yota530

ONCE AGAIN! I have found myself seeking the wonderful, and wise help of those great yotatechers! So I am looking to get a system installed in my truck, I have already managed 6.5's speakers in the rear which has made the system that much better. Now I have 4 inch boston acoustics in the front, I need an upgrade. Anyways thats not what I was after. Currently I am looking for subs. I have checked every local Car audio Shop and my choices are JL Audio, Diamond, Memphis, And I forgot the other. I am looking more for bang for my Buck I have gotten two bids. One For 732.00 Installed, that was 2 12 inch JL W0 with a 500 rms Alpine amp, prefabbed sealed box, and 4 gauge wire kit and 120 install. Then I went to the other shop, and Got a bid of 750 Which was a 400 or 500 rms memphis amp, 8 gauge wire kit, and 2 12 inch Memphis PR subs and a 60 dollar install.

What I am looking to find out is, am I getting railed by the shops or is it a legitimate price. Or should I go out and do it myself. I've never done it, but I am sure i can figure it out. Anyways any input on any subs amps anything car audio would help.

Thanks!

toyotatom93

$700! Yeah your getting raped. Have you tried pawn shops yet? You should be able to get way more bang for your buck there. You can get a wiring kit which usually includes the power and remote wires along with a fuse and some connectors for the battery for like $10 - $30 depending on what gauge you will need.
As for installing a sub your self it is super easy. Dont be afraid of the wiring is fairly sraight foward. The hardest part is running the wiring through the firewall and to the deck then to the amp to the sub and keeping it well hidden.
I guess you just need to find out if the deck has pre outs (RCA out puts that plug into the amp.) If not you will have to splice an RCA wire on to a pair of your speaker wires. Thats how the amp will get the audio.
Then there should be a wire labeled remote on the deck, and it is always blue with a white stripe, that connects to the amp and acts like a switch so the amp turns on and off with the car. If your deck doesent have that will have to splice on to the the clock or something that turns off when the car is off.

There is then a ground wire you connect from the amp to the chassis. it's very important it has good contact or you will hear weird buzzing through the speakers.
The amp will be powered directly off the battery and you should put the fuse as close to the battery as possible.
Then it just speaker wire from the amp to the sub.
That probably sounds difficult if it's your first time, but trust me it not that bad at all. It should be easy enough to find a diagram if it doesent make any sense right now.

MaK92-4RnR

depends on what you want. the more you pay, the better you'll get. I have a system in my 4runner that was a little over 1800 bucks, i can tell you now I got a ticket stating It was heard over 500 feet ( almost 2 football fields. ) I have 2 12 pioneer Type Rs with 1 1000 watt amp and a 450 watt amp, all pioneer speakers with a pioneer premier deck... if i were you i'd go with rocksford fosgate or clarion if you wanna go cheaper. pioneer and kenwood are a bit pricey. also, my system is louder than my friends 2 15s with a 450 watt amp. its really all about amperage, honestly.

airkewld4life

The more you pay the better you get? That is not always true. In fact, that is complete rubbish. I've got $1088 in 2 amps, 3 sets of speakers, a sub and a navigation/dvd/cd unit and it sounds absolutely amazing. Everything in my 4Runner is Clarion. Although a cheaper company, they are not cheap quality. I've used everything from Rockford, Pioneer, Alpine, Sony, Kenwwod, Orion and Clarion is by far the best bang for the buck.
Here is a link to my build
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f96/...anyone-202623/

Check out websites like www.sonicelectronix.com and www.techronics.com for killer deals. Just shop around and do the install yourself. You are going to save yourself so much money in the end. I installed everything myself. It's super easy.

toyotatom93

Oh yeah, I have a Pioneer deck that was $100 new, a JL 10" in a box and a 300W Visonic amp for $150 from a pawn shop, and a $10 wiring kit. Installed it my self and it sounds really good.
I guess price depends on what your looking for, to he heard from a few blocks away, or just need some low end for an existing system that already sounds half decent.

Either way if you buy new it will be expensive, if you get used it will be hella cheap.

93runner223

ok time for my input i paid 470 otd for Alpine type R 12" 1000w amp ive got two 6x9s in the back and infinity's up front speakers are wired to a 600w amp it just takes time to find good deals out here in sac we have cheap stuff everywhere in rancho and arden
shop around on CL thats where i get most everything cheap and new

MaK92-4RnR

1088 is still kinda steep for what people want to spend though. I have a 1800 dollar system, ( only because i used pioneer ) and compared to my buddies 190 dollar system, actually, it isn't even comparable. ( he has 1 450 watt amp, and 2 12s )

Tubbyfatty

2 JBL GT4s (10'') - $100, car toys had a buy a sub get a sub free deal. 250w rms, 1000w peak.
1 Ported sub box - $100
Kicker 300.1 mono block amp - $200
The deck in my signature - $180 from a friend.
Getting the amp installed and wires ran - $100

Total $680

You do not need to go all out on a system, what I have sounds good. Ill never blow my subs with the amp I have. You can just get 1 sub and a 300-500w amp and your music will sound 1000x times better.

yotaman85

I have a Kenwood head unit and speakers (6.5" rear, 5.5" front). sounds ok. im also looking to get a sub. but i think i can get one 10" to be plenty loud. two 12" subs is gonna be pretty pricey and is probably more then you need, but will be fun to show off.

yota530

Wow, thanks for all the input you guys! I guess sound systems is quite the big deal. So I went back to the shop today, and told him what I found online, anyways he goes to tell me that 400 watts isnt underpowered for two twelves. Is that right, seems to me everyone is saying to get a 1000 watt rms amp.

