Can't decide at all, need suggestions and input.

[slamnoma66 10+ year member]

you might find more info if you just search what i typed out for you. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

good idea, haha but then again ive never heard of half these brands and i dont want my system to be half assed

 

[slamnoma66 10+ year member]

and what the hell does spl and sql mean, hahah im really clueless apparently

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

Oz Audio is the brand... to answer your previous questions, SPL stands for Sound Pressure Level... someone interested in SPL is usually going for loud rather than quality, and usually competes in SPL competitions. Certain subs are designed for high SPL but not necessarily to sound awesome (not that they sound shitty, just not as accurate as SQ subs). SQL is a hybrid of sorts //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Someone looking for pretty loud bass, but sound quality as well. SQ is simply sound quality, just a nice blend of bass/mid/treble and nothing super loud. There are countless brands of car audio, most of which aren't 'mainstream.' This, however, does not mean they aren't good. In fact, a lot of times they are a better all around buy than some of the more recognized brands. A lot of mainstream companies spend more money marketing their names than they do on actual R&D, while some of the smaller guys that really have a passion for high quality car audio couldn't care less, and just build their stuff to rock. JL used to be this way but became very mainstream and got cocky and started charging ungodly amounts for their equipment. If you have $1200 to spend on subs/amps, try seeing what you can get for $800, then spend the rest on some sort of sound deadening material, high quality wiring, possibly a high output alternator/battery, and a nice box. The box will make just as much of a difference in the sound of the subs as the subs themselves. Everyone has to start somewhere, so maybe see what car audio shops are around you and go have a listen to as many different subs/amps as you can to get a feel for what sounds good to you and go from there. Try to stay away from the giant electronics stores like Best Buy/Circuit City/Ultimate Electronics unless that is all that you have around. Usually the smaller privately owned shops will know a lot more about their products and will point you in the right direction. Good luck!

Mike

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

Fi Q or a BL

why?

good idea, haha but then again ive never heard of half these brands and i dont want my system to be half assed

I quite sure that those I've listed will suit your needs. They are known to get loud if you want them to while also sounding great. I've heard all of them personally and that is why I recommend them. I'm not just throwing brands and models out there just because OTHER people say they are good.

I'm using a pair of IDmax's myself and that's why I have them on the top of the list.

They are also very efficient and will not need 1000watts+ . 600-800w would be enough.

 

[slamnoma66 10+ year member]

Oz Audio is the brand... to answer your previous questions, SPL stands for Sound Pressure Level... someone interested in SPL is usually going for loud rather than quality, and usually competes in SPL competitions. Certain subs are designed for high SPL but not necessarily to sound awesome (not that they sound shitty, just not as accurate as SQ subs). SQL is a hybrid of sorts //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Someone looking for pretty loud bass, but sound quality as well. SQ is simply sound quality, just a nice blend of bass/mid/treble and nothing super loud. There are countless brands of car audio, most of which aren't 'mainstream.' This, however, does not mean they aren't good. In fact, a lot of times they are a better all around buy than some of the more recognized brands. A lot of mainstream companies spend more money marketing their names than they do on actual R&D, while some of the smaller guys that really have a passion for high quality car audio couldn't care less, and just build their stuff to rock. JL used to be this way but became very mainstream and got cocky and started charging ungodly amounts for their equipment. If you have $1200 to spend on subs/amps, try seeing what you can get for $800, then spend the rest on some sort of sound deadening material, high quality wiring, possibly a high output alternator/battery, and a nice box. The box will make just as much of a difference in the sound of the subs as the subs themselves. Everyone has to start somewhere, so maybe see what car audio shops are around you and go have a listen to as many different subs/amps as you can to get a feel for what sounds good to you and go from there. Try to stay away from the giant electronics stores like Best Buy/Circuit City/Ultimate Electronics unless that is all that you have around. Usually the smaller privately owned shops will know a lot more about their products and will point you in the right direction. Good luck!
Mike

thanks man, yeah i have a local shop around me, but they seem to only have jl, kenwood, and yeah i think thats about what they specialize in

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

Well the cool thing about car audio is you can always change individual components or gut the whole system, sell it, and start over. I've only done that about, oh, 78 times in the last 10 years is all //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif That's what the classifieds section is for! Just make sure you get a good deal on whatever you buy so you're not constantly losing tons of money when you resell. So don't be afraid to try something out. If you don't like the way it sounds, that doesn't mean someone else won't. I've had 4 systems in the last year and loved something different about all of them, but it's also fun to try out different things and tweak and see what I can get to sound better than my last one. Eventually you'll go from wanting to spend $100 on front coaxial speakers to looking for a nice set of $550 components //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif It gets addictive to say the least...

