10/12" Sub + amp + enclosure (UK)

Caitlin · 02-01-2005, 10:45 AM

Lets assume for a moment that I'm an idiot, and with that leap of faith out of the way (as if it's so hard to believe) I'll ask my dumb question.

I have in the region of £100 to spend on a sub, amp, and box (or a combo) to make my car go lower.
I'd rather go sealed enclosure than ported 'cause of the smaller size. I'm not looking for *thump* either, more smooth transitions in bass frequencies (I love bass guitar slides :P) so that also kicks the ported designs into touch.

I realise £100 is seriously tight for this, so there's a little headroom, but that's my target. Does anyone have an suggestions on packages? I'm well out of touch with retailers, and I'm scared of ebay 'cause of the risk of getting gear that's, well, "shagged"...

I found this:
http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/shop...?product=20660
and this:
http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/shop...?product=19290
but I'm not clued up enough to make any judgements on them.

Can anyone bestow wisdom or suggestions on me?
Thanks in advance!

RedGTiVR6 · 02-01-2005, 10:59 AM

ouch! I can't even begin to describe the quality of that stuff...but it's deffinately in the poop range...

those amps are down right scarry IMO...legacy is about as low as it gets. But for 100.....that's about all you are going to get. Other than building a box yourself, but it could end up being more expensive when compared to those package deals.

ALonDonThinG · 02-01-2005, 02:45 PM

Try find yourself Yellow Gas pipe about 12" diameter, if you keep your eye out at roadworks you will come across it. Its very heavy and dense plastic.

Find the best sub\amp you can get for £100 and install sub in one end of pipe,and seal off other with MDF,
mines about 2ft long with an 10" driver.
I think you will like the sound.

alanp · 02-01-2005, 04:42 PM

Caitlin, if you have a motor-world near you i would seriously recommend going and having a look. They always have some kinda deal on, you could walk away with JBL 12" 1000watt sub, box and amp for around that money

Caitlin · 02-01-2005, 05:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

ouch! I can't even begin to describe the quality of that stuff...but it's deffinately in the poop range...

those amps are down right scarry IMO...legacy is about as low as it gets. But for 100.....that's about all you are going to get. Other than building a box yourself, but it could end up being more expensive when compared to those package deals.

Lol, i'd totally agree with you, especially with you coming from a high end perspective. let's rephrase slightly in this light....
how much would i expect to spend to get "not ****" gear.

Since first posting I think i'm going to do a custom enclosure, which will fit the boot better and i can bolt to the floor so it's not so easy to steal, it'll also house the pc with a bit of perspex and all that jazz :P (and some accoustic isolation too) so yeh, i'm really looking at an amp and a sub.... pref 10" for size's sake, but i guess a 12 would go if the quality/cost ratio is right....

Caitlin · 02-01-2005, 05:09 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by alanp

Caitlin, if you have a motor-world near you i would seriously recommend going and having a look. They always have some kinda deal on, you could walk away with JBL 12" 1000watt sub, box and amp for around that money

ok, cool, i'll have a root around, i think there is one in a village down the road...
sigh... minefield this junk, at least i've *heared* of jbl

alanp · 02-01-2005, 05:51 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Caitlin

ok, cool, i'll have a root around, i think there is one in a village down the road...
sigh... minefield this junk, at least i've *heared* of jbl

yeah jbl are pretty safe. Real nice quality and motor world always do discounts on em. i got my 15" sub (1000watts) for 65 quid (half price!!!), built a custom box and got a 1000 watt amp for 100 quid. Total 165. which is pretty good for that kit. dont go for an amp to match the sub if your on a budget tho, get a 600watt splx amp or something and a 10/12" with box and you're sorted.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Katya · 02-01-2005, 06:19 PM

I know nothing about sound myself, but what about JL?
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/prod...oducts_id=1156

I got my little JL 8W0 for about $75, space is a preium for me too.

RedGTiVR6 · 02-02-2005, 08:21 AM

JL is great - you honnestly can't go wrong with JL.

As for the JBL 1000 WATT sub, don't EVER go off of THOSE numbers. they are MAX numbers and you will never see them. Same on the Amps. I HIGHLY doubt that amp will EVER push 1000 watts, and if it does, it won't ever do it again, much less will it still work after that...

best bet is to look at the fuse rating on the amp, that will give you the best indicator as to the TRUE amount of power you will see.

So in short, don't buy a piece of equipment just because it has a higher wattage than the one sitting next to it. There's SO much more to look at.

ChaCha · 02-02-2005, 04:59 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

best bet is to look at the fuse rating on the amp, that will give you the best indicator as to the TRUE amount of power you will see.

How's that work Red? If the fuse rating is ______ it means _____...
thx

RedGTiVR6 · 02-02-2005, 10:27 PM

Power = Voltage x Current

in the world of amplifiers you take:

Power = Voltage x Current x Efficiency

The fuse rating really depends on the efficiency of the amplifier....the more efficient the amp is, the lower the rating on the fuse...make sense? Chepaer amps are generally less efficient

For instance:

Take this amp:

http://www.audio-warehouse.com/web/m...070/detail.asp

This amp has what looks to be two 25 amp fuses....so that's 50 amps total....that's how much current the amp has to pull to blow those fuses....so there is some room there for error...in other words the fuses are a little higher than what that amp will pull....

so

Power = Voltage x Current x Efficiency
2400 watts = 14.5 volts x 50 amps x 65% (being generous here with the 65% - this is the accepted efficiency rating for the class a amplifiers, lower quality amps will be less efficient - like this one....thus the "I'm being generous with the 65% rating here")

right??

WRONG!

if you do the math you get the following:

14.5 volts x 50 Amps x .65 = 471.25 watts

no where near the claimed 2400 watts....

so you ask how can they get away with claiming that much power?

there is no authority out there that says that they can't do it.

CEA2006 is the new industry wide standard. It's currently optional as far as the ratings go. Legacy doens't abide by these standards. High quality manufacturers will abide by them and you will see the seal on the product page and on their literature that shows that they abide by them.

Make sense?

ChaCha · 02-09-2005, 05:08 AM

[QUOTE=Red GTi VR6]...how can they get away with claiming that much power?

there is no authority out there that says that they can't do it.
QUOTE]

Goddamn lies and the lying liars who tell them!

Thanks for the tutorial...now I get it.

RedGTiVR6 · 02-09-2005, 08:01 AM

heh - it's screwy....I'm glad that they are finally doing something about it as far as the industry goes....hopefully it will help to turn the industry back around....

got2liv4him · 02-10-2005, 08:43 PM

this is so true... my friend had a cheapo amp with a sticker that said "1000 watts!!!" on it, so I opened it up and found the amp chip to be a Phillips chip-amp... 22wx2 channels! Prob the same chip in Wal-mart radios!

hotponyshoes · 02-11-2005, 07:14 AM

the above is true but on most amps the speaker output is not 14.4volts, playing a test tone through my sony car amp reads 19.2 volts on the speaker terminals, my home cyrus amps read 47.4volts. now try doing the sum again.. also a 65% efficient amp will lose 35% as heat so your 50amp going in will leave 32.5 amps to be turned into sound. so 32.5a x 19.2v = 624 watts.

User Name		Remember Me?
Password