nalav

I would like to point out that you should ensure you are buying the audio equipment from authorized retailers. So many issues often happen when people don't.

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Sponge

Boom... boom... and bye bye trunk . Is that what you are looking for?

Re-read the thread, there is some good advice in here.

toyotatyrant

Soundman98 this should be a part of your profile signature. I consider that the mandatory hobbyist public service announcement.

In our "I gotta have it now!" society, people tend to always try to rush projects like car pc's and car audio systems. As far back as the late 80's I've been telling people to slow down a little and plan out what they are trying to do.

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soundman98

the links for the amps don't work.

I would also recommend getting equipment from either a authorized online retailer, car audio store, or at least a online company that offers a warranty you know they can hold up(sonic electronics). this way, if something happens(and it will), you will have somewhere to go, otherwise your SOL(amazon/yahoo marketplace companies tend to come and go, and most brands don't support products bought online from unauthorized retailers-most aren't authorized).

Could you tell us a couple of your favorite songs/bands, normal volume level(you like it loud?)?

I think that your perception of 'sound quality' and my perception are 2 different things, and knowing what type of music you typically listen too might help.

With this in mind, most in the audio realm define a sound quality based system as able to play any type of music and make people swear that the band is really playing in front of the car. this type of sound simply cannot be achived for a small amount of money. If it could, there would be a lot less audio companies in business today- most of them have products geared toward this sound--ie: alpines X-series, Pioneer PRS Series (none of these are cheap, $650 normally would get you one set of components from any of these lines, with maybe enough left for some speaker wire).

now, on to your product selection: IMO, the kicker lineup is skewed more towards boomy, instead of clear bass, if you choose to go with that premade box, that is one of the worst-- it has a 3ft long, 4" port- commonly refered to as a ghetto blaster.

I have 2 of those 10" compvr's, in a small sealed box. if you are interested in sound quality, it would be best to look into using at least a sealed box, but there are still alot of subs that would be better.

ports are tuned to one freq range, and render the subs useless for anything below that frequency. Don't get me wrong, I have heard ported systems that sound amazing, but this has always required planning, and a custom made box/port setup for the subs.

The biggest thing to remember is taht the enclosure makes the sub-- and most premade enclosures suck. most of them are designed to be universal, and are not made in a particular subs best interest.

I would highly recomend that you look at some sub box building programs, and change the box size to see how drastically simple changes in the dimensions change the response of the sub

Win isd was already metioned (one of the best), but there are alot of other free programs that do the same thing.

I will end my enormous post with this--it's been said before, subs are not needed, esp. if money is tight, my first audio system mod involved 4-5 1/4" speakers that I got for $10 pair--hooked to a factory chrysler deck. I used that setup(wasn't happy with it but made do) until I eventually got a radio..do it slow, and do it right.

Toyotatyrant-- I am going to try to make that my sig (a good remender to everyone)--prob though, it is over 255 characters. so I'll have to make a ps of it later.

djfourmoney

Just let me inject some reality here...

You can run some components on MOSFET50 internal amps, they need to be high in sensitivity and will play quite loud actually, not deafening, but loud enough to not clip the head unit amp and roll your windows down on the freeway.

My SRT-4 has a JVC NX-5000 Navi/DVD head unit with internal amp running Hertz 165c components in the front and the stock 6x9's in the back. They are cut-off at 85hz and even on HU power I can run the Hertz wide open without them bottoming out.

But to balance out the sound a bit and because my BTA8100 Bazooka tube has a fixed 85hz low pass crossover, I just keep the HU at 85hz high pass.

I'm used too it and would like it louder and I will be upgrading to a solid Alpine PDX4, removing or upgrading to the BTA10250 or a PDX5 and a sub installed in the spare tire well.

Small subwoofer systems will not out run HU power at moderate volume levels, those are just facts.

Slim subs are compromise, but effective. If you want to keep most of your trunk I could look at the new IB Pioneer slim subs. They sound good, use tiny boxes (12"@1.0cf), but you need decent amount of power.

For your $650 budget I would do the following -

JVC R900 CD Player.

It has Ipod control via USB, Bluetooth and 5v 6-channel pre-amp. Its about $190 on Amazon.com If you get it from Crutchfield, they'll throw in all the installation parts you need, however they send you Metra kits and in some cases Scosche or American might make a better kit, so weight those options wisely.

For power its hard to beat a Kicker 700.5, the key is to run the sub channel at 2ohm and you'll get well over 400w RMS. That's plenty for (1) IB Pioneer 12" (2ohm) slim sub woofer or you can get the pre-boxed Rockford-Fosgate P3 Slim Sub (rewire it for 1ohm the amp is stable) I have heard the RF box and its quite good, sounds great.

Search Google for the best price on those. The Kicker amp runs $300 for RB version and a new one runs about $400 more. I would opt for the RB, why not carries a warranty, you save money.

Spend the rest of it on solid components up front and leave your stock rears for the time being, not that critical.

That should keep you right at $650 and should shake your car pretty good...

djfourmoney

Caucasian Americans should change some of the terms they use, I see just as many if not MORE White kids bumping Too $hort with pre-made boxes from Kicker, Rockford-Fosgate and they don't officially call them "Ghetto Blasters"

They aren't marketed as Ghetto Blasters either and not because they fear a lawsuit from the NAACP, its because they employee Black People and are SENSITIVE to such things. You on the other hand like many White people need re-training because you shouldn't use such terms so flippantly and easy as I have always felt its EASY for White people to say "Nigger" because its been repeated so often its "okay" to say it almost, but most people reject that line of thinking.

