Please critique my planned setup, advise on amp?

Cloudpath

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Hi, complete audio noob here but have been trying to educate myself. Would love to hear thoughts/critiques on my planned setup for my '87 BMW 325i vert. I listen to many different genres of music but quite a bit is bass-heavy. Consider road/wind noise when top is down.

RECEIVER: Pioneer MVH-S522BS (4 volt, 3-way network mode crossover, 6-channel pre-amp outputs, compatible with Pioneer microphone Auto EQ, fits my car...)

SPEAKERS: either 6.5" Polk DB 6502 or Morel Maximo 6 installed in front kick panels (not doors) with tweeters in oem tweeter pods in doors. Open to other suggestions in this price range or even a bit higher that offer strong midbass frequency.

SUBWOOFER: I prefer to put the sub in the cabin rather than the trunk for a couple reasons and I rarely carry rear-seat passengers, looks like I can fit a very shallow wedge-shaped custom-fabbed (by someone else) enclosure in the rear passenger-side footwell with 0.4-0.45 cubic ft volume, sealed, with some form of quick-disconnect mount. (I am too tall to fit a similar enclosure behind the driver seat.) JL 10TW3-D4 requires too much volume and probably has lower output than I need, and the Sundown SD-4 is too big...

SOOOOO, I am trying to decide between the Kicker 10" L7T10 solo-baric (square, 500 RMS, 86 db sens, 25-100hz, 2 ohm, DVC), and the new Kicker 10" CompRT 48CWRT102 (round, 400 RMS, 25-500hz, 85 db sens, 2 ohm, DVC). Very hard to decide between the two because I THINK they should both fit and would have adequate enclosure volume...

The other alternative is TWO powered Kicker Hideaway HS-10s (10", 180 RMS each but 400 at 4 ohms, 25-120hz) mounted vertically in each rear footwell, as they don't fit under the seats.

AMP: ...??? Seeking recommendations as I am a bit lost here. I figured I could get away with a lower powered/less expensive amp by going with an efficient 2 ohm DVC sub? Unless I go with the dual Hideaway powered subs...? Not sure what features I need.

Thanks in advance!
 
10TW3 only wants .5 sealed, you sure you can't pull that out?

If not

 
I would get off the kicker thought, because you can get MUCH better for cheaper, and obviously not much more. Stick to these brands they have TONS of options. Sundown audio, B2 Audio Etc... Those 2 are my favorite and have anything and everything you could ever ask for or want. What's your budget?
 
10TW3 only wants .5 sealed, you sure you can't pull that out?

If not
Thanks for the reply; someone else recommended the Dayton over the Kickers for my application. It is also slightly possible I could get up to 0.5 cubic ft for the enclosure to use the JL if I make the enclosure a little taller. I guess I would need to talk to some audio installers who would put the box together for me. I suppose the JL is clearly superior to the Dayton?
 
Hi, complete audio noob here but have been trying to educate myself. Would love to hear thoughts/critiques on my planned setup for my '87 BMW 325i vert. I listen to many different genres of music but quite a bit is bass-heavy. Consider road/wind noise when top is down.

RECEIVER: Pioneer MVH-S522BS (4 volt, 3-way network mode crossover, 6-channel pre-amp outputs, compatible with Pioneer microphone Auto EQ, fits my car...)

SPEAKERS: either 6.5" Polk DB 6502 or Morel Maximo 6 installed in front kick panels (not doors) with tweeters in oem tweeter pods in doors. Open to other suggestions in this price range or even a bit higher that offer strong midbass frequency.

SUBWOOFER: I prefer to put the sub in the cabin rather than the trunk for a couple reasons and I rarely carry rear-seat passengers, looks like I can fit a very shallow wedge-shaped custom-fabbed (by someone else) enclosure in the rear passenger-side footwell with 0.4-0.45 cubic ft volume, sealed, with some form of quick-disconnect mount. (I am too tall to fit a similar enclosure behind the driver seat.) JL 10TW3-D4 requires too much volume and probably has lower output than I need, and the Sundown SD-4 is too big...

