Car audio systems

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Im looking to get some shit put into my car cuz i cant go any longer with this stock BS my new car came with..any one have any suggestions ...I have a trunk Cd changer that i wanna install but i dont know what to get with it....i know i need a new radio, speakers and preferably a tube ....but where should i start? some ppl are telling me to buy the box and speakers first but im thinking buying the radio first and work my way up would be more logical..i dont know i know nothing about this shit someone help lol

[UNKNOWN2U]

first off tubes suck, what you should do depends on how much $$$ you have to spend. When i bought my truck i ripped the stock system out the next day. If you dont have too much cash to spend then i suggest adding a box with either 2-10" or 12" jl audio subs and a good amp like a pheonix gold to your stock system first, then buy the radio...another amp and change your stock speakers last. again it all depends on how much cash you have to blow, it also helps if you know people in the business ;)

[James Maxx]

It depends on not only money, but how loud u want your system, security (loud booming bass is phat but it attracts thieves, like chrome rims). You can still get good bass out of a good subwoofer in the right box and an amp.

Start with the radio always...many stock radios dont have outputs for amps and the aftermarket radios are powerful alone. Doing just that could improve the speaker's sounds.

As for speakers, remember that the wattage needs to be equal or greater to the watts the amp pushes out. Example: a 4-channel amplifier with 50 watts each channel has to be hooked up to speakers that are rated at 50 watts or greater. Each channel is for one speaker. There are 2 types of ways they measure watts, the "peak" watts and "RMS" (forgot what it stands for). Peak watts is just a maximum load that can be put on the speakers for a while before they blow. RMS is the wattage range that the speakers are recommended to played in without distortion, overheating, etc. For aftermarket speakers 50 watts is pretty good and quite loud.

As for subwoofers you just need to be aware that the low bass can rattle your car's trunk and mirrors. That may seem cool but when your in your car enjoying your deep bass, the people outside your car will hear rumbling and loud rattling. You can use various sound dampening products like Dynamat they help a bit.

If you want more info you can go to www.crutchfield.com.

They have some helpful pointers for first time car audio installations.

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Wow thanks alot guys...your a big help!...I have been looking at crutchfileds for a while..so im learning some shit lol..its hard tho cuz theres so much to choose from i just dont know what the fk to get (brand wise) lol

[James Maxx]

Originally posted by SLAVE2THEMUZIK
Wow thanks alot guys...your a big help!...I have been looking at crutchfileds for a while..so im learning some shit lol..its hard tho cuz theres so much to choose from i just dont know what the fk to get (brand wise) lol

MB quart speakers and JL audio subwoofers. Those subs can pound and take one at the same time they are incredible.

[UNKNOWN2U]

Crutchfield has great service but very high prices

JL's are incredible, have three tens and they can take a beating. as for seperates I'm partial to Kicker's rs6 series.

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

umm when u guys say JL's..are u referring to JBL's?

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

and what are MB's?

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Originally posted by UNKNOWN2U
first off tubes suck, what you should do depends on how much $$$ you have to spend. When i bought my truck i ripped the stock system out the next day. If you dont have too much cash to spend then i suggest adding a box with either 2-10" or 12" jl audio subs and a good amp like a pheonix gold to your stock system first, then buy the radio...another amp and change your stock speakers last. again it all depends on how much cash you have to blow, it also helps if you know people in the business ;)


well..would u be in the business? lol

[nuzbim]

MB is MB quartz, great speakers. i had seperates in my old car in the front and co-axials in the rear. if u want great prices, try www.carmedia1.com. i used to get all my stuff from them, they were much cheaper than crutchfield. hope that helps.

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Originally posted by nuzbim
MB is MB quartz, great speakers. i had seperates in my old car in the front and co-axials in the rear. if u want great prices, try www.carmedia1.com. i used to get all my stuff from them, they were much cheaper than crutchfield. hope that helps.

thanks!

[James Maxx]

Originally posted by SLAVE2THEMUZIK
umm when u guys say JL's..are u referring to JBL's?

No No typo. JL Audio. www.jlaudio.com

I used to have 2 12" (forgot the model) wired to an 800-watt kicker amp. That shit would put some club systems to shame. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

[MichelangeloWHO]

I LOVE THE HARMON/KARDON SYSTEMS FOR CARS ..DEFF. MY FAV .. SORRY FOR CAPS

[James Maxx]

Originally posted by MichelangeloWho
I LOVE THE HARMON/KARDON SYSTEMS FOR CARS ..DEFF. MY FAV .. SORRY FOR CAPS

Yea HKs have nice setups. CAPS IS COOL WITH ME!! :D :TEETH

[Fierce1]

i didnt read all the replies but first off what kind of car do you have, make, model, and year?

