SPS-610 6.5-Inch 2-Way Type-S Series Coaxial Car Speakers ($60 for the pair.)

$60 for custom box

$80 for amp kit, big 3 (4 gauge) kit, harness, single din kit, battery terminals

$104 for AutoCraft Gold AGM Battery (350CCA)

Looking at about $700 for everything... But may not even need the AGM battery only pushing 600W.

I found an interesting method for determining the max your car can likely handle:

80 amp alt * 0.4 = 32 amps.

32 amps is what is safe to draw with amp.

800 watts / 13.8 volts = 57.97

57.97 / 3 (since music is dynamic as everyone loves to say.) = 19.3 amps *average* draw.

38 amps is double the average, so yes, I should be more than safe like everyone is saying with an 800W amp. And hopefully I won't notice any voltage drop. Hopefully I won't need the AGM. That being said, I do always play my music loud-as-possible (when it's possible without bothering everyone.) Hearing be damned!

Did you forget to read anything i wrote about how the harness, single din dash kit is ALREADY FKING INCLUDED in the 80 dollar price tag from the crutchfield link.

If you dont care for mids and highs at all that must have meant your old setups werent loud at all lmao... Just sayin a single hds215 done right, you wont hear anything but bass on a pair of sh*tty coaxials on head unit power. A properly done mids and highs setup will get you lost in the world like a total acid trip. You literally see the performer live in the car. I highly doubt you actually had an 80 prs with jl amp and focal components when I see this setup because when you have properly done setup like that, you'll never ever come back to a peasant coaxial setup ever again. btw you are overpaying out the @ss for that skar amp.

Dont worry about how big of amps you run then. If you get another battery, Stick that sh*t in the rear and leave the front battery where its at both paralled. So you'll run two batts. That means you can run a 1500 watt amp just fine. Bro dont fking worry about the amperage bullsh*t. My 03 corolla handled 1600 watts plus a 4 channel easily when i had a 2nd kinetik 1800 battery yours wont be any different. Get an audiopipe apcl 1500.1 and a soundqubed hds315.

https://www.amazon.com/AudioPipe-APCL15001D-Power-Class-Amplifier/dp/B00BW54418

SoundQubed HDS3.115

 

[jdubu]

Did you forget to read anything i wrote about how the harness, single din dash kit is ALREADY FKING INCLUDED in the 80 dollar price tag from the crutchfield link.
If you dont care for mids and highs at all that must have meant your old setups werent loud at all lmao... Just sayin a single hds215 done right, you wont hear anything but bass on a pair of sh*tty coaxials on head unit power. A properly done mids and highs setup will get you lost in the world like a total acid trip. You literally see the performer live in the car. I highly doubt you actually had an 80 prs with jl amp and focal components when I see this setup because when you have properly done setup like that, you'll never ever come back to a peasant coaxial setup ever again. btw you are overpaying out the @ss for that skar amp.

Dont worry about how big of amps you run then. If you get another battery, Stick that sh*t in the rear and leave the front battery where its at both paralled. So you'll run two batts. That means you can run a 1500 watt amp just fine. Bro dont fking worry about the amperage bullsh*t. My 03 corolla handled 1600 watts plus a 4 channel easily when i had a 2nd kinetik 1800 battery yours wont be any different. Get an audiopipe apcl 1500.1 and a soundqubed hds315.

https://www.amazon.com/AudioPipe-APCL15001D-Power-Class-Amplifier/dp/B00BW54418

SoundQubed HDS3.115

Calm down dude, yes I forgot, and the harness + DIN kit is $10... Not like it's a huge savings.

Here's the receipt for the X12 + Focal Kit + a whole shitload of other crap I had bought.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y_g5nOTuhcBjFx8-6zcoiRHtreBFHg8y/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zGB5QIgRGz9YSlPPAFyw7AyE6RaL67iA/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEA8AaJrbpdtEx-eKeJd1iUraxK1rg2t/view?usp=sharing

I didn't know how to install the car alarm, so I had everything professionally installed at the same time. The only thing I did myself was build the box, and upgrade the system further later on. (Like a Singer alt, which the car couldn't even idle with lmfao.)

I bought the amp used off of the DIY Mobile Audio classifieds. I wasn't about to waste $1000 on a new JL amp. That's stupid lol I picked it up for $300.

