car audio help wanted

[destroy_my_revo_15]

im looking to put a decent stereo in my truck, i know there must be someone who could help me with this. im open to pretty much anything but i dont want to spend a whole bunch of $$ id be looking for a cd player, door speakers, and possibly an amp and sub. does anyone have any feedback on one of those "truck" sub boxes? any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks D_M_R_15

[destroy_my_revo_15]

i had this cd player in mind

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sKOorP3XsMR...130DEHP480

and these speakers

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sKOorP3XsMR...10CS&g=410

[rusty savage]

what kind of truck? extended cab?

[Tex]

that radio will not power those mids/tweets the way they should be powered, it'll work though.

my amp and subs are forsale, if you have an extended cab they will fit otherwise the boxes are too big

I have a punch 200 mono 1-channel amp (it's strictly for subs) and (4) punch 10's

$150 takes everything

[squirrel]

Damn tex thats kinda a good deal!!! As with what tex said, the head unit will not power it correctly. You would need a MUCH better head unit or an external amp. Alpine and some other companies sell head units cheap with out internal amps and then you just get an external and you'll be set!!

[FreeRideFrosty]

Allright..... Allright head unit and pretty nice speakers for the money. I would reccomend (as said above) powering them with a seperate amp to really get them to sound nice. Being that you are in a truck you can get away with 1 10" sub off of a mono block amp and have that sound amazing in a properly built box. What are you looking to spend for everything and then I will see what I can set up including wiring and everything.


And Tex..... how in the world were you powering 4 subs off of 200 Watts RMS?? 50 watts RMS per sub???

[Tex]

ummmmmm...yeah......lol
WAAAAAYYY underpowered

[FreeRideFrosty]

Well noooooo kidding. LoL I am running 1200 to 1 sub. lmao

[Michowski]

im running 2 12" infinity subs with a 1600 watt amp. Power straight off the battery with a giant 100amp fuse in it. Custom box I made to fit in the back of my truck. Seems to work pretty good. Im new to the upgraded audio world tho so not sure if it can easily be tweaked on and improved or not

[destroy_my_revo_15]

ok thanks for all the help. so what kind of external amp should i buy? how many channels? i was thinking i was gonna need an external amp but i was trying to keep the cost down and upgrading when i get some extra cash. thanks for the offer tex but i have a regular cab.

[squirrel]

If your doing the components with an external you'll need a 4 channel amp, audiobahn makes some pretty sweet amps for cheap.


Mich, I have never seen an amp wired any different than straight off the battery!! lol! Also "custom boxes" work good but in order to get the best sound quality out of your subs you need to do some measuring! All subs have a specific cubic inch spec, that is used to build the box. Hence why most custom boxes or generic off the shelf boxes SUCK!!!!

[Eracer76]

If your doing the components with an external you'll need a 4 channel amp, audiobahn makes some pretty sweet amps for cheap.

Why do you think that?
You dont "need" a 4 channel amp to run components, a two channel will work just fine.

[squirrel]

I was gonna say you could use a 2 channel but didn't, sorry! You don't NEED a 4 channel!

[Michowski]

any idea were I can find a site to tell me how to build a box? I made my box 3 feet long. It had to fit in the back of my cab over a hump against the back wall so its far from just being square. It hits very hard right now and its also vented.

DMR, Check on ebay for amps. I got a pyle 1600 watt amp brand new on ebay for 100 bucks plus shipping. They also have bigger name brands that are usually cheap.

[squirrel]

I used to have a program that would tell you what dimensions to make the box, but I haven't used it in a long while. Usually on the back of the sub there is a sticker that tells you how many cubic inches to make it, then just do the math!(yeah right). Also some subs work good ported and some don't. So just check on that to. Infinity's are like mich they can swing both ways though.

[FreeRideFrosty]

For a box building program look up WinISD Pro on google. Great program that can let you tune every paramater of the box. (Size, port number and size, frequency response, everything.)

To run a quality interior sound system you want to run a mono block class D amp to a single sub. (The single sub is my opinion. I had better luck with one very nice sub than 2 slightly lower quality ones.) And then a 4 channel amp to your interior speakers. This allows you to split power not only side to side as with a 2 channel (or front to rear) but isolate every corner individually. Power can be run from the battery to a grounded distribution block (capacitors are optional but usually not necessary) and then to each amp. (Which should also be grounded.) The RCA outs on the back of the head unit will go to the class D amp for the sub and each head unit has slightly different outputs for the speakers.

I can reccomend several amps, speakers, subs, etc. but without knowing a price range I could be way off base and/or just wasting my time. Wait before you buy. That is the important thing. Don't see 1600 watts for $150 and just buy it. You are better off with a lower wattage quality amp, than a higher wattage cheap amp. Let us know what kind of money you are looking to spend on this system, and then we can go from there.

Also, reguarding box building, if you can do it, do it. A properly built custom box will make the sub much more responsive and sound infinitely better than a pre-fab box from any store. However, if you cannot build the box a nice custom box can easily run you near $200. If you want I could even mess around with the program one night and get some dimensions for you. (You need to know the sub and amp combo first.)

