Been on here for a while just never wrote anything.I've gotten alot of useful info from you guys.
First off I own a 1985 pontiac trans am and I'm doing a full restoration.I stripped it down as far as I could and sanded and painted every part.My question is about the stereo system.My music preferance is metal and hard rock.And sometimes all other types of music.I would really appreciate your guy's input on what subs and enclosure to use in my car.I was thinkin about 3 tens and 4 eights.I've had killer systems in other vehicles but it was competition stuff.I'd like to use kicker or jl audio.But if there is something better for the money I'm open.Money doesn't really matter cause this car is everything to me.I'm buying a JVC head unit and replacing the stock speakers with kicker 4x6 and 6x9s.With a 200x4 amp on them.I want the car to sound like your at a rock concert but not to load to wake the neighbors 4 miles away.(got in deep crap for that in my ranger.lol)Just not sure what to go with,if you can help me out I would appreciate it.

 

Well what RMS is your goal? Also why are your going to use seven subs?

 

the reason why im thinking of 7 subs is because of there is two 4x6s,2 6x9s,2 6.5s in the doors,and 2 6.5s in the rear sail panels by the back seat,with 2 tweeters in the front and 2 in the back.And 2 5.25s in the kick panels.thats some of the stuff that is being put into the car right now all done with fiberglass.For the RMS on the subs it would probably be between 125 to 200max.U dont really need alot to get good sound.

 

but if i could get away with less subs I would take it.I'm gonna make the enclosure out of fiberglass but not to sure on what style would be the best for my music.I want the hard hitting double bass but also if I want to listen to rap I would like it to boom alittle bit.

 

Check out for sale section...or just go by threads ive started. I have a set of subs and amps for sale as I just sold my car....Its a custom built sealed box. It hits hard sounds very good with rock as its punchy but can also play the lows in rap and hit VERY hard in rap also. I had it for awhile and it was great.

 

what did u have two twelves?thats what it looked like.Back in the day i had 9 kicker comp vr 12s and man that was to loud.But they were really good subs.Hard to find the old school style though.

 

I would say sealed because it'll be a lot tighter for the drums but also slam for rap, just not as much reverb.

 

You're obviously not concerned with weight. I'm by no means an expert, but what I would do is go with two JLs in the t-top well with the custom sealed fiberglass enclosure. I know that if I had my dream Camaro, that's what I'd do. To me, your system sounds like a bit of overkill and I'd imagine that unless you really know what you're doing with placement and crossover, there might be some interference and your sound stage might be kind of crappy.

If you're looking to make a really high quality build, I say head over to diymobileaudio.com. Those guys over there know just about anything and everything that has to do with sound, and they can help you with product comparison too.

Personally, I picked up two kenwood 400W RMS 12"s, put them in one of those sealed boxes that fit in our t-top wells that you can order online and I can't imagine being happier with the bass. It doesn't hurt my ears and just makes all of my music sound great. I listen to mostly rock too (Deftones, Linkin Park, Disturbed) and the double bass kicks are very clean to me.

That's not to say that I wouldn't want to improve the rest of my setup though...

 

^^Not trying to dis you man but first off if someone is looking for a NICE system in a car they most likely aren't looking to race the car also. Also JL cost way to much. Dont get me wrong they make good products but for the price of one w7; I could have 2 12's and a 1000D amp and be louder while still sounding just as good. Personally I believe JL makes good product but its overpriced and over hyped. Its like buying a Ferrari, OK sweet so its fast, but for the same price mine is faster and so on. On to the fiberglass encloser, it wont fit the lines of a 3rd gen and would look tacky. Unless done right fiberglass is VERY hard to tune the box and get rid of port noise or just box noise for that matter. Also Ive heard the off-the-shelf boxes they make for 3rd gens. While they are alright there built quality lacks and also they waste alot of room in the back that you could get more space out of.

Again not trying to offend you, im just getting sick of all these JL fanatics that need to wake up and realize the car audio world...



