im not looking to wake up the neighbors or go deaf I would just like some extra bass. I don't know much about car audio frequencies, wattage and what not so I turning to the experts (you guys). its not for show I just like to feel the music if that makes any sense. also not looking to spend a whole lot.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-PIONEER-PACKAGE-DEAL-CAR-AUDIO-2-CHANNEL-AMP-AMPLIFIER-2-SUB-WOOFER-/271291194734?pt=Car_Subwoofers_Enclosures&hash=item3f2a371d6e
let me know what you guys think
also my speakers and head unit are already pioneer if it counts for anything. thanks in advance!

 

looks ok for the price the amp is a little under powered good sound quality also comes from building your box to proper airspace spec for your sub if your looking to hide it in the trunk well we dont have a lot of room for two subs even though you see guys do it what sounds good to 1 guy sounds like distorted crapp to the next guy might want to think about 1 higher rms rated sub & amp that pushes more power if you just want a little more bass & thats about the most you want to spend it looks like that would do the job

 

like I said I don't know anything about car audio and power ratings. what size amp would you suggest for these subs? im not looking to spend more than about $200 total.

 

i dont look at max rated power that is all over the map look at rms power if the sub is rated for 250 rms i would like to put 150-160 rms power to that sub to get the most out of it without risking blowing it two 10s are about the max if your looking to build the correct box & hide it with the amp i dont know if you have t tops or any thing you want to throw back there if not dont worrie about that dont get me wrong it will still sound a lot better with that set up than not having subs but at mid & higher volume the lack of power comes into play i run a sealed box so its not as loud as a ported box but is tight & clean bass = no port noise its a package deal the right amp/sub/box & 1 12 will sound better than 2 12s thats in a box too small without enuf power its hard to say what you will be happy with but about all i see wrong with it is its a bit under powered

 

i guess i should also have asked you are your dash & piller speakers powered by an amp or just the radio if powered by an amp you might want more power for those subs if just powered by the radio then you might be ok with it as is you want the whole system to be balanced no one component over powering the rest

 

that all makes a lot of sense. and no my speakers will be powered by the head unit. I believe it has a small built in amp? bought it about a year ago. does a pretty good job.
thank you very much oaklandfuelman you have been very helpful. I think im gonna go for it when I get my tax return, gonna start mocking up some box ideas ive had. i believe each sub needs around 1.2ft3 airspace? ill figure something out!!

 

your welcome !! with your other speakers powered by the head unit that amp/subs should match up pretty well the specs for air space for a sealed/round port/squar port box should be in the owners manual that comes with the subs or you might be able to get it from pioneer web site i myself like the sealed box it cuts out alot of the buzz you get from the ported box ive had both over the years good luck with it

 

that amp is not good for the speakers, amp is only rated 4ohms bridged and with 4 ohm speakers the only way to hook it up is stereo (one speaker hooked to each channel output). this is the lowest configuration for power. so the speakers are capable of handling 250w and you would be at 60. you could get one good 10 and a mono amp that are properly matched to each other and it would sound better. especially if you are not amp-ing your other speakers, two properly powered 10s will over power the rest of your system.

 

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-TS-W254R.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...t-OA500.1.html

or

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...te-R250X1.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...ME-R1S410.html

 

the pioneer sub paired with the fosgate amp hooked up 4ohms that jwfirebird posted would be a nice set up i would like that better than the one in your first post that amp also has remote bass control a nice option when adding a sub to your system you can make quick adjustments to the sub without going into the radio settings but i wouldent hook it up at 2ohms & put maxx rms power to the sub it will produce more bass that way & you can always change your mind if not happy with it at 4ohms & hook it up at 2ohms & just turn the gain down on the amp but the amp will run cooler last longer & so will your sub hooked up 4ohms putting 150rms to that sub vs maxing out the amp putting 250 rms to a sub rated 250rms maxx if your gonna run an amp at maxx power i would want one with an internal cooling fan because as the amp gets hot your loosing power output anyway & not amping your other speakers you dont need to max out that sub unless all you play is snoop dog then you might want to start looking at a 12" & forget about the 10" lol.

 

i have always matched speaker rms to amp rms, and have only had one failure but the speaker was like 15yrs old, and finally shorted and took out the amp. only competition type setups get played at full volume/power for any length of time.

