Car audio people: Subwoofer questions.

[musicsmaker]

The car I just bought came with everything but subwoofers. Alpine CD player, MTX (those any good?) amplifiers, and Infinity "reference" speakers in the dash, doors, and in the back. The guy kept the sub woofers for his own ride though, and I have been looking for a set.

Since all the other speakers in the car are the Infinity "reference" type, I was thinking about going with a set of 10 inch reference subs to match them. Are these subs any good?

Also, is there a good car audio forum where I can go research all this stuff a little? Thanks for your time.

[thrlride]

musicmaker, you don't really need to get infinity subs to match. I would highly recommend looking at a JL Audio 10w3v2 or W6 or W7 series. They make outstanding subs. Do you already have an amp for the sub? What type of car is it?

[musicsmaker]

The lines from the head unit feed into an amp which feeds all the regular speakers, and RCA jacks go from that amp to a MTX thunder 421D which powers the subs.

The car is an '88 mustang.

[crab0000]

You may want to look at the Kicker L5's. My brother-in-law just got a 12" one and it hits pretty hard in a really small enclosure. I have two Boston Acoustic Pro 12's and I love them, they hit hard and clean. What type of music are you planning on listening to mainly? Make sure to build a good box, a good box can make a crappy sub sound great.
Steve

[LIREEF]

If you want, I'll send you a box with sub's and an amp. All I would like is for you to pay for shipping. I have two 10' or 12" Aura's and two 10" or 12" nacamichi subs and I have one amp left. It all works pretty good. Umm, if not, I would consider just having one sub. Crutchfield is a great place to call. They are very knowledgeable.

[musicsmaker]

I listen mostly to rock, but to be honest I go back and forth from rock to rap to just about anything in between.

[thrlride]

Kickers are punchy and really jam. JL audios are smooth and clear.

[musicsmaker]

LIREEF, that's cool. How much do you think it would be to ship them?

[lakerfan]

The type of subwoofers you should get would depend on how much room you give them as well as the type of box you get. You would also need to decide over SPL ( how loud it will get) and the quality of bass you want. www.SoundDomain.com is a good board to do research on, but I haven't been there in a while.

JL's are good, kickers and Audiobahn are good as well as long as you stick to the higher end models.

[barnacle bill]

I have used rockford fosgate and kicker products for years both excellent. Most woofer companys make woofers that perform well in small enclosures but is usually subject to the amount of power you are using. Go and listen to different subs and decide which you think sound the best. What sounds good to me may sound like crap to you. I was involved in the car audio industry for several years as an installer and have several friends still doing it. Any ?'s you might have i would be glad to help.

[MrSandman]

I've got a single JL Audio 12" sub in my SUV mounted in a sealed box. The bass response is accurate and smooth. I'm very happy with it and couldn't ask for more.

[Tat2dBrownDude]

I had 4 15 inch Rockford Fosgate Punch XLC's in my sub, my friend had two 10 inch jl's in his explorer that hit almost as hard as mine. If I was to do it again I would have went with the JL audios, they just seem to be better.

http://img21.photobucket.com/albums/v62/Tat2d/burban16.jpg

[boogs]

Enclosure is everything once you're away from the heavily damped woofers. I used to have a pair of 12" Kicker Solobarics in my 90 mustang and they had lots of punch if not much variance in tone.

I'd go for JL stuff.

Scott

[musicsmaker]

JL sure is getting a lot of votes here. Guess I'll go with the tried and true! :D

Some of you have mentioned getting just one sub. Why just one rather than two? Might it be louder or more clear? I do understand a little about acoustics and how at such low frequencies there is no sense in having stereo.

Last question: What makes a 12 better than a 10 and visa versa?

Tat2dBrownDude That is one cool looking enclosure. Is that custom work?

[thrlride]

How much power does your amp have? And, how many outlets does it have? Meaning, do you have the outlets for two subs?

