Car audio basics

[giambi77]

Is there a site that has a breakdown of all the different components out there? I recently got into cars, and I don't really know anything about speakers. I know you want regular speakers, a sub, and an amp or whetever - anything else? What brands are the most reputable? Like what is the "Plextor" or "Lian Li" of car audio?

Any info or sites would be appreciated!
-Jeff

 

[Spendthrift]

head unit - alpine, clarion, pioneer, sony, panasonic (my preference)

speakers - mb quart, infinity, jl audio

amps - phoenix gold (the best), rockford fosgate, alpine

subs - jl audio, phoenix gold, rockford fosgate

these are my preferences. there are great car audio forums out there and i cant think of any off the top of my head. sorry.

 

[jfall]

I learned a great deal of information from forums much like this one... check out:

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com
http://forum.sounddomain.com
http://www.termpro.com/
http://www.caraudioforum.com/

As for brands, there are way too many to list.. most companies excel in one particular section usually, like they'll make wicked head units, but the rest of their stuff is just alright.. I personally like DEI, Eclipse, Clarion, Adire Audio, Infinity, JL Audio, A/D/S, Shocker Audio, Digital Designs, Cadence, Orion, Kicker, Image Dynamics, Soundstream, Crystal, Diamon, PPI, Focal, Rainbow... the list goes on. You can get into a lot of money with certian brands, but just like anything, there are also brands out there that will perform very well that don't empty your wallet. Also, always remember that it doesn't matter how expensive your stuff is, the way it is installed is the key.. your $5,000 stereo could sound like complete a$$ if installed wrong, and could be beat out by a much cheaper system that is installed the proper way.

 

[Ns1]

headunit - alpine, pioneer, nakamichi -> alpine (time correction) pioneer(excellent visuals) nak(iono, just kickass?)
speakers - bousin acoustics, diamond, focal, a few others...
amps - ppi, mmats, diamond, memphis, a few others...
subs - eclipse, diamond, audiomobile, idq, a few others...

 

[giambi77]

Wow guys, this is exactly what i was looking for! Those are some great links jfall!

Well....I guess my next question is - Is there a Logitech of car audio? I recently prucached a set of the Z560's (4.1, 400W total, 4x53W satalites, and a 188W sub) and it cost $115 shipped Is there a brand with decent quality while not costing an arm and a leg? I guess I would have to mix and match brands to get what I want.

So, the head unit is basically the "brain" of a system, right? Everything plugs into it, and it controls what iis played. I know the speakers play the high and mid range sounds, and that subs play the low bass. And an amplifier.....amplifies everything?

Sorry guys - just still trying to get the basics!

One more thing - are the sizes of the spakers standardized at all? I'm looking around and different car options, and a Subaru Impreza WRX seems to keep topping my list. I have seem many people like mount their speakers into the bottom of the car or something - is this hard to do?

 

[aphex]

Ive always been a fan of Kicker amps and subs...

 

[Yzzim]

<< Wow guys, this is exactly what i was looking for! Those are some great links jfall!

Well....I guess my next question is - Is there a Logitech of car audio? I recently prucached a set of the Z560's (4.1, 400W total, 4x53W satalites, and a 188W sub) and it cost $115 shipped Is there a brand with decent quality while not costing an arm and a leg? I guess I would have to mix and match brands to get what I want.

So, the head unit is basically the "brain" of a system, right? Everything plugs into it, and it controls what iis played. I know the speakers play the high and mid range sounds, and that subs play the low bass. And an amplifier.....amplifies everything?

Sorry guys - just still trying to get the basics!

One more thing - are the sizes of the spakers standardized at all? I'm looking around and different car options, and a Subaru Impreza WRX seems to keep topping my list. I have seem many people like mount their speakers into the bottom of the car or something - is this hard to do? >>



WHERE? More info?! :Q

 

[Ns1]

logitech of car audio?


that'd be adire audio

www.adireaudio.com

look like crap but function very well

 

[giambi77]

<<

<< Well....I guess my next question is - Is there a Logitech of car audio? I recently prucached a set of the Z560's (4.1, 400W total, 4x53W satalites, and a 188W sub) and it cost $115 shipped

WHERE? More info?! :Q >>



There was a deal at Dell.com a while back, something like 10% off all orders, and I got a $20 off $100 purchase, and they had free shipping too. So like:

