hey all.. i'm new to these forums. I recently bought two Sony Xplod 10'' subs and a 760watt amp. some of my friends have dissed sony.. but i doubt their knowledge on the subject, however, i too have limited audio know-how. I was curious what everyone thinks of sony subs... should i look at other options? I have a sony minidisc head unit that has done real well with my stock speakers. are these subs ok? (the speakers will be upgraded too, in about 3months)

secondly, i have the problem with the box i bought.. i haven't tested it in the trunk well yet.. but i measured the base of it to be exactly 1ft.. ..this won't fit right? i need a good box, and i have some friends that could help me make one. would it be wiser to purchase one already made, or attempt creating my own? sorry if these are stupid questions, i'm trying to learn as much as i can
I found a q-forms box for like 350 it looks pretty slick, but that's a hefty price tag i think, when carpet boxes look just as cool.
heh, 3rdly i have a chance at trading my two 10's for two 12's and a 1000w amp.. ( Sony xplod again) but i would lack the 4 year warranty i have with the 10's and the 760w. and i believe this new offer's amp is 1000x1ohm or something? is that good/bad .. worth the swap?

thanks for helping me!

 

sony car audio = crap (sorry to be so blunt). but glad to see you're getting into car audio. there are diagrams floating around the forum to build your own box (i know cause i've put a few up in the last month). building your own box is pretty cheap compaired to prebuit. if you cant build one, go with rezn8r's. great quality and very good price. he's on the board.

 

hmm.. heh should i think of replacing my head unit? it's worth 380 on crutchfield.. ( i know they're overpriced ) but i think it's a pretty good unit. it's sony.. are all sony car audio crap? or are the head units ok? .. i'd like to say i have "an alpine system" a " kenwood system" or something .. heh i've heard that's it's almost better to mixmatch because different companies specialize in different areas. if i were to sell my head unit and subs and amp.. i'd probably get about
200 for head unit maybe more..
80 for the box..
300 for the amp and subs (still in the box)
30 for remote
so 610 in all
what would that get me in another system if i was looking around?
--this is my md head unit --
MD unit

 

They are not useless,

... They make great paperweights!

 

I have a sony headunit and amp...Granted its not the best, but if your not looking for earth destroying, I-won-the-Db-drag bass, then sony is a nice solution I think. As for the trade....are they aluminum cone (silver cones) or the red coned subs? If they are aluminum, go for the trade, if they're not, dont worry about it. The aluminum cone subs are really quite better than the red coned ones. But Im one of the only ones on here who doesnt think sony is complete crap, so this'll prolly be the only half-assed positive post. Whichever you do, enjoy the car audio sceen!

 

what kind of system are looking into. do you want something better than stock, sony with work great. do you want to break db records, sony not so good. do you want to win sq competitions, sony not so good. i dont have that much experience with the sony line, im a clarion and boston acoustic man, but if you like your headunit and havent had any problems with it, why fix it if it aint broke? as for the subs and amp, i know many people havent had that much success with them, but if you have a warrenty, id say run them, and if you dont like them you can always sell them. dont listen to people when they say something is crap to them, because someone else's gargbage is someone else's treasure (not quite the right proverb, but you get the idea) if you like it and it works the way you want it todont worry about it.
try to audition those subs at a shop or somewhere and you can get the idea of what you will have, granted they will sound a little different in the car and in a different box.
lastly, for the box, if you cant/dont want to make one check out Rezn8r's Site

 

here's my baby

 

dB is how loud the sound will be. SQ and SQL are the same thing, sound quality/level. SQ is how good the sound sounds, ie how clear it is.
If you are looking for more detailed explanations just let us know.
Brian

 

Since your car is a 91, I wanted to mention that Blaupunkt makes a head unit (with a fold down face with the CD player behind it) that lights up in yellow with the same amber and green accents as your factory dash. I've got it in my car (I think it's called the Tokyo series) because I don't really care for having a bright blue or red face glaring back at me when everything else is yellow. Mine came with a 5-disc in-dash changer that I mounted in a pod in the back. It's going to look really cool sunk into the face of my sub box (between the speakers) when I get that far. The in-dash changer has five separate slots for each CD in a din-sized face. Anyway, it might be something to think about if you're thinking about changing your head unit.