One last note on boxes..... decide what music you listen too most, and what kind of room you have. A sealed box will be smaller than a ported box, but it will take a more powerful amp to get the sub to move to full excursion in a sealed box than in a ported box. (It will also hit a little bit clearer.) A ported box is larger and will usually be a few dB louder. It does however have a little less responsiveness and the sub may sound "muddy" at times.

Let me know what else I can help with. :-)

[Ponch]

Well the truck cost $800 to start with, and he owes his parents $300 lol so there's his budget...hahaha...No job either. haha just f'in with you John.

[squirrel]

For a box building program look up WinISD Pro on google. Great program that can let you tune every paramater of the box. (Size, port number and size, frequency response, everything.)

To run a quality interior sound system you want to run a mono block class D amp to a single sub. (The single sub is my opinion. I had better luck with one very nice sub than 2 slightly lower quality ones.) And then a 4 channel amp to your interior speakers. This allows you to split power not only side to side as with a 2 channel (or front to rear) but isolate every corner individually. Power can be run from the battery to a grounded distribution block (capacitors are optional but usually not necessary) and then to each amp. (Which should also be grounded.) The RCA outs on the back of the head unit will go to the class D amp for the sub and each head unit has slightly different outputs for the speakers.

I can reccomend several amps, speakers, subs, etc. but without knowing a price range I could be way off base and/or just wasting my time. Wait before you buy. That is the important thing. Don't see 1600 watts for $150 and just buy it. You are better off with a lower wattage quality amp, than a higher wattage cheap amp. Let us know what kind of money you are looking to spend on this system, and then we can go from there.

Also, reguarding box building, if you can do it, do it. A properly built custom box will make the sub much more responsive and sound infinitely better than a pre-fab box from any store. However, if you cannot build the box a nice custom box can easily run you near $200. If you want I could even mess around with the program one night and get some dimensions for you. (You need to know the sub and amp combo first.)

One last note on boxes..... decide what music you listen too most, and what kind of room you have. A sealed box will be smaller than a ported box, but it will take a more powerful amp to get the sub to move to full excursion in a sealed box than in a ported box. (It will also hit a little bit clearer.) A ported box is larger and will usually be a few dB louder. It does however have a little less responsiveness and the sub may sound "muddy" at times.

Let me know what else I can help with. :-)

Well put! +1.

As for custom boxes, if you decide to not build your own, GET A GOOD ONE!!! So many subs sound like sh!t because of a bad box! As for sealed or ported SEALED, imho sound better, Also depends on the sub!

[destroy_my_revo_15]

well im not gonna buy all at once but im not gonna go really cheap (prolly about $800). i can only get a truck box to fit about 10" at bottom and 5" at top. im open to any suggestions for any part of the system. so im guessing that a box i could buy at best buy wouldnt be the way to go?

[Traxxas_Junkee]

I don't know how "handy" you are, but on Tricked Out on DIY they made a box out of plexi glass then sealed it with some time of glue or something, the put a neon light in there and it looked really cool.

[Michowski]

dont use plexi glass. Wood only. Make sure its at least half inch thick. Plexi glass im told gives the worst quality out of the subs. Its fine if you just make the top peice or cover peice out of it but not the entire box.

[FreeRideFrosty]

Michowski is right. No plexi for the box. People will be more impressed by a clean install that sounds amazing, than they would be by a clear box full of flashing lights. $800 is going to be tight to get full interiors, amps, sub, head unit, and wiring. If you shop around and buy off ebay and other on-line shops, it can be done though.

I would need to see a pic of the inside of the truck though to see how to set the box. (It definitely can be done.) The best bang for the buck for the sub will be an alpine Type-R, probably infinity kappa perfect interior speakers, amps I will need to do some looking.

And definitely NO prebuilt boxes from best buy, circuit city, frys, anything...... LoL

[squirrel]

Michowski is right. No plexi for the box. People will be more impressed by a clean install that sounds amazing, than they would be by a clear box full of flashing lights. $800 is going to be tight to get full interiors, amps, sub, head unit, and wiring. If you shop around and buy off ebay and other on-line shops, it can be done though.

I would need to see a pic of the inside of the truck though to see how to set the box. (It definitely can be done.) The best bang for the buck for the sub will be an alpine Type-R, probably infinity kappa perfect interior speakers, amps I will need to do some looking.

And definitely NO prebuilt boxes from best buy, circuit city, frys, anything...... LoL

Infinity Kappa Perfects can take down his whole budget at once though!!!!! They might have dropped in price but when I goot mine it was about $600 for the 4 6 1/2 2 tweeter and the crossovers!! The reference series infinity's are good quality for the dollar!

Also DMR I'll check and see if my buddy still has his full MB Quarts system for sale, everything you need for $400. EDIT: thats just components, you WILL need an extra amp for them.

[FreeRideFrosty]

Perfects did come down a good bit from what I remember. And DMR, if you can get the MB Quarts for $400 DO IT!! Those are AMAZING!

[squirrel]

6 1/2 all the way around, 2 tweeter, 4 crossovers. Sounded amazing in the car, he bought it as part of a $4500 setup from tweeter center. He was getting rid of everything to go with 1 JL W7, and boston acoustics. I will talk to him monday for you.