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<blockquote data-quote="dtbingle" data-source="post: 8179160" data-attributes="member: 654330"><p>You have posted a lot of questions in one thread and we don't have too much to go on. For starters, figure out what your preferences are on some of the questions below.</p><p></p><p>1) How much trunk space are you willing to sacrifice? Roughly get dimensions (L x W x H) of the area you have to work with. From there it'll be easier to decide on how many subs and what size. Since you said you want to rattle his car from down the street, you should probably be looking at a ported sub enclosure, but keep in mind, ported set ups require usually close to double the space. EDIT: From your follow up posts it seems like you're going with a fiberglass install. I hope you're familiar with working with it or are going to pay someone who does because it can be messy and a pain to do right and look good until you've had some practice. Also, the space you mentioned to fiberglass a box (at least what I'm picturing) would be rather small for a ported setup, but rough measurements can prove/disprove that.</p><p></p><p>2) Do you have an aftermarket radio installed? If not, then you will need line out converters, but they aren't as good as RCA preouts from an aftermarket radio. I recommend looking into an aftermarket raido solution. EDIT: Scratch this since you decided on aftermarket head unit.</p><p></p><p>3) Since you plan on upgrading your door speakers to nicely match your sub output, you should either get a higher end radio with a high power output or separate amp for them or else you will be drastically underpowering the door speakers. A lot of average setups have a 1-channel amp (mono amp) to power their sub and then something like a 4-channel amp to power their door speakers. Another solution would be to look into 5-channel amps (1 for sub, 4 for the door speakers), but with a 5 channel amp, you may have difficulty getting the power you are looking for.</p><p></p><p>4) Lastly, I would look up info on your alternator to figure out its current output (in amperes). This will be one limiting factor depending on how many watts your amp(s) will be needing. For example, the alternator in my car has a 136 amp output. To be safe, I'd say 30-40 amps are going towards the car's other functions leaving me with roughly 100amps. Power = Voltage * Current and my battery is usually in the range of 13.5volt - 14volt when running. Power = 14v * 100a = 1400W. So in my situation approaching this 1400W area is when I expect to have to upgrade my eletrical system (2nd battery, maybe capacitor, bigger alternator, larger gauge wires), etc.</p><p></p><p>As a final note, it doesn't seem like you're very familiar with how things are installed and set up. I would honestly suggest doing a lot of reading online, talking to your friend for help, and/or going to a local car audio shop for advice. Once you've brushed up on the various aspects, then decide on what you want to buy. I really encourage DIY projects, but if you're really unsure of what you're doing and no one you know can help, I would get estimates of the shop install fees.</p><p></p><p>EDIT: sorry if some questions are repeated, other people beat me to it as I was typing it out</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dtbingle, post: 8179160, member: 654330"] You have posted a lot of questions in one thread and we don't have too much to go on. For starters, figure out what your preferences are on some of the questions below. 1) How much trunk space are you willing to sacrifice? Roughly get dimensions (L x W x H) of the area you have to work with. From there it'll be easier to decide on how many subs and what size. Since you said you want to rattle his car from down the street, you should probably be looking at a ported sub enclosure, but keep in mind, ported set ups require usually close to double the space. EDIT: From your follow up posts it seems like you're going with a fiberglass install. I hope you're familiar with working with it or are going to pay someone who does because it can be messy and a pain to do right and look good until you've had some practice. Also, the space you mentioned to fiberglass a box (at least what I'm picturing) would be rather small for a ported setup, but rough measurements can prove/disprove that. 2) Do you have an aftermarket radio installed? If not, then you will need line out converters, but they aren't as good as RCA preouts from an aftermarket radio. I recommend looking into an aftermarket raido solution. EDIT: Scratch this since you decided on aftermarket head unit. 3) Since you plan on upgrading your door speakers to nicely match your sub output, you should either get a higher end radio with a high power output or separate amp for them or else you will be drastically underpowering the door speakers. A lot of average setups have a 1-channel amp (mono amp) to power their sub and then something like a 4-channel amp to power their door speakers. Another solution would be to look into 5-channel amps (1 for sub, 4 for the door speakers), but with a 5 channel amp, you may have difficulty getting the power you are looking for. 4) Lastly, I would look up info on your alternator to figure out its current output (in amperes). This will be one limiting factor depending on how many watts your amp(s) will be needing. For example, the alternator in my car has a 136 amp output. To be safe, I'd say 30-40 amps are going towards the car's other functions leaving me with roughly 100amps. Power = Voltage * Current and my battery is usually in the range of 13.5volt - 14volt when running. Power = 14v * 100a = 1400W. So in my situation approaching this 1400W area is when I expect to have to upgrade my eletrical system (2nd battery, maybe capacitor, bigger alternator, larger gauge wires), etc. As a final note, it doesn't seem like you're very familiar with how things are installed and set up. I would honestly suggest doing a lot of reading online, talking to your friend for help, and/or going to a local car audio shop for advice. Once you've brushed up on the various aspects, then decide on what you want to buy. I really encourage DIY projects, but if you're really unsure of what you're doing and no one you know can help, I would get estimates of the shop install fees. EDIT: sorry if some questions are repeated, other people beat me to it as I was typing it out [/QUOTE]
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