$150
-$20 coupon
-10%
+$0 shipping
+tax
roughly $115 if I remember correctly

 

[Spendthrift]

well depending on how much money you want to spend...

to get the best sound youll want a quality head unit and an amplifier to drive all the speakers in your car (probably for so youll need a four channel amp).

then youll need a seperate amp(s) to drive the subwoofer(s).

the best sounding speakers are going to be component speakers (which means that the woofers and tweeters are seperate and have a crossover to control which frequencies go to each).

yah the head unit is the brain and the amp supplies the power (amplifies the signal from the head unit).

yes speaker sizes are standardized. crutchfield keeps a great list of which makes of cars require which size of speakers.

general guide - dash speakers are usually 3.5" or 4"

door speakers - usually 6.5" but sometimes 5.25" (and rarely 4" although 80s preludes require them for the doors)

rear deck speakers - usually 6.5"

if you dont mind doing a little cutting you can make bigger sizes fit in the doors and rear deck.

oh and some cars/trucks require 5x7 or 4x6 (ford trucks (sometimes), explorers, mercury cougars come to mind)

brand wise - i feel panasonic and clarion give the best bang for the buck right now (head units)

speakers - my ears like infinity (need a mid range boost though) and mb quart, but go with what sounds good to you

amps - i have a strong conviction that phoenix amps are the best in the business and tons of people use them for competition, theyre built in portland oregon and are worth the money. dont skimp on the amp, youll regret it later.

subs - same with speakers, go with what your ears like. i prefer jl audio. they sound the most musical to me.

oh and i have no idea about mounting speakers into the bottom of your car. never heard of it. maybe its an extreme modification?

 

[jfall]

Budget Stuff:

Subwoofers: Image Dynamics, Blueprint, Adire Audio, JL Audio

Amps: Memphis, Cadence, JBL

Speakers: CD Tech, DEI, Infinity

Head Units: Panasonic, Clarion, Pioneer, Alpine (don't skimp on the head unit)


A nice setup would be an Adire Audio Shiva subwoofer ran off a JBL 600.1 amp, with a component set of Infinity Reference speakers. Sound really nice, and wouldn't be too expensive.

 

[giambi77]

Thanks again for all the info! Now I have a good general idea of what company is good at what, and what to look around for.

If anyone has any more info, feel free to post!

 

[jfall]

One other thing, be ware that a lot of companies (mainly the cheaper ones) give their power rating specifications in peak power. You should always look at RMS power. There are companies out there like Pyramid that will say they have a 1,000 watt SUPER POWERFUL CHROME COMPETITION AMP lol.. but when they say 1000 watts, it means peak power.. peak power basically is the maximum amount of power that something will take or give out before it basically fry's. RMS power is more like power that can be given/taken all day long without problems. So that 1,000 watt amp probably doesn't even put out even half of what they say.

 

[bizmark]

This has been mentioned before but I'd really recommend that you visit Crutchfield. Not only can you find out which speakers fit which car, they also have a lot of background info. Request one of their free catalogs -- it's nice to have something that you can flip through and make comparisons easily, and have a big list in front of you.

A separate amp isn't always necessary. It really depends on how much you want to spend. For example, I'm happy with my system, which when I bought it (gosh, 5 years ago now!!! ) cost around $400 ($250 for a CD headunit, $90 for rear speakers (6x9), and $60 for front speakers (4x6). If I had wanted to spend $200 more, I would have bought an external amp for the main speakers. $300 on top of that, and I would have gotten a sub and an amp for it. (Notice that this is all mainstream stuff from the normal product lines of some major manufacturers-- Panasonic, Kenwood, Pioneer. Not top-of-the-line by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the stuff that people have been recommending here in this thread has been pretty expensive.)

It all depends on the kind of listening that you want to do, and how loud you want to turn it. I can get my system as loud as I want it, with acceptable distortion, from just the headunit's built-in amps. I'd go for cleaner, better sound from my main speakers before I'd add a sub, though. This is just personal preference.

We had a big thread about (car) audio a few days ago. It's worth the read.

jfall said this before, but the 'match' between your car and the speakers, and the way in which they are installed, *will* make or break the system. Proper design will do a lot to improve your results.