Anywho, just about 45 minutes ago I stop at the local autozone, (i know a guy who works there that knows TONS about car audio) Well I ask one of the guys an opinion on the subs that the guy quoted me, he said i wouldnt be impressed, and later on tells me that the guy who was going to do it for me is his buddy.

So, in my opinion, if his friend is going to talk down the subs they are no good. So what does everyone think, I was going to do two 12 inch JL W3, then a 1000 watt RMS JL Amp that i found refurbished..... is that bad to buy refurbished? It has a 3 year warranty. And a 30 amp kit for walmart? OR should I try and buy used. If so what brand? Actually that Clarion System seems to be pretty nice. I like the setup and that isnt far off what im spending.

Besides i have speakers in the rear, just need some more upfront components.

Anyone know anything about cutting 6.5s in the doors?

yotaman85

6.5's in the doors is doable but you have to build a "hump" for most of them to fit. i forget who but their was a company who made slim style component speakers for just that purpose. your cheapest and easiest way would be to buy the best 4" speakers you can afford and run the stock placement. not ideal, but you will not be disappointed. or better yet, get some good 5" speakers and make them fit in the stock location.

Donsway

Cheap amp that puts out great power.

http://www.carstereo.com/forum/showt...id=60096&fid=6

Just join that site and hook up with that guy. He sells good stuff cheaper, and stands behide it. Build your own box, it is easy and will sound better than a prefab. After you do a lot of reading you may find you want a ported box that will get louder than a sealed in most cases.

It is easy to spend big money when getting loud. I am well over the $3000 mark and looking at 2 1000 watt RMS amps (2000 max) to add some power to a set of Treo SSI 15s. Just two amps, and two subs over $1100. Like I said it cost alittle to move lots of air, and sound good doing it. But $750 will get the job done and will get it shipped to your door if you deal with that guy. (tell him Donsway sent you) I've been at this for more years than I want to say but can help on the install if needed.

The pawn shop thing is good, but most of the time they have old ragged out stuff that they want almost new prices for. Not good if you are new at the game and don't know what to look for, and how much it is really worth.

yotaman85

^wow, great numbers, and prices..

Donsway

Something to look at when buying.

Forget about max power and more about RMS watts. Say you have 2 500 watt RMS subs. You will need a 1000 watt RMS amp to push them both. A class D amp is set up just to push bass and will use less power than a a/b class amp when used on subs.

Look into ohm loads on amps and how it works. When buying a set of subs to hook to a mono class D amp. Dual 4 ohm subs can be hooked up at a 1 ohm load on the amp. Most amps are setup to run at 1 ohm loads and only put out there max wattage at 1 ohm. So understand how that works first.

You will need to do the big 3 to your truck. It is just adding some wire here and there. You can find it on the net.

On the power wire you run from the batt. to the amp. Go ahead and do a 4 ga. kit if looking into a 1000 watt RMS amp. You can't go too big with that wire, or the ground. Get more wire than you need so you can do the big 3 at the same time.

hlpressley

yota530

Now, is that a good amp. I know honestly nothing about it. Those numbers seem great but if I put it under a seat is it going to over heat? Now what about subs? Where do I go with them, on Craigslist I found a pair of JL w6 for 350, or I can buy W3 for 300 new.

I dont know how to make a box, haha I mean I know how to MAKE A BOX but not a sub box, also I would want it ported, seems to be the way to go. I would love help with the install. Any information really is appreciated!

yota530

so I can use the amp kit to do the Big 3. That is battery to something, battery to ground and something to chassis right? haha is it a bitch to do? I dont mind doing the work, ive done everything to my truck to date, I love working on it. I installed my Deck, all my lights, working towards a dual battery setup HINT HINT ANY INFO ON THAT HELPS TOO!

Back to the subs and amp, should I get that amp? And JL subs or should I get Memphis, kicker, JBL, there are so many!

Donsway

That guy on there sells it all so would look into what he has and if you get it all from him I'm sure you will get a better deal.

Amps need air flow, so will just have to see how it does under there. Seen it many times though.

On the batts. I have two Yellow Tops and have done months of reading on this. Are you wanting to run stuff without the eng. running off one batt, and have the other batt. for starting? Or like me need both batts. hooked together all the time for all the power I can get when not running.

yota530

Well I would like to run all accessories, on one battery then the other one for starting. Where did you fit the batteries? Oh so does he sell JL and everything, is Audiopipe a good brand, or should i get a refurb JL 1000 rms class d amp? for 250? What brand sub would u recommend? Oh and who is this guy haha.

Donsway

http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm

That site is full of good stuff.