Honestly though, 1200W on a X12 is pretty much barely tickling it. Either way, I don't care if the bass drowns out the music sometimes. And I can upgrade the mids + highs later if I actually do not like it. I'm not going to start out buying amps I might not even want/need. It's not for others enjoyment; it's for mine. What I do know for certain is that there was practically no difference besides a little more bass when running the focal 6.5" + tweets off the DEH-80PRS vs the focal amp. The bass was certainly a good bit better, but as for real "Sound," it was no different. Maybe slightly more crisp, but not any louder.

Honestly I don't care if I hear half the **** I'd play anyway. I don't much care for gangster rap like Jeezy which has such good bass lines... So if I can't hear the vocals much, all the better. I'll miss that beat, but at least I still get the important part: The massage!

Your suggestions seem pretty solid. So thank you, even though you're kinda being rude lol

I do think you are under-playing the importance of the alternator. You can cram all the batteries you want in a system, but if the alternator can't charge them fast enough it wont do jack ****. In fact, it doesn't take a load off the alternator, it adds to it.

 

[shredder1 10+ year member]

Unless you are planning to play tones, music is dynamic and your battery should handle the draw due to it's reserves... I wouldn't worry too much... at the worst you'll need to upgrade you battery... do the Big 3 and run sufficient gauge power wire and I think you'll be ok... I put a similar setup in my son's Focus and his electrical did fine... he is a college student and bought the base model so I'm assuming that the alt is not very big... factory battery as well.. same RP800.1 at 1 ohm and a small 2 ch for the highs... no dimming is apparent and it stays above 12V... that amp is not THAT big.

Let me reiterate... IMO that's not gonna tax your electrical too much... a rp 800.1 is not going to draw too much... my kids car does fine with a stock battery and alt... base model Focus

3rd time might be the charm... this thread is getting tedious

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Calm down dude, yes I forgot, and the harness + DIN kit is $10... Not like it's a huge savings.
Here's the receipt for the X12 + Focal Kit + a whole shitload of other crap I had bought.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y_g5nOTuhcBjFx8-6zcoiRHtreBFHg8y/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zGB5QIgRGz9YSlPPAFyw7AyE6RaL67iA/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEA8AaJrbpdtEx-eKeJd1iUraxK1rg2t/view?usp=sharing

I didn't know how to install the car alarm, so I had everything professionally installed at the same time. The only thing I did myself was build the box, and upgrade the system further later on. (Like a Singer alt, which the car couldn't even idle with lmfao.)

I bought the amp used off of the DIY Mobile Audio classifieds. I wasn't about to waste $1000 on a new JL amp. That's stupid lol I picked it up for $300.

Honestly though, 1200W on a X12 is pretty much barely tickling it. Either way, I don't care if the bass drowns out the music sometimes. And I can upgrade the mids + highs later if I actually do not like it. I'm not going to start out buying amps I might not even want/need. It's not for others enjoyment; it's for mine. What I do know for certain is that there was practically no difference besides a little more bass when running the focal 6.5" + tweets off the DEH-80PRS vs the focal amp. The bass was certainly a good bit better, but as for real "Sound," it was no different. Maybe slightly more crisp, but not any louder.

Honestly I don't care if I hear half the **** I'd play anyway. I don't much care for gangster rap like Jeezy which has such good bass lines... So if I can't hear the vocals much, all the better. I'll miss that beat, but at least I still get the important part: The massage!

Your suggestions seem pretty solid. So thank you, even though you're kinda being rude lol

I do think you are under-playing the importance of the alternator. You can cram all the batteries you want in a system, but if the alternator can't charge them fast enough it wont do jack ****. In fact, it doesn't take a load off the alternator, it adds to it.

Don't care about mids/highs but wants bass only....lmao. Jeff is tryin' to help, but saying some ridiculous crap gets under his skin.

Personally, I'd rather have good amplified speakers to be able to keep up with my bass.....which is the right thing to do anyway. True car audio enthusiasts know this.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Calm down dude, yes I forgot, and the harness + DIN kit is $10... Not like it's a huge savings.
Here's the receipt for the X12 + Focal Kit + a whole shitload of other crap I had bought.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y_g5nOTuhcBjFx8-6zcoiRHtreBFHg8y/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zGB5QIgRGz9YSlPPAFyw7AyE6RaL67iA/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEA8AaJrbpdtEx-eKeJd1iUraxK1rg2t/view?usp=sharing

I didn't know how to install the car alarm, so I had everything professionally installed at the same time. The only thing I did myself was build the box, and upgrade the system further later on. (Like a Singer alt, which the car couldn't even idle with lmfao.)

