If anyone can give me some good car audio info on subwoofers, i could use it... id like to get one or two 12" subs, but i dont really know what qualities to look for? should i get one with an amp or what? Im not looking for amazing bass, just something nice, im kinda looking into audiobahn, but like i said i dont really know what im looking for. Any info on specs would be nice.

1) Buy 12" subs
2) Play something really bass intensive
3) Put ears on subwoofers
4) ???
5) Profit!

Seriously though..if you're one of those people that subjects your music to everyone around you, burn in hell. I just had to say that.

Get a nice head unit. These are the things most people overlook. A good head unit with a build in bass crossover is always essential for amazing sounding clarity and good bass.

Although one subwoofer would do, I'm a bass lover.. So I'd be more prone to go for 2 12" Subwoofers.

As for your question on amps, well, you can't really have an operating sound system without an amp. You NEED one. These are what the subs hook into and draw their power from...

A good amp would be something around 500 watts or more.

500 watt amps aren't pulse pounding, but they do sound nice. Although, if you want to go the more expensive route, I'd say get an 800-1000 watt amp.

If you're getting two subwoofers, I'd say make sure they're around 800 watts each as well. But remember, although it is possible to have a 500 watt amp connected powering two 800 watt subs, that's 1600 watts total drawing from only a 500 watt power source. So you're cancelling yourself out there. This simply means you wont be getting the full power for what you actually paid for because the subs are trying to draw more power from what isnt there.

I'd get something like this

200-400 dollar head unit with built in crossover
2 12" 800-1000 watt subs
1 1000 watt amp.

This will literally make your car pound.

However if you want something less intensive on bass and expensive in your pocket, I'd get something like this

200-400 dollar head unit with built in crossover
2 12" 500-800 watt subs
1 600-800 watt amp.

Remember this as well: If you want the best sounding quality, it's recommended that you keep all the brand names intact throughout your system.. Meaning, if you have a Sony brand sub, get a sony brand amp and head unit. Don't criss - cross over like having a panasonic head unit, sony subs, and an MtX amp.

It doesnt mean your system will sound like crap, it'll still sound amazing and perfectly clear, but it's hard to explain.. Listen to a system with the criss-crossed brand names, and listen to one with all the same brand sound system.. It's much different.

As well, I don't find that brand names really mean much, they all pretty much do the same thing. It's like comparing a 27 inch Sony tv to a 27 inch panasonic tv.. There's really no difference in quality I find, but some may differ. Either way, it'll do the same thing.

Oh yeah and, either way, unless you buy stolen or from a friend... A sound system is pretty much always guaranteed to be expensive as hell. Even for the simple ones, like 500 watts.

...It's hard to explain, because mixing audio component brands really means nothing, you said it yourself in that last paragraph...the differences in most brands is so subtle, if you mix brands, you really won't notice a difference...I've been running a 600w Jensen amp powering two 12" Pioneer 450w IMPP's with a JVC head unit and it sounds great and I haven't had a problem for 4 years. Wiring is the key. Get as big of a power/ground wire as you can and put connectors on all your ends.

Pay attention to your treble, bass means nothing if your treble is distorting.

Oh, and go with a big, at least 40amp, glass fuse on your power cord, I found that made a big difference.

Ive got a pretty good deck IMO, it has a MSRP of $250 i think, (but of course i wouldnt pay that much for it lol) im gonna see if i can find it's info for some feedback.

well, crap, i guess i should have done more research back when i bought it, the main reason i got this deck was for MP3 playback, didnt notice it not having a crossover.. oh well, heres the info on it.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1072284520278&skuId=6254974&type=product&cmp=++

Buy an amp with a lowpass crossover and you should be fine.

I have a Pioneer DEHP4000 head unit, a Pioneer 12" subwoofer, a pair of 760w Pioneer amps, Pioneer 5.25" speakers, and JBL 6.5" speakers..it sounds pretty good, but the bass could be better. One of my amps may be messed up, though.

Note: My bass is much more than your average happy-with-stock-Hyundai-sound person would want..but it doesn't project out of the car much. That's both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on what you like. It gets plenty loud inside..which is what really matters. :p

Pretty much all my friends cars, including my own, have systems where you can literally hear the car coming from pretty far away. Mine isn't even that powerful. Which just goes to show you don't need a huge ammount of money spent to have a booming system. But to those that love bass a lot, more is better.. Which is me

But yea, the difference between having all the same brand name and not is really hard to explain, it's something you have to hear for yourself. Guaranteed though once you hear it you'll go "Oh yeah, I see now what they meant". One of those things.

