New to audio and need subs
02-27-2011, 02:44 AM
#2
I had a 00 Sunfire GT. I paid $900 for a used 2005 RE XXX 12" / 2.2 cube @ 36 Hz 1" MDF box / used Visonik 1500W @ 1 ohm amp. It had good SQ and got loud enough for daily but it was nowhere near what I'd now call serious bang, and my rear-view fell off 3 times. Tragically it was stolen and set on fire but luckily I switched out the sub & amp a week before. I still lost $1500 worth of stuff. The first thing you'll want to do if you're really going for "big bang" is to get a great alarm.
Nobody can suggest "best" options because 1) there's too many options, 2) our listening preferences aren't yours, and 3) I really doubt you could afford the absolute "best".
You havn't given us enough info.
What do you listen to, how often, what systems have you heard/what's your definition of bang, how much trunk space do you want to take up, what's your budget, and what's your mobile audio knowledge & wood-working skills like?
Do you want a sealed or ported box?
$1000 for sub and box - what about a sub amp, deck, wiring, components with kick-pods and a component amp? That's to start. At 1500+ watts (total RMS) to a sub(s) it would be wise to get a deep-cycle battery, and at 2000+ watts it would be wise to get an upgraded alternator. Then there's sound-deadener, the "big 3", and multiple boxes for testing. Even a decent budget build can get expensive.
Stay away from Kicker, Alpine, and expensive JL stuff. Anything mainstream just stay away from, you don't need to pay extra for their logos when there's higher-quality for less $.
Check out:
Digital Designs - ported
DC Audio - ported
Fi Audio - ported & sealed
RE Audio - mostly ported
Eclipse - mostly sealed
Audioque - ported
American Bass - ported
TC Sounds - sealed & ported
Audiopulse mostly ported
Sound Solutions Audio mostly ported
JL W6 is an exception if you can find it for a good price
There isn't a hell of a lot of room in that trunk. You can fit:
2 sealed 12's or 15's
1 sealed 18
3-4 cheaper ported 10's
2 ported 12's
1 ported 15
If you want a very low bass response for chopped & screwed rap, with really good SQ than you'll want 2 sealed 15's that model well in 2.5ish cubes NET each or 4 cheaper ported 10's (SSA DCON for $100 each) tuned to 30 Hz in 5 cubes NET. This way you get the most cone area, and hopefully you could power each 15" with 1000-2000 watts.
If you want it louder than what you think 4 ported 10's in 5 cubes on 1200W RMS (total) will offer than most people with small-ish trunks go with 2 ported 12's with both the subs & port facing into the cabin, and then seal it off with duct tape, fiberglass and whatnot. Big power, like 5000W, with multiple batteries and a bigass alternator, in 5 cubes net to tuned 35ish Hz will get you bangin' damn serious.
If you can't afford all that stuff than a healthy compromise would be a SQ-oriented ported 15" on about 2000 watts. If this is you than checkout the SSA XCON 15" and Audioque 2200W amp. It would be damn loud and sound amazing with the right install (1 extra battery, sound deadening, facing into the cabin & sealed off). That amp is hard to beat for dollar-per-watt & quality, people love their customer service.
If you want to spend even less than buy 2 SSA DCON 12's for $250, make a 4.5 cube NET ported box tuned to 30-35 Hz, get a 600W @ 1 ohm amp and call it a day. This would still be really sweet.
If you prefer the response or SQ of a sealed box than buy 2 Eclipse SW8210's ($150-$200 each from sonicelectronix.com) and make a 3 cube NET sealed box, and get a Audioque 2200W amp and an extra battery. It would get so damn low.
Nobody can suggest "best" options because 1) there's too many options, 2) our listening preferences aren't yours, and 3) I really doubt you could afford the absolute "best".
You havn't given us enough info.
What do you listen to, how often, what systems have you heard/what's your definition of bang, how much trunk space do you want to take up, what's your budget, and what's your mobile audio knowledge & wood-working skills like?
Do you want a sealed or ported box?
$1000 for sub and box - what about a sub amp, deck, wiring, components with kick-pods and a component amp? That's to start. At 1500+ watts (total RMS) to a sub(s) it would be wise to get a deep-cycle battery, and at 2000+ watts it would be wise to get an upgraded alternator. Then there's sound-deadener, the "big 3", and multiple boxes for testing. Even a decent budget build can get expensive.
