Need Advice: New Audio System

[cfox10 10+ year member]

Thanks again all.
So I am trying to limit my parts list. The box is still a huge question for me, so I am trying to nail down everything else.

For amps, which of these are better quality choices? NVX, SoundQubed, PPI, Sundown, etc. Budget is important of course, but I don't want to buy junk or wish I had spent $20 more to get something much better.

For fronts, it sounds like the Polk's are the agreed best option.

For sub(s), since the box is not decided I am still between 2 - 8" or a single 10 or single 12 I guess. The brand/model is in the air also. I do like the 2 - 8" SD2 option, but am 100% open.

Do you guys have any suggestions for the best place to get the best price on this gear? I am looking online and everyone seems to be about the same prices.

Amplifier: FSD Audio has great amps at a very nice price so check those out as well

Subwoofer: I have two HDS208's on a Soundqubed 2200.1 and they love the power

Front stage: If you can swing it, I'd try to get some deadening material as well. Look for midrange drivers with a decently low fs if you're trying to dig down into midbass territory.

 

[djtech2k 10+ year member]

Thanks. I just gotta narrow my list now. What do u guys think about that list I posted from the recommendations? I don't know the amps well enough to say.

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

This list: NVX, SoundQubed, PPI, Sundown, Rockford, etc

?

If so, I would say yes to the Soundqubed, Sundown, Rockford, some of the PPI amps, and I personally wouldn't run NVX.

As a general rule of thumb, stick with Korean amps.

The FSD amp I mentioned is a Korean zenon amp, they are very well known for high quality production.

 

[DaytonLax14 10+ year member]

It all depends on budget. Sundown makes awesome amps but they are also a little expensive. Look for something used. I use a crescendo bc2000.1 and absolutely love it. Lots of good clean power

 

[DaytonLax14 10+ year member]

Subs: 2 hds208s

Speakers: Polk audio

Sub amp: soundqubed 2000w

Speaker amp: PPI Ion 4 channel because of its extremely small size

Box: build it

Do the big 3 and stick a group 65agm under the hood. Put the sub amp under the drivers seat and the 4 channel amp on the back wall.

That's a heck of a nice set up, not just for a beginner. My set up isn't as nice as that and am a little jealous. It'll be great!

 

[djtech2k 10+ year member]

Well the budget depends on the box but overall I'd like to keep it under $1000. I'm looking for good stuff but this is not a competition scenario by any means. I want it to get loud when he wants but not kill my wallet. When I was into this stuff, Rockford was the way to go. I built many cars out of my shop and it was great. Now it seems things have changed so I am definitely confused.

I see a few recommending nvx but now some not. The ppi amps are cheaper which worries me about quality but I love the price. SQ looks nice but is little more than the others. Where is sundown in this mix? It's funny, 99% of the brands mentioned I never heard of.

I need to order like asap for Christmas. I'd like to get 2 amps but I guess I could use radio power for fronts and buy 1 amp but I'd rather get 2 if I can.

 

[djtech2k 10+ year member]

Subs: 2 hds208sSpeakers: Polk audio

Sub amp: soundqubed 2000w

Speaker amp: PPI Ion 4 channel because of its extremely small size

Box: build it

Do the big 3 and stick a group 65agm under the hood. Put the sub amp under the drivers seat and the 4 channel amp on the back wall.

That's a heck of a nice set up, not just for a beginner. My set up isn't as nice as that and am a little jealous. It'll be great!

OK so what's the 65agm thing u mention?

The hds208's appear to need a ported box around 1.5 cu.ft. if I am not mistaken. That's gonna take up the whole back so Idk how I would get the amp back there. Making the box still makes a little nervous. So you recommend using ppi amp for hi's and sq for subs? Is the sq 1200 not enough?

I looked and the amp combo using SQ is about $500. Nvx is like $425 and ppi is in the $300's. That's if I use both same brands.

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

OK so what's the 65agm thing u mention?
The hds208's appear to need a ported box around 1.5 cu.ft. if I am not mistaken. That's gonna take up the whole back so Idk how I would get the amp back there. Making the box still makes a little nervous. So you recommend using ppi amp for hi's and sq for subs? Is the sq 1200 not enough?

I looked and the amp combo using SQ is about $500. Nvx is like $425 and ppi is in the $300's. That's if I use both same brands.

The soundqubed 8's will get loud on the 1200.1, but they will also handle the 2200. The reason I mentioned the FSD is because they are a great quality amplifier at a better price than soundqubed. I personally run soundqubed but I'm picking up the FSD next.