[musicsmaker]

Here are the specs:
THUNDER421D
• RMS Power measured at 12.5 Volts DC:
150 Watts x 1 into a 4 Ohm load with less than 1% Thd+N
300 Watts x 1 into a 2 Ohm load with less than 1% Thd+N
• Dynamic Power measured at 14.4 Volts DC:
210 Watts x 1 into a 4 Ohm load
420 Watts x 1 into a 2 Ohm load
• Signal to Noise Ratio: ≥100dB A-Weighted
• Damping Factor: >100
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-200Hz ± 3dB
• Maximum Input: 8Vrms
• Thunder EQ: Variable Bass Boost (0-18dB) centered at 40Hz
• Crossover: Variable 40Hz to 200Hz, 24dB/Octave Low Pass
• Dimensions: 9.4" x 9.75" x 2.1" (23.9cm x 24.8cm x 5.3cm)

It is already wired up, and even though it says "150 watts x 1" there are two sets of wires coming from it.

[thrlride]

From reading those specs I'm assuming that this amp is a sub only amp?

[musicsmaker]

Yea, here is a link to the info about it on their website.

http://www.mtxaudio.com/caraudio/products/amplifiers/thunder421D.cfm

[thrlride]

That's wierd that it was two sets of RCA outputs and is a class D amp. I would run one 2 ohm or 4 ohm JL 12W6 or if money isn't as issue you could go one 12W7. Can't ask for more than that.

[Tat2dBrownDude]

Originally posted by musicsmaker

Tat2dBrownDude That is one cool looking enclosure. Is that custom work?


Yup

[musicsmaker]

I want one. :D

[crab0000]

Originally posted by musicsmaker


Last question: What makes a 12 better than a 10 and visa versa?

Tat2dBrownDude That is one cool looking enclosure. Is that custom work?
Generally speaking more cone area=more air mass moved=more volume, but this is taking into account two similarly built subs.
Steve

[barnacle bill]

The most important issue of a sub is its quality of materials and if you physically compare a JL to a rockford you will see it is no comparison. look at some hx2 pro series with a 3" coil even in a 10" woofor and you will see. Enclosure is everything I can make a crappy quality woofer sound good with an enclosure with a high dampening factor. The "deader" the better, fiberglass looks great as long as when you knock on it with your hand it should sound dead not hollow. I have 2 hx2's in a 1.5" thick enclosure MDF of course in my house ran by 2 NHT 300 watt mono amps and all the neighbors hate it! JL's are good but the quality of kicker and fosgate is better. The JL cone is not rigid at all and allows the spider to flex that is why they don't last long at high volume. Once it's coil is hot efficiency goes down.Good luck there are a lot of shops out there that will take your money be careful!:cool:

[Rurouni Kenshin]

I've got 2-12" 1000 (500 RMS) watt Pioneer Subs in my 2003 GMC Sierra Extended Cab under the rear seat and its AWSOME!!!!! i installed everything myself the Alpine Head Unit, Amp, Amp Wiring and Subs. i even built my box with plexi-glass. It shakes that truck like crazy!! you can hear it from so far away. i even installed my friends sony system. wire thickness makes a major diffrence too!

[musicsmaker]

Can anybody tell me anything about the Punch subs? I was checking some different stuff out at Best Buy and the P2's sounded great. They were very clean sounding.

PS ~ I would have never thought it could get this complicated when I started this thread. There are as many types of boxes as there are the subs themselves.

[barnacle bill]

Go to the rockford website tons of info. The difference in subs is price and quality, you get what you pay for my hx-2 punch 15" subs were a llittle under 200 a piece.

[crab0000]

My Boston Pro-12's were a little over $300 each, but your right, you get what you pay for.
Steve

[MattG]

i really like my 12" infinity perfect. I was running Jl w3's prior and purchased a new car and only wanted to run one sub. I like the perfect much more than the w-3's

Whatever you go with go quality. better to spend the extra money now and not end up with some p.o.s. thats just a loud distorting boom.

