Gratuitous Newbity

[Tobe18 10+ year member]

Hello All, This is actually my first day to be a member, I have been lurking about the boards and forums for probably 3 weeks reading tons of wonderful information, trying to rid myself of terrible ignorance. I recently turned 18 and blew most of my bank account on a car new to me. A 1995 Saturn SC2. I am a terrible music junky, been in band for 8 years, play many instruments, and have a band i like to call my own. I understand great sound and accoustics, but lack the knowledge neccessary to incorporate my love of music into my vehicle. Any comments as to your preference in recievers, speakers of any sort, amplifiers, subs, component placement, necessary electrical system modifications or other helpfull information would be greatly appreciated. I am particularly interested in the audio projects and setups in the similar cars of others, so if anyone out there drives my SC2 i would very much like to talk to you about the car specific info. Thanks all.

Tobe

Click to read more...

 

[XDrkmanX 10+ year member]

I know someone else drives a SC2 on here. I can't think of who???? If I find them before you do I let you know.

 

[Tobe18 10+ year member]

thanks much

 

[XDrkmanX 10+ year member]

jemorgan85 1994 SC2

 

[jbl_marshall21 10+ year member]

well what do you want mostly? sq or spl or alittle of both. did u want subs? how many what size? how many watts do you wanna run? i'm glad you did your research before you posted. o look at sound domain and car domain for people with setups in your type of car.

http://www.sounddomain.com

http://www.cardomain.com

 

[anaranchi 10+ year member]

what is your budget. for the whole deal ... cause $$$$$ is a very important factor....

 

[anaranchi 10+ year member]

oooo ya welcome to the world of car audio . its gonna be great :thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

 

[Ricktc 10+ year member]

oooo ya welcome to the world of car audio . its gonna be great :thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

And expensive, and deafening, and never-ending, and...great :up2someth

 

[Tobe18 10+ year member]

firstly, what is the dirrerence between sq and spl? I want 2 subs, I am at this point looking at Rockford Fosgate. In particular the 12's or 15's, 1000 watt rms, somehow on some sort of rheostat so they are adjustable, as I understand bass is often not adjustable other than with volume. I listen to many genre's of music, so bass must itself be adjustable. As far as monetary investment, i will put money into it as I get paid. I do not have a set budget, but i want it all done right the first time, and am willing to spend whatever that takes. I want something that sounds good, I dont know if I should have the tweeters seperate from mids, or combined, if not then where to put them? I want 6x9's in the rear deck set up for 6.5's so that will take some modification. If anyone has suggestions for a different sub, amps, speakers, locations for said components, replacement alternators, batteries, i would be more than happy to receive advice on anything. I am extremely ignorant on the subject, I just like good music. Please help.

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Welcome to the board first off //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Rockford is a decent company to go with, they have been around for a long time. They make decent products at a decent price. There are better out there and some actually cheaper. Elemental designs for one have a very good selection of subs and amps. Even there lowest end, in my opinion, are better then rockford. Now subs shouldn't be your first worry in a new setup though. I like to work with my headunit then components. I would say go with components if I were you (seperate tweeters and a crossover) they usually give you better all around sound once you get them setup right. Wiring is very important too. Don't buy 200 dollar componenets a 200 dollar receiver then spend 29.99 on a generic install kit. Its important to put quality into every aspect of your install. Money always runs out before a system is built (at least for most of us) so start with things that you can begin to enjoy right off. With the comps and HU (head unit) in you at least have music. Rear fill is your choice. I personally have 6X9's in my car right now. But after talking to a few people on here its really not necessary. Some people don't even use rear fill and have systems that just blow me away. I think its much better to go with a top quality comp set and use nothing in the rear then to put less money into both. Did that come out right? Hrmm...

I'm kinda rambling, sorry bout that. Just start with what you can. Everyone is going to have there own opinion on what is the best to go with. So use this as a guide. If you can go listen to it, do it. We can preach our choices left and right, but it really comes down to what you like. There are of course good brands and bad ones.

Good luck! If you need help with places online to find cheap prices let me know.

Justin

 

[BulldogSr04 10+ year member]

Wiring is very important too. Don't buy 200 dollar componenets a 200 dollar receiver then spend 29.99 on a generic install kit. Its important to put quality into every aspect of your install.

Wire is wire as long as it is the right gauge. plenty of people use wal mart wiring. I am using it and it is just fine. I also have a 2 gauge power acoustic wiring kit that i got for cheap off of ebay and it works just fine. the higher the strand count just increases flexibility, not conductivity.

on the other hand welcome to the board. you might want to spend an afternoon reading http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/caraudio.htm because it covers a lot of info that you will need. sq is sound quality- basically what sounds good to you. spl means sound pressure level- how loud the bass gets. if you go with rockford, it is for spl. it may not sound that good but it will get loud. since you are a music junky i would think that sq would be your thing. basically i would get a good hu (alpine, eclipse, or pioneer premeir), a good set of components (CDT seems to be the way to go, on sale at http://www.thezeb.com ) and if you really dont care about a budget and want 2 subs, get 2 XXX 12's. You will also need a rather large amp to power them and probably a new battery and alternator. It would be best to post a budget first.

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Wire is wire as long as it is the right gauge. plenty of people use wal mart wiring. I am using it and it is just fine. I also have a 2 gauge power acoustic wiring kit that i got for cheap off of ebay and it works just fine. the higher the strand count just increases flexibility, not conductivity.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. The quality of wire has direct effect on your system. Just being electrical interference or overall sound quality the wire you choose is going to make or break your system. I am not talking about conductivity. Although higher quality copper strands will produce a better flow of electricity. Usually crap wire has just that for insulation, crap. I guess I could go on and on about the importance but I'll just stop there. Just remember most systems are 25% equipment and 75% install.

 

[nswartley 5,000+ posts]

its nice to have another seemingly intelligent member on the boards...

welcome.

keep searching. you will find every thread imaginable on here...

-nate

 

[Bavarian3 10+ year member]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. The quality of wire has direct effect on your system. Just being electrical interference or overall sound quality the wire you choose is going to make or break your system. I am not talking about conductivity. Although higher quality copper strands will produce a better flow of electricity. Usually crap wire has just that for insulation, crap. I guess I could go on and on about the importance but I'll just stop there. Just remember most systems are 25% equipment and 75% install.

Please shutup

 

[nswartley 5,000+ posts]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. The quality of wire has direct effect on your system. Just being electrical interference or overall sound quality the wire you choose is going to make or break your system. I am not talking about conductivity. Although higher quality copper strands will produce a better flow of electricity. Usually crap wire has just that for insulation, crap. I guess I could go on and on about the importance but I'll just stop there. Just remember most systems are 25% equipment and 75% install.

without interference, there is no AUDIBLE difference between wires.