Stay away from Kicker, Alpine, and expensive JL stuff. Anything mainstream just stay away from, you don't need to pay extra for their logos when there's higher-quality for less $.
Check out:
Digital Designs - ported
DC Audio - ported
Fi Audio - ported & sealed
RE Audio - mostly ported
Eclipse - mostly sealed
Audioque - ported
American Bass - ported
TC Sounds - sealed & ported
Audiopulse mostly ported
Sound Solutions Audio mostly ported
JL W6 is an exception if you can find it for a good price
There isn't a hell of a lot of room in that trunk. You can fit:
2 sealed 12's or 15's
1 sealed 18
3-4 cheaper ported 10's
2 ported 12's
1 ported 15
If you want a very low bass response for chopped & screwed rap, with really good SQ than you'll want 2 sealed 15's that model well in 2.5ish cubes NET each or 4 cheaper ported 10's (SSA DCON for $100 each) tuned to 30 Hz in 5 cubes NET. This way you get the most cone area, and hopefully you could power each 15" with 1000-2000 watts.
If you want it louder than what you think 4 ported 10's in 5 cubes on 1200W RMS (total) will offer than most people with small-ish trunks go with 2 ported 12's with both the subs & port facing into the cabin, and then seal it off with duct tape, fiberglass and whatnot. Big power, like 5000W, with multiple batteries and a bigass alternator, in 5 cubes net to tuned 35ish Hz will get you bangin' damn serious.
If you can't afford all that stuff than a healthy compromise would be a SQ-oriented ported 15" on about 2000 watts. If this is you than checkout the SSA XCON 15" and Audioque 2200W amp. It would be damn loud and sound amazing with the right install (1 extra battery, sound deadening, facing into the cabin & sealed off). That amp is hard to beat for dollar-per-watt & quality, people love their customer service.
If you want to spend even less than buy 2 SSA DCON 12's for $250, make a 4.5 cube NET ported box tuned to 30-35 Hz, get a 600W @ 1 ohm amp and call it a day. This would still be really sweet.
If you prefer the response or SQ of a sealed box than buy 2 Eclipse SW8210's ($150-$200 each from sonicelectronix.com) and make a 3 cube NET sealed box, and get a Audioque 2200W amp and an extra battery. It would get so damn low.
. The GT is just a step above crap. I wanted to say everything that everyone would say anyways. I type at like 125wpm.
02-27-2011, 12:17 PM
#5
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 127
I agree that sunfires suck in a royal way, but for some reason, considering they are trunk setups, they seem to be very good for car audio setups.
Like Lord Huggington said though, if you plan on spending $1000 for your sub and box, how much cash do you have for the rest of the setup?
If you don't upgrade your factory speakers, and amp the upgraded ones, you'll probably drown them out with bass, or blow them from distortion from your deck.
If your deck doesn't have decent pre-out voltage (which most of them don't), and your amps are matched pretty close to your speakers/sub(s) for rms ratings, you'll probably need to crank your gains and that's hard on the amp after a while, so you may want to look into getting a line driver or something of the sort.
If you are running a load of wattage, you'll want to upgrade your electrical system. Wiring, decent batteries, and upgraded alternators aren't cheap and can add up fast.
Then, of course, there is always sound deadener to take into consideration.
If you don't want to sink a hell of a lot of cash into it, and want a fairly straightforward single amp setup, without upgrading your factory speakers, or anything else, and still getting a decent amount of bass, than you have to make some compromises. It won't be the loudest system, but it'll still 'bang'.
For cleaner (chrisper) bass, I'd stick with 10"s or 12"s. Personally, I'd run a single 12", 500-750 WRMS in a rear facing ported box, tuned to about 30-35hz, or, depending on your taste in music and style of bass you prefer, dual 10"s, 500-750 WRMS combined in a sealed box. Either setup on an equivelant amp @ 2 or 4 ohms. No less than 4 awg power & ground wiring, 12awg speaker wire.
Like Lord Huggington said though, if you plan on spending $1000 for your sub and box, how much cash do you have for the rest of the setup?
If you don't upgrade your factory speakers, and amp the upgraded ones, you'll probably drown them out with bass, or blow them from distortion from your deck.