Second I used to be in the business for 8 years, I ran a shop for an absentee owner for 5 years, and I still do work on the side..

Third, I have an unbelieveable deal for you on a system, all professional top quality shit plus a custom built isobaric bandpass box with 2 - 12" kickers that bang harddd and lowww - it was in my last car for a short time, now i have a new family car and i cant put the system in it, so its just sitting in my room - INSANE Alpine radio, full display Kenwood EQualizer, 2 kicker 12 competition woofers (in the bandpass box), a phoeniz gold m11 amp (one of my fav amps ever made, they stopped making them of this quality a while ago)...all you need is midrange speakers (doors and deck) and tweeters and your set (a decent 4 channel amp would help too) -

I'll sell all my stuff mentuioned for $1,000 even...

Lastly I will help you install it if you buy it to make sure it sounds as good as it should

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Originally posted by Fierce1
i didnt read all the replies but first off what kind of car do you have, make, model, and year?

Second I used to be in the business for 8 years, I ran a shop for an absentee owner for 5 years, and I still do work on the side..

Third, I have an unbelieveable deal for you on a system, all professional top quality shit plus a custom built isobaric bandpass box with 2 - 12" kickers that bang harddd and lowww - it was in my last car for a short time, now i have a new family car and i cant put the system in it, so its just sitting in my room - INSANE Alpine radio, full display Kenwood EQualizer, 2 kicker 12 competition woofers (in the bandpass box), a phoeniz gold m11 amp (one of my fav amps ever made, they stopped making them of this quality a while ago)...all you need is midrange speakers (doors and deck) and tweeters and your set (a decent 4 channel amp would help too) -

I'll sell all my stuff mentuioned for $1,000 even...

Lastly I will help you install it if you buy it to make sure it sounds as good as it should

wow that sounds incredible..too good to be true.but the only thing is I didnt know how much this would all cost me and right now i only have like 700 to spare on my car since i just got the good old credit card bill in lol...I dont nkow if im really looking to spend that much...I only work part time and im going to school....$1000 is a lil steap for me but thank you thats very sweet of you :)

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

oh and its a 2002 honda accord

[UNKNOWN2U]

I'm sorta in the business :D I can get you some good deals if you want, I think you should take it step by step, it doesn't sound like you need to spend an insane amount of cash to get what you want. Unless you are into it as a hobby there is no reason to spend alot. One thing i recommend are 2 or 3 JL audio 10"s in a SEALED box if you want tight bass or ported/bandpass box for low sloppy bass. Personally i like sealed much better but to each their own. so get a JL box and pheonix gold or comparable amp and hook it up to the stock system and see how you like it, no need to spend extra money if you dont need to. also is the car a lease or did you buy??

[Fierce1]

Originally posted by UNKNOWN2U
I'm sorta in the business :D I can get you some good deals if you want, I think you should take it step by step, it doesn't sound like you need to spend an insane amount of cash to get what you want. Unless you are into it as a hobby there is no reason to spend alot. One thing i recommend are 2 or 3 JL audio 10"s in a SEALED box if you want tight bass or ported/bandpass box for low sloppy bass. Personally i like sealed much better but to each their own. so get a JL box and pheonix gold or comparable amp and hook it up to the stock system and see how you like it, no need to spend extra money if you dont need to. also is the car a lease or did you buy??

sealed boxes dont hit the low deep bass note even close the way bandpass boxes do - a properly buiolt banpass box is almost never "sloppy",. and is a MUST if you listen to hip hop and reggae or any music where they hit very low frerquencies

i have a banpass box i made that is tuned to hit almost as hard as a sealed box, but will bang a low note 50 times better than sealed - even sounds rediculously good with house music playing, the bass just goes right through you

best thing to do is measure the trunk or hatch and build a custom box that you can tune to your preference - buying any old pre-fabricated sealed or bandpass box aint gonna sound near as good

[James Maxx]

Originally posted by SLAVE2THEMUZIK
oh and its a 2002 honda accord

And you only work part time? You must have a good paying job.