SOOOOO, I am trying to decide between the Kicker 10" L7T10 solo-baric (square, 500 RMS, 86 db sens, 25-100hz, 2 ohm, DVC), and the new Kicker 10" CompRT 48CWRT102 (round, 400 RMS, 25-500hz, 85 db sens, 2 ohm, DVC). Very hard to decide between the two because I THINK they should both fit and would have adequate enclosure volume...

The other alternative is TWO powered Kicker Hideaway HS-10s (10", 180 RMS each but 400 at 4 ohms, 25-120hz) mounted vertically in each rear footwell, as they don't fit under the seats.

AMP: ...??? Seeking recommendations as I am a bit lost here. I figured I could get away with a lower powered/less expensive amp by going with an efficient 2 ohm DVC sub? Unless I go with the dual Hideaway powered subs...? Not sure what features I need.

Thanks in advance!
For the price of that kicker 10" you could get a Sundown SA Rev 3 10" and I promise that will outperform the kicker in almost every way. Amps on the other hand are a little more expensive, what's your budget for an amp?
 
I would get off the kicker thought, because you can get MUCH better for cheaper, and obviously not much more. Stick to these brands they have TONS of options. Sundown audio, B2 Audio Etc... Those 2 are my favorite and have anything and everything you could ever ask for or want. What's your budget?

Yes I looked at the Sundown but it is too large I think for the enclosure, and I am not familiar with B2. Budget is flexible... I guess I am probably aiming for the 'best value' components; I can go above cheap stuff, but it seems.like you can get good quality woofers for $150-$250? I know the JL shallow 10in is widely praised but goes for around $360... Could possibly swing that, but if the Dayton or something else offers 90% of the performance or better for less than half the price I could go that route?

Amp budget... I really don't know. Where about does the optimal cost to performance point lie for someone who is a little more than casual and wants something that sounds amazing, but not nearly an audiophile?
 
Yes I looked at the Sundown but it is too large I think for the enclosure, and I am not familiar with B2. Budget is flexible... I guess I am probably aiming for the 'best value' components; I can go above cheap stuff, but it seems.like you can get good quality woofers for $150-$250? I know the JL shallow 10in is widely praised but goes for around $360... Could possibly sing that, but if the Dayton or something else offers 90% of the performance or better for less than half the price I could go that route?
The sundown I just mentioned only requires 0.5 cubes sealed and 1 ported.....
 
If you can swing the JL both money and space wise, it is the slim sub choice. I just went through this same thing and ended up grabbing 2 10TW3's. I'm going to get the box built for them this morning. If not, that dayton is a solid contender. Amps don't have to be expensive, though it depends which sub you grab. The JL can run 400 rms, whereas the dayton is 2-250 IIRC. Taramps makes some great budget amps, or you could swing into a best buy and grab a kicker 400.1 for $130.
 
Just realized I am an idiot and didn't account for wood or even fiberglass thickness, or subwoofer displacement in my volume calculation. Don't even have enough volume for the 8in JL. Looks like I will have to go with 1 or 2 of the powered 10in kicker hideaways. At least the are well-reviewed! Not sure howor if hey interact with an amp at all.
 
Looks like I barely have enough volume, 0.2 with sub displacement, to fit the 8in versions of either of those first two kickers I posted about. Probably better than the powered 10in subs?
 
Just realized I am an idiot and didn't account for wood or even fiberglass thickness, or subwoofer displacement in my volume calculation. Don't even have enough volume for the 8in JL. Looks like I will have to go with 1 or 2 of the powered 10in kicker hideaways. At least the are well-reviewed! Not sure howor if hey interact with an amp at all.

Does that year convertible have a fold down arm rest in the back seat? If it does, then, put the bass in the trunk and put the arm rest down and cut an access hole to the trunk. I did it in a 2001 BMW 3 series convertible and it sounded great. Then, put a single 12" in the trunk.
 
I don't think it does from the pics I've seen.
Years ago a friend had a civic hatchback that he had fiberglass "pods" made for the area where the armrest is in the back seats.
He put RF 8" on each side and ran them off of a punch 100 and it sounded really good.
I see the armrest area in the 91 325 vert already holds the rear speakers so it might be possible but the cost might be a little high and it would defiantly need some modification to that whole area.
 
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Cloudpath

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