 

[giambi77]

After reading many informative articles on Crutchfield.com (thanks for that great link!), I have started thinking about getting:
-dual 12" subs (2-ohm or 4-ohm? maybe around 300w RMS?, in the $100-150 a piece range...)
-a dual box to house them in (I saw "Q-Logic Dual 12" Hatch/Trunk, 1.0 cubic foot" for $120 - is that a good price?)
-an amp that will power just the subs (I'm thinking either JL Audio, Phoenix Gold, ???)

The sound system that comes in an Impreza WRX stock is decent, but it has no sub. So my reasoning is, I will get the subs and an amp for the subs for the time being, and then when I have enough money for a new set of speakers, I will supply those with another amp, maybe a 4-channel one? This way, I could upgrade the system in steps.

Now, I now know that mono-subwoofer amps are specifically designed for subs (duh!), but would I need two of them for two subs? Could I use a 4-channel amp for the two subs? Also, would I REALLY need a new head unit for the sub install? Hopefully I can get then dual subs in for around $600.....is this possible?

Thanks to anyone who actually reads this and responds to help a car audio newbie

 

[Ns1]

<< After reading many informative articles on Crutchfield.com (thanks for that great link!), I have started thinking about getting: >>



^^

dont' look at 2 channel 4 channel blah blah blah; all you need to know is the power rating (x watts @ x ohms) and your subs (svc/dvc 2/4/8 ohm)

Pretty much what you're trying to do is make the two match (obviously). there are 2 ways to wire things, parallel and serial, parallel would cut the resistance in half, serial would double it

so add up all your voice coils and do the math

assume for htis example the amp does 600 watts x 2 ohm (pretty common)

you have 2 svc subs, 4 ohms each, that's 2 voil coils, each 4 ohms

if you were to wire them in parallel, divide it in half, would show a 2 ohm load for the amp

wire them in serial, would show an 8 ohm load

let's say you have 2 DVC subs, 2 ohms each

the each sub you would wire in serial, so in effect you would have 2 SVC 4 ohm subs

then you wire that in parallel, so it would show a 2ohm load on the amp (i'm pretty sure that's the way it works)

hope you could follow ^_^

 

[giambi77]

Thanks NeuroSynapsis, now I have a slightly better idea on how the ohm'age works now

Now.....no one has mentioned Sony anywhere..their stuff seems to be decent for the price...for example:
-Sony ES XM-6001GXD $300 - this amp seems ok, supposedly able to handle up to 300w @ 4ohm, and 600w @ 2ohm. Is the $300 close to other amps of this quality?
-for the subs, I have been looking at Sony again; Sony ES XS-L1260G $80 (12", 2ohm x 2voice coil, 40-150rms[2x - this sub doesn't look all that bad for the price, and with 2 of them, it would be 240-600rms @ 2ohm, which would be perfect for the 600w supplied by the amp....

LMK about this preliminary idea....

 

[Ns1]

sony = suck

sony generally makes good other stuff, but their caraudio stuff is generally rated the bottom of the bottom, just 1 step about pyramid and lanzer


This is my future system/some parts i already have
Alpine 7893 HU (already have)
Diamond S600a Comps
2 Diamond MD10.4 subs
JBL 1200.1 for the subs
Diamond D7054 for the amps <--- will cost me an arm and a leg

 

[giambi77]

One question NeuroSynapsis,
Why would you get the 2 Diamond MD10.4 subs, when you could get the MC 12.4 (12") subs for $30 less a piece? They have the same ratings I think....just wondering.

 

[Ns1]

smaller subs sound as if they hit "faster" in smaller applications, whereas larger subs will go lower/louder (or so I've been told)

I listen to alot of trance/house and stuff, so hitting "faster" is alot more important to me than playing lower/louder

 

[Spendthrift]

stay away from sony. (ive hated every cd player of theirs that i have used regularly, the lasers are incredibly picky with scratches. regularly used portable player, boombox, 5 cd carousel, car cd player). and their stuff is usually considered lower medium quality.

for the amp - seriously go with a phoenix gold you wont regret it. if you look at them in a store you can see the components inside the amp. you can totally see how high the quality of the parts and build are.

subs - JL subs give you great sound for the money. you may want to think about building a box yourself if you have the time and resources. id also recommend a sealed box over a ported or bandpass box. the frequency response is flatter and the sound is better. the downside is that a sealed box requires more power to get the same db as a ported or bandpass box.