I bought the amp used off of the DIY Mobile Audio classifieds. I wasn't about to waste $1000 on a new JL amp. That's stupid lol I picked it up for $300.

Honestly though, 1200W on a X12 is pretty much barely tickling it. Either way, I don't care if the bass drowns out the music sometimes. And I can upgrade the mids + highs later if I actually do not like it. I'm not going to start out buying amps I might not even want/need. It's not for others enjoyment; it's for mine. What I do know for certain is that there was practically no difference besides a little more bass when running the focal 6.5" + tweets off the DEH-80PRS vs the focal amp. The bass was certainly a good bit better, but as for real "Sound," it was no different. Maybe slightly more crisp, but not any louder.

Honestly I don't care if I hear half the **** I'd play anyway. I don't much care for gangster rap like Jeezy which has such good bass lines... So if I can't hear the vocals much, all the better. I'll miss that beat, but at least I still get the important part: The massage!

Your suggestions seem pretty solid. So thank you, even though you're kinda being rude lol

I do think you are under-playing the importance of the alternator. You can cram all the batteries you want in a system, but if the alternator can't charge them fast enough it wont do jack ****. In fact, it doesn't take a load off the alternator, it adds to it.

Just being straight forward man. Literally if there was no difference after adding an amp, the place that installed it for you had no clue at all how to install and tune like most of these so called "legit shops" that have zero clue on how to do a proper sound quality tune let alone set proper gains on the amplifier. You most likely didnt even use 10% of the 80 pr's capabilities nor your amp/speakers capabilities. With a proper tune you'd literally orgasm in the ears. while keeping up with the sub. However based on your preferences then dont even buy any speakers, keep stock speakers and spend everything on the sub setup. plain and simple if you dont give a rat's @ss about mids and highs.

I know the importance of an alt and I know that most world class competitors scoring the highest are in brazil and they dont rely on alternator power there at all. There's more than one way to skin a cat whatever was drilled into you is outdated info, modern SPL takes in many forms. I literally ran 4000 watts + a 4 channel in my corolla with a stock alt and two batteries in the rear and stock starter battery for years with no issues. One solution is battery power but every month you'll want to put a battery charger to trickle charge the bank over night just to top it off. The other is alternator which is no problem with american cars but with japanese cars its a hell of a lot harder to run multiple alts.

Right now i have 30k watts and only a 320 amp alt, relying on pure battery power atm until i swap out to lithium iron phosphate batteries till i can full tilt on the setup. At half tilt its already a 157.5 db. I can still demo for 4 hours straight at shows. Alternator alone wont help with that.

Other than that, you dont have to listen to gangster rap, there's re-bass artists where you even have bon jovi, metallica, to EDM artists like marshmello to classical to even the opening to spongebob where the bass is extremely strong, way stronger than any gangster rap you can find. Its not bass boosted, its a remastered track with a whole new strong bassline that hits deeper notes a lot longer for a much superior massage.

this is an example

 

[jdubu]

Just being straight forward man. Literally if there was no difference after adding an amp, the place that installed it for you had no clue at all how to install and tune like most of these so called "legit shops" that have zero clue on how to do a proper sound quality tune let alone set proper gains on the amplifier. You most likely didnt even use 10% of the 80 pr's capabilities nor your amp/speakers capabilities. With a proper tune you'd literally orgasm in the ears. while keeping up with the sub. However based on your preferences then dont even buy any speakers, keep stock speakers and spend everything on the sub setup. plain and simple if you dont give a rat's @ss about mids and highs.
I know the importance of an alt and I know that most world class competitors scoring the highest are in brazil and they dont rely on alternator power there at all. There's more than one way to skin a cat whatever was drilled into you is outdated info, modern SPL takes in many forms. I literally ran 4000 watts + a 4 channel in my corolla with a stock alt and two batteries in the rear and stock starter battery for years with no issues. One solution is battery power but every month you'll want to put a battery charger to trickle charge the bank over night just to top it off. The other is alternator which is no problem with american cars but with japanese cars its a hell of a lot harder to run multiple alts.

Right now i have 30k watts and only a 320 amp alt, relying on pure battery power atm until i swap out to lithium iron phosphate batteries till i can full tilt on the setup. At half tilt its already a 157.5 db. I can still demo for 4 hours straight at shows. Alternator alone wont help with that.

