yeah i'm a car audio newbie, so i need some help. is $400 enough to get *used*, 2 12's, an amp, and a box....of decent quality? i don't need anything that's gonna shatter the glass but i want something that'll thump pretty good.

also...do only custom boxes fit in the rear hatches of our car? is there any other place to put them besides taking out the rear seats and putting it there?

so yeah i know nothing about car audio but want to get a decent system to start with, and not buy a bunch of crap only to find out when i get it that i got too strong an amp, or too weak an amp, or all the crap....

basically, if i could get an overview of what power amps should be used with what power subs, and shooting for under $400.

i just re-read my post and my thoughts were all over the place ...if you can help w/ any of this info though i'd appreciate it

 

http://www.adireaudio.com/ Id go with one Shiva ($125)

And one of these http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Ee69KGm...=1&cc=01&avf=Y ($200)

And buy some mdf and make a box myself, this way you know your stuff is new.

Btw the Shiva is a good sub, it would probably be louder than anything you'd find used in your price range. And you should have money for beer or pizza while you make your box.

Also the rear hatch question, you can fit a premade store bought small sealed 10 or 12 box in the well but the ones made for the well that are sold on web sites are over priced imo.
Takes work but to make one yourself but in the end its worth it.

 

1) thanks for the info, although i couldn't find the shiva sub? if you can find it again quickly could you post a direct link to it?

2) don't know what mdf is either..is it the carpet used to cover the box?

3)do you know of a good resource explaining how to construct a box? like the dimensions and such for our cars

4)do subs and amps come with directions for installation? or is there an online resource exlpaining it?

thanks for the help..as you can see i know next to nothing having to deal w/ car audio, but i guess everybody started here

edit:and how much is all the wiring need for installation? i've seen some of the Monster Audio wires at Circuit City and Best Buy, but they range from like $30 to $100

 

Ok number one. Wire is wire, go to homedepot you can buy 4 gauge wire for very cheap, i bought 10 feet of it for like $4. the amp kits are way over priced. You'll need a set of rca's, buy a set that will go from your radio to your amp, again price doesnt always mean quality. Then you'll need a thin gauge wire for your turn on wire, this can be thin since its only to turn the amp on. then you'll need some speaker wire. I got mine for $15 its 12 gauge wire. (homedepot again)

Mdf stands for Medium density fiberboard, its like wood but it doesnt bend as easily so its a better material for sub boxes. Again homedepot sells this also.

http://www.adireaudio.com/mobile_aud...vers/shiva.htm
That is the shiva, it isnt all chrome and it doesnt have a fancy cone but believe me its a good sub.

http://www.carstereo.com/help/Articles.cfm This site has EVERYTING on it about car audio, if i were you id buy the amp and sub and read read read all i could untill you feel like you can tackle the job. Its not really hard once you know what you need to know.

Also i forgot every amp i bought had wiring directions included but thaat site also tells you how to wire one.

The biggest thing is the box, it must have the proper air space for the sub or it wont sound right, again that site even has a program you can use to tell you the size box you'll need. OR if you find a box you think might work you can measure it and put the measurements into another program on their and it'll tell you the air space (cubic foot) of that box.

Good luck and post any q's you have.

 

thanks for the info i'll check that site out

a couple more questions....so you think it would be better to just have one 12" shiva sub than 2 12"'s of a lesser brand? or are you just saying one to stay under the $400 mark? also...i have all sorts of pre-outs on the back of my HU, which I think go to either just the amp, or the amp and the sub, i'm not sure......do i buy regular wire from home depot and just splice the pre-out wires to the wire i bought and run it to the amp? how do i run the wire from the back of the HU to the rear of the car? i guess there's some way to lead the wires from the rear of the HU to the side of the car, and then maybe run the wires underneath the trim at the bottom of the interior on the sides? if i have just one sub, is it better to mount it in the middle, or can i mount it towards the side in case i decide to buy another sub later?

i guess that's all my questions for now...i'll read over the site you mentioned before asking any more questions but these where what was on my mind right now. thanks..

edit: i'm sure this is somehwere on the site you gave me, but how do i determine what size to make the box? i think it's based on some rating of the sub that tells how many cubic feet it sounds best in, but what rating is this? for the shiva sub you recommended, what would be the ideal volume of the box?

 

One shiva would be better than two lesser quality brand subs.

If you go to that site i posted and read on how to hook up an amp you'll see what wires go where. But mainly you should run the power wire down one side and the rca's down the other.

