I've decided that I want to put a system in my car. I was looking at like at a Sony Xplod Amp w/ MTX Subs. What else would I need to get? I don't know much about systems. Also, which would sound better.. 2x12s or 3x10s? And.. Will I want an amp that is a little bit less powerful than what the subs can handle so they don't blow?


Thanks, Richard (97 ESi)
http://www.ourformerselves.com/richard/main.htm


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If you don't already, get a new head unit with rca outputs for adding amps. A good basic system will consist of a ne HU, replacement front speakers, a bass amp, and a sub(s). It kind of depends on how much money you have to spend too. Systems get real expensive real quick. I would do new head unit, get some 6 1/2" componets for the dorrs, put the speaker in the door, and the tweeter in the dash locations if you have those. For some good bass, get at last 1 12" sub, or 2 10" subs, preferably in a sealed box for good accuracy, and deep bass extension. Try to match an amps RMS power rating with the subs RMS power rating. Its better to have a litte too much power than not enough, as too little power can cause too much distortion which will fry a sub in no time. Again, this is a good starting set up, but depending on how much cash you have, you can also replace you rear speakers, and add a 4 channel amp to drive your front and rears too. Go around to local audio stores and listen to as many speakers as you can to see what you like..

Alright, thanks for the advice. I got a new head unit that will let me add subs & shit. What do 'ohms' mean? I was looking at MTX Audio Thunder8000 T8108 10-inch sub - 8 ohms (400w RMS / 1000x PEAK). So I guess I'd get 2 of those to go w/ a Sony Xplod XM-475GSX Amp (800 Watts Max Power (into 2 ohms)) Would that work?


Thanks, Richard (97 ESi)
http://www.ourformerselves.com/richard/main.htm


BEST TRACK TIME -- 16.46 @ 86.03mph
----------------------------------------------------------

CURRENT MODS:
AEM Cold Air Intake || Magnacor 8.5 Ignition Wires || NKG BKR6EVX-11 Spark Plugs || Front & Rear Strut Bars || Eibach Springs Pro-Kit || KYB AGX Adjustable Shocks/Struts || AF/X Underdrive Pulley || Pacesetter - Monza Exhaust System || OBX Racing Sports - B5 Bomb Tunable Muffler || Energy Suspension - Motor Mount Inserts || Bored Throttle Body

POINTLESS MODS:
Sylvania Cool Blue Headlights || Cobra Eyes Windshield Washer Blue LED Lights || Nokya Motorsports Sport Pedal Set

well i'm not up on the new sony amps, but is the amp a 2 channel bridgeable amp, or is it a 1 channel mono amp? If you get 2 8 ohm subs, you can parallel them(conecting both "+" and "-" together on the subs) and get a 4 ohm load. If its a 2 channel amp and you bridge(combine) the 2 channels to get one channel, then the amp will see HALF of the ohms put upon it. So the amp will see a 2 ohm load, and put out the power it is rated at for 2 ohms..So if it does put out 800 watts @ 2ohms, then each sub will see approx 400 watts a piece. Now, if the amp is a mono 1 channel amp, then if you still parallel the subs together to get the 4 ohm load, then the amp will see exactly what load you put on it. So the amp will put out its rated power at 4 ohms, whatever that is. Divide that evenly to each sub, and thats what each sub will see power wise.

3 10s will be louder and more punchy as where the 12s will go deeper. Personally 12s are the best size to go for a punchy but rather deep sound and are, in general, the best size to go with for a 50/50 mix of SQ/SPL. Sony is crap imo but if your on a budget its better than nothing.

What kind of Amp would you recommend 99Eclipse?



Thanks, Richard (97 ESi)
http://www.ourformerselves.com/richard/main.htm


BEST TRACK TIME -- 16.46 @ 86.03mph
----------------------------------------------------------

CURRENT MODS:
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POINTLESS MODS:
Sylvania Cool Blue Headlights || Cobra Eyes Windshield Washer Blue LED Lights || Nokya Motorsports Sport Pedal Set

>What kind of Amp would you recommend 99Eclipse?

Well when everybody always asks me this question I always say nothing but US Amps but since it seems like your on a budget US Acoustics makes the best "cheaper" amps out. I couldn't give you a model # but just take the subs RMS rateing and add them together this will give you the amount of power you will need to push those subs to there potential, then all you do is get an amp that will put out that amount of power at RMS..

I can't stress this enough.. it is ALWAYS better to over power your subs than it is to under power them, distortion will kill speakers! not power!

>well i'm not up on the new sony amps, but is the amp a 2
>channel bridgeable amp, or is it a 1 channel mono amp? If
>you get 2 8 ohm subs, you can parallel them(conecting both
>"+" and "-" together on the subs) and get a 4 ohm load. If
>its a 2 channel amp and you bridge(combine) the 2 channels
>to get one channel, then the amp will see HALF of the ohms
>put upon it. So the amp will see a 2 ohm load, and put out
>the power it is rated at for 2 ohms..So if it does put out
>800 watts @ 2ohms, then each sub will see approx 400 watts a
>piece. Now, if the amp is a mono 1 channel amp, then if you
>still parallel the subs together to get the 4 ohm load, then
>the amp will see exactly what load you put on it. So the amp
>will put out its rated power at 4 ohms, whatever that is.
>Divide that evenly to each sub, and thats what each sub will
>see power wise.

