Subs Questions

[85Iroc383]

Ok so this may be a little off topic BUT this is the best place for f-body questions so... I pretty much have dumped alot of money into my motor and it is mechanically sound (or close to it) my question is i am your basic late teenager (18) and want a nice sound system. In your opinion which slams harder in an F-body? I have heard alot of people say that 10"'s slam harder than 12's. Just wondering, and thanks for your help. Please dont flame me. I am also interested cause i work @ a Best Buy and want to use my discount to its fullest. a 2400 Watt Amp thats 650 bucks to the public is 300 to me. I cant pass stuff like that up. Thanks for your help.

Shocker

[hotwhip9]

10" subs will respond faster because of the smaller size. 12" will respond nicely, and also give more of the bassy effect. A better quality bass tune for a longer time period. more of the long bass tune. Example, listen to "ciara - my goodies". Another example, probably a better one is the song by jadakiss with mariah carey. I think its called love or something like that. Since you work at best buy go in the sound room and you will be able to tell a difference between the two. I have a pair of 12"s that hit nicely because of the hatch in the f-body. this is my old interior, but still the same set-up, just now its all black inside.

[Christopherrr]

I was never into the super duper packing systems...I like my sound clean, crisp and clear...I'm more into quality.

Alpine Type S replaced all my Delcos with Alpine HU and Infinity Basslink in back. Super clean sound...

[MN6WS6]

I'm an installer, so I can help you out with this. First of all, you need to decide whether or not you want to keep your hatch. If you have T-tops, I'd go with a stealthbox in the cubbyhole on the drivers side. MTX makes one, but if you can afford it, go with the JL one (the all wood one) as it's a better box. It's for one 10", but everybody will think you have two in it. If you need more bass, there's another company online (can't remember the name) that makes a box for the passengers side that goes in the spare tire hole. If you don't care about the hatch, there is a company that makes a drop-in, 4-10" box. We had one in a Camaro a while back with Orion subs, and it would hammer you out of the car.

As far as subs go, most 10" and 12" subs have the same size voice coil, so the 10" is going to be more efficient. The 12" will hit a little deeper, but if your box is designed right in the first place, you won't be able to tell the difference.

For amps, be careful with that "2400 watt" rating crap. Look at the fuse in the side of the amp. Volts X amps = watts. In a perfect world, a 30 amp fuse X 14.4 volts = 432 watts. But this isn't a perfect world. Most vehicles can only maintain about 12.5 volts under load (which a hard bass note would do), and most amps are at BEST 70% efficient (most are more like 50-60). With that equation, you'd be looking at 30 X 12.5 = 375 X 70% = 262.5. So you have to go by the fuse rating in the amp. You can't cheat the fuse. If you can, get your hands on a Directed amp. I don't know if Best Buy sells them or not, but they should. They are monsters. Mine came with 3-40 amp fuses. You do the math

[redws6]

i have 2 12" audiobahns running off a JENSEN 680watt 4 channel amp.. haha. im poor at the moment and cant afford a better amp, it was only $100. but it does the job and hits hard.

[ConElite]

I am no installer but i do know a thing or two about systems. If you want something that hits very hard yet gives you the nice clean sound that you most likly want, go with Kicker Solo-baric. This was the system my brother (AmericanZ28) and I installed. I ran a Solo-baric S10 L5. This single 10 inch speaker sounded like your average pair of 12's. I ran Kicker components in the front with 5 1/4 inch in the back. All this was powered by the all-in-one KX700.5 kicker Amp. This amp was a 4 channel amp for the highs and a built in 400 watts RMS Class-D amp. So I would say go with a S10 L5 in a sealed box and that would give you all the sound you would ever need. Plus they run around $100.00. If you have any questions I have alot of answers and pictures, when it comes to box Sizes, and the amount of cubic feet you need for the speaker to perform at its optimal point.

[Master of Stiks]

I have 2 Kicker Comp 12" running off of a 500 Watt Extreme Mono Block Amp. It is supposedly pushing 450 Watt RMS, I don't know, but it hits hard and sounds great. I have it sitting in a custom made sealed and ported box that takes up the hatch. I like it, but my friend has the same system running 2 10 inch Kicker CVR's in a bandpass box. His system just sounds different, it hits hard and picks up the lower rap type bass really well, but is just lacking when it comes to ZZ Top or AC/DC.

-Stiks

[scotts94_z28]

i have 2 12" S12L7 solobarics in the hatch with a memphis audio 1500 watt d block amp its loud like you wouldnt believe

[Noggin]

You might get a discount at Best Buy (hope thats where you said you worked) but you'll end up getting a discount on something that would bring it down to about what you'd pay online for the same item, but might not even be worth what you've paid.

You said you're a typical teenager, so I'm assuming you want mostly bass (but that goes against what I like). If you can post a budget it might be easier to help offer you some choices.

DO NOT GO BY MAX RATINGS!!! They're rediculous and worthless ratings. You want RMS ratings, but you still have to be careful as some companies even cheat and lie about this and its difficult to know who lies and who doesn't.

I'd suggest a class-D amp for whatever sub you pick. If you get one of the stealth boxes, find out what size it is and pray to God its not ported. Don't get me wrong, ported is usually the way to go with ghetto bass (ghetto as in a lot, not as in shitty ) but if the box is pre-ported you're usually looking at a lot of hard work to find a good sub that will work well in the box. You'll often be limited to the same manufacturer too.

Now that you have a box selected (I usually select sub, then box but if you're using a stealth you don't have much choice) find out the internal size of the box. The speaker should have a manufacturers suggestion on box size as well as the volume of the speaker (volume as in displacement, not loudness). Box size - speaker volume should be equal (or close) to the volume of the box the manufacturer suggests.

Now that you have a sub, you've got to pick an amp. Don't skimp here. If you have a 600 watt RMS 2 ohm sub (or dual 4) then you need a class-D amp which is 600 watts at 2 ohms. If you want two subs it gets a bit more complex. Thats about all the help we can offer without at minimum a budget.

a 2400 Watt Amp thats 650 bucks to the public is 300 to me. I cant pass stuff like that up. Thanks for your help.

And I bet that 2400 watt amp is 2400 watt max, 1200 watt RMS and would be suprised if it wasn't overrated. Any of us could get a JBL 1200.1 which is 1200 RMS at 1 or 2 ohm for about that price. JBL is a budget amp, but I'd put it next to just about any other 1200 watt amp in a blind test and expect it to do damn good.

[Formulaboy95]

This was the project I put on hold about a year ago... still sitting around... some kid hacked it up trying to fit bigger subs in

1 of about 200 that were sold. I started sanding the gelcoat fiberglass, but lost interest in putting more weight in the car. Box is extremely light, but the (3) 10w6's are heavy. Might use it to hide the nx bottle underneath, when the juice goes back in. Going to paint it to match the outside of the car.

[99WS6TA]

I used to install systems for my friends company when i lived in florida now that i am back in oklahoma i install them on the side. this is the set up on my trans am.
ALPINE 9815 HEAD UNIT
ALPINE TYPE R 10" SUB
ALPINE SPR-174A 6.5" COAXIAL
ALPINE SPR-176A 6.5" COMPONENTS
ALPINE MRP-M350 AMP FOR SUB
ALPINE MRP-F240 AMP FOR COMPONENTS AND COAXIAL (added after pics were taken.
JL AUDIO VANTAGE SUB BOX

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/518463

[DeWynter]

I wish there was till fiberglass boxes available for the thirdgens. There used to be one that would fit 2 12" in the bottom of the hatch so you could still lay your t-top glass down.