headunit, sub enclosure, stock sub questions

[LightningExpo]

hey guys im back with another post. I will be getting two kicker comp 10" subs for my 2001 expedition. it has the mach sound system. what i would like to know is will the stock headunit be ok for these subs? such as performance? if not what does everyone recomend as a good headunit. i would also like to know where i should put the sub box, like behind the 3rd row or the second, for best performance and sound. Also, for these subs what would be a decent amp? and finally when i hook up the subs should i leave the 8" stock sub in the back hooked up or should i disconect it and how would i go about doing that? sorry for all the questions. thanks for the help everyone.

 

[bloodzero]

Well, 1st of all, I need more information on your subs. 2-Ohms? Or 4-Ohms? Stock headunit will be fine but for more optimum performance, I'd get an aftermarket one.

What are you looking for with the subs? What kind of music do you listen to? And take out the 8" sub. Never mix and match subs. BAD idea.

Sub box can go in either spot. But if you want more "thump", you will want a bigger box, which would mean it won't fit behind the 3rd row. If you want more accuracy, then behind the 3rd row will be fine.

 

[LightningExpo]

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kick...72161/catOid/-13646/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
they are these if that helps not sure about the 2 or 4 ohms and my choice of music is mostly rap. about the secoond row for the box do they make them for under the seat? ive never seen them before. any ideas on a good amp for a good price? thx for your help

 

[bloodzero]

You would need a lot of custom installation for the a box underneath the seat. For bass, you are going to want a larger box that is ported for the deeper bass so you will get more "thump." I'd take out the 3rd row and just throw a decent size box behind the 2nd row seats. Estimated demensions are gonna be like 2.5 ft W x 2 ft H x 3.5 ft L.

Those subs are very basic and you won't get a whole bunch of bass if that's what you are looking for.

If you give me a price range and what you are looking for, I can get you a great setup while also getting you the most bang for your buck. 1st tip, BUY ON EBAY! I made my 1st mistake buying through a dealer. Paid 1500 for a so-so setup. When I coulda paid 2000 (including install) and get a top of the line setup.

 

[4x4Dude]

The thing that sucks about ebay for subs is the shipping. You might get a great deal on the subs but since they are so heavy (good ones should be at least lol) You pay out the ass for shipping. Check on craigslist so you can do local pick up. That has worked for me in the past. You can normally find some pretty good deals on craigslist and they will barter with you too.

I wish i didnt have to haul around my DJ gear otherwise i would just get myself a nice box and throw it in the back just like Bloodzero was saying. I guess i'll have to settle for the stealth box and a single 10. Oh well....the price you pay for having a cool job i guess lol

 

[Remo]

If you don't want to lose your third row seat, you can put a box behind in between the third row and the liftgate. There isn't much room to work there, but you have the option of building a custom box to utilize all of that space, or you can do as I did and buy a pickup truck style box. I have 2 12" subs and my amp mounted in this area. There is about 1.25 cubic ft each sub and that is typically what is recommended for a sealed enclosure with most 12" subs. As far as a ported or bandpass box, you will most likely not have enough room behind the third row. In my opinion, you will be plenty happy with a sealed pickup style box and it shouldn't cost too much. It will probably be cheaper than a ported or bandpass box and you won't lose your third row seat. Sealed boxes won't be as loud as the other kinds, but in my opinion the bass is usually tighter and more accurate. So don't worry, with a sealed box like this you will still be able to set off car alarms and shake windows in your neighborhood if you match the subs, box size, and amp well, lol. If you tune your system well, it can sound awesome with this type of set up.

 

[lakmflx]

Originally posted by bloodzero
Well, 1st of all, I need more information on your subs. 2-Ohms? Or 4-Ohms? Stock headunit will be fine but for more optimum performance, I'd get an aftermarket one.

What are you looking for with the subs? What kind of music do you listen to? And take out the 8" sub. Never mix and match subs. BAD idea.

Sub box can go in either spot. But if you want more "thump", you will want a bigger box, which would mean it won't fit behind the 3rd row. If you want more accuracy, then behind the 3rd row will be fine.

