Total Newb..............Some Questions
06-29-2003, 10:04 AM
#1
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 34
I'm pretty new to car audio and am looking for some advice. I've already bought a Pioneer Premier P550MP MP3 deck and my next purchase will probably be a sub (or 2) and an amp. I'm not looking for an overpowering system, but something that will sound good for a reasonable price.
I'm becoming partial to ebay, and after reading a lot on here I'm leaning toward one of the pioneer 12" subs that you can get for $48 bucks. I eventually want to end up with a pair of front component speakers as well and a 4-channel amp to power everything.
So I guess my questions are as follows:
How will it sound with only the one 12" sub in the trunk? (I'm driving a 2003 civic coupe) Am I better off going with two 10" subs or should I break down and buy two 12s? Or is that just overkill considering I'm only going to have one amp?
I don't know much about them but from what I understand I should probably get a 4-channel amp and use it to power the front speakers, and bridge it to power the sub. Does this sound right? I'll probably buy it over ebay too so any suggestions on one I could get for a decent price would be greatly appreciated.
I'm becoming partial to ebay, and after reading a lot on here I'm leaning toward one of the pioneer 12" subs that you can get for $48 bucks. I eventually want to end up with a pair of front component speakers as well and a 4-channel amp to power everything.
So I guess my questions are as follows:
How will it sound with only the one 12" sub in the trunk? (I'm driving a 2003 civic coupe) Am I better off going with two 10" subs or should I break down and buy two 12s? Or is that just overkill considering I'm only going to have one amp?
I don't know much about them but from what I understand I should probably get a 4-channel amp and use it to power the front speakers, and bridge it to power the sub. Does this sound right? I'll probably buy it over ebay too so any suggestions on one I could get for a decent price would be greatly appreciated.
06-29-2003, 05:46 PM
#2
hmm well there's about a million different possibilities, but to help out hte most, i'd ask, how much money are you willing to spend on the stereo?
If you're not lookin for anything over powering, you could quite possibly run a pair of coaxials in your doors (which will sound better than stock speakers in general) off your deck. Optional whether to get a set for the rear of the car or not (i would and do...but it's preference) Going with coaxials would obviously be cheaper than getting a set of components, but if your not doing any huge power stuff, i think coaxials can sound pretty decent.
i'm not sure exactly what size you need, but as a general idea...i've done both memphis, alpine type s and eclipse coaxial 5x7's in my car and they all cost about $130cdn give or take a bit.
Like i said above, you could run the speakers of of your deck for now.
As for a sub/amp...again it's fairly dependant on cashflow and preferences. Obviously trunks take a lil more work to get sound into the cabin of the car than hatchbacks. So for me....about 300w was the min that i'd even bother with for a sub in the trunk. (on that note, i now have 800w going to 2 subs and i still want more
)
That said some cost effective stuff could be a jbl 300.1 amp and a sub to follow (options open).
Hopefully the above will give you something to thinka bout. You're idea of running a set of components off the front two channels of a 4channel amp and a sub off the rear two channels is good too, thats how i started out my system. But i thought i'd throw some other options and questions at ya too [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
If you're not lookin for anything over powering, you could quite possibly run a pair of coaxials in your doors (which will sound better than stock speakers in general) off your deck. Optional whether to get a set for the rear of the car or not (i would and do...but it's preference) Going with coaxials would obviously be cheaper than getting a set of components, but if your not doing any huge power stuff, i think coaxials can sound pretty decent.
i'm not sure exactly what size you need, but as a general idea...i've done both memphis, alpine type s and eclipse coaxial 5x7's in my car and they all cost about $130cdn give or take a bit.
Like i said above, you could run the speakers of of your deck for now.
As for a sub/amp...again it's fairly dependant on cashflow and preferences. Obviously trunks take a lil more work to get sound into the cabin of the car than hatchbacks. So for me....about 300w was the min that i'd even bother with for a sub in the trunk. (on that note, i now have 800w going to 2 subs and i still want more
)That said some cost effective stuff could be a jbl 300.1 amp and a sub to follow (options open).
Hopefully the above will give you something to thinka bout. You're idea of running a set of components off the front two channels of a 4channel amp and a sub off the rear two channels is good too, thats how i started out my system. But i thought i'd throw some other options and questions at ya too [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
06-29-2003, 07:37 PM
#3
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 359
As far as the subs it depends on the space you have, in a given amount of space one 12 " can sound better than two 10, or 12" in the same given space.
If you like bass, give up the space [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]
If you like bass, give up the space [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]
06-29-2003, 07:45 PM
#4
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,093
Your question seems a little unstable.
okay most amps will put out its max power under a 2-ohms load, so go with 2 woofers bridged in parallel to the amp.
A little advise, although you might get it cheaper on e-bay there are some disadvantages. 1st shipping is a problem if you are going to ship it from outter canada, and may even become more expensive after it. second you dont hear what you are buying so if you dont like it, then you are stuck. Id hear before buying. Second if somthing goes wrong then theres little change for corrections to the equipment.
Welcome Aboard
SHY
okay most amps will put out its max power under a 2-ohms load, so go with 2 woofers bridged in parallel to the amp.
A little advise, although you might get it cheaper on e-bay there are some disadvantages. 1st shipping is a problem if you are going to ship it from outter canada, and may even become more expensive after it. second you dont hear what you are buying so if you dont like it, then you are stuck. Id hear before buying. Second if somthing goes wrong then theres little change for corrections to the equipment.
Welcome Aboard
SHY
06-30-2003, 09:38 PM
#5
Do the '03 Civic's have the factory tweeters just inside the side mirrors like the '02's?
If so, I would go with a component set over coaxial's. It will sound better.
Running a 4ch amp is a good idea. It cuts down on the wiring and is a simple, neat installation. A drawback to consider though is that most 4ch amps only like to go as low as 2ohm which means you could only use one 4ohm sub on a bridged channel. So you need to decide on whether you want one or two subs so you can impedence match.
You have lots of space whether you want to run one 10 or two 12's. You will still have space left over. It depends on how much space you want to give up.
Decide on the space, what you want your system to do, and how much money you have to spend. Then we can make some more suggestions. [img]smile.gif[/img]
If so, I would go with a component set over coaxial's. It will sound better.
Running a 4ch amp is a good idea. It cuts down on the wiring and is a simple, neat installation. A drawback to consider though is that most 4ch amps only like to go as low as 2ohm which means you could only use one 4ohm sub on a bridged channel. So you need to decide on whether you want one or two subs so you can impedence match.
You have lots of space whether you want to run one 10 or two 12's. You will still have space left over. It depends on how much space you want to give up.
Decide on the space, what you want your system to do, and how much money you have to spend. Then we can make some more suggestions. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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