Other than that, you dont have to listen to gangster rap, there's re-bass artists where you even have bon jovi, metallica, to EDM artists like marshmello to classical to even the opening to spongebob where the bass is extremely strong, way stronger than any gangster rap you can find. Its not bass boosted, its a remastered track with a whole new strong bassline that hits deeper notes a lot longer for a much superior massage.

this is an example

I appreciate you being straightforward, and I appreciate all you've suggested and helping me learn more. I am used to people being ***-holes for no reason. I'm sorry I got under your skin. I am not here to waste your time, and I am not tossing your advice aside. I am a "real" enthusiast, I've just never had much money to play with. I've also apparently never had very good advice when it comes to certain aspects of installs apparently... I'm stoked to learn there is a lot of "re-bass" tracks out there with all sorts of different kinds of music. I'd absolutely LOVE to learn how to do that to any track!

The problem with the focals, was that they were cheap garbage. The tweeters were painful, and several people online agreed that the tweets were horrendous quality. The whole kit was very cheap, and you can't get good focal components cheap, it's akin to JL Audio. Overpriced, but good stuff. That's why the Alpine Type S's sounded better. And they also didn't require much power to be pushed to their full RMS. That being said, the X12 was loud as hell, and did drown out the mids a bit... but you could still hear them. It wasn't orgasmic of course lol and I certainly didn't use 10% of the PRS's capabilities because I wasn't running a 3-way active system. I did fully read & understand the manual though and played with the settings a lot and got it sounding ****-good.

I also set the gains myself. I didn't trust the installer. He isn't the nicest dude. He does good wiring work, but he's kinda a ****, and I wouldn't trust him to care about my equipment or to not rush. I let him run the wires, and I double checked that as well. I checked all the grounds with a DMM. Did the big 4 upgrade myself with 0 gauge wire. Installed a singer 280amp alt myself. I set the gains using a DMM and test tones to calculate the wattage being outputted. I had voltage meters for power at both amps, and for the voltage at the main under hood battery. I installed an SMD OM-1 output meter to make sure the amp never clipped. I cared about my system a lot, as I'd wanted something like it my whole life (almost.) I even went as far as to build a custom box with some seriously powerful fans to cool the amps.

I've always been aware that you can adjust the gain so that the voltage doesn't dip down to unsafe levels. That's pretty much common sense if you know anything at all. However from what I understand, it's unwise to under power a sub. It's always best to run it near it's RMS as it should dissipate heat better, not to mention produce a hell of a lot more output. That's why I've been trying to understand exactly what the car can handle stock or with minimal upgrades so I can get the full potential out of my equipment.

I cannot express how absolutely stoked I am that you can run 4000W on a stock alt with just a couple batteries! If I had only known it could be that easy... I definitely plan to get a full-blown system with good mids/tweets eventually. But bass is more important //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif I have chronic back pain and it's really nice to have that massage on the way to work. There is something soothing about bass. Maybe it's just me? Your system is insanely awesome by the way. I'm always jelly of such pure dopeness.

I plan to take your advice. I just have a few more questions, well, really I probably have a never ending supply... but I won't bore you with a million questions haha

#1 . Why do you recommend only one 15" sub? Wouldn't splitting the power between two 12" subs be more effective because more cone area = more output?

#2 . How do I calculate how many amp hours I need total for the batteries to run everything?

#3 . What do you recommend I buy for a trickle charger?

#4 . What is the best, affordable brand for batterys?

#5 . Is 4 gauge wire good enough for feeding the amp / doing the big 4 on a 2000W system? At what point do you need 0 gauge?

I'll go ahead and get the audiopipe amp, and whatever subs you think best (I'm really partial to Sundown obviously), the JVC headunit, and a secondary battery.

I'm down to spend a tad more for much better quality bass... I just want what I spend to be cost effective.

I'll worry about the mids/highs & another amp later on once I get that handled, and get on top of some other goals. I can probably pick up something good locally for next to nothing, people are always getting rid of audio equipment.

 

[jdubu]

Oh one last thing... I want to make sure I understand this concept as well.