To answer above question yes I had 2 12's. Wasnt my first choice on subs and esspically amps but for the price I couldnt complain. Now that I sold the car Im doing a very nice system in my 06 dodge and not skimping like I used to due to money. The crossfire DB3's I had were rated at 250rms a piece at 2ohm and I had two 500rms at 2ohm amps(one for each). It was a little overkill but it actually never distorted and sounded great(also hit very hard and deep too). With rock it was very punchy and you felt it hard in your chest. With rap it hit low and would **** off anyone within a city block radius. I should have took videos of it to show you guys...all I can say was it was loud, crisp, and clear. For a $800 total system it was loud and sounded great.

 

Ahhh alas someone that agrees with me about JL audio. Great sound quality products, well built, but WAAAYYY overpriced.

On to your system. If the majority of music that you are going to listen to is going to mostly rock and similar, your best bet is going to be 2 10's in a sealed box. Not a cheap brand either. The 10's will have a quicker response time and will be able to accurately reproduce the quick bass drum hits as well as the double hits. And at the same time be able to give you some great sounding rap music as well as country. I've used many different brands of subs including; sony, pioner, kicker, jl audio, rockford fosgate, alpine, Digital Designs, Fi Car Audio, RE, DC Sound labs, TC Sounds, Zapco, Image Dynamics, and many more. In my honest opinion the Rockford Fosgate p2s are an excellent choice for a mild setup geared towards good overall sq and great punch with some boomy lows. I can also recommend a few other brands and models but from experience the p2s work great in a hatch and sound amazing doing it. The p2s are rated at 250rms and are dual voice coil. I would find an amp that does 500 watts RMS at 2 ohms to pair with these subs. The Alpine MRP-M500 is a good choice, and can be found for around $100 used. To get the proper ohm load, you want to get the dual 2 ohm model p2s. P2D210 is the model number and can be found here for $89.99 each. Or here for $170 for a PAIR. (these are brand new) This link here shows how to properly wire the subs to achieve a final 2 ohm load.

I have this knowledge all from personal experience. I have competed in SPL, SQ, and do audio for the sheer fun of it. My dad was also a Master SQ installer in this area for years. I have dedicated the past few years at experiencing all the different aspects of car audio and I still have much to learn. But i'm more than willing to help if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Weight concerns aren't just for people who race. I understand that if someone is building a quality sound set up, they're not looking to race. But still, stereo equipment is some of the heaviest stuff that you can put in your car, and 7 or 8 subwoofers at say even 10 pounds each plus enclosure is a significant amount of weight. My point in saying that he clearly wasn't concerned about weight was to push him towards only using one or two subwoofers, not to sound like an idiot.

And the reason that I jumped to JL was because he said that price wasn't an issue. I understand that they are overpriced, but I hear a lot of great things about them and my best friend has a pair in his Cavalier in a sealed box-- the things are ungodly and they sound clean as hell.

I take my hat off to the people who have been doing this for way longer than I have though. I just started playing around with car audio but I've been doing a lot of reading and trying to gather up information. Like I said, I'm happy with my Kenwoods, but I was looking at the RF P3's before I purchased the Kens. Every time I heard them I would drool. I've read, though, that the new RF amps are kind of terrible, so stay away from them if you can.

Again, I didn't mean to sound ignorant, I guess it just kind of happened.

 

I respect that your just getting into the car audio world and im glad your giving the best advice you can. I respect that.

See my problem is I "hang out" at the local car audio shop just about every day...pretty much work there. We dont sell JL for a reason; regardless we have ALOT of people come in and say I want JL because its the best...blah blah...Ive had kids come in with two W7's and an amp and we charge 100 to just hook it up for them, minus parts. Either way we show them what we could have done for them for the same price they paid for there stuff and just about all of them end up selling there JL equipment and get a full system including decent door speakers for the same price. If I came across abrupt its because I deal with with to many JL crazies and they just dont understand; so for that, sry for judging you.


...Personally I would go with two Rockford Fosgate P2 10's in a sealed box. Like said above. They do hit hard and deep but are more punchy then deep. They do sound very good. If your looking to do a full system in your car do a good name brand radio but nothing crazy; just what has the features you want most for a good price. Do rockford punch speakers in the doors and do a set of P2D210's.


