Help me pick out my sound system!
 

hey I'm new to car audio, so I was wondering if you guys could help me pick out a good sounding system for under $250?

I want to have alot of bass, but clear too. I've been trying to do this on my own for a while but don't understand what subs are good for what amps and wattage and so on.

Here's the subs I was thinking of getting, heard they were a good brand:

http://www.amazon.com/RWE-352-MB-Qua.../dp/B001LMDA8A

now what would be a good amp for these?

Feel free to suggest any other subs, like I said I'm new to this and any help would be greatly appreciated!:bigok:

how are you with wood work ? cuase if you can build a ported sub box any cheap sub will pound

I'm alright with woodworking, I wanted to put them in the little compartments in the back of my 4runner, someone else on here did that and they looked really good. Am I throwing away my money if I don't put them in a good box?

if you just put them in little sealed box's its not gonna be loud or amazing very much

Alright, I was thinking of boxes that went over the wheel wells like so:

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6742/subbox.jpg

What do you think? I know the pictures crappy, but hopefully you get the point
(I made the speaker in that pic a little too small too I think).

Whats a good cheap amp for those MB's?

on your amp you are looking for rms watts....this this the range that the amp will push clear music. the max will be distorted. which won't really matter on a sub as much as your highs and mids which need to be clear.

Alright thanks, would this one be sufficiant?

http://www.google.com/products/catal...CAcQ8wIwADgA#p

The RMS power handling of the 15" MB subs is 700 watts, peak is 1400, so would I need an amp with 1400 RMS since there's two, or is 700 good for both?

with amps, I was once told that you get what you pay for.

$56.00 for an amp, find it hard to believe that it would be very good.

I totally agree.

I've also never heard of the branch "Crunch"...except in cereal...

Fink:devil:

i found an 8 inch powerd bazooka 50w @ goodwill for 10 bucks. plenty of bass with punch. now i just need to get an amp for the 4 speakers.

you may want to consider the amount of airspace that a 15" sub is going to need also. once you figure out how much total airsapce a pair of 15" subs need you may change your mind. also why 15's?

id go with a 10 these dont take much to get loud
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/s...7B47%7DS4.html

I have a simple 10" powered by a 250w Bazzoka amp. I listen to mostly hard rock/metal and classic and it thumps enough to be a bit obnoxious plus it's easy to remove for when I need the hauling space.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...for6-07042.jpg

With subwoofers, it's mostly about the quality of the box that matters. Proper cubic footage, etc. With amps, look at the FUSE rating! Don't look at the watts, that doesn't mean crap. About 60 amps worth or fuse(s) will get you pounding pretty good.

couldnt agree more about the box comment. i tell people an easy example of how to figure out true max wattage of an amp is:

multiply total amperage of fuses, example: 2x25 fuses=50 amps
total amount of amps x 14.4 ( max amount of volts your battery will provide )

so 14.4*50=720 720 watts would be the most an amp would ever see. but also figure yhour vehicle really runs closer to 12.5 volts give or take. also look into upgrading power wire and ground wire in the engine bay for more voltage.

i used to own a crunch it was decent only thing is when you bridge and drop the ohms it would overheat and go to protect.......this is the problem with the cheaper amps......also when you buy your speakers you need to check the ohms. for instance a 8 ohm speaker is harder to push than a 4 ohm.....i use to be big into this its just been a while. so you may want to research how ohms affect your amp.

the reason i say this is Rockford Fosgate speakers are 8 ohm and i had to bridge my amp and hook speakers in series to drop to 2 ohms to get all i could out of my amp.....


which brings me to your amp when you figure max watts this is at 2 ohms or 1 ohm on a mono. when you hook your amp to a set of 4 ohm speakers you are at 4 ohms when you bridge it you drop down to 2 ohms. so make sure your amp is stable at 2 ohms so you can bridge if you need to......


feel free to correct me if im wrong haven't fooled with any of this in a while factory does me fine now

Thanks guys.
After talking to few people and looking at optimal box volume per size I've decided to go down to 12" Sony Xplod subs:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...CAcQ8wIwADgA#p


I actually was told the exact opposite on an older sound system thread a few month ago on here, haha. The person said that as long as the specs were the same they should work the same, so that's the way I've been looking for amps.

So what amp would you guys suggest for those Xplod's?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rockford-Fosgate...ht_1505wt_1137Here ya go! :)

I would got with a Sony Xplod mono amplifier. I have this one powering 2-800 watt orion 10" subs and it provides plenty of power without the bulk of most amps. http://www.bing.com/shopping/Sony-XM...ce&FORM=EGCA10

there is definately a HUGE difference between the generic no name amps and a good established name brand company. In my opinion as a car stereo installer i would stay away from sony all together, i see alot of there products come back with defects. for around the same price you are looking to spend on the sony's you can get other intro level brand subs like kicker, rockford fosgate, polk etc. I would also stay away from there rediculously over rated amps. I have never seen a sony "mono" amp be able to hold a low ohm load without clipping into protect. go to a local audio shop or retail shop and talk to them, they will be able to help you out and you will be able to hear some of the products. The biggest thing i stress to people is to go out and LISTEN to the stuff before you buy something based on another persons opinion. everyone hears differently so what is great to one may be terrible to another. lets your ears tell you what to buy, just my opinion.