Let's say you have an amp with specs like so:

RMS Power @ 2 Ohm : 930 Watts x 1 Channel (14.4v)
RMS Power @ 4 Ohms : 500 Watts x 1 Channel (14.4v)
RMS Power @ 1 Ohms : 1,700 Watts x 1 Channel (14.4v)

It's been my understanding that since the amp is rated to run at 14.4V, that if you turn the gain up until the voltage drops to 12.5V, the amp will likely clip and or otherwise eventually be damaged if you are pushing it's full rated RMS, or close to it. Is this also inaccurate?

P.S.

I really hope you tell me to pick up a couple B-grade or used Sundown 12" SA's lol and maybe an amp with another 100W (or more) power so I got a little headroom //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

But really, like I said, it's whatever you think is the best bang-for-the-buck. I just don't want crappy-sounding bass either.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I appreciate you being straightforward, and I appreciate all you've suggested and helping me learn more. I am used to people being ***-holes for no reason. I'm sorry I got under your skin. I am not here to waste your time, and I am not tossing your advice aside. I am a "real" enthusiast, I've just never had much money to play with. I've also apparently never had very good advice when it comes to certain aspects of installs apparently... I'm stoked to learn there is a lot of "re-bass" tracks out there with all sorts of different kinds of music. I'd absolutely LOVE to learn how to do that to any track!
The problem with the focals, was that they were cheap garbage. The tweeters were painful, and several people online agreed that the tweets were horrendous quality. The whole kit was very cheap, and you can't get good focal components cheap, it's akin to JL Audio. Overpriced, but good stuff. That's why the Alpine Type S's sounded better. And they also didn't require much power to be pushed to their full RMS. That being said, the X12 was loud as hell, and did drown out the mids a bit... but you could still hear them. It wasn't orgasmic of course lol and I certainly didn't use 10% of the PRS's capabilities because I wasn't running a 3-way active system. I did fully read & understand the manual though and played with the settings a lot and got it sounding ****-good.

I also set the gains myself. I didn't trust the installer. He isn't the nicest dude. He does good wiring work, but he's kinda a ****, and I wouldn't trust him to care about my equipment or to not rush. I let him run the wires, and I double checked that as well. I checked all the grounds with a DMM. Did the big 4 upgrade myself with 0 gauge wire. Installed a singer 280amp alt myself. I set the gains using a DMM and test tones to calculate the wattage being outputted. I had voltage meters for power at both amps, and for the voltage at the main under hood battery. I installed an SMD OM-1 output meter to make sure the amp never clipped. I cared about my system a lot, as I'd wanted something like it my whole life (almost.) I even went as far as to build a custom box with some seriously powerful fans to cool the amps.

I've always been aware that you can adjust the gain so that the voltage doesn't dip down to unsafe levels. That's pretty much common sense if you know anything at all. However from what I understand, it's unwise to under power a sub. It's always best to run it near it's RMS as it should dissipate heat better, not to mention produce a hell of a lot more output. That's why I've been trying to understand exactly what the car can handle stock or with minimal upgrades so I can get the full potential out of my equipment.

I cannot express how absolutely stoked I am that you can run 4000W on a stock alt with just a couple batteries! If I had only known it could be that easy... I definitely plan to get a full-blown system with good mids/tweets eventually. But bass is more important //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif I have chronic back pain and it's really nice to have that massage on the way to work. There is something soothing about bass. Maybe it's just me? Your system is insanely awesome by the way. I'm always jelly of such pure dopeness.

I plan to take your advice. I just have a few more questions, well, really I probably have a never ending supply... but I won't bore you with a million questions haha

#1 . Why do you recommend only one 15" sub? Wouldn't splitting the power between two 12" subs be more effective because more cone area = more output?

#2 . How do I calculate how many amp hours I need total for the batteries to run everything?

#3 . What do you recommend I buy for a trickle charger?

#4 . What is the best, affordable brand for batterys?

#5 . Is 4 gauge wire good enough for feeding the amp / doing the big 4 on a 2000W system? At what point do you need 0 gauge?

I'll go ahead and get the audiopipe amp, and whatever subs you think best (I'm really partial to Sundown obviously), the JVC headunit, and a secondary battery.

I'm down to spend a tad more for much better quality bass... I just want what I spend to be cost effective.

I'll worry about the mids/highs & another amp later on once I get that handled, and get on top of some other goals. I can probably pick up something good locally for next to nothing, people are always getting rid of audio equipment.

Idk how you think I'm mad lmao. I type like this to everyone here.

