Question About What AMP I Would Need...

[SlipknotX556]

O yeah, I forgot one thing, what kind of wood would you suggest for a box? I was thinking about using Medium Density Fiberboard, but I know they are used for high SPL systems, is there another alternate wood to use?

[tobz]

basically.. You sound deaden stuff to get rid of rattles.. and get rid of road noise.

So.. sound deaden stuff that rattles. And if you don't like road noise, then you might want to sound deaden floors, firewall, doors, wheel wells, hood, .....

And if you want a good price on sound deadening material, let me know. I know Ant from secondskin (www.secondskinaudio.com) and I can get really good prices on stuff. Basically same or better quality than dynamat for a fraction of the cost. I'll do anything to make an extra $10 and help out a fellow AOer save lots of money.



T.J.

[tobz]

If you want very high quality plans for your enclosure, my friend will sell plans for about $20. That will be very specific in the tuning frequency according to the thiele small parameters of your sub. For your speaker, go with 1" MDF. You will want to go ported, and for a daily driver setup tune it to 25-30hz depending on the sub. If you want specific plans for a setup that will be extremely loud, let me know. As I also have a friend in the box building industry. If you want to purchase a high end enclosure.. He can build it for you, but since 1" MDF boxes will run around 70lbs, shipping is expensive. My last 12" box was around $170 shipped. I'll be honest, it's rock solid and worth every penny. If you'd rather just get plans, $20 and I can land you plans. Since he's my friend, I might be able to get them cheaper, we'll see.

Thanks.

T.J.

[Butterfingers]

Brownbread works good too...

dont overpay for dynamat.

What type of car do you have?

Tobz may be right on current draw. Admittedly I dont have as extensive experience as him and I was always told that 600W is safe to use on almost all cars with stock electrical systems.

If you can break the bank for a 1200 watt amp your system will be at full potential.

In this case I would reccomend the JBL 1200.1 instead of the 600.1

You need preferably somthing optimized at 2 ohms or at the very least stable at 2 ohms.

[SlipknotX556]

Thanks for the offer about the plans and everything, but I think I will build my own box. Where could I get MDF? Home Depot?

Would you know how much MDF would cost?

[tobz]

I would recommend going to a cabinetry place, and see if you can pick up a piece of their "seconds". Basically it will be a sheet that has some roughed up corners, and you can use the rest. That way you only pay about 10-15 for the full sheet.

If you build your own box, I would recommend checking your speakers resonant frequency and port it to the correct tone. None of that matters if you go sealed, then again there is no reason to go sealed unless you don't have room for a ported box.

If you have any questions about your box, I'm sure I can get you some free info

T.J.

[SlipknotX556]

Thanks, I will contact you if I have any questions.

[Miscue]

Originally posted by SlipknotX556
In the end I think I may go with ethier the JBL amp or one of the 2 Miscue showed me. The cap, I will just get because its better safe then sorry. But my last question is the dynamat, I was just planning on lining my trunk with it, or is it just better to line the entire car with it? I may sometime in the future replace the stock 4 speakers, but I am not sure yet.

Peel & Seal works fine... relatively cheap.

Sound dampening does a few things. Most obviously it removes rattles and kills road noise. It also prevents metal panels from resonating, which interferes with your speakers. It allows for higher SPL at the same volume/power levels, less distortion, improved SQ, and a raised sound stage.

With the kind of gear you're getting, I'd recommend dampening your trunk, floors, and doors.

Yikes. You're dumping all your money into subs? No fronts? /me cringes. Personally, subs are one of the last items on my list of things to do.

[tobz]

Agreed. Besided the H/U, a good set of components and an amp for them is generally the first thing I setup in a "system". Then go for the bass. After that, add rear fill if needed, and if you're really an audiophile, possible a set of imaging tweeters... but most people don't need to worry about that. Even one set of components can be imaged very nicely if you do it right. It's all in the install.

[Miscue]

Originally posted by tobz
I would recommend going to a cabinetry place, and see if you can pick up a piece of their "seconds". Basically it will be a sheet that has some roughed up corners, and you can use the rest. That way you only pay about 10-15 for the full sheet.

If you build your own box, I would recommend checking your speakers resonant frequency and port it to the correct tone. None of that matters if you go sealed, then again there is no reason to go sealed unless you don't have room for a ported box.

If you have any questions about your box, I'm sure I can get you some free info

T.J.

I personally prefer sealed because of tighter bass response, although it does not reach as low a frequency and is not as loud.

If you build a box yourself, you will screw it up... unless you spend A LOT of time researching how to build one correctly. There's a lot involved in making a good enclosure... it's not simply a matter of making a wood box with particular dimensions... even if you are using the right dimensions.

Get a good quality, pre-fab'd 1.25cf sealed box... or a larger vented or ported enclosure. Unless, you really want to make your own.

[Miscue]

Originally posted by tobz
Agreed. Besided the H/U, a good set of components and an amp for them is generally the first thing I setup in a "system". Then go for the bass. After that, add rear fill if needed, and if you're really an audiophile, possible a set of imaging tweeters... but most people don't need to worry about that. Even one set of components can be imaged very nicely if you do it right. It's all in the install.

Yup. I've been looking at new cars, and the first things I look at is the front console and the kickpanel area... I'll probably spend a week or so just pointing my kickpods before I finish them. Get the audio equipment out and tune the sucker... EQ/processor. Takes a LONG time to do it right. Subs are a lot easier to set up than your front stage... I probably will put 95% of my time in the front... 5% for subs.

[tobz]

Here are some pros/cons for sealed boxes

Pros:
Generally Smaller Enclosures (less cu^ft needed)
Tight bass response
They get really low
Easy to build
Don't require a Sub Sonic Filter
More difficult to blow a sub in a sealed box (nearly impossible actually)

Cons:
Require more power to get loud
They WON'T get as loud

Here are some pros/cons of ported boxes:

Pros:
Get almost as low as sealed
Gets much louder than sealed
Requires less power than sealed

Cons:
SSF's are recommended
Much tougher to build
Port design must be correct
In general, they're larger boxes
Easier to blow a sub in a ported box

I will let you know that a crappy sealed box will probably end up sounding better than a crappy ported box, but a quality built ported box is the way to go if you can. You will get much louder, basically just as low. (Aren't those the two main reasons for having a sub?)

Peace out Homie.

Bump Responsibly

T.J.

[tobz]

hey miscue..

setting up your staging...

Have you ever used a laser pointer? It works great. Just line up your tweeters so the laser pointer is straight out the center of the cone and aim it at your headrest.

A very easy way to get a good start on a majority of the imaging done. After that.. it's all fine tuning from there.

[Miscue]

Originally posted by tobz

I will let you know that a crappy sealed box will probably end up sounding better than a crappy ported box, but a quality built ported box is the way to go if you can. You will get much louder, basically just as low. (Aren't those the two main reasons for having a sub?)

T.J.

Yup... exactly. Most people will be happy with a 'good', well tuned ported box... it's the safe bet as far as 'taste' goes.

[SlipknotX556]

So I should really look around for ready made ported boxes? Knowing me, I would screw up building the box.