If your deck doesn't have decent pre-out voltage (which most of them don't), and your amps are matched pretty close to your speakers/sub(s) for rms ratings, you'll probably need to crank your gains and that's hard on the amp after a while, so you may want to look into getting a line driver or something of the sort.
If you are running a load of wattage, you'll want to upgrade your electrical system. Wiring, decent batteries, and upgraded alternators aren't cheap and can add up fast.
Then, of course, there is always sound deadener to take into consideration.
If you don't want to sink a hell of a lot of cash into it, and want a fairly straightforward single amp setup, without upgrading your factory speakers, or anything else, and still getting a decent amount of bass, than you have to make some compromises. It won't be the loudest system, but it'll still 'bang'.
For cleaner (chrisper) bass, I'd stick with 10"s or 12"s. Personally, I'd run a single 12", 500-750 WRMS in a rear facing ported box, tuned to about 30-35hz, or, depending on your taste in music and style of bass you prefer, dual 10"s, 500-750 WRMS combined in a sealed box. Either setup on an equivelant amp @ 2 or 4 ohms. No less than 4 awg power & ground wiring, 12awg speaker wire.
02-27-2011, 01:18 PM
#7
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 127
Refer to Lord Huggington's post, he covers a lot of options in it.
Car audio is a lot about personal preference. If you don't know how different setups sound, it's hard to suggest a good setup for you. As far as spl goes, you can have a single 15 hit the same db as dual 12's but sound completely different. You may prefer the sound of a sealed box (better sq generally speaking) over a ported box (better spl generally speaking) or vice versa.
Instead of upgrading as needed, upgrade before you start, while you are trying to figure out what exactly you want to run. Think of it like hp. It wouldn't be smart to upgrade from 100hp to 500hp+ without upgrading your brakes and suspension. If your engine is your system, and your brakes and suspension are your electrical system. If you are unsure of exactly how much hp you want, you, sensibly, would upgrade your brakes and suspension before your engine mods were complete. That way, whether you're brakes and suspension may seem overkill for your current setup, when you throw in your massive upgrade, you'll be able to handle it. And if your setup is bigger than you expected, you're already ready for it.
Car audio is a lot about personal preference. If you don't know how different setups sound, it's hard to suggest a good setup for you. As far as spl goes, you can have a single 15 hit the same db as dual 12's but sound completely different. You may prefer the sound of a sealed box (better sq generally speaking) over a ported box (better spl generally speaking) or vice versa.
Instead of upgrading as needed, upgrade before you start, while you are trying to figure out what exactly you want to run. Think of it like hp. It wouldn't be smart to upgrade from 100hp to 500hp+ without upgrading your brakes and suspension. If your engine is your system, and your brakes and suspension are your electrical system. If you are unsure of exactly how much hp you want, you, sensibly, would upgrade your brakes and suspension before your engine mods were complete. That way, whether you're brakes and suspension may seem overkill for your current setup, when you throw in your massive upgrade, you'll be able to handle it. And if your setup is bigger than you expected, you're already ready for it.
02-27-2011, 01:19 PM
#8
Go with 2 12's in 4 to 5 cubes NET ported tuned to 30-35 Hz facing to the rear with an Audioque 2200 amp ($279) with a battery on it. Use 1/0 gauge wiring, deadening, and do the "big 3". With the right song that's enough bass to make you feel nauseous on a hot day because your eyes are wobbling so much.
1000W RMS "SQL" 12's:
Fi Q
Fi SSD
SSA Icon
DC Level 4
Image Dynamics IDMAX
Bunch more.
1000W RMS "SQL" 12's:
Fi Q
Fi SSD
SSA Icon
DC Level 4
Image Dynamics IDMAX
Bunch more.
02-27-2011, 03:28 PM
#10
A sunfire..... with a 5 cubic foot box in it..... I wish you luck getting it in there. Go to London Drugs and get a shoehorn and jar of vaseline. Bigger does not mean better. A system is a balance of everything. This car is ideally suited to a pair of 12's or a pair of 10's. You can indeed do a single 15" or even a dual 15" if you really want to pour the $ into it but I do not recommend it. Imagine how the car is going to handle with all that weight back there? Are suspension upgrades in the immediate future or do you want the a$$ end suspension bottoming out? Stop now, go back to square one and develop a plan of what it is you are really looking for.