 

i noticed that the buttons and dash features were in yellow. I thought mine must be faded horribly until i looked up replacement parts, and Gm actually made the buttons yellow! why?! well it doesn't really matter.. but i would have liked white better. Is it possible to change the yellow buttons for the whites of other third gen years?

 

I would like to toss my own clarified opinion in here.. Anything car-audio related produced by sony between 2000 and present is crap.. 1999 is iffy.. 1998 had some good Mobile ES head units =)

 

Silverblade,

I don't think you can change to white gauges like in the ealier 80s cars because the overall dash design is different. Where our 91s and 92s have a curved, smooth overall dash design with hemispherical speedo and tach, the earlier cars have a more box-like dash design (around the guages) with round speedos and tachs. But, you can change to white-faced gauges that look pretty sweet. There are a lot of tech boards on how to do this that also provide the manufacturers and how-tos on changing the colors of your dash lights if you want. I think quite a few people, for instance, have used blue or red LED lights in their dashes. I hope this helps.

 

Hey guys, i've decided to stay with the sony's.... for now anyway.. but i have a new question.. I emailed Sony at Sony Music at Crutchfield and they said i would need.. well here's part of the email.
" I'll be happy to help you with your question on wiring for your Sony
Xplod subwoofers and amplifier. The kit we recommend for use with the
XM-2150GSX amplifier is a StreetWires 8-gauge kit:
This kit does come with the patch cable included. If you'd like to
upgrade the patch cables, another option is to choose a kit without
patch cables, such as this one:
This is the exact same kit as the first one, minus the patch cables.)

You can then add top quality patch cables, like the Rockford Fosgate
Stealth Twisted-Pair cables:
Don't forget about speaker wire to connect the subwoofers to your
amplifier. We recommend high-quality 12-gauge cable for the best bass:


i went to an Expo in my town and they said that their 6-gauge kit by American Accessories would work... here are the contents

800 Watt Complete Amplifier Hookup Kit
Amplifier Hookup Kit For Batery Head Unit And Speakers
Description PowerKit-3 SPECS
RCA Interconnect Audio Cable
Ultra Shielded w/Built-In Remote Wire 25ft Right Angle

RED Power Cable 20ft 6 gauge

BLUE/Purple Ground Wire 4ft 6 gauge

Ofc Speaker Cable 25ft 12 gauge

BLUE Remote Turn On Wire 20ft 16 gauge

Water Resistant Inline Fuse Holder AGU type 6 gauge

Agu Fuse 60 Amp Gold plated

Gold Ring Terminal I or 1.. can't tell 6 gauge

Split Loom For Cable Protection And 6ft 6 gauge
Organization Black Color

Other Accessories:
4 Female Disconn. 14-16GA.1/4''
2 Ring Terminals 8GA.ID:5/16''
2 Spade Terminals 8GA.ID:10#
5 Spade Terminals 14-16GA.ID:6#
3 Self Tapping Screws
5 Rubber Grommets
20 Black Cable Ties, 6''
2 Butt,Conn. 18-22GA, Red
1 Butt.Conn.6GA,Red


Will this even hookup everything i need? Honestly this kit was 34.99$ .. did i get ripped off? I want my subs to sound as best as possible, but i'm not looking for earthcrushing boneshattering competition bass, however i dont' want some cheap *** wires that barely put out. Best Buy quoted me at 150$ for the wires...but they were great quality. Should i take these back? Will these 6-gauge wires make up for the 8-gauge that the sony representative recommended?

As always you're help is greatly appreciated ,
Silverblade

 

that last kit sounds pretty good to me, I have learned that for the most part when it comes to power wire, wire is wire, there really isnt much of a difference between the brands.

 

there are many arguements in the car audio world on wires and the difference they make in the car audio environment. Most people have come to the conclusion, like EjBaL said, that wire is wire. As long as you get a gauge that fits your application you should be okay. That 6 gauge power wire should be more that thick enough for your amplifier power needs. Just make sure that you have a good connection at all the points of contact or else you might get a ground loop or alternator whine. if you have any other questions, just let us know.