Recommendation request: Need to match subs with an old Punch 75.2

[Tom Brokaw 10+ year member]

My uncle's girlfriend gifted me with a RF Punch 75.2. I want to add a sub, as the speakers in my truck are currently buzzing and it's bugging the crap out of me. They are also going to be replaced, btw.

Parameters:

Vehicle:

97 Mazda B4000 extra/super/king cab

Amp: Rockford Fosgate Punch 75.2

- I'm not interested in upgrading this as it was free, so I'm speccing out speakers for it.

Head Unit: Pioneer DEH-2200UB

- Bought this less than a year ago, I like it, don't want to upgrade it either.

Current speakers:

- Stock (5 1/2"?) in the doors, Kenwood something or other 6x9s in the back

Budget:

- $150 for driver, box, and wiring. She (the girlfriend) is not into this stuff so didn't include anything but the unit itself, so I'll need a fusebox too. Would prefer to keep it under that amount so I can replace the current speakers sooner rather than later.

Where I'm at:

- I plan to run the amp bridged (4 ohms) with the "XCard" set to low-pass, and run the speakers off the head unit.

- I'll need some type of high-pass setup for them - bass blockers? equalizer? what do you recommend?

What I'm looking for:

- Clean audio. I don't crank it so much now that I'm older and have tinnitus, but when I do turn it up, I need the speakers to NOT buzz.

- Feeling the bass is nice but not necessary. Making it audible to others outside my vehicle is undesirable, but I'd rather have to turn it down for them rather than have it not loud enough for me. I suspect that my budget will make it so this is not going to be an issue.

Questions:

1a. What's a good sub that will meet my requirements?

1b. Buy one with a box or buy box/driver separately?

2. What's a decent solution for running the other speakers high-pass only?

3. Suggestions/improvements welcomed, just be gentle, I'm relatively noobish on car audio.

Possibly relevant: A lot of what I listen to is relatively bass heavy, ie, Venetian Snares, Portishead, Massive Attack, various trance, etc.

Thanks.

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[Epic0318 10+ year member]

150 is kinda cheap really. for the that you can get a dcon. but u will need a bit more for wiring.

 

[Tom Brokaw 10+ year member]

Thanks for the quick reply. Looks like my amp is rated at 150W and the DCON 10 is rated at 300W. Even if the RF rating is conservative, it's still low, yeah?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

i can do a dd 310 ans the amp kit for 150 shipped ,i'm also in cali .central coast area

 

[Tom Brokaw 10+ year member]

Thanks, really looking more for recommendations and/or general knowledge than sale offers.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

ok then you want a really good at least 8 gauge amp kit /w a mini anl fuse,also a sub that will take at least 300 watts rms single 4 ohm will put the sub in a better price range .what you need to remember is that that amp will put out alot of power for a small amp [ thats why they were called cheater amps]. they are rated at 12 volts not 14.4 like most cars produce now ,which in turn will give you around 20% more power than rated.a ported box will give a better bass response but a sealed can be smaller and play more frequency's and a little better sq too

 

[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

@ ~160 watts, I would recommend something with higher than average sensitivity. Now that power has become cheap, many manufacturers are building "heavy" subs that can take a lot more power than your amp is going to supply. But compared to many of the subs that were built back when good power was about $1/watt, those "heavy" subs need a lot of power to shine.

 

[Tom Brokaw 10+ year member]

thanks for the tips, mylows, I think sealed is going to work better for me, size and sq take priority over volume.

z1nonly, what would you call average, and thus higher than average, sensitivity?

I was poking around and found this RF 10:

Rockford Fosgate Prime R1L-1X10 Sealed enclosure with one 10" Prime subwoofer - Reviews at Crutchfield.com

Opinions? I'm not sold on it, have no problem walking away, just using it as a reference point.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

the sub is junk wouldn't get it ,you must understand that the amp you have is powerful even for such a small one ,i'd look at a sub that takes 200 - 400 watts rms @ 4 ohm

 

[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

I've been out of the game for a while and am only now just getting back into it. From the subs I've limited selection I've looked at, average 10" woofers are running about 84db 1w/1m. Average 12" are a couple db louder.

If you have space, a ported enclosure (coupled with a sub that works well in a ported enclosure) will generally get more output from the same amount of power as the same sub in a sealed enclosure. (particularly around the tuning frequency)

-Never listened to that version of RF sub. btw

 

[Tom Brokaw 10+ year member]

What makes it junk? What makes a sub higher quality?

 

[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

I don't know about the quality of that sub, but your amp puts out more continuous power than that particular sub is rated to handle.

 

[Tom Brokaw 10+ year member]

Post timing was off, the sq question was more directed at milows.

OK, so regarding continuous power, that's not what I was expecting. I don't want to run the subs at their capacity because that'll wear/burn them out more quickly, is that correct? Doesn't volume affect output? Or is that stupid? I was thinking since I won't have it cranked all the time, it would be good to match capacities. But it sounds like I should give the subs a bit of headroom. Is there a percentage rule of thumb, ie, amp RMS should be rated at XX% of sub RMS?

 

[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

As for the amp power rating vs sub power rating, it looks as though this aspect of car audio hasn't changed much since I last paid attention to car audio.

Some brands are more honest about their numbers than others. Your amp does at least what it's rated at. (probably more) The sub you mentioned is from the same manufacturer but it's rated to take less power than your amp is rated to give it. And many brands that are awesome at one time get bought out and go down hill.

I don't think RF is one of those brands, but just because a brand was good 10-20 years ago doesn't mean it still is.

As mentioned by mylows, I would look for a sub that's (honestly)rated for at least 200 watts continuous power.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

most of the fosgate stuff made now is not made in usa any more and i believe the prime stuff is china made = garbage,wont handle the power of that amp , no way ,most mass produced equipment is made in china now and the parts they use is just not quality materials or built which = junk