Thread: how do I add a sub?

hmmm...

Ok, do I just add another set of wires from one of the channels wired to a sub? Or is it not that simple??

please help me I'm a car audio newbie!!

TiTUS

because you asked so nicely...

There are many variations of sub setups, but the bottom line is you need to separate the low Hz tones from the high Hz tones...the sub is good from about 20hz to 80 hz. From 80 Hz and up you can use your smaller speakers.

So you need some kind of crossover, to split the highs from the lows.

There are some home self contained subs that have that built in...I think there are some preassembled car audio subs that also have it built in (like a Bazooka or something like that)

The sloppy way would be to get a "Y" splitter, and connect all the inputs together, but the sound would be fairly bad.

Now if your soundcard is designed with a Sub output, then probably you could connect your sub directly to that, and hopefully the sound card would do the crossover work...you will have to read the owners manual on that one.

So go to a car audio store, and tell them you want to add a sub to your system, and you have preamp outputs from your head unit...see what they have to offer.

thanks, that clears things up a little...

one more thing.. a crossover removes frequencies right? so a sub crossover removes all high frequencies and leaves the low frequencies for the sub? correct?

ok, so is there a crossover that removes low frequencies and leaves only mid and high frequencies for the smaller 5.25 inch speakers I have? I'm noticing that with really deep bass they (and the dashboard rattle, or could just be the dash...)...

Thanks again!

TiTUS

Simple solution...

Use splitters for your RCA jacks, get a dedicated sub amp, and use the built in crossover. See how it sounds, and if yo ureally want to subtract the bass frequencies from your front speakers use passive filters (caps) until you get a nice crossover setup.

Will it work as nicely as having a pro corssover/pre-amp? No. But, you are using a Boss amp, so this solution fits in with the level of the rest of your system. (No sense in wasting money on a component that won't add to a system)

might I suggest coustic crossovers, inexpensive and excellent

Most decent mono subwoofer amplifiers will have a crossover built in. Set it for 80Hz with a crossover slope of 12 or 24db per octave. Here's a link about car audio systems if you want more info:
http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/caraudio.htm

Ok, here's my pinion about this:

Yeah, get an amp just for your subs with a built-in crossover. I would go for a Rockford Fosgate amp. Try to find a model that accepts high level input and low level input (just in case you need to.. they are the same price as the just low level ones)


As for the front and rear speakers, you should buy a crossover so you could split higher range of sounds (80-120 Hz+) to get a better sound.

C ya!

I'm just starting to figure this all out too, so don't jump me I am looking at Rockford Fosgate (RF, to make it short) amp's and subs.. And speakers, of course. I am going to add the amp and 2x10's (Subs) first. I was thinking about running them on the Sub wire from my headunit, but then I thought why not just do it all once and run the wires from the computer to the amp for the subs. So, being the type that wants to buy the proper **** the first time () should I buy a crossover too for this, and if so, what type would I want (So in the end, it will be computer -> crossover -> 3 amps [Front, back, subs])

Thanks for bearing with me

Whats you sound card setup? If you haven't already have a 24bit x.1 soundcard then you should check this one out.

If you really want to go all out. Get a 7.1 soundard and a bunch of speakers. Keep your 3 amp configuration. But have two 4 channel amps and one for the sub.