I agree with everything in this post except

"Sub box can go in either spot. But if you want more "thump", you will want a bigger box, which would mean it won't fit behind the 3rd row."

I built a box to fit behind the 3rd seat to hold 4 10" kicker subs rated at 600w rms. There is plenty of room behind the seat, and i have alot of "boom"

 

[LightningExpo]

see the subs are my brothers and he plans to give them to me. so those are the ones im gonna have. and the box has to be behind the 3rd row because i need the seating space. any ideas on a good amp? and does anyone have any pics of their sub box behind the 3rd row? price for amp would be 100 to 150 and the box i can make myself.

 

[Remo]

Here's a pic of set up (if it shows up, lol) I know it's a cheap system, but it'll do for now.



As far as an amplifier goes, I need more info on the subs (ie: rms power rating, max power handling, ohms, etc). Try to match these specs. Check out crutchfield for wiring diagrams and such as well. Also, you need to think about where you will be mounting it. Think about what size power/ground wire you need and what you are using for the input signal (RCA or speaker-level input). Pay attention to the ratings in regards to signal to noise ratio (the higher the better) and thd% (the lower the better). I'd suggest sticking with some name brands, but check the specs of the cheaper brands, they are sometimes surprisingly very good. Make sure you either get a monoblock or a 2 channel amp as well. As far as where to buy...for low budget, check ebay, millionbuy.com, overstock.com, buy.com. Let me know if you have anymore questions. I hope this helped.

 

[bloodzero]

Originally posted by lakmflx
I agree with everything in this post except

"Sub box can go in either spot. But if you want more "thump", you will want a bigger box, which would mean it won't fit behind the 3rd row."

I built a box to fit behind the 3rd seat to hold 4 10" kicker subs rated at 600w rms. There is plenty of room behind the seat, and i have alot of "boom"

4 Subs, pushing at peak, in a sealed box won't be able to tell much of a difference. I've done both sealed (behind 3rd row) and ported (about 2.5ft in depth) and the ported definitely sounds better for rap music. Since rap doesn't really use a kickdrum like almost if not all rock music, accuracy isn't key. And that's what you are looking for if you want a box for rap music. Longer, more dragged out lows. You can easily fit 2 12" subs behind the 3rd row in a ported box.

Right now I have 2 Kicker L7 12's in a custom ported box behind my 3rd row and they hit 30x harder then my Rockford Fosgate P312D4's in a sealed box behind the 3rd row. But that's granted that they have a combined RMS rating of 1500 watts while the P3's only have 1000.

Basically it's like this, if you have the room.

Rap: Ported Sounds Best
Rock: Sealed Sounds Best


Bandpass is really up in the air. It's kindof in between but gives your subs a very flashy looking box. In my opinion, who cares what the box looks like, its what the subs sound like that matters.

 

[Remo]

Bloodzero--what are the dimensions of each box?
I'd like to know the size in cubic ft if you know...Also what are the size (length and diameter) of ports on the box and how many ports are there per sub?
Maybe I'm wrong, but from what I've seen its usually recommended that ported boxes be around twice as big as sealed boxes for the same subwoofer. I was just wondering how you fit it...

 

[LightningExpo]

remo thats basically the setup i would like in my expedition with the box behind the 3rd row. is there any difference on facing the speakers forward to the passengers or back against the rearwindshield? any what amps should i stay away from and what amps are of good quality? thx for the help everyone

 

[Remo]

Yeah, I think you'll like it set up that way...

I have the subs and amp facing out for basically two reasons: 1) It looks more impressive when you open the gate 2) It's a lot easier to change the settings on the amp and work on the subs if you need to do so

Other than that, though, you can set them up however. It will pretty much sound the same no matter which direction they are firing since the frequency range for them is so low.

As far as amps, I'd need more information to give you better advice and I'm sure other people here would know more about quality amps than me. Hope that helps.

 

[LightningExpo]

well with 2 300w subs do you need a 300w amp? or 600?