Good explanation XtremeRS. I would just like to clarify a little. An amp doesn't actually "see" anything or see half of anything. If if you wire two 8 ohm subs in parallel, you will have a 4 ohm load at the end of the wires that connect to the amp. If you have a mono amp, it will put out its rated wattage at 4 ohms on it's single mono channel. Now, if you have a 2 channel amp bridged to 1 channel, each channel will be driving into 2 ohms. This means 4 ohms mono. Maybe this will help -

4 ohms mono = 2 ohms stereo (you need a 2 ohm stable amp)
2 ohms mono = 1 ohms stereo (you need a 1 ohm stable amp)

EX- a 400x1 @ 4 ohms amp and two 8 ohm subs in parallel: 4 ohm mono config

EX- a 200x2 @ 4 ohms amp and two 8 ohm subs in parallel: 2 ohms stereo (4 ohm mono) config


Hehe... well I hope I added clarification and not confusion

hahah yeah this is gettin confusing :) But i'd also like to clarify. An amp's power rating is solely related to what impedence(ohms) being wired to it. An amp itself doesn't have any impedence neccesarily, it puts out to what ohms are put on it. So for my examples: A 2 channel amp, one 4 ohm sub on the left, and 1 4 ohm sub on the right channel, and the amp will see a 4 ohm load in stereo. Now, if you parallel the 2 4ohm subs together, the total impedence of the subs will now be 2 ohms. Now, if you bridge that amp's channels together, the amp will see a 1ohm mono load. The amp will see half of the total speaker load because now, you theroectically paralleled the amp's channels, just as the speaker's voice coils, resulting in the amp dividing the ohms in half. This is true for any ohm subs you get. You have 2 8 ohm subs in parallel, to get 4 ohms, then bridge a 2 channel amp to it, then the amp will be running at a 2 ohm mono load. With a 1 channel monoblock amp, since its already a 1 channel amp, the amp will see exactly what load you put upon it, depending on what the ohms are of the subs, and if you have them paralleled or in series, ect..hopefully i havent lost anyone here, but this can get pretty confusing. Now to really confuse you guys, as far as ohms go, its never a constant 2,4,8 ohm or whatever load. The total impedence of the speakers are constantly changing with the frequency of the music. So if you have a 4 ohm sub, this means its 4 ohms at rest, with no music going through it. At all different frequencies, the resistance(ohms) is always changing and fluctuating. Do a little test if you like to see what i mean. Take a digital multimeter and set it for resistance, and put the meter's leads directly on the sub's pos and neg terminals with out speaker leads connected. Now push on the cone of the sub and watch the resistance on the meter go up and down and fluctuate. The changeing magnetic field in the motor assembly of the sub causes the resistance to change, hence the changing Ohms the amp sees at different frequencies. The ohm rating most manufacturers use is a base rating, and usually the resistance stays around that rating give or take. Ok, i'm done confusing all of you now :)

lol... I'm sure someone's confused so here's a site that's really good at explaining things like this. It's the FAQ for the newsgroup rec.audio.car. Hope it helps...

http://mobileaudio.com/rac-faq/

goto www.sounddomain.com for any car audio advice.. it'll help you with everything.. i had 1 12'' idq powered by a memphis 500 watt amp.. it hit REALLY hard.. you might want to rethink that amp.. post on sounddomain.com and ask them what they think for your budget, it also depends on if you want quality or just a really loud sound. and like someone else said, try to go out and listen to different speakers and all that too.. and if you're not installing by yourself, ask around about the installers cuz they're are some pretty bad ones out there..

>So for my examples: A 2 channel amp, one 4 ohm
>sub on the left, and 1 4 ohm sub on the right channel, and
>the amp will see a 4 ohm load in stereo. Now, if you
>parallel the 2 4ohm subs together, the total impedence of
>the subs will now be 2 ohms. Now, if you bridge that amp's
>channels together, the amp will see a 1ohm mono load.

Well, a lot of what you said was correct with the exception of the above statement. You are sort of right but I think your wording is off. In order to run a 2ohm mono load to a bridged amp, the amp must be 1ohm stable. It is still a 2ohm load. An amp will put out the same amount of power to a 2ohm mono load, as it would a 1ohm stereo load. When an amp states that it is 2ohm stable, that only applies to a stereo load, that means it can only take a 4ohm mono load (bridged). It can be very confusing.

>If you don't already, get a new head unit with rca outputs
>for adding amps. A good basic system will consist of a ne
>HU, replacement front speakers, a bass amp, and a sub(s). It
>kind of depends on how much money you have to spend too.
>Systems get real expensive real quick. I would do new head
>unit, get some 6 1/2" componets for the dorrs, put the
>speaker in the door, and the tweeter in the dash locations
>if you have those. For some good bass, get at last 1 12"
>sub, or 2 10" subs, preferably in a sealed box for good
>accuracy, and deep bass extension. Try to match an amps RMS
>power rating with the subs RMS power rating. Its better to
>have a litte too much power than not enough, as too little
>power can cause too much distortion which will fry a sub in
>no time. Again, this is a good starting set up, but
>depending on how much cash you have, you can also replace
>you rear speakers, and add a 4 channel amp to drive your
>front and rears too. Go around to local audio stores and
>listen to as many speakers as you can to see what you like..


i would agree about getting more power.but that is untrue.underpowering a sub doesn't hurt it at all.it just won't be as load.ps guys if you really want to puts sounds in your car stop looking at best buy.they have shit an they know next to nothing about car audio