Anyone know about Car audio?

[max]

I am thinking of sooping up the new Car, looking for good suggestions on Monitors and audio for a car installation.

This is an area where I am not so good yet, but would like to learn more.

Any Suggestions on:
-Subwoofers
-Amps
-Monitors

I am going to custom make the subwoofer box for the trunk, "I am a pretty good wood worker" and I am thinking about 2 - 12'' subs. "which would be best suited? and which companies should I look into?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Max,

[Splicer]

I don't know the answers you seek but I would recomend going with 4 8" sub drivers. You will get a much more efficient system that will kill 2 12"ers.

[hammondc]

ha ha. That is my other addiction. go to the12volt.com Everything you need to know there.

I have Alpine 9835 Head
Eclipse PA522 for main speakers (all speakers from CDT)
Alpine MRD1000 for the (2) 8" subs (adire audio)
Lots of sound deadening (mcmaster.com)

lots of good brands out there. But, beware, some good home entertainment labels really sucks at car audio (like sony / kenwood) . Audiobahn REALY REALLY sucks, so stay far away. IT is very flashy, but very weak.

try Alpine, Eclipse, Diamond, MBQuart, CDT, Adire Audio, JL (over rated IMHO), among others.

[Matt27]

Alpine for the monitors, very nice.

dude ,are you into the import scene, i still race everyonce in a while:)

[tonelocdog]

I am thinking of sooping up the new Car, looking for good suggestions on Monitors and audio for a car installation.

This is an area where I am not so good yet, but would like to learn more.

Any Suggestions on:
-Subwoofers
-Amps
-Monitors

I am going to custom make the subwoofer box for the trunk, "I am a pretty good wood worker" and I am thinking about 2 - 12'' subs. "which would be best suited? and which companies should I look into?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.Max,


alpine for head unit
jl audio's for subs
phoenix gold amp
and infinity kappas, for your hi's and lows
just a suggestion

[max]

Alpine for the monitors, very nice.

dude ,are you into the import scene, i still race everyonce in a while:)


No I am not into the import scene and I dont race "Sorry Matt", I like luxury cars that drive smooth and loud but clean music.

Thanks for the input guys you've been a great help, I will check out your options and let you know what I end up with.

MAX,

[techstar25]

You can't go wrong with Infinity speakers and subs. I have them in my car. The Reference series are nice, and the Kappa Perfect series are their top of the line. CDT, MBQuart, and JL Audio also make good speakers and subs. Alpine makes great head units, and Pioneer and Panasonic are also both very respected brands. As far as amplifiers go, there are a lot of choices depending on how much you want to spend. Right now, HiFonics, US Acoustics, and Autotek all make good, solid amps that are also a good value. Then of course pretty much anything by Rockford Fosgate is going to be solid and reliable and sound good, including their head units, speakers, and amps. The only knock against RF is that they are kind of expensive.
If you want to buy online, crutchfield.com and thezeb.com are both authorized dealers of many of those brands.
Here's a piece of advice, when you decide on an item or a brand, do a search for the model on the forum here to read what others have to say about it: http://www.carsound.com/UBB/ultimatebb.php
Here is a link to my car's page at sounddomain:
http://www.sounddomain.com/id/techstar25

[max]

Thanks for the links Techstar... Also nice car.

Here is what I am starting out with, I want to keep everything clean looking and not over do it.

Had to crop down the pic to make it fit, sorry if it is to small.
Max,

[tonelocdog]

Nice Jag, is that yours or your parents? Anyway crutchfield got good stuff, but you cant get any jl audio subs from crutchfield. You might have to go locally, or I think tweeter has jl's. But theres no tweeter down south, so im not sure, but im sure Tweeter got Jl audio's.

[mjones73]

Nice Jag, is that yours or your parents? Anyway crutchfield got good stuff, but you cant get any jl audio subs from crutchfield. You might have to go locally, or I think tweeter has jl's. But theres no tweeter down south, so im not sure, but im sure Tweeter got Jl audio's.

Based on that list of equipment he has for his home audio, I think it's safe to say it's his :D

[tonelocdog]

Your probably right :D . I also too have a very nice car, but technically its not mine, but since i pay insurance on it, I can say it is. :D

[max]

It's mine, just got it recently. It's a 2004, bought it used with only 9468km's on it. Test drove her and fell in love.

With the electronics I want to maintain the elegance and the center console is going to be hard to work around.

The goal is to put to monitors in the rear headrests, amps and 2 - 12'' in the trunk and replace the factory CD player with a nice LCD deck. This will take a bit of time, but atleast the gives me time to learn about what I want.

Once again thanks for the input guys,
MAX...

[chris0ne]

First the question to ask yourself: do i want people to hear me from 1/2 a mile away and have a system with crazy sound pressure levels or do i want a realistic reproduction of music for classical, symphony etc. personally I listen to mostly hip-hop, so my main concern is that it pump

- I wold look into mb quart component for the doors
-audiobahn for subs (great powerfull, huge subs, which can be found deeply discounted)Rf also isn't bad i had two RF 12" punch power (and it pumped like crazy)
-Phoenix gold, power acoustic, Rf (i had a RF and loved it) for amp
-and i have always liked clarion head units

i have found you always need more power to your subs than you think, without question i would suggest a dedicated amp

[tonelocdog]

i have always liked clarion head units

clarion units are good, but i don't know if they are sirius satellite compatible. Got to have sirius, its changing radio broadcasting.

[hammondc]

I really would stay away from Audiobahn. As you have probably found in home theater, you get what you pay for. Another huge consideration is power supply. IF you plan on running (2) 12's you better have some serious power to back them. I wouldnt go with anything less than 500 watts each. I would personally do more.Also, unless you want the AC/Heat and lights to dim and surge with the music, you will need to upgrade the battery (Optima Yellow top) and the alternator. Your current alternator is probably somewhere around 120 amps. If you will be running monitors, large subs and large amps, you will need a large power supply. I would suggest 200 amp to start with if you can find one. I know most folks will say 'get a capacitor' but that is simply a band-aid for the problem. I suppose it depends on how 'gung-ho' you are. I currently have about $4k in my truck. When I used to compete in SQ+ on the IASCA circuit, I would easily double that. Then, again if you are not as crazy for this as I am you don't need to go that far. Judging by your home equipment (VERY nice list BTW) I suspect you may get bitten by the Mobile Audio bug.

[chris0ne]

RE: audiobahn subs

I dunno about their home theater line but their moble audio subs are pretty impressive, my friend had 2 12's (one of the higher end models) and it boomed like crazy he was even pushing them with audiobahn amps. Before He had a complete RF system (which i generally love) with similar wattage and setup and the audiobahn's blew it away hands down. I know everybody loves JL's but audiobahn subs are for real, no crappy toy manfacturing either.

[hammondc]

And to each his own...
(JL is overrated BTW)

[tonelocdog]

And to each his own...
(JL is overrated BTW)

I dont think so, Jl audio are the best subs ever made. (To a certain extent)

[tonelocdog]

http://www.jlaudio.com/press/IT5.html

[hammondc]

you can get better sound for less money from some companies that do not have the same reach as JL. They are definitely great speakers, but not the best. Ever heard the Adire Brahmas? There is a video on thier website of Adire tearing a door apart. Thats power.

[hammondc]

Just to turn you on to these guys (no i dont work for them etc.....) go to adireaudio.com

click on mobile. then scrolldown on the left and select Brahma 10 or 12. Scroll down and watch the vids. the 1st one "brahma 12 excursion video" is sick!

They do some CRAZY home theater stuff too. Never had the opportunity to play with that stuff though