[s4snowboard]

Hey, I was thinkin about gettin a subwoofer, ive done some modifications to my car with lighting and now i want to upgrade the sound system, so if anyone has any ideas about what type of subwoofer and/or speakers and where to get them...that would be great. Ive heard bqazooka is a great brand, here a simple question right here, is the subwoofer thats sold through the dealership for the tC better than this (also made by bazooka) http://www.mmxpress.com/bazooka/nos8.htm ?

 

[mrbrace]

uh my opinion stay away from bazooka, some swear by it but I would use it as a boat anchor...

Anyhow, you will run into a lot of controversy on brands of speakers here, however my recommendation to you is looking through the different posts on the audio video section and make your own decision concerning them.

I recommend kicker, some alpine, others JL, and so on, but no one would recommend going cheap cause you will end up replacing them with expensive stuff anyway, better to save and do it right then do it small and regret it.... hope this helps you out

 

[P. Crizzle]

as you can see by the avatar....I'm a noob...but i would have to say no to the NOS bazooka tube. heard one at circuit city and i was not impressed. i would also be careful on doing buisness with mmxpress.. i ordered a clarion pro audio comp. set from them and in less than a month the surrounds came unglued. pissed me right the hell off. i would say check out cardomain.com, crutchfield.com, or thezeb.com. at least with them they are authorised dealers of what they sell and you will get complete manufaturers warranty with purchace. also for subs check out resonant engineering and elemental designs. i have heard nothing but good things about both companies. it really depends on what you want out of it and how much you want to spend.

 

[mrbrace]

^^^ welcome to the site

 

[&The TC& @HTown]

Originally posted by s4snowboard@Sep 17 2005, 11:37 PM
Hey, I was thinkin about gettin a subwoofer, ive done some modifications to my car with lighting and now i want to upgrade the sound system, so if anyone has any ideas about what type of subwoofer and/or speakers and where to get them...that would be great. Ive heard bqazooka is a great brand, here a simple question right here, is the subwoofer thats sold through the dealership for the tC better than this (also made by bazooka) http://www.mmxpress.com/bazooka/nos8.htm ?

welcome. The brand of sub/amp really depends on how much your looking to spend. Most people who can spend a lot get JL , basically the highest quality, but mad expensive. Alpine's line of subs are very popular as well. I have two audiobahn 10 inch alum cone subs and I love them. They not too expensive and they play pretty loud and always sound great. Most of the people around me have audiobahn stuff as a nice compromise for good sound without spending a lot of money.

If ur just gonna get one sub, I'd recommend a 12" in a small sealed enclosue.

 

[eddiemoney]

Snowboard, you got a price range sub/amp/whatever else you want to stay in. I can tell you best bang for the buck if you can let me know that.

If you are going to get a bazooka you would be better off hiring a helper monkey with a drum and just sitting him in the back, it will sound about as good.

 

[s4snowboard]

ok well actually I bought a brand new alpine SWS-1042D which is a 10" Type-S Series Subwoofer (4ohm+4ohm). After searchin the net up and down and talking to some peaple I learned that alpine is one of the best audio companies out there right now. I was kind of looking forward to getting 2 10" but there's no way that would fit in the tC without puting it in a external housing. On the left inside quarter panel in the trunk there seems to be metal behind the felt so that would mean cutting into the frame which doesnt seem like the best idea. THats why i bought the SWS-1042D and will probably place it in the same area the bazooka sub goes thats designbed for the car. Insead of being external, ill just cut a hole for it through the thin plastic/felt. I took some measurments and that model is about the largest that will fit in that space. 10 "'s is very close and it's 6 "'s deep which is just under the depth limit before hitting the side of the car.
Its got a Power Handling Capacity (Peak) of 900 Watts and a power Handling Capacity (RMS) of 300 Watts. Do I need to get an amplifier, or is it not necessary, will it make it sound better with one or what? If i were to get one, should I go with alpine again or a different company? Any help would be great thanx.

Oh and eddie, as far as a price range goes id say around 200 for the amp...if i need one

 

[[email protected]]

I agree with eddie money, I currently work at a national retail store. thats is typically the first question i ask people, followed before a response is giving that the basic system at a big retail store will be between $ 800-1,400 USD. this does not included any custom labor for a box.

As for the bazooka the only thing there are truly good for is saying " yea I got a sub and amp in the car" besides that the over all quality of them stinks. esp now that there main factory in LA got flooded; from what I was told. I also caution against the NOS bottle because too many people on here will flame ya saying its rice.

If your are looking for a little more bass the bazooka would be just "ok", but you could get over all better sound by upgraded the factory 6.5" speakers(Component speakers up front, coaxial in the rear) with aftermarket ones like the Alpine Type Rs, Rockford Fosgate, (sold at Best Buy) Infinity, Polk audio, (sold at Circuit City) or the Pioneer TS series TS-D161 coaxial, with the TS-C 160R, which are my personal favorite. I'll be adding those to my G/Fs car soon.

During the next few weeks I will be building a custom enclosure for a Kicker L5 12" that my girlfriend bought from a local Circuit City if you would like as I'm building the box I'll take all the photos of the rear coming out and the box being constructed and send them to you if you wish.

With all that being said its your car, your money, your choice. I'll be more than glad send you any information on the above speakers if you PM me.