White people live in shacks in the mountains of VA and PA, there's no "special" name for those hovels are there? Its just "Rural America" But when mostly Black and Brown people live in the inner city its the "Ghetto", hmmmm

I like to largely keep race out such places on the internet, however I draw the line at some drivel especially when some posters are ready to hand out accolades for your opinion.

nalav

I've very rarely heard the term "Ghetto Blaster" until I came to these forums. And I fail to see why it's only caucasians that need to change the terms they use. Every race of every color has similar terms, lets not discriminate against just one.


And why should black people be allowed to say something white people can't? I don't use the term, but I fail to see any kind of reasoning behind discriminating against who can use it.


It's not just VA and PA, it's in every state all over the country. It's not just white people either, it's everybody. There's terms for it also, which we don't need to discuss here.


While I doubt your racist and you probably didn't intend your post to be such, I would in fact point out that your post is more racist than anything else in the thread. You discriminate against who can use certain words, you say "white people do this" and "white people do that" when it's in fact all people, not just white people. Please don't bring up racism if, like you say, you don't want to talk about it, and if you do want to talk about it, better off making a new thread somewhere and not using discriminatory views in your post. I don't know why you even posted all this much, you simply had to say you didn't like the term "ghetto blaster" and could the people please use something different.

djfourmoney

I could have said much, much more but I'll leave you with this one statement.

Simply saying "Black people can be racist too" just doesn't hold any water...

I suggest the OP go to http://www.diymobileaudio.com/ where people are more selective about the words they use and where many SQ competitors hang out and don't bad mouth affordable hardware.

I have Pre-made subwoofer(s) - Bazooka tubes

You can make them sound however you want. I've been screwing around with them for 15 years. Placement and some EQ go along way...

If you listen to Green Day or anything that uses live drums you might want to use a IB (Infinite Baffle) or nice sealed enclosure.

That however is not to say a properly designed ported enclosure or even TL enclosure can't do the job, its just more involved....

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DJMikeT

Here's my opinion,

It only costs a little more to go first class. If you cheapout with sub par equipment (like Kicker) you'll be sorry in the long run and will eventually end up spending more money because you're not happy with it.

Here's what I would do in your situation. There's a ton of good "used" equipment on Ebay and Craigslist. I've been seeing "high end" amps like JL Audio 500/1 for as little as $250. People are hurting for money and selling good stuff for next to nothing. If I couldn't afford to get it all at once then I'd be watching for good deals and get one component at a time. This is what I did when I start DJing, I bought one turn table and then the other and then my mixer, amps, speakers, etc.... You talk about motivation to get your next piece so you can complete your setup.

Anyway, that's what worked for me back then. Now I have the "Power of Plastic" to get whatever I need, lol!

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DJMikeT

Also one other thing, I've been hearing all this "hype" about stage this and stage that. Seriously I understand the concept but in reality how often does one goes to a concert? I know I don't very often. I guess if your into bands then I could see it. However, I go to clubs and having subs in the rear definitely gives me the closest sound to being in a club. When I slap in a new mixed CD I want to feel like I'm on the dance floor, not in front of a stage. Also your limited on space in most vehicles so how are you going to get your bass in front of you? I have the following setup in my Durango and it has crystal clear highs, awesome mids, and tight bass that hits like hell.

Head Unit = Alpine IVA-D106
JL Audio 300/4 for mids and highs
JL Audio 1000/1 for Bass

Focal 6 1/2 Component Speaker (Front Doors)
Focal 6 1/2 Two Way (Rear Doors)

2 JL Audio 10W6's in a custom box (In the Rear)

My system sounds a lot better than most of the clubs I spin at and its not set up using the "stage" front concept.

Each to their own I suppose.

Sorry to be a little Off-Topic, just replying to what I read in this post.

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DJMikeT

Another observation:

The whole comment about the "Ghetto Blaster" thing was just plain stupid. He was making a general statement about a Boom Box, this is common knowledge and I've heard all races refer to Bass Boxes as such from time to time. Not anything to be taken as racist IMO.

Don't be so darn sensitive.

Also just because someone says Ghetto doesn't mean it has to do with someone or something pertaining to being Black.

In the Middle Ages and later a ghetto (pronounced ge-to) was a walled in area where Jews were forced to live, by law. It was locked at night, and Jews had to make sure that they were back inside the ghetto before the curfew.

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nalav

Nobody mentioned anything about that, though it should be obvious that anyone of any race or color can be racist.


I second that idea, it's an excellent web site and resource with excellent people who know a whole lot of what they talk about.

soundman98

dj, thank you, this should have been said long ago(before i made a post).

my comments about the term ghetto blaster though, were taken out of context, in my area, most car audio people, and shops refer to extremly loud, cheap systems as ghetto blasters, this is from shops of all different races, and is not meant as a derogatory term to any specific race.


There is a huge difference between a 'sound quality' system, and wanting a 'quality' system. a quality system can be had for cheap, and sounds good, a sound quality based system is made to sound like you are 'there'(where-ever the album was recorded).

I went off on a huge tangent about what it takes to build a sound quality system...

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