make sure and check whether the factory deck has RCA outs for the sub amp. if it doesnt then youll want a new head unit (there are ways around the lack of RCAs but you loose sound quality and it means using a line splitter and/or buying an amp with line level inputs in addition to RCA imputs)

JL Audio has more information that you could ever want (slight exaggeration).

check out the DVC on a mono-bridgeable amp

and of course the ever helpful Wiring your amp section

if you want DVC, id go with the JL12W3 which come in either 2, 4, or 6ohm DVCs...so theoretically you could get the 4ohm DVC and wire it in series (8ohms per sub) and then wire the subs in parallel into the mono-bridged amp (4ohm load which means a 2ohm load on each channel). most amps will handle a 4ohm mono load no problem.

for example the phoenix gold qx350.2 amp will give you 350watts RMS in mono mode on a 4ohm load. thatd be plenty of power to run the JL subs. this amp goes for around $260 online.

just some examples, good luck

 

[Spendthrift]

Neuro Synapsis - thats generally true. however, my friend had 2 JL15W1s (they were huge) in the back of his car. i was amazed at how fast those hit. he played a song with rapid fire bass and the subs kept up without missing a beat. each his was distinct and the bass didnt get muddy as i would have expected. you may want to listen first if possible.

 

[Viperoni]

<< smaller subs sound as if they hit "faster" in smaller applications, whereas larger subs will go lower/louder (or so I've been told)

I listen to alot of trance/house and stuff, so hitting "faster" is alot more important to me than playing lower/louder >>



You'd be surprised what my 12inch Titanic MK2 or 15inch Dayton DVC's could do

That's completely untrue, bigger subs can actually hit harder than smaller subs, assuming they're well made... just like any driver should be.

 

[Nefrodite]

Well....I guess my next question is - Is there a Logitech of car audio? I recently prucached a set of the Z560's (4.1, 400W total, 4x53W satalites, and a 188W sub) and it cost $115 shipped Is there a brand with decent quality while not costing an arm and a leg? I guess I would have to mix and match brands to get what I want.




logitech z560 400watts is a bit of marketing bs by the way gotta love the marketing dep .. bah

lol, your going to be poor if you want that kind of sound in your car you won't be happy without atleast an amp, 4 good speakers and a half decent headunit minimum

car audio is not about bang for buck at all your amp will cost atleast 2x~ the price of your z560 set. your headunit could cost as low as your z560. u don't want to spend on a headunits amp, frankly the thing is an overpriced cd player/radio

if you want decent sound, you need a good amp, half decent headunit, 4 good speakers and probably a decent sub. total cost? maybe 1k+ oh, don't forget sound dampening. then again you can alwayas buy a z560 and try cramming it into your car optimally you should get component(separate tweeter/woofer)speakers, but that costs even more to buy and install.

decent headunits are already listed... speakers.. um infinitys, or polk dx's i've tried and liked so far. cheapie speakers have harsh tweeters that make me go nutz my rear 6x9 3 way infinitys are worth yet another set of z560's

smaller subs sound as if they hit "faster" in smaller applications, whereas larger subs will go lower/louder (or so I've been told)

I listen to alot of trance/house and stuff, so hitting "faster" is alot more important to me than playing lower/louder


hm then shouldn't you install one of each? add cross overs to give each what its good at for best sonic accuracy? i dunno, i guess people blaring techno or rap wouldn't care anyways

 

[bizmark]

giambi77 for some reason, I agree with the others on the Sony thing. I have generally not been too happy with ther car audio products, although I have never listened to any of their speakers.

For the same price as those subs ($80) you could get Rockford Fosgate Punch RFZ2412 (actually they're 2 for $129), or for $10 more apiece you could get a set of Kickers or MTX (all three of these companies are strictly car audio companies.) Sure, these are the lowest of the line but they'd still sound better than the Sonys IMO.

As far as the amps go, don't limit yourself to looking at the sub amps! Check out this one for $350 from Kicker. It gives 400W into 4 ohms bridged to mono. For the same price there's this MTX with 300W bridged (not sure on the impedence on this one).

These are just my opinions, but I'd go with MTX, Rockford Fosgate, or Kicker over Sony in a heartbeat.