 

[mrbrace]

yeah you will need one, alpine amps start at about that range I believe, I would spring for a kicker amp and bridge it but thats me

 

[[email protected]]

Yes you will need an amp, on that sub personally would recommend the alpine 700w class D amp, model number MRP-M350, with a 1/2 or 1 farad Capacitor. MSRP on this amp is 199.99 plus wires and cap. The capacitor will save the amp along with the entire electrically system from power surges. this capacitor will also store energy for when you are not playing the system loud and all all electronics to runn @100% power. which is better for them.

as for a box I say talk to alpman He built this one, mine will look some what different also my box will be on the other side of the vehicle. I would not cut my car unless I had to. that way you can always take it back to OEM.

 

[s4snowboard]

ok well ill think about the speakers but for now im just looking for a pretty good base which I looked into and bought (the alpine I mentioned before). I didnt want to bother going for bigger sub's and building a box to further cramp the already somewhat small amount of space there is in the tC trunk (with the rear seats up). So if I should get an amp then the next question would be whats up with this 1, 2, 4, and 5 channel amplifiers that im seeing on sites? If I have the Alpine 10" Type-S Series Subwoofer (4ohm+4ohm) than what channel amplifier would be good to get?

 

[[email protected]]

Get a mono block for the subs, and a 4 channel for the other speakers
5 channels just a waste of money in my opinion. make sure when buy the amp install kit you make sure its one for multiple amps, that way you have a power and ground distribution block

** I forgot to say if you going to keep the OEM radio for right now, also buy a Line Out Converter (LOC) it will make your factory radio have RCA out puts.

 

[s4snowboard]

ok, so I need to get two amplifiers?? Or is that just if I upgrade them. Right now the speakers are stock, im just putting in one sub, so that calls for one mono block or also a 4 channel?

 

[[email protected]]

Originally posted by s4snowboard@Sep 18 2005, 07:31 PM
ok, so I need to get two amplifiers?? Or is that just if I upgrade them. Right now the speakers are stock, im just putting in one sub, so that calls for one mono block or also a 4 channel?

One for the subs, and when you upgrade the other speakers, but run all the wires if you can at once.


if you want i can pm you with my number and i can explain it much better, or you can pm with your number.

 

[s4snowboard]

well the thing is im not sure if i want to spend the money to upgrade the speakers, i mean the sound quality is pretty good as is, i was mainly interested in more base, so in that case i would just get the mono block for the sub and run the lines through like that.
What did you mean when u said "also buy a Line Out Converter (LOC) it will make your factory radio have RCA out puts" Im going to be having somone do this who works at a shop that specializes in audo and body work but it would probably be a good idea for me to know what equiptment to buy before hand. Ive got the sub so thats done, now i just need to deal with the amp, if i want to upgrade the speakers in the future, i will, but otherwise I think ill just keep these. By the way, thanks a lot for your help.
So just recap as for now i should get an alpine 700w class D amp right?

 

[[email protected]]

Originally posted by s4snowboard@Sep 18 2005, 07:43 PM
well the thing is im not sure if i want to spend the money to upgrade the speakers, i mean the sound quality is pretty good as is, i was mainly interested in more base, so in that case i would just get the mono block for the sub and run the lines through like that.
What did you mean when u said "also buy a Line Out Converter (LOC) it will make your factory radio have RCA out puts" Im going to be having somone do this who works at a shop that specializes in audo and body work but it would probably be a good idea for me to know what equiptment to buy before hand. Ive got the sub so thats done, now i just need to deal with the amp, if i want to upgrade the speakers in the future, i will, but otherwise I think ill just keep these. By the way, thanks a lot for your help.
So just recap as for now i should get a mono block for the sub and an alpine 700w class D amp right?

Yes really quick the stuff you need to make it work is as follows :

1) Sub Box
2) Sub Amp ( Alpine 700 peak, 350 RMS Class D amp would be GREAT match for those Speakers)
3) Power Wire*
4) Ground Wire*
5) RCA Cables*
6) Remote wire*

* these items should be in what they call an amp install kit or you may purchase each one separately.

7) Line Out Converter, if installing this amp on factor head unit you will need this.

8) Capacitor **

** optional equipment but will help out over all on entire car

9) Ground Dis Block ***
10) Power Dis Block ***

*** these should come in a multiple amp install kit or may be purchased later, typically cheaper to buy them in a kit, once again these items will be used when you buy another amp.

I would go ahead and run the RCAs for a 4 channel even if your not going to put one on right away the less you take apart the car the better for fit of panels. also the power/ground wire can run into the Dis. blocks and into one amp until you later buy another amp. like i said just changing out the factory speakers makes that much more of a difference.

 

[[email protected]]

hope I have been helpful

 

[s4snowboard]

you have been more than helpfull, thanks a lot. Although I dont know a whole lot about car audio systems, this information should prove to be very helpful.

Also, i was thinking about installing tha sub directly into the side panel in the trunk (by actually cutting out a whole and placing the sub there) rather than getting a sub box. Would the hole method work alright?

***sry I meant sub not amp, cutting a hole for the sub

 

[[email protected]]

I would say not to, even though it is your car when you go to trade it in that will take away from the trade in or private party price. you would be better off having a miniature amp wall built to side and screw into that. to get the best sound a performance out of the sub it is best for that to be in a box.

In your car the best sound would come from a ported/vented box (its called either) it would need to be 1.2 cubic feet of air space, very easy to make, but could work off of .55 cubic feet of airspace. This space is the amount of air inside the box after the speaker has been installed, and with the port space subtracted too. The sub if not in a box will not last as long and sound right at all as well.

 

[[email protected]]

at very least when you go and talk to the guys at the sound shop it will sound like you have alot more knowledge than most people coming in there.