 

[slamnoma66 10+ year member]

Well the cool thing about car audio is you can always change individual components or gut the whole system, sell it, and start over. I've only done that about, oh, 78 times in the last 10 years is all //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif That's what the classifieds section is for! Just make sure you get a good deal on whatever you buy so you're not constantly losing tons of money when you resell. So don't be afraid to try something out. If you don't like the way it sounds, that doesn't mean someone else won't. I've had 4 systems in the last year and loved something different about all of them, but it's also fun to try out different things and tweak and see what I can get to sound better than my last one. Eventually you'll go from wanting to spend $100 on front coaxial speakers to looking for a nice set of $550 components //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif It gets addictive to say the least...

haha, that sounds like a good way to look at it i think, i just want to have the perfect system for the first time when i finally get it, ive been researching this stuff forever and still feel like there is more and mroe to learn

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

when you get your hands dirty and stall installing and using the equipment you're reading about is when you really start learning.

 

[slamnoma66 10+ year member]

when you get your hands dirty and stall installing and using the equipment you're reading about is when you really start learning.

yeah i know what you mean, it doesnt help that im trying to read about all this shit, and have no idea about what happens when i wire in series or parallel, and the amount of ohms i go with, sooo confusing

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

Well this forum can be a huge help. I've learned a ton from reading things on here, along with doing all my own installs. Some people have a passion for it, others don't. I am one that absolutely does. I can't pay attention to most things for longer than 15 minutes, but I can spend 12 hours on a full install and end the day with bloody hands and a sore back and still love life. One of the few things I've found that I can do forever and never get sick of it.

As for the technical stuff, you pick that up as you go along. Just a few things you mentioned as far as wiring:

WHen you wire something in series, you're essentially doubling the resistance. So if you take 2 4 ohm woofers or 2 4 ohm voice coils (basically the same thing) and wire them in series, you will create an 8 ohm load. When you wire something parallel, you are cutting the resistance in half. So if you take 2 4 ohm voice coils or 2 4 ohm subs, and wire them in parallel, you will end up with a 2 ohm load. When you wire something in series parallel, you're usually dealing with more than 2 subs or more than 2 voice coils. So say you have 2 12" Type Xs for example. They are dual voice coil subs with each voice coil being 4 ohms. So if you wire them in series parallel, you end up with a 4 ohm load. THis basically means you wire each one in series individually then run them together in parallel, and you end up back at 4 ohms. Or, rather than try to remember all this the first time, you can go here: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp

Plug and play! Gives you every wiring option available based on how many subs you are using and what resistance they are. You'll stumble upon things like that along the way that make things simple and help you learn a lot.

 

[slamnoma66 10+ year member]

Well this forum can be a huge help. I've learned a ton from reading things on here, along with doing all my own installs. Some people have a passion for it, others don't. I am one that absolutely does. I can't pay attention to most things for longer than 15 minutes, but I can spend 12 hours on a full install and end the day with bloody hands and a sore back and still love life. One of the few things I've found that I can do forever and never get sick of it.
As for the technical stuff, you pick that up as you go along. Just a few things you mentioned as far as wiring:

WHen you wire something in series, you're essentially doubling the resistance. So if you take 2 4 ohm woofers or 2 4 ohm voice coils (basically the same thing) and wire them in series, you will create an 8 ohm load. When you wire something parallel, you are cutting the resistance in half. So if you take 2 4 ohm voice coils or 2 4 ohm subs, and wire them in parallel, you will end up with a 2 ohm load. When you wire something in series parallel, you're usually dealing with more than 2 subs or more than 2 voice coils. So say you have 2 12" Type Xs for example. They are dual voice coil subs with each voice coil being 4 ohms. So if you wire them in series parallel, you end up with a 4 ohm load. THis basically means you wire each one in series individually then run them together in parallel, and you end up back at 4 ohms. Or, rather than try to remember all this the first time, you can go here: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp

Plug and play! Gives you every wiring option available based on how many subs you are using and what resistance they are. You'll stumble upon things like that along the way that make things simple and help you learn a lot.

i feel like im going to be the same exact way and be the 80 year old guy with the 150 decibel system haha, i deffinately have a passion for it, and i appreciate you taking the time man, your really helping out

 

[Hintzyboy 5,000+ posts]

There is no perfect system. No matter what you get, you will end up switching something out withiin a year. There's just no avoiding it in a field that moves as fast as electronics.