Car Audio Newbie Here With A Few Questions :)

[DarkVR]

Hi All ,

Apart from a shitty pioneer deck and some hastily installed 6X9's in the back of my camry , im fairly new to car audio and i'd love to pick your brains if i could !

Currently , i have a set of sony xplod front splits installed and running off the new Fusion 700 Watt Amp and a JVC Deck .

Over the last few weeks , i've done alot of reading about the next steps to take but id love some clarification if i could .

Being a lone driver , im forgoing any real audio upgrades for the rear , instead focusing on front stage and subwoofers etc .

My shopping list so far

0 Gauge Power and Earth Cabling
0 Gauge Distribution Block
4 Gauge Power cable
New JVC Deck , (current one only has one set of RCA's)
2x Kicker Comp C12 Subwoofers . (Maybe)
(Unknown MONO Block Amplifier)

The questions i would love some of you guys to answer for me are

1. What sort of subwoofer is usually best for D&B , Dance and Hip Hop (Size/Brand/Ported or sealed etc)

2. What do i look for when buying amps/subs ? watts/rms/stardust/peanut butter specs just confuse me

3. From what i've read , shop bought boxes are pretty crap , im handy with the tools but crappy with the maths , so if someone could point me the way to a easy to learn book/website that'd be fantastic

4.Any hiccups , things that usually go wrong , or past experiences you have had , any insight is welcomed as well as different opinions on brands etc , the names dont mean squat to me , id prefer a faceless well performer over a flashy piece of branded shit .

Thanks for reading my long winded rant !

[acarmody]

1. 10" or good 12" will do.
2. Stardust rating, or failing that go for RMS, do not look at watts, max, or peak.
3. You decide on subs and we can help you design a box.

Also I find Kicker to be quite expensive for what you get. How much you looking at spending on woofers?

[berad]

if its anything upward of 140bpm (hardstyle, hard trance, hardcore) you will want to run 10" ONLY, do NOT go up to 12 and think you will escape bass lag.


DnB will be awesome with a single 12 running off a mono, any faster than that and it will sound shite.

[Philthy]

if its anything upward of 140bpm (hardstyle, hard trance, hardcore) you will want to run 10" ONLY, do NOT go up to 12 and think you will escape bass lag.


DnB will be awesome with a single 12 running off a mono, any faster than that and it will sound shite.

My VIBE 12's handle consistant 145bpm in their stride, and thats in a ported box to boot!

OP, you will want a ported box for hip-hop etc, just be careful because a lot of cheaper subs will lose a bit of tightness and clarity in a ported box.

Match your subs RMS power handling with the RMS output of your amp (give the amp 20%+ extra power to be safe)

Let me know roughly what you want to spend and I can give you a few ideas if you like

[StoneX]

if its anything upward of 140bpm (hardstyle, hard trance, hardcore) you will want to run 10" ONLY, do NOT go up to 12 and think you will escape bass lag.


DnB will be awesome with a single 12 running off a mono, any faster than that and it will sound shite.

I've owned 15's that can play double bass in metal accurately, which is faster than 140bpm. It just depends on the quality of the sub and box. Buy decent quality and put the sub in the right box and it will reproduce the music as intended

[wraith]

Your probably going a bit over board with 0 gauge wiring. If your just looking at running an amp for your sub even 4 gauge will be fine asusming it's not some monster 1000W beasty. JVC head decks are good. Have one in the work truck and it's easy to navigate etc. Kicker is pretty good for sub's as well. I had twin 10's and twin 12's and noticed extra bass with no extra bass lag so I am not to sure when it come's to the age old argument of 10 vs 12 vs twin vs single

[acarmody]

Your probably going a bit over board with 0 gauge wiring. If your just looking at running an amp for your sub even 4 gauge will be fine asusming it's not some monster 1000W beasty. JVC head decks are good. Have one in the work truck and it's easy to navigate etc. Kicker is pretty good for sub's as well. I had twin 10's and twin 12's and noticed extra bass with no extra bass lag so I am not to sure when it come's to the age old argument of 10 vs 12 vs twin vs single

Yeah but if you can get the 0-gauge it will save you replacing the smaller stuff later when you upgrade. I wish I had bought 0-gauge to start with, I would have saved so much time and effort.

[wraith]

Sorry am half asleep and didn't read it properly OP. I see you already have an amp. Yeah go 0 gauge if you can get it through the firewall.

[DarkVR]

Thanks for the input guys , much appreciated .

@ Acarmody and Wraith , i spent 3 painfull hours running 8 Gauge wire from the battery to the boot last weekend , simply because i wanted it neat and tidy , and also didnt remember the auto gromet in my VR , instead I ran it through the guard etc . Simply put , if i have to do it all over again , im doing it once and once only .

@ Philthy , i've noticed those vibe subs on shopping secure, and i really quite liked the Vibe Black Airs Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - VIBE BlackAir 12

I really like the look of some of the custom built ported boxes , and im really looking forward to getting out in the shed and just building my own .

So the only question left i guess is , Single Sub Vs Twin Sub .

