McFly

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum but have been learning steadily about car audio for about half a year now so I know a little bit but not a whole lot. I currently have two Rockford Fosgate Punch 4ohm SVC 150w RMS 10''s in a sealed Bassworks box with a RF 3001 Punch amp, along with RF P163C 6.5 3-way coaxial door speakers and RF P1692C 2-way coaxial 6x9s in the back of my Cobalt. This is all hooked to an Alpine CDA-9884 head unit.

Now here's where my problem is, I want something a little more powerful as far as subs go and I found some nice 18'' Fi subs for sale on this site. I was wondering what my choices for amps would be, and how I can make a ported box for this sub fit in my trunk? Am I making a good choice by going with the 18? My local car audio dealer was trying to get me to go with two RF T1 10''s and a 1500watt RF Power amp, but buying all of that new seems pretty pricey for 10's and I doubt it would have the capability of an 18?

McFly

Oh and I have a 2farad cap, everyone told me I wouldn't need one but when the lights dim as bad as they were at big bass hits I figured a cap would be cheaper than replacing the alternator later on.

Thanks for any help!

BigRedGuy

iTrader: (11)

Sounds like a nice setup already.....it might not shake your doors off but you should be getting a pretty good thud.....

Having said that, the jump from a pair of 10"s with around 400w to an 18" is substantial....in order to properly power that driver you will need anywhere from 1 to 2,000w RMS..........not only will the amp cost big $$$, but the electrical power available for the system will need to be upgraded as well.....

Having added so much bass while leaving the rest of the speakers running off the deck you won't be able hear anything but bass, and that sucks.......

On a general basis, I would do the following:

1) Get a decent 4 channel amp for your door and rear speakers. Running off the deck they have no chance of delivering their potential sound....something around 50-75w per channel would be enough in a small vehicle to get pretty loud while staying clear and distortion-free......you should be able to find one in the classified section on here for $100 or so.

2) Porting those 2 subs will help you get a lot more bass without replacing the drivers.....a ported box can be built for roughly $80-100 worth of wood, glue, screws and carpet.

3) Upgrade the wiring under your hood....there is a tutorial showing how to do it here.

4) Get the system tuned by someone who knows what they're doing......it does make a difference to the sound quality and the volume.....

For the record....if the 2 T1s were put in the right box it is entirely possible they would get louder than a single 18' sub....its all about the box.....

Also for the record, if you can make it up to Mississauga on a Saturday or Sunday I can help you do this.....PM me if you're interested......

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

Love the user name first off.... see how many of the others catch it. I would definitely look at a 4 channel amp as well, otherwise you are going to have a bass machine and no sound to go with it. A good system is a balance of sound. A single 18" driver might also leave you with a huge gap in your response. It is tuned so low and produces so much output there that you will have overwhelming amounts of bass response and then try to rely on the 6x9" to fill in the midbass gaps to compensate, recipe for blowing speakers if you ask me. I would drop the 18" idea based on a couple of reasons. BigRedGuy touched on some already, the $ it takes to upgrade the electrical in the vehicle to the level to drive the new amp(s) properly. It is much more than just a battery. The size of the box is going to weigh down the back of the car, the space it takes up, see you later back of car. You can accomplish quite a bit with smaller subs (say two 10" or one or two high output type subs in the proper box - it is all about the box). Come up with a game plan is what to do, identify the goals that you want for the new system, items you will keep, items you may sacrifice, end results and investment into the system. Then a proper suggestion can be made to move you forward and get a highly predictable outcome for your investment.

caron

my 600 watt amp dims my head lights the slightest, actually gotta try to look for it but i threw on a .5 farad cap and it stopped

correct me if i wrong please but i was told 1 farad to 1000 watts

BigRedGuy

iTrader: (11)

Why spend $150-200 on a cap when $25 worth of wire and terminals installed like this will cut down on your dimming and be better for your electrical system as a bonus....

Damn capacitor salesmen.....

All of a sudden I feel like getting a DeLorean.....