And when you get your wires to connect, power wire, remote wire, etc. Get the highest guage you can get. Don't go for the cheap stuff, trust me, you'll want the highest guage.

I hope all of you die in a fire for making me listen to your crappy music.

I hope they go deaf, so I can make fun of their music and they won't hear it.

Not to sound biased, but Rap music is the best music for a bass subwoofer. Simply because Rap music is very bass intensive.

I beg to differ. Drum n Bass is much better. Either way, you still should die in a fire for making me listen to your crappy music.

I beg to differ with your begging to differ.

The Cure has some of the best bass lines EVER.

There are a few rock songs that have intensive bass, yes. But 99% of Rap music has intensive bass in it. If you have a sound system, download a rap song and a rock song.. There's a huge difference. Rock is more treble based, with a lot of bass on only some songs. Rap is more heavy bass, less treble, on almost all songs.

Totally useless to argue which type of music/band has better bass. It's all gonna be loud as **** with a good system. Your goal with a sound system should not be to piss off your neighbors. It's perfectly possible to achieve a warm, clear bass sound that is totally loud enough without causing permanent ear damage and freaking out your neighbors dogs. On that note, I recommend everyone avoid cheap equipment. That doesn't mean that you need to go out and spend $1,000 on a single woofer...but it'd be worth it. The higher price is to ensure total clarity.

Example: I recommend Diamond Audio above most other sub manufacturers. Granted, their 10" 10D2 Subwoofer is about 300+ for a single 800w sub, without box or amp. But that one sub is going to give you such high clarity and power that one is all you will need unless you're a serious addict ;). People who spend 500 on a full sub system sure do have alot of bass, but it's so distorted and muddy...what is the point? Sure, you can set off car alarms, but it just sounds so crappy.

If you have a place like a car toys where you can hear live demos, then please do that. Never buy audio equipment without knowing exactly how it will sound.

As far as mixing components goes, I'd generally recommend sticking to all one brand if possible. It's not crucial, and since you've admitted to not knowing alot the difference probably won't matter much to you.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide on.

[specs on TDX 10D2 sub 10" 800w]
TDX 10D2
General
Kevlar Nomex sandwich cone
Die Cast aluminum basket
Neodynium magnet
huge dual voice coils
Dual spiders with woven tinsel leads.

Specifications
Power(W RMS): 800
Impedance (ohms): Dual 2
Sensitivity: 84.5 dB (1w/1m)
Freq. Resp: 23Hz-250Hz(±3dB

Dimensions
Diameter: 10"
Depth: 7.52"

I'd have to say it's more band related. Alot of metal, with the double kick and intensive bass lines, are just as bassy as rap. As a general rule, though, Rap will feature more sub noise as it's designed for a dance club.

Ask the technicians wherever you go if they have any sub-test cd's you can listen to on the systems you're interested in.

It's definetly possible to have adequate, clear, loud bass without having other people hear it. Blame this on wiggers who spend more on their audio than their car, and think it's cool when their trunk rattles. Soundproofing is KEY!

My friend bought a $1,600 MtX sound system.... Soundproofed his trunk, car, everything. It still rattles the **** out of the car.

It's pretty much impossible to drown out all the bass sound outside of the car if you've got a really good system. The bass is going to come through, no matter what.

The only thing you really can do is protect your trunk from rattling to ****.

I like heavy heavy bass, to me, it makes music sound better. This is not because I'm a wigger, but because of my preference in how I like my music sounding.

I have a system in my car now, just put in, no tweaking, no soundproofing, nothing. My trunk rattles to ****, but it still sounds amazing. It's clear and everything. Your music shouldn't sound drowned out as long as you've got a decent head unit, and some good speakers inside your car.

If you've got some old factory built speakers from the 1980's running off a deck that's fairly old, and you've got a subwoofer and amp, then yes your music will sound crappy. But if you've got some decent speakers (I've got sony xplode's), then you shouldn't have to really do anything to make your music sound any better, it should still sound good. No matter how much bass you've got.