Just for instance...I sold my bird so now I have an 06 dodge ram 1500 single cab. Im doing an indash Clarion nav unit, Memphis "baby belle" 5-channel amp, Rockford power speakers, and a single Rockford p3 12 in a custom ported box. Actually waiting for product to be delivered right now. Now for you that would be a little overkill for what you want. I just really like my music so its perfect for me. And for the people who keep saying why a single 12....well its a single cab pickup and while there is plenty of room for two 12's with the right size ported box; one p3 12 ported in a single cab pick up is going to be plenty enough for me.

 

Man, I bought 2 JL Audio 12inch subwoofers for $120 a piece and I couldn't be more happier with my purchase. I have them in a custom made sealed box and they hit clean. My wife bought 2 Kicker CVR's for her car and she couldn't be happier. If money isn't an issue, you can't go wrong with JL Audio or Kicker. I like Fosgate as well.... in terms of subwoofers.

For speakers other than subwoofers (for the highs) I like Alpine or Infinity.

In my opinion, you wouldn't need no more than 6 speakers total for a good sounding system. I have a total of 4 speakers (2 6x9's from Alpine and 2 12inch subs from JL) and my set up sounds fine.

Go with good quality name brands.... in the end you'll get what you pay for!

 

"I've read, though, that the new RF amps are kind of terrible, so stay away from them if you can."

No offense but this is about the farthest thing from the truth. While I would stay away from the Prime series of Rockford amps (their lowest line) the Punch and Power amps are phenomenal, The build quality is superb, size is decent, they are efficient compared to most other name brand amps, and they are very underrated. My p1000-1bd is rated for 1000watts @1ohm and the birthsheet said actual rms @1ohm was 1327. And my T3002 was rated for 150 watts @1ohm per channel and did nearly 500 per channel on the birthsheet.

like said above, any questions just ask

 

I appreciate your guy's input a lot.Its very helpful.Like I said I've been out of the stereo game for quit a while.But I think I might go with probably three ten's and make a really nice enclosure with a wood bottom (cause you won't see it)with a nice looking fiberglass lid.I'm not to sure on the subs though.I've already owned kicker and jl audio and I was impressed but I'd like to try a different brand.
For the amp I was thinking Alpine.Just cause I had one that was only 120x4 max and it was on two jl audio tens and it pushed them better than anything I've seen.But I've heard that precision power,memphis,rockford fosgate and pheonix gold are killer amps also.I had a nice kenwood and I didn't care for it all that much.
I'm looking into the alpine MRP-m1000.I think it would be a good amp to run three tens.The specs say it runs 1000wx1 RMS at 2Ohms,and 600x1 at 4 Ohms.But I can adjust it down for whatever subs I choose.I also would like to know if anyone out there has had that amplifier and how they liked it.Information is very helpful and appreciated.Thanks

 

Last time I put my two cents in. :-P

 

I wouldn't be worried about the 100 or so pounds you put in your car for a good system considering most people are fat and weigh 250lbs anyway. If your car slows down because of the weight of a small child....time for a new engine?

 

get some rockford fosgate hx2's

 

my best sound came from 2 - pioneer premier comps 700rms each at 4ohm dvc wired at 1ohms to a hifonics brutus 1500 watt rms @ 1omh d class amp, kept breaking tail light housings on my 2000 Regal back in like 2004 i miss those days damnit........... also a a 400 watt hifonics zeus on my mids and highs for that much needed clarity

 

Good lord, I wouldn't put 7 subs into my bronco, let alone my camaro!

 

I have a single 10in JL W3 powered by an older Rockford Fosgate 4 channel amp (2 channels for subs, 2 for the door speakers) in my Camaro. It added maybe 40 pounds of weight total, including the door build outs I made, and it sounds great. I can get enough clean volume from it to drown out the exhaust at highway speeds which is pretty good considering the car is a stalled up 3 speed.

 

ive got 2 jl 10s hooked up to an alpine 2 channel sub amp and those things hit like a champ. ive just got them mounted in a board that goes across the rear well, not a fully enclosed box.