Post by: sonic834 on December 16, 2004, 09:47:00 PM
1.I've always known that generic brand nameless speakers are crap usually, but what about amps? The quality just isn't the same with most generic stuff, but if I buy an amp from a brand like Lightning or one of those generic ones off ebay, will it degrade the quality of my subs/speakers?
2.Will the preamp in my head unit be powerful enough for my door speakers? I listen to heavy music, and I like it loud, but not deafening. Will 25 watts RMS to each speaker be good enough?
3.What do you recommend wattage wise for subs? I listen to rock mostly, a lot of metal. No rap, just rock and others. How many watts and what size subs do you think would be good?
Thanks!!!
Post by: brandogg on December 16, 2004, 09:52:00 PM
Post by: SupraKid on December 17, 2004, 03:17:00 PM
For the money I would recommend going with 1 or 2 kicker 10" subs, even 8"s, with a 400+ watt RMS kicker amp...its cheap and sounds decent for the money.
Post by: drink or die on December 17, 2004, 06:02:00 PM
Head units: Pioneer. Hands down, I will never buy any head unit other than pioneer. the radio tuner is far better than other brands, the actual RMS power is usually higher than other brands because of the MOSFET power supply(Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor- switches faster than other power supplies, thus creating more power with less heat), And the user interface is generally much easier to get used to than other brands.
Amplifiers. I am torn here. For high power systems, I prefer JBL amps. they overheat less than other amps, and they are rated at their actual wattage, not theoretical wattage like other brands do. Plus the power is clean and consistent.
For lesser powered systems, I have have had a lot of success with Kenwood amps. these will probably be the amps for you to use. Keep an eye on their RMS wattage, and pick subs up for them accordingly. for rock music, a good single 12" should do the trick. Also, see if the amp is one channel or two, and see if the channels are bridge-able for use with one sub. Another thing to look for is the resistance the sub is capable of. Usually, with lesser powered two- channel amps, they are capable of 4 ohms when bridged, or 2 ohms when the channels are used separately. if you are using a 2 ohm resistance when bridged, you will eventually kill your amp. Lighning audio sucks. those amps don't look bad, but they are built badly. I have found with cheap amps like profile, jensen, or lighning audio, those amps die after a year or so, cause the capacitors leak, which is never good
Subs. The brands that you can't go wrong with are pioneer, pioneer premier, MTX, eclipse, pheonix gold, infinity, and some others that slip my mind at the moment. Make sure the wattage either matches the RMS power output of your amp, or can handle up to 50% more power than the RMS of the Amp. In your case, I'd recommend a single 12" sub, mated to a bridged 2 channel amp in 4 ohms. by getting a 2 channel amp, you open up your options for upgrading later for less money.
by getting subs and an amp to push the bass, then you alleviate a lot of power consumption from the deck. you can usually turn down the bass to the regular speakers, and only push midrange and treble with them. by doing that, you can turn up the volume a lot louder. if they start to destort, turn down the volume. even if the speakers were capable of say 150 watts rms each, but you deck only pushes 25 watts, and the speaker start to destort(clipping), you can kill your speakers. Contrary to what a lot of people think, it's not a lot of power that kills speakers, it's heat. Heat builds up when speakers can't move along the full sine wave, and distort.
One last thing- don't cheap out with small cables for your amplified system. you are only robbing yourself if the wires are the bottleneck for the power.
Post by: SupraKid on December 19, 2004, 08:49:00 AM
Post by: brandogg on December 19, 2004, 08:59:00 PM
Post by: Longhornd00d on December 20, 2004, 02:11:00 AM
Sizes, power, etc. all depends on how much room you have to work with in your truck, which you didn't include to say.
Post by: drink or die on December 23, 2004, 09:02:00 PM
QUOTE(SupraKid @ Dec 19 2004, 04:49 PM)
I am kind of surprised you chose Pioneer as the headunit you think is best, or are you talking for his budget level? Were you ever MECP certified?
as far as headunits go, I'm talking about the type of price range 95% of people fall into. I had a pioneer deck that I LOVED, but "upgraded" to a $2500 clarion touch screen dvd deck. Even after buying a deck that cost me 10 times more than the pioneer, I plan on going back to pioneer when I'm done with my current deck. and yes, I am MECP certified, been so for years. I could take a picture of my documentation if you feel it is really necessary
Post by: SupraKid on December 24, 2004, 10:41:00 AM
QUOTE(drink or die @ Dec 24 2004, 05:02 AM)
as far as headunits go, I'm talking about the type of price range 95% of people fall into. I had a pioneer deck that I LOVED, but "upgraded" to a $2500 clarion touch screen dvd deck. Even after buying a deck that cost me 10 times more than the pioneer, I plan on going back to pioneer when I'm done with my current deck. and yes, I am MECP certified, been so for years. I could take a picture of my documentation if you feel it is really necessary