You can also go with the American Bass VFL 8's, they are very good as well.

PPI Phantom 900.4 would be my ideal amp for the speakers if you can fit it.

The 8's like around 1 cube each after displacement. You can get away with .75 as well, 1.5 for one 8 is on the larger side.

The AGM he mentioned is a sealed battery. Running this much power you'll want one, as well as the big 3 and some good wire. 1/0 if going with 2200, 1/0 with reducers for the 1200 would be ideal.

 

[DaytonLax14 10+ year member]

Group 65 AGM battery. And do the big 3. This will help with your voltage.

 

[djtech2k 10+ year member]

Thanks guys.

So I need to make a decision and order at least the amps today. The box is the biggest question, which does also make woofers a question. If I got the sealed box I showed, will it sound bad? How much difference do you think there will be between that sealed box and a built ported box? Is it dramatic or just a little?

The fronts will be Polk.

For the amps, I need to nail this down.

So I guess I should consider FSD. SOundqubed is on my list, but it pushes my budget tighter. I had NVX because of earlier suggestions, but now it sounds like it might not be good. PPI is on the list and is good on budget, but it sounds like PPI on the subs isn't ideal? Am I understanding all this right?

On the subs, I like the Sundown sd-2's because they seem to be more flexible, like in small sealed or ported box. The price is definitely higher though. The SQ hds208's look nice, but only recommend ported boxes and designing/building a ported box is my biggest issue right now. I am down to either sundown SD-2's or SQ HDS. I like 2 - 8's, but would consider a single woofer, if I end up doing a custom box. The ease of buying that small sealed box is hard to fight, but I do love ported.

I re-measured the truck again yesterday. Here are safe measurements to use as a minimum amount of space. I also need to keep in mind where the amps go.

42" Long

8" Bottom Depth

7" Top Depth

12.5" Tall

Also, what is the Big 3 that you guys mention? I really do not want to get into buying alternators, batteries, etc for this truck. Its an old truck. I might consider a capacitor if I absolutely need it.

One more thing, do all these amps have a builtin crossover? I didnt think until now that I need to crossover the frequencies somehow. Hope its builtin.

Update: Looks like I found another box. http://www.ebay.com/itm/97-03-Ford-F150-F-150-Sub-Subwoofer-Box-Speaker-Enclosure-Concept-Enclosures-/261676372230?hash=item3ced209106

 

[djr4x4]

You could take a look at this amp..

http://www.caraudiobargain.com/new-cab-1600-1-amplifier/

Sent from my DL718M using Tapatalk

 

[SimulatedZero 10+ year member]

Alrighty, so you might be able to squeeze about 1.5 cubic feet total after sub and port displacement so you're pretty strapped for space with those measurements.

As far as amps go, all of the options you listed makes rated power or more. I was steered away from PPi when I first got to this forum because they changed owners and the quality went down. I used their previous generation of amps and they were great and a lot of people swear by the current generation.

The NVX line is also used in MB Quartz and one more besides Polk. There's a review of it on diyma. It does well.

Like I said though, they all make rated power or more. They all have decent boards. And they'll be in similar areas of THD ratios (how quickly it distorts) where they fall in line with each other is something I don't know for sure. But they all have good feed back. So choose a good option for you. The big difference is going to be the quality of transistors etc. And the build quality. Again, my understanding is they're all in a similar neighborhood. But, the higher quality will generally last longer under abuse. That being said, being conservative and not abusing your amps is going to be the biggest factor in the life of your amps and speakers. Constantly clipping or running into protection mode is going to fry any amp you get. So keep that in mind. I've had a 50 dollar power acoustic eBay amp last for 3 years before it went because the guy only wanted about 100watts from it instead of pushing it hard.

So my advice is choose what you like and what you can afford. They'll be decently similar. Treat them well and they should all last.

As far as designing boxes, they're are a lot of people on here that can help you with that. Or you can always download WinISD version 7 and design your own.

 

[djtech2k 10+ year member]

Thanks.

I just went to another local audio dealer. I know the guy from a long time ago, when there were clear defined superior products over inferior ones. Anyway, he is a Kicker dealer and suggests that I go with Kicker of course. He suggested a 10 or 12" Kicker box with the "red" comp RT sub. That was like $250. He suggested the "red" line of amp in the 400.4 or the 800.5. The 400 was $300 and the 800.5 was $550. Then the front components were the same series and were $250.