[Fierce1]

Originally posted by SLAVE2THEMUZIK
oh and its a 2002 honda accord

oh man that car is perfect for this sytem too, both the radio and eq will fit perfect in the existing dash, and will look and sound PHENOMENAL in that car

lemme know if anything changes in the future and your car will be set! i know hondas real well, must have done over 100 accord audio and security system installs, remote car starters, etc - plus i just picked up a 2003 accord

[UNKNOWN2U]

Originally posted by Fierce1
sealed boxes dont hit the low deep bass note even close the way bandpass boxes do - a properly buiolt banpass box is almost never "sloppy",. and is a MUST if you listen to hip hop and reggae or any music where they hit very low frerquencies

i have a banpass box i made that is tuned to hit almost as hard as a sealed box, but will bang a low note 50 times better than sealed - even sounds rediculously good with house music playing, the bass just goes right through you

best thing to do is measure the trunk or hatch and build a custom box that you can tune to your preference - buying any old pre-fabricated sealed or bandpass box aint gonna sound near as good

true bandpass will hit lower notes then a sealed box but it isn't as tight a bass note as a sealed box. A sealed box will also give you a truer sound bass note then a bandpass or ported, This is easiest to tell when listening to rock or non-extended bass. The basic rule of thumb is sealed will give a tighter harder and crisper bass note and a ported/bandpass box will give a lower and more extended bass note.

also as far as EQ's go most in dash EQ's are horrible and aren't needed for the average music listener. I'd rather just have an in dash display and a trunk mouted EQ then the all in one in dash which usually give more distortion then anything else. for most people EQ's are just more buttons to play with and really don't know what they are doing when they use one.

[Fierce1]

Originally posted by UNKNOWN2U
true bandpass will hit lower notes then a sealed box but it isn't as tight a bass note as a sealed box. A sealed box will also give you a truer sound bass note then a bandpass or ported, This is easiest to tell when listening to rock or non-extended bass. The basic rule of thumb is sealed will give a tighter harder and crisper bass note and a ported/bandpass box will give a lower and more extended bass note.

also as far as EQ's go most in dash EQ's are horrible and aren't needed for the average music listener. I'd rather just have an in dash display and a trunk mouted EQ then the all in one in dash which usually give more distortion then anything else. for most people EQ's are just more buttons to play with and really don't know what they are doing when they use one.

yes IMO Eq's are basically used as a bandaid for a poorly tuned system, crossovers are the way to go to adjust levels and frequencies
the EQ i am selling is basically for the crazy colorful full DIN disaply in the dash (although if you had no crossover the low frequency/sub control and built in low pass filter is nice to have)

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Originally posted by UNKNOWN2U
I'm sorta in the business :D I can get you some good deals if you want, I think you should take it step by step, it doesn't sound like you need to spend an insane amount of cash to get what you want. Unless you are into it as a hobby there is no reason to spend alot. One thing i recommend are 2 or 3 JL audio 10"s in a SEALED box if you want tight bass or ported/bandpass box for low sloppy bass. Personally i like sealed much better but to each their own. so get a JL box and pheonix gold or comparable amp and hook it up to the stock system and see how you like it, no need to spend extra money if you dont need to. also is the car a lease or did you buy??

its paid for...
I read somewhere that you should make sure the crossover point is between 60-80 Hz on the woofer...what difference does that make?? wtf is a crossover point?

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

Originally posted by James Maxx
And you only work part time? You must have a good paying job.

im a nursing student and theres not much time for work ok lol....i got the car as a gift from my father for getting straight A's 2 semsters in a row ;)

I already asked him to throw me a couple of bucks for the speakers...he said no lol

[UNKNOWN2U]

Originally posted by SLAVE2THEMUZIK
its paid for...
I read somewhere that you should make sure the crossover point is between 60-80 Hz on the woofer...what difference does that make?? wtf is a crossover point?

The crossover point depends on the size and type of sub-woofer you have. What a crossover does is actually split and filter the signal so that for example the sub get everything under 80hz the mid-range speakers get from 80-5000hz and your tweeters get everything from 5000 on up. This crossover point is not exact though, it should be more like a gradual drop off so that the subs blend with the mids and the mids blend with the tweeters. so if you set your sub crossover for 80hz you will get 81..82..83hz but it tapers off. A woofer emitting frequencys its not desgined for can destory it, same goes for mids and tweeters. Most manuals will tell you the frequency response of the speaker. I have my sub crossover set at 80 and sometimes vary between 60 and 100 depending on the music. Most amps have internal crossovers which are good for most people but i like being able to adjust my crossover points according to my music so i have an in-dash crossover.

Hope the helps a little...:D

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

would the in-dash crossover cause more distortion compared to a built-in crossover in the woofer?

[UNKNOWN2U]

Built in crossover in a woofer? some seperates meaning mid range and tweeters come with their own crossover but woofers dont. either you can have the amp crossover the frequencys (which i think you should do), buy a radio with built in crossover which sometimes is better or you can buy a dedicated crossover which is the best way to go. Crossovers dont cause distortion because they aren't boosting the freq, a crossover just splits and channels the freqs.

[SLAVE2THEMUZIK]

alllrighty then...thanks :)

[UNKNOWN2U]

anytime ;)