Budget wise , im not really sure about car audio pricing . I Would rather pay 500 dollars once , rather than 150 bucks six times etc , so if somethings a bit out of my price range im happy to save for it . That being said , i dont wanna blow a mortage on my stereo either , im not interested in massive SPL or any sort of competition , i just want some good quality music to cruise along with

Thanks again for your help guys !!!

[acarmody]

Wait 8-gauge? Did you install 0-gauge or 8-gauge? Because 8-gauge is probably not going to cut it.

One very good sub can usually sound better than 2 lesser subs. If you really like the Vibe BlackAirs, then possibly consider one single Vibe Space 12", Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - VIBE Space 12

[DarkVR]

I installed 8 Gauge , but realised afterwards , when i started planning it , that 8 gauge wasnt going to cut the mustard with multiple amps etc , so i plan on undoing the 8 gauge , and rerunning 0 gauge from the battery to the boot into a Distribution block , then 4gauge to the amps .

[acarmody]

Ahh I understand. Good move.

I was a bit of an idiot when I first started car audio. I originally had a single 8-gauge run, then I added another when I got a second amp, then I put a 4-gauge run in (so yes 3 runs at once) when I got an even bigger amp. Then it finally clicked that this looks stupid so I got my 0-gauge run.

[DarkVR]

That Vibe Space Looks Good .

[acarmody]

It would look real nice in a custom painted box.

[DarkVR]

Thats ALOTA cable !!!

Im thinking if im going to spend the time/money on cables etc , i may aswell uprgade the 'big 3' i read about on here and get some better terminals for the battery etc .

Thanks for the advice acarmod , appreciate it .

[acarmody]

If you want some more advice... If your upgrading the 'Big 3' and you aren't real fussy on engine bay looks, go for welders flex cable, about 1/3 the price depending where you go. Also most welding shops could probably crimp it for you as well.

Also all my old cable didn't go to waste, I used the 8-gauge for subwoofer cable, looks real nice.

[Philthy]

I have the CBR12 pack in my car (2 Vibe blackairs in a ported box with built in amp) Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - VIBE CBR12 Twin With Amplifier
The ONLY reason I chose this over a single space was because I think 2 subs looks better than 1 when you open up the boot. The single space in a good box would be louder and sound better for the same money.

I was even amazed at the Blackairs quality. All this week I've been taking my after-work stress out on the stereo using this YouTube - Pendulum - Self Vs Self feat. in flames (desc) so it can handle quick bass very well. They are VERY loud as well, keeping up with Alpine Type X splits (running pretty well at capacity) on under half gain

Although, if I had my time again, I'd be seriously looking at something like http://www.shoppingsecure.com.au/ind...d&productId=80 + http://www.shoppingsecure.com.au/ind...d&productId=39 for better performance

[acarmody]

I was even amazed at the Blackairs quality. All this week I've been taking my after-work stress out on the stereo using this YouTube - Pendulum - Self Vs Self feat. in flames (desc) so it can handle quick bass very well. They are VERY loud as well, keeping up with Alpine Type X splits (running pretty well at capacity) on under half gain

Although, if I had my time again, I'd be seriously looking at something like Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - VIBE Space 12 + Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - Option Audio OAX1502 for better performance

I just got that song the other day, bloody good.

[Philthy]

I just got that song the other day, bloody good.

I listened to it on laptop speakers, decided I liked it, downloaded it, then put it on in the car the next day and I think a little bit of wee came out

[acarmody]

HAHAHAHA yeah its good. I got headphones for my laptop, but yeah I know what you mean.

[DarkVR]

So , after reading the replies , let me see if i can understand this a bit better .

If i purchase a subwoofer with say , a rating of 500 RMS , to comfortably power it , id need an amplifier at 600 RMS .

Where do the OHM's come into play ?

I really like the look of the dual's too @ philthy , it seems to make everything a bit more level and even . But ill take performance over aesthetics lol .

[acarmody]

You need to match the ohms for the amps and the subs. So if you get a dual voice coil (DVC) 4-ohm sub, you want an amp that makes its most power at 2-ohms, if you get a 2-ohm DVC sub than you want an amp that makes its most power at 1-ohm or 4-ohm. Single voice coil (SVC) is just that impedance.

Basically
2-ohm SVC = 2-ohm
4-ohm SVC = 4-ohm
2 x 2-ohm SVC = 1-ohm or 4-ohm
2 x 4-ohm SVC = 2-ohm or 8-ohm
2-ohm DVC = 1-ohm or 4-ohm
4-ohm DVC = 2-ohm or 8-ohm
2 x 2-ohm DVC = 2-ohm or 8-ohm
2 x 4-ohm DVC = 1-ohm or 4-ohm

The 'or' is depending on how you wire it up.

[DarkVR]

See , now THAT i can understand and take away !! , lol ... some of the marketing gibberishit they throw around is mind numbingly twisted ...

Thanks heaps for the advice , now i need to retune my bank balance.....but looking good from here !

[The_Captain]

very helpful thread - thank you

[MiggzvsC0MM0D0RE]

Hey man, if you still need a way of doing the math for your box, hit up the rockford fosgate website, it has heaps of diy and diagram's for easy install's, saved me hours