i know this is probably a dumb question, but that's all i seem to have for the car audio board..

i still have my stock speakers in my car, but they sound decent. not as good as aftermarket i know, but i'd rather upgrade to subs and an amp before getting new speakers...i know alot of people power their speakers, but you don't have to, right? i could just power the subs and leave me speakers alone and it would be fine? my speakers get decently loud w/o any distortion, and i wouldn't really want to play my music any louder than i already do, i just want some bass in it...is it fine just sticking w/ my stock speakers?

 

You can hook the stock speakers up to the head unit (radio) and only power the amp. And later up grade them if you like.

 

you dont have to upgrade your other speakers to install an amp/subs

just get a mono or 2 channel amp and a sub or two, and you'll be fine

ohh, and if you still have the factory radio, get a Line-Level Converter (basically it takes 2 normal speaker wires and makes an RCA for the amp.....some amps have this buildt in)

 

subs/amp is a good place to start if you're stock speakers are in good shape, but be careful the subs don't drown out the mids and highs. If this happens, you can always run the 6x9s off of an amp too.

 

Ya you can just power your subs, I did that a few years back when I had a system( got stolen). Later in the summer I hope to be droppin the new system in and I'll have the samething your talking about, just powering the subs. I plan on putting power to all of them later..

 

DO NOT hook the stock 6x9s to the amp! they wont handle the power.

 

DAMNIT! i hate it when you write a big post and hit submit, but there's an error and everything you wrote gets deleted...anyway i'll try to remember what i typed..

nah i don't have the stock stereo still...i got a pioneer HU a few months back that was like $450 retail, but i got it for $300 on ebay.

i started thinking today about a bazooka bass tube though. they have a nice powered 10" version, and i don't know anything about specs so how does this sound?:

Voltage - 10.5-14.4
Power Output - 150 Watts
Channels - 1
Frequency Response - 39 Hz-250Hz
Fuse - 20
Crossover - LP
Max Power Output - 150
Voice Coil Size - 1.5
Variable 18dB Electronic Crossover


it retails for $460, but i can get it brand new on ebay for $230, not used, not refurbished, brand new. (for those people who are skeptics about *new* stuff on ebay for half the cost, i've bought 3 HU's from ebay for about 40% off and had zero problems with them. one i had for 2 years, another for 1 year, and my current one for 6 months, never a single problem, so i'm not concerned with getting a bass tube and it only working for a month or something)

anyway....i'm lookin to spend no more than $400 on the whole sub/amp setup, so obviously i'm not looking for any competition system or anything...anyway, how does this sound?

ctrl-c in case this crap gets deleted again

 

$230 for a tube is too much. They sell them near me for $100.

The tubes put out low bass but really dont get too loud.

Maybe you can go to a store near you and listen to one of them and see if thats what you want.

 

well some of the tubes are near $100, but they're either 8" or 6 1/2".........the 10" versions (of internal powered tubes....the non-powered ones are cheaper) start at $180 or so and go up to $460. the one i mentioned is the top of the line model, biggest size, most power, etc.

i've heard some of the middle of the line models at circuity city and they sound pretty good...never heard a 10" though...i was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on bass tubes...i'll probably go with this considering the cost and the no-headache installation

edit: i found it for $195 on ebay, brand new...the guy has like 8,000 feedback posts about him, and a 99.something% positive rating so i don't think i'll get gyped (no idea how to spell that word)....thanks for the help, i'm probably getting this, i'll post back after i have it installed

 

what most people do is buy their head unit then sub and sub amp combo...after that if your stock speakers are in good shape you can run a small amp to them. Even 25X4 will make a huge difference in clarity over your head units power if you get a decent quality amp. Just make sure you have your crossovers set properly and you arent clipping the signal