 

my head unit has a 200W amp built in. im trying to find the exact model number but I cant find the damn thing. that should be enough for the 4 speakers shouldn't it?

 

sure its not 20? most HU's are 20-50W peak which is like 12-18w rms

 

I guess its 50W x 4 channel?? 200 all together? its just like this one but changes colors.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Pioneer-In-Dash-CD-MP3-WMA-Player-iPod-Car-Stereo-Radio-w-USB-Aux-in-/281253872760?pt=Car_Audio_In_Dash_Receivers&hash=item417c098478

 

ok now i get you, we were speaking different languages i guess, most people state power per channel(not overall added up) and that is 50w. and if you just have normal entry level pioneer speakers they would sound fine for most folks that just want, better than stock clarity and volume. and a single lower powered 8 or 10 that is properly powered and has the right box(makes a big difference) would be a good compliment for the system

in my non expert opinion this is the proper way to build a sealed box, for the rock and and country type music i listen to. has to be 3/4 mdf, sealed and glued together and i put 2 or 3 gussets on each joint and doubled the face and glued it for strength and rigidity, its in the middle of the cf range i got from the website for my subs

 

 

looks really clean. are those going into your third gen? don't look like they would fit. and when I was looking for my head unit model online they said 200w on the title so I that's what I said haha shows what I know.
where and what kind of wood are you supposed to use for building boxes? maybe ill just seach it haha. but if you guys have a preference I would like to hear that! thickness as well!

 

you want to use mdf board you can get it at home depot make shure you pre drill befour screwing it together mdf will split 3/4" is the most common for a sub box use construction adheasive on all the joints pl premium is by far the best & worth the extra $ also avalible at home depot you should also silicone all the seams inside the box to make shure its air tight like in pics jw posted u can make a trunk well box for 1 10" fit easy i have a 12" solobaric sub & a 5 channel amp under the cargo cover

 

no i made those for my monte to fit under the rear deck, but like he said there is likely room for one ten you just have to build it for the CF rating of the speaker. i glued everything no screws and working with mdf sucks but its the ideal material, just make sure you get and wear masks and dont do it were you care about the mess

my firebird has been stripped down to nothing for a long time. i just put mufflers on it last year so i figured i might as well put a HU and speakers now that i can hear, but thats all it has

 

thank you, you guys have been more than helpful. one more thing. would making an odd shaped box affect the sound? I have a crazy idea but im not sure if the awkward shape would affect air space or not. is air space simply airspace or is there more to it than that?

 

well yes & no for the most part air space is air space but you can get into issues if you go to extream like some subs dont like shallow boxes it seams the higher rms subs & more so those that need more air space the worse it gets so sometimes a small enclosure sub is a better choice than a standered sub care to share your plans for the box mabee someone has tryed it before & can give you some insite

 

agreed, the only pain is calculating airspace when you get into weird shapes

 

this is something I just drew up on paint real quick. very rough draft. its gonna be on top of the gas tank hump. this is just an idea ive been playing with. I figure it would be the easiest way to deal with the Ttops

 

If you want cheap subs that are decent look into the audiobahn. They are dirt cheap and actually hit pretty good. Look on onlinecarstereo.com. I reccomend a hifonics amp they are the best bang for the buck I think! Everyone has there preferences but all i will buy is hifonics after owning one! If you got a little more money than 200 bucks I would look at kicker cvr subs they have a really good sound quality but comes with a little steeper price but fair for what you get!

 

ya thats an old school design my buddy owned a car audio shop for about 25 years & sold pre made box/sub set ups just like that from back when are cars were new a lot of them went into camaro/firebird that would be fine just take your sub depth into account at the top of the box & make shure the top section is not too short your gonna get a bit diffrent sound from the subs faceing you vs the horn affect off the rear window but some guys like it i like the horn affect better in are cars but thats up to the individual

 

@ 1slowta: this isn't one of those things I NEED to have so I don't see myself spending more than $200-250 including box building materials and such but thank you for the suggestions ill check them out.

