Do I actually need a sub?

[Wsmith20]

A bit of a car-audio newbie, here. I drive a 2013 Subaru Impreza hatchback, and I'm currently upgrading the nasty factory speakers with a pair of Alpine 6.5" components and a pair of Alpine 6.5" coaxials, as well as a new JVC head unit and an Alpine MF-30 4 channel amp.

I'm wondering if there is really any need to get a sub. I really am not interested in the rattling, over-the-top bass that just pisses people off (and I'm a bass player) because I don't want it to overwhelm the treb and mids. I realize you can turn everything up and down and control it, but is it really worth it to get a sub? Wouldn't the amped-up speakers be just fine without it? I also don't listen to seizure dub step or any of that other electrica nonsense (sorry if you do. To each his own)

Try to put yourself in my shoes, I realize there are tons of people who will say "Get a sub" no matter what. I'm not interested in that.

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[fatboytyler]

In my opinion (and widely agreed upon) that a basic sub adds so much depth to your music. I would suggest getting a simple 8" in a small sealed box and presto. Your music sounds beautiful.

 

[Wsmith20]

Thanks for the thoughts. I probably will end up getting one, either an 8 or 12". I've got an appointment to get all that other equipment installed in about two weeks, so I may just pick up a sub and add it to the work-list.

It took me a while to get the ball rolling on this project, and two years ago a geek at Best Buy said that these speakers amped-up would sound like there's a sub already in there. But, that's Best Buy, so I take that with an extra-large grain of kosher salt.

My main thing is that I'd rather have the whole thing done and be finished with it, rather than hear my upgrades and decide that I need more work.

Cheers.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

wrong section newb

 

[Wsmith20]

Who cares?

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

not me but you may get more help if you post in correct section.

 

[Umbra]

Depends on what you listen to.

Door speakers tend to not play below 65Hz well, which is where sub-bass territory begins. On a related note, this is where you should set the HPF on the amp for your speakers, so it doesn't try to play notes out of its range.

I'd have to agree, a small 8" or 10" sealed will be adequate to add those low notes, but it's up to personal preference. Decent aftermarket speakers installed properly (see KHA's build: http://www.caraudio.com/forums/car-audio-build-logs-cars-trucks-suvs/608637-2014-accord-sport-sq-build-keep_hope_alive.html) will give you good midbass, which will thump, but it's not sub-bass - it's a different range all together.

 

[Savackz]

Theres never anything wrong with subwoofers.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for the thoughts. I probably will end up getting one, either an 8 or 12". I've got an appointment to get all that other equipment installed in about two weeks, so I may just pick up a sub and add it to the work-list. It took me a while to get the ball rolling on this project, and two years ago a geek at Best Buy said that these speakers amped-up would sound like there's a sub already in there. But, that's Best Buy, so I take that with an extra-large grain of kosher salt.

My main thing is that I'd rather have the whole thing done and be finished with it, rather than hear my upgrades and decide that I need more work.

Cheers.

when you force speakers to play fullrange, the bass causes more distortion, other frequencies that determine vocal clarity will suffer. You dont have to add some crazy sub with lots of wattage. partsexpress.com have decent sound quality oriented subwoofers. A 10 in a sealed box on 300-500 watts is all you need.

 

[fatboytyler]

when you force speakers to play fullrange, the bass causes more distortion, other frequencies that determine vocal clarity will suffer. You dont have to add some crazy sub with lots of wattage. partsexpress.com have decent sound quality oriented subwoofers. A 10 in a sealed box on 300-500 watts is all you need.

Hell on that note, if you have access to a wood shop or have a friend who does look up Bill Fitzmaurice's Autotuba (AutoTuba and TruckTuba). Kind of big and hard to make, but I had a $30 MCM 8" in there and it competed with most of your run of the mill dual 10" setups and it cost me less than 80$ for everything, not to mention it only handles about 130ish watts. I also owned 2 of the TAT style Autotubas with a 10" Dayton per box and they were very nice and SQ oriented.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the answer to your question is no, you don't need a sub. properly installed speakers can have useable response down to 50Hz which is all most people need to enjoy music.

this setup doesn't have a sub (yet) and bass response is fantastic, as is clarity and imaging:

http://www.caraudio.com/forums/car-audio-build-logs-cars-trucks-suvs/611961-2002-camry-basic-sq-khas-wife.html

the effort to properly install speakers is not trivial. search for my posts on the forum and you'll see what i mean.

i incorporate subs last - which is opposite of most people. i do this so i focus my efforts on getting the speakers to sound as good as possible. after that, i add a sub to supplement the speakers and fill the bottom octaves. i build systems that sound good with the sub off and i also use a moderate sub level such that you usually can't tell a sub is in the car - you just hear balanced music.