You can mount the sub any place you like as long as it fits. But your right it is a good idea to keep in mind that sooner or later you will want more.
Car audio is addictive

 

wait, i dont mean is it okay to put it anywhere in the car....i meant if i build a box is it okay to not put the sub in the middle, but on the side in case i get another one?

i read on that site though that you can build a divider in the middle of the box, so i guess if i build a box i'll do that so my one sub will have the proper volume of air

 

Sure you can put it on the side. Some people on here have one sub in the side of the well.

 

I'd definately just go with one sub- even a 10 inch will hit hard! Two 12's looks cool... I have two twelves, but the "next" system I'm planning will have just one 12" sub (in a homemade fiberglass box)! Stick to brand name equipment, too. I always say to spend $30 on your set of patch cables; It's been my experience that you could spend a ton of $$ on great amps and speakers, but cheap cables will leave you with a cheap-sounding system. If you do buy an amp wiring kit, keep the power cables, but give the "free RCA patch cord" to your worst enemy.

You definately don't want to do that... that'd be the equivilant of a cheap patch cord (no offense meant). "Good names" are ones like Lightning Audio, Streetwires, and Monster Cable. (Sometimes you can find them on auction sites for super cheap!!)

Like br()bert said, I don't run the power wires with the patch cords. In fact, my power wires go down one side of the car, patch cords go up the middle (under the carpet, you've gotta remove the console and seats), and speaker wires come down the passenger side. If your wires have to cross over each other, make sure they cross at exactly 90 degree angles, to make a "+" sign. That's physics; it'll make sure that the electrical signals in the cables won't interfere.

Tip; if you're making an amp board and hiding the wires underneath, either tape or staple the wires to the bottom of the board so they cross at 90 degree angles. Then you can just set the board wherever, without worrying about trying to move cables that you can't see.

 

so are you saying that in the amp wiring kits you buy from circtuit city or whatever, there's plugs that plug directly into the preouts on the back of the HU?

since i made this thread, i've bought a 10" bazooka bass tube, which is in the mail right now....i guess a normal amp wiring kit would work? because all that's gonna be connected to the HU is the amp right? the amp gets power from the HU, the sub gets power from the amp?

 

I agree with Tom on alot of things but the rca cords isnt one of them, I and many other people have made their own and have not gained any noise or any other negative affects.

BUT

Since your new to car audio this really dont mean crap.
Yes the rca cord connects to the back of your head unit then runs to your amp.

 

thanks for the help...i know answering my dumb questions is like telling a 5 year old that 2+2=4, and then them asking "wait, so 2+2=7?"....but yeah i'm in the dark on everything car audio, so thanks for the info

edit: guess i'll go to circuit city tomorrow to see if they carry the wiring harness...i know they carry a few models of bazooka tubes so hopefully they have some of the RSA models....if not i'll have to order directly from bazooka and wait like a week after i get the tube to actually install it....the tube should be here friday, so i'll let ya know if it's worth a damn or not once i get it hooked up

 

(laughs) Yep, that's where br()bert and I "agree to disagree"!

The amp will get it's power from the battery, actually. The only thing the amp will get from the head unit is the output signal, thru RCA patch cords.

Only SOME amp wiring kits come with that patch cord. Some amp kits know that you don't want a cheap RCA, so they don't bother including one. Here's two examples from crutchfield.com:

RF, no patch cord: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-urKhPiZ...sp?I=575RP1710 This kit is $20.

Lighting Audio (was bought by Rockford Fosgate!)- http://www.crutchfield.com/S-urKhPiZ...p?i=495SXPK10I This comes with a patch cord, for $30.

Note the Lightning audio kit's specs- "includes 16 foot Strike patch cable". Now use crutchfield to look up the spec for the 16 foot strike cable, (or click here: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-urKhPiZ...asp?I=495LSIX5 ) and you'll see it's sold separately as a $20 cable. But total price of the kit is $30, compared to the $20 for the RF kit. I actually think I like that cable; I bet a local store would try to sell that for $30.

More digging on Crutchfield (left bar- installation accessories, "skip this step" for type of car, then choose "more" under amplifier installations and look for stereo patch cables) will show this beauty- which you'd basically only buy once for just about any current AND FUTURE stereo you'd put into your car: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-urKhPiZ...asp?I=211ZN310

But like br()bert said, this is really your first installation... that $30 kit from Lightning Audio might be what you'd want. A $20 patch cable is sure better than the one that comes in this kit: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-urKhPiZ...sp?I=142AKPA10 That's the no-name junk kind of RCA cable I like to see people avoid.

Most kits come with the "give to your enemies" patch cord, which looks like these: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-urKhPiZ...asp?I=10624220 These (and probably that Scoche-included one) have no shielding whatsoever!

Hope that helped... you can probably get better prices by haggling locally... and there's always places like online auctions.