Its the main thing that you didnt use the 3 way active network thats why your previous system failed and you would blame the focal tweeters for being harsh. Through active crossovers alone ditching the passive crossover in the component set, you would have had amazing results even with sh*t speakers. Going active gives you the ability to naturally smoothen out any tweeter along with being able to have precise time alignment to build a proper sound stage as well as getting the levels right so your stage is extremely centered as well as being able to properly utilize the left and right EQ to get a perfect response. What you think is using most of the head unit is basically 10% of its legit capabilities. There's much more to the head unit that you still haven't tapped into, it gets extremely advanced.

Its unwise to not have enough power and force your sub into clipping due to unsatisfactory bass response thats it. There is no such thing as underpowering the sub, Just people forcing the amp to go past its limits making the signal dirty due to it not being loud enough which leads to heat and blown subs. Vs having a big enough amp where you are extremely satisfied and achieve your desired loudness/output with only 80% of the amp's capabilities used. The amp remains cooler and more efficient as well from not being overworked, a cleaner signal will mean the sub wont overheat as bad as a dirty signal.

now for your questions.

1: a single 15 is cheaper than two 12s and its not always about the cone area, the motorforce and Xmax is a factor as well as power handling.

2: i'd say 150 ah for every 3500 watts or 75 ah for 1750 in your case a group 31 batt in the rear is plenty.

3: any 1-2 amp trickle smart charger is fine.

4: Sam's club duracell batts, any platinum agms from autozone/orielly's, deka or even used i guess. I got 6 of my C&D batts used from a guy that was getting out of car audio for 120 dollars total and they still work to this day.

5: I'd go with 0 gauge welding cable. OFC quality with CCA pricing. http://www.wireandsupply.com/category_s/57.htm

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

here's some links where you download rebassed music

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AJQ6ymtf4VF21ZY&id=99AF81EB144E187C%21419&cid=99AF81EB144E187C

this one's harder to get to, go down till you see this link, click it and it'll go to google drive and then you'll want to click "shared with me" and it'll lead you to the master index.

https://www.facebook.com/maximumbassmusic/

 

[jdubu]

Idk how you think I'm mad lmao. I type like this to everyone here.
Its the main thing that you didnt use the 3 way active network thats why your previous system failed and you would blame the focal tweeters for being harsh. Through active crossovers alone ditching the passive crossover in the component set, you would have had amazing results even with sh*t speakers. Going active gives you the ability to naturally smoothen out any tweeter along with being able to have precise time alignment to build a proper sound stage as well as getting the levels right so your stage is extremely centered as well as being able to properly utilize the left and right EQ to get a perfect response. What you think is using most of the head unit is basically 10% of its legit capabilities. There's much more to the head unit that you still haven't tapped into, it gets extremely advanced.

Its unwise to not have enough power and force your sub into clipping due to unsatisfactory bass response thats it. There is no such thing as underpowering the sub, Just people forcing the amp to go past its limits making the signal dirty due to it not being loud enough which leads to heat and blown subs. Vs having a big enough amp where you are extremely satisfied and achieve your desired loudness/output with only 80% of the amp's capabilities used. The amp remains cooler and more efficient as well from not being overworked, a cleaner signal will mean the sub wont overheat as bad as a dirty signal.

now for your questions.

1: a single 15 is cheaper than two 12s and its not always about the cone area, the motorforce and Xmax is a factor as well as power handling.

2: i'd say 150 ah for every 3500 watts or 75 ah for 1750 in your case a group 31 batt in the rear is plenty.

3: any 1-2 amp trickle smart charger is fine.

4: Sam's club duracell batts, any platinum agms from autozone/orielly's, deka or even used i guess. I got 6 of my C&D batts used from a guy that was getting out of car audio for 120 dollars total and they still work to this day.

5: I'd go with 0 gauge welding cable. OFC quality with CCA pricing. 1/0

You da man!

I think you'll be happy to hear that I've decided to save up and get a complete system. From my calculations, I'll be looking at roughly $1000 for everything, box, wires, etc all included in that figure for the bigger sub + amp + the mids/highs setup you first recommended. Not bad for a slammin' system.

I just hope I didn't pick the worst car possible to put a system in... the 2005-2008 years of the Corolla had a recall on the ECU. The board would crack and cause all sorts of problems. Seems the best way to cause it to crack would be some heavy bass. I also hear that a lot of the dealers won't *actually* replace the ECU when you take it in for replacement, they'll just say that they did. I'm considering going to extreme lengths to make them prove that it's actually replaced.