[cyclist1]

The enclosure they are put in will make a huge difference and most subwoofers are designed for a specific size and type of enclosure. I once heard a 6" Focal Audio woofer in its ideal box and it sounded better than a lot of 10 and 12" woofers. I personally run a pair of Volcano Cannible series 10's powered by an MTX Thunder 280. It puts out great bass without taking up all of the storage space or being sloppy. Generally speaking, a ported incloser will put out more SPL but will not be a punchy (hard hitting) as a sealed encloser. I prefer a couple of 10's in a sealed enclosure over a ported box because I listen to Rock music which tends to require a faster subwoofer. Large subwoofers in ported boxes are great for Rap music where the bass notes are longer, but they don't always keep up with faster bass hits and can sound sloppy. I would not worry about matching your subs to your other speakers. You won't notice much of a difference with subs. I only worry about matching speakers for the mids and highs. One important thing to do is to adjust your amp levels so it is not clipping. Too many people push their amps too far and it results in crappy sound and possibly blown woofers.

JMO/JME,
Andrew

[musicsmaker]

I'm leaning strongly towards the Rockford Fosgate "Punch" P3 in either 12 or 10 inch running in a sealed enclosure. I mentioned the P2 earlier but come to find out the P3 is dual voice coil. Little more expensive, but still not as bad as the JL stuff was. The local shop wanted almost $400.

I'm going to go listen to some different stuff at a local competition next weekend before I make my final decision though. Hopefully there I can get some deals on some of the nicer stuff. What do ya think?

PS ~ I DIY everything I can for my reef. Screw buying a box. I'm making my own. I've done a little research on that as well. Anyone ever heard an "ABC" box in person?

[Nanook]

My money is on a JL12W7.

nook;)

[Rurouni Kenshin]

go for the dual. you can wire them parallel and get twice the power.

[musicsmaker]

Can I change my mind again? The Image Dynamics IDQ12 V.2 gets lots of praise over in the Audio Domain forums. I've read a few threads from people who are running similar setups to mine, and it supposedly gets pretty loud and has great SQ. Plus it's a dual voice coil. I think I'm ready to order. :D

[flamron]

I am a rockford fan all the way. I have two he2 12" ran off of an 801s rockford amp and they slam. Never had any problems with them either. Any way you go, make sure the subs will play as deep as you want, down to 20HZ. A 12" sub will play louder, but not always as deep as a 10" sub.

[musicsmaker]

Flamron, what kind of music are you listening to? I like a lot of rock music.

[luceneck]

Rock really doesn't have all that much bass, IMO. You would be better off getting some upgrades on tweeters and midrange. With too much bass you will miss the nicer parts of some songs. I turn my bass down when switching off of rap/r&b to classic rock/alt. Now if you like feeling your music, then it is different.

[fish_taste_good]

I am a FIRM believer in that you get what you pay for. Kicker Solobarics are expensive, but worth every penny. Mine are still running great, and they were originally purchased in 94 - 95. I think they now go by the L series or something like that.

I have 4 Kicker solobaric 8's in the cab of my nissan truck powered by a Soundstream Refrence 405 amp. It pounds and sounds great for rock and rap.

http://www.geocities.com/trippwwf/truckpage.htm

(old pics there, but still the same setup)

[Typo]

if you are more into rock music then go with 10" subs. smaller subs are faster and so is the bass in rock music. most bass guitarist's use 10" subs in their cabinets.

[flamron]

i listen to mostly rap and country, but listen to some rock, like metallica and ac/dc.

[musicsmaker]

Originally posted by luceneck
Rock really doesn't have all that much bass, IMO. You would be better off getting some upgrades on tweeters and midrange. With too much bass you will miss the nicer parts of some songs. I turn my bass down when switching off of rap/r&b to classic rock/alt. Now if you like feeling your music, then it is different. The car already has infinity speakers all the way around that are amplified by their own amp. Sounds great, but it's missing something and you hit the nail on the head. I like to feel my music as well as hear it. With the current system I can't really turn it up all the way. It gets much too loud and stays crystal clear the whole way there.

[theduckster]

go with JL

[qwuintus]

JLs and kicker L5's bump...
good for bumping hiphop/trance