@oaklandfuelman: I thought about that horn effect as well. still on the fence of designs. I want to incorporate Ttop holders into the box since I don't have a Ttop bag. kill 2 birds you know. I saw another idea online but I believe it was on a 4th gen. im not sure if they stick out like that or they go down lower but this would be a pretty neat design

 

i think thats about as far as those go down with the box there you could pick up a t top bag off ebay /craigslist only thing about that box you loose the cargo light & rear glove box i would need a beach towl or somthing in between the tops if i was gonna run them loose like that but it would give you the airspace you need the horn affect & the what to do with my t tops issue if you do 1 10" you could build your box just short of the hump hight at the sub then step it down to give you a place to mount your amp & keep it below hump hight & still use a t top bag if you get one without it touching the sub or amp & keep the cargo light & rear glove box just a thought

 

agreed again, one ten is the way to go and its best for the longevity of the amp if its not mounted to the sub

so if you did half the design you had in paint and needed 1cf for example that triangle piece is halving the cf so you would need another 6in of room below if it was a 12 in square to begin with. the second one you went with is a better design air space wise, in the well its much easier to make a one or 1.5 with an angled front and have a separate mount for your amp and you would gain half your trunk space. the ttops i just leave in the bag over the gas tank if you put something to tie them down to up there they will physically fit and stay put i always thought the place they expect them to tie down to is stupid

 

you guys are really selling that 1 sub thing haha. can one 10 really sound as good as 2? or if I were to only do 1 should I go for a single 12. i have a bit of OCD with symmetry

 

its not about one being louder, its about 2 being too loud and drowning out you other stuff. if you were going to get higher power speakers, and an amp for those then two tens or twelves would be more appropriate. you would be surprised what one properly amped, properly boxed woofer can do. if you got one of the more expensive ones even a 8 would be enough to overpower your non powered other speaker setup

 

lol i understand the ocd thing & at the end of the day its your car/money/choice i just hate to see a guy loose options like the light & rear glove box & not gain anything from it the issue is your not amping your other speakers so 50 watts peak x4 is really only about 50 watts rms total & in a third gen it doesnt take a lot of sub to over power the rest of your speakers i truly think that 1 of those 10" subs with the fosgate amp jw posted will hit harder with more volume & better bass tone than both of those subs with only 60 watts going to each is gonna give you if you build the box to spec in the trunk well facing up at the rear hatch glass more than likely you will need to turn the sub down a bit to sound right you could run those two subs only because there under powered & so are the rest of your speakers but power changes everything & that sub will sound completly diffrent with 150-175 watts going to it vs 60 watts i have 1600 watts in my iroc 500 watts rms going to 1 12" sub the rest to my other speakers & ive never turned my sub up more than about 60-70% & thats just for tunes that dont have much bass & i have twice the power going to my mids & highs as to the sub these cars make big bass easy the hard part is getting the mids & highs to sound right now if this was a 78 montie carlo & the box was going in the trunk with a firewall- insulation & rear seat between you we would be having a whole differnt conversation lol!!!!

 

You could always go with two 8" subs and save on trunk space

http://www.woofersetc.com/p-9264-sa-...subwoofer.aspx

http://www.woofersetc.com/p-7334-arc...subwoofer.aspx

Personally, I run a single 12" IDMax...it's all the bass I need.

 

you guys have definitely given me a lot to think of and a lot good advice. I have to fix a couple things on the car before I throw in the subs (or sub!) its currently in pieces cause im changing some gaskets and what not on the engine. having a good running car is always my first priority looks and wants are second. luckily its tax season and I should be expecting a little something back.

 

good luck with what ever you get let us know how it works out mabee post a pic of your box installed after your done

 

thatoneguy5x....assuming same power, you're not going to notice any sound/volume difference between two 10's and one 12.

It's more about taste, price and looks.

Also, there are lots of IASCA champions with $100-$130 subs (Pioneer, JBL, Polk) in their car. It's more about tuning than anything.

 

to me good sounding whole systems consist of either a 5ch amp with good power for the car speakers and one sub or two amps, one sub amp with smaller power sub and one 4ch amp for the inside speakers. people get caught up in the competition mind frame where bigger must be better etc but there is alot more to having a normal good sounding setup than annoying everybody on the road with your sub.

 

crisp clean "loud" both methods are proven to work very well