 

[Remo]

If you can post a link to the manufacturer's webpage for the specific model or give me the exact model name/# of the sub, I can help you figure out what you need. If you don't know what it is specifically, search around the manufacturer's website until you find out what the model is. Maybe post a picture for us, too.

I'm assuming the 300w is max power...you really need to find out the rms power rating. That is more important for matching the subs to a correct amp.

But, if it is 300w rms then you would want a 600w rms amp since there are 2 subs (300 x 2). If that makes sense. Try to match the combined rms wattage of the subs with the rms wattage of the amp. Likewise, try to match the combined max wattage of the subs with the max power of the amp. The rms rating is much more important to be matched, so look for this match before narrowing the list down using the max wattage.

And like I said earlier, I'd recommend a monoblock or 2 channel amp for this application. And try to get an amp with a signal to noise ratio like 85db or better. Also, try to get an amp with the thd% below 0.05%. Finally, you need to determine how many ohms the system will be running at and if your subs are single or dual voicecoil. Check out crutchfield's wiring diagrams for the different possible setups. You need to know the ratings of the subs first, then find an amp that can work at that level. Since you are running two subs to one amp, it can get a little confusing. For instance, if you run 2 4 ohm single-voicecoil subs to a monoblock amp, you will need an amp that can handle 2 ohms I believe. So I guess the first step is to just figure out the exact specs of your subs and get back to us. Hope that helps.

 

[bloodzero]

His subs are 4-Ohms at 150 watts RMS each I believe. So a 300 watt amp @ 2-ohms should be good to push them to their max.

 

[bloodzero]

I'll get back to you on the spec's. I have the exact info laying around here somewhere as I paid a guy to make me a custom box. I am extreamly busy the next 2 days though so try not to hold your breath. Haha.

 

[Remo]

LightningExpo - Look for an amplifier that is 300 watts rms at 2 ohms and 600 watts max at 2 ohms. Doesn't have to be exact, but the closer the better. I'd recommend going with a monoblock amplifier or 2-channel amplifier.

I found this just browsing for you. This looks like a good deal if you are on a budget.

http://www.millionbuy.com/prfha600.html

I'm not saying this is definitely what you should get, but I think the brand is good quality (crutchfield sells it and the reviews were good) for the price. Just use this as an example for what to look for in terms of specifications.

Good luck!

 

[LightningExpo]

see im not quite sure how to find all the information your talking about. i didnt know there was so much that went into this, really the only info i know is whats on the website. thanks again for all your help i didnt know you could get amps for that cheap. and i guess 600w max and a 2ohms is the way to go. thx again for your help everyone.

 

[lakmflx]

Originally posted by bloodzero
4 Subs, pushing at peak, in a sealed box won't be able to tell much of a difference. I've done both sealed (behind 3rd row) and ported (about 2.5ft in depth) and the ported definitely sounds better for rap music. Since rap doesn't really use a kickdrum like almost if not all rock music, accuracy isn't key. And that's what you are looking for if you want a box for rap music. Longer, more dragged out lows. You can easily fit 2 12" subs behind the 3rd row in a ported box.

Right now I have 2 Kicker L7 12's in a custom ported box behind my 3rd row and they hit 30x harder then my Rockford Fosgate P312D4's in a sealed box behind the 3rd row. But that's granted that they have a combined RMS rating of 1500 watts while the P3's only have 1000.

Basically it's like this, if you have the room.

Rap: Ported Sounds Best
Rock: Sealed Sounds Best


Bandpass is really up in the air. It's kindof in between but gives your subs a very flashy looking box. In my opinion, who cares what the box looks like, its what the subs sound like that matters.

I agree, but its all about preference on what kind of music. When i plan out systems for my car/truck i go for clarity. There is alot of people out there that when they raise the volume is sounds like pure crap and everything crackles.

I was going to put 5 10" subs behind the 3rd row but the impedance level would have been out of wack so i went with 4 ( tried to figure out a way to put 6 subs but i would've had to "cut" to make it work and i didnt want to do that.)