Wasn't a personal attack, was just making a side-joke. I'm as much of an audiophile as anyone could possibly be, and feed mostly on 250hz signals. Obviously, if your system is powerful enough there's nothing you can do about the rattling. I was just making a generalization about car audio systems in this area. I'm in seattle, and every Ricer has the same audio setup. Most the other systems belong to people bumping gangster rap out of their 88 civic hatch. Nothing wrong with that, I just find it amusing. But, if I wasn't lucky enough to get my grandparents car for graduation, I'd probably be driving that same 88 civic hatch with the bumpin' system cuz I love noise!

Also, it's not impossible to kill all noise from inside your car, but it's not worth the thousands of dollars unless it's a high-performance show car or you happen to have that money laying around. I've seen cars at shows around here with dual with 4 15" subs and a system drawing more than 3000w where you could hardly hear it 3 feet from the car. Is that awesome; yes.
Is it really worth the cost; no.

As far as reality goes, I know not everyone can afford the highest quality subwoofers. I can't, and not many people I know personally can. I was just stating that, if he can, it's worth it. Nothing wrong with having a standard-quality system, or even sub standard. If you're not really into it enough to know what you're talking about, then you probably won't mind a little less clarity at all. It's all about what you need, and what you can afford.

Good call on the speakers, I totally spaced that. Sub signals are useless if you dont have good speakers. Crisp treble is more important than subs, anyways.


Alot of game geeks here need the latest graphics card. But your average computer user won't be able to tell the difference between the 2 latest top of the line cards. Hell, alot won't even be able to tell the difference between mid-range cards and the new one. Just an analogy

I know it wasnt a personal attack. I didnt take any offense to it :p I agree, it's funny and I love the noise too



Yeah, pretty much. That's basically why I said it's not possible. I doubt anyone here would have enough money to spend freely on completely and utterly soundproofing their system. That and I like the fact when others can hear my bass :p



A very good analogy of it.

Drum and Bass is all dirty, fast basslines. Much better to show off your bass capabilities, really.

Don't you guys have some dying in fires to do? Chop chop.

No song's I've ever heard on my system or my friends systems have pushed the system to the limit on bass before as a couple of Rap songs I've heard..

Tupac Shakur - Under Pressure

Lil Jon (who sucks) - Throw it Up

these two songs are the only ones I've heard that literally pounded the crap outta my system. All others, rock and rap both, haven't even come close. Get the songs, get a bass speaker or something, sub, whatever, turn up the bass really loud, and you'll see what I mean when I say rap songs are really bass intensive. :p

My two Favorite bass songs.
Technical Itch - Pressure Drop (omgomgomg:eek: )
Raiden - Fallen' [fiction remix]

More bass than you can shake a stick at. I heard the first track at a club once...from 3 blocks away. The bassline is unmistakeable.

I'll have to check em out and put em on my system

I recommend Image Dynamics or Adire Audio.

Oh yeah. Those are nice.

Technical Itch - Shift
Ray Keith - LFO

Badical bass.

Temp--Bassdrive.com If that music doesn't push your system, nothing will.

while thats all well and good, most of you have completely forgotten that.... I NEED HELP!

OK so I'll get an amp with a crossover built in, say i get two 12" subs, what size is good, i dont want it to be heard houses away, but id like to be able to feel it in my chest when im listening to a good bass song.

Watts specifics would be nice, or any brand name thats good.

Pioneer Premier..Audiobahn..Rockford Fosgate..

http://vvti.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6248 <-- there's some Infinity 6.5" speakers..

http://vvti.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6051 <-- RF subs..not sure if they're still available, though.

Did you not read my post...?

A. Brand names don't really matter, the only thing that makes a difference is the price really. The quality of sound will be more crisp, but trust me, unless you're an audio expert or you go to shows and want to enter it in one....You'll notice no difference.

B. If you want it to be pounding in your chest when you're listening to a good bass song, then you're pretty much going to have a system that can be heard from a least a few houses down. Like I said, it's practically unavoidable.

C. DID YOU NOT READ MY POST?!?!

I posted all about what you would want for your wattage and everything...

Yes I read your post, and I'm thankful for your advice, but I like to take into consideration the oppinions of more than one person, so that I can better understand whats good and whats not. If one company has a bad reputation for quality, I'd like to avoid it.

100w sub in the boot of your car and a new monkey cd with a bit scottyd and turbod cant go wrong

bangin

100 watts..? I hope that's a typo, because 100 watt's is nothing. Most CD decks out there have at LEAST 150-200 Watts.. :p