Now this guy was a great installer back in the day. I know its his shop, but he swears that Kicker is one of the few left that makes good stuff and that the private dealers equipment is far superior to that of places like BestBuy and Walmart. I know that was the case with stuff like Pioneer, but he says it is today. With all that said, its definitely more expensive. Obviously he frowned upon a lot of the stuff we have been talking about in this thread.

With that said, I need to get this done LOL.

I am still on the fence about buying vs building a box. So I don yet know if I am doing 2 - 8's, 1 or 2 - 10's, or 1 - 12. The measurements I gave were very conservative. I could probably stretch them a bit in most directions, but thats a very safe set of dimensions.

So for the amps, I am still up in the air. The ones I listed seem to be decent choices, but I don't know much about the quality of the product or the company. Also the Kicker stuff did make me think.

What are the big 3? Am I going to have to modify the car battery, alternator, or anything else for these amps? I really do not want to get into that if I can avoid it.

What about running a 5 channel amp and doing everything with it? I know its less watts, but I could possibly get a better amp. I mean the fewer amps and woofers I buy, the better the budget will be. I just don't want to make a mistake. The sub amps I have talked about in here are all 1200+ watts. Sounds good on paper, but will I need that to sound good? Just thinking out loud a bit.

 

[SimulatedZero 10+ year member]

Hahahaha, kicker is best buy equipment. You can walk in and buy two kicker comps in a premade kicker box with a kicker amp. Problem is, kicker *****. It can hit when done right, but the rated xmax is at an awful distortion rate.

Well, with that hilarity out of the way. The problem you're running into is because when somebody makes a good product, it gets copied immediately. Most the time for slightly less quality and therefore less price. That being said, its ended up with a pretty decent market with a lot of comparable products.

If you can afford it, get a Digital Designs amp or a Sundown amp. Both of those are high quality builds and designs. Sundown is pretty good / great quality subs. Soundqubed is pretty good. SSA or Digital Designs are the next step, depending on who you ask. Etc. All depends on your budget.

You could go with american bass or skar 8 inch subs, save some coin, and get higher end amps.

You would completely fine with an audiopipe or hifonics amp for 150 that gives around 1000 to 1500 watts. If quality is of concern, get the soundqubed amp or a sundown. I think you'll be fine with the PPI / NVX / Soundqubed stuff you're looking. You may want to lean towards Soundqubed based off your concerns though.

I cannot stress this enough. Take care of your amp and you'll be fine. Don't crank the gain all the way, set it right.

As far as sub quality, you're going to be hard pressed to outmatch Sundown for the price. There are cheaper options that will, and potentially just as well. Sundown is a little more assurance.

I'll draw up a quick design in Windisd for the SD-3 8s and the SD-3 10 and let you know what you can work with box wise.

The big three is swapping out wires from your alternator to your battery and ground and engine with 0 gauge or 2/0 gauge wire. Welding wire is cheaper and as effective. Same principle of try to empty a cup of water through a straw. Get a bigger straw to move more water.

It'll help you prevent voltage drop and actually get over 1000watts. You don't over a 1000, so you're right at the limit. Me personally, I would hold off and see how every did. If your headlights and electronics dim too bad from voltage drop, then I would swap out those wires and go from there. Rule of thumb at the shop was a battery or two for every 1000watts of RMS power. But you can squeeze by on the first 1000 if you need too. Depends on the stock alternator too.

In my opinion, going with the SD 8 or the HDS 208 and any of the 3 amp brands you're looking at would be a great setup.

PS kicker amps are pretty decent, its the subs that I don't like.

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

You could go with american bass or skar 8 inch subs, save some coin, and get higher end amps.

Fuck Skam Audio

I'll draw up a quick design in Windisd for the SD-3 8s and the SD-3 10 and let you know what you can work with box wise.

The SD series has horrible sensitivity, still a great sub but not very efficient. The HDS208 has a 2.5" coil, compared to the sd-8

The big three is swapping out wires from your alternator to your battery and ground and engine with 0 gauge or 2/0 gauge wire. Welding wire is cheaper and as effective. Same principle of try to empty a cup of water through a straw. Get a bigger straw to move more water.

should always add, not replace

In my opinion, going with the SD 8 or the HDS 208 and any of the 3 amp brands you're looking at would be a great setup.

The FSD Amps are better than the new PPI and NVX amps. Just my 2cents.