Help? Beginner in Audio!

[quikturbo]

Hey everyone,
I need some guidence in the audio department!! I know everything about whats under my hood, but I have no experience with audio. I can go fast, now I want to sound
good doing it :)
I just want to start off with more bass. I have the stock infinity system still. I am looking for info on where to start For example would I benefit from a box and an amp, connected to the stock system?? If so what brand of everything. I have so many questions!!
are 10"s the right size?
Any help is appreciated.

Also any good links on tech help for installing stereo components.

Any online stores for subs and boxes???
If I can hook up an AFC then I should be able to hook up an amp, right? :) I hope so.
later
chris
cthreadgill@mercator.com

[ZBEEST]

Here are some articles I wrote for the Club DSM Canada page over the last few years...
http://www.ca.dsm.org/SoundAdvice/soundadvice.html
Haven't had much time to do more recently but they are a pretty good start to learning a little about car audio.

[4G63Rydah]

http://www.crutchfield.com

[sab4you]

1st off you get what you pay for!

I have a single 12 taking up the entire trunk in my AWD, and its just about right. If you dont have AWD you will have more trunk space. A 10 would probably be okay as well.

I like JL Audio, they sound great and arnt too expensive.

If you plug the sub just into your head unit, its probably either gonna make no sound, or sound like crap. Get yourself an amp, and probably want a crossover as well (for all around).

As for amps, you can cheap out alittle more than an amp for mids/highs because you wont notice sound quality as much.

Best thing to do is goto a decent stereo store, or one you have heard good things about. Talk to the people, tell them what you want, and listen to what they have.

Sidenote: Sometimes a single sub might not sound so good in a sound room, but in a car, since its more enclosed it will sound better.

[Redsand187]

Just talk to me, I can get about everything, I got a wholesaler discount through the grapevine! Even Eclipse stuff is possible. I would go with 1 Eclipse Titanium 12 maybe a ten those are about 400 bucks though! If cost is an issue then look into Infinty Perfects or Audiobahn Alums. both are great subs and under $225 the alums are actualy 150 i think. Then I would get a nice 400 to 500 watt amp. Rockford is a good midline brand, even though I must say I'm to to impressed by them. If you learn one thing about car audio it needs to be stay away from kenwood, Pioneer, and those cheap brands, also no 6x9's or square subs! That reminds me Kicker makes some downright awesome anps, along with pheniox gold and PPI, there are a few other brands too, remember you get what you pay for, but you can pay less on everything :) as for installing a amp it is down right simple as pie, I don't know if you have done a cd player but if you have then you can defintaly install a amp, although you will have to look for some directions or e-mail me.

[4G63Rydah]

As far as amps go I would recommend either a PPI or a Crossfire. They are both competition worthy....Eclipse is a great brand for speakers and other things....I'm not sure what Redsand187 has against Pioneer but personally I think that their Premier line of products is great quality. The Premier Reference Series, which is pure DIGITAL (everything is connected with fiberoptic cables) is being praised by everyone as one of the best systems out there.

[Redsand187]

As for your e-mail. Hooking up a amo is very simple like I stated. Once you get the kit, you want to figure out the best spots you have to run wires, Under the carpet the little piece of of plactic on the floor where the door closes on top of, you know what I mean. You need at least two good spots that are not too close to each other, A foot is good distance or else you will pick up distortion yuck :( then you need to find a hole in the firewall that the wire can fit through or drill a hole, which I do all the time :) then place a rubber gromet in the hole so there is no chaffing, you'll probably need to buy one of these from a hardware store. Then run the wire through the hole. Next install the fuse holder about a foot away from the battery (NO MORE THEN 18, INCHES THAT IS VERY VERY DANGEROUS!) Then you'll need to pull out the CD player or tape player, if your cheap :) and look for the RCA hook ups red and white plug in holes. Then search the harness for the turn on led wire (this turns on the amp, if you wanna you could rig up a switch in this wire to turn it on and off the amp when you see a cop if you get that loud) then hook the small ass little wire in the kit to the turn on led wire, run it through the floor with the POWER WIRE! again you may pick up distortion if they are with the RCA's next run the RCA wire's in a seprate location, this is why you need to different spots, from there it is very simple you need to find a good grounded bolt, like a seat or seat belt mounting bolt and hook the ground wire there. Then Finaly hook them to the amp, the Power wire(from the battery) to the + or b wire and the ground wire to the ground location on the amp, the the rca's and the turn on led, then hook up the speaker wire positive and a negative :) and thats about it, you wanted a good amp for a JL audio sub for less then 250 dallors I need to know wich JL aub you want/have. how much was/is it? I guess I would reccomend the MTX T250D if you get a DVC sub that is. Either that or a rockford 360a2 witch is $255. But I don't know about rockfords quality any more after seeing a test of the bd1000a1 it put out like 1100 dirty watts at 2 ohms yeah it is still more then ratted but barely and it was distorted 1% :( But I have installed many rockford items and they have held up longer the some others like Infinity, man those things suck. if you need any thing else the just ask. 4g63 I don't think pioneer is worth the money it costs, I would rather have something nicer, pioneer is for all the ricer wannabe kids, just like honda's sad but true, I know rockford is getting that way too. The premier line is more of a benach off of pioneer not a part of pioneer, they are good but yet to over priced and not too effenicent, I am not fimilar with the Reference series things that are pure digital but would like to see some info on them, with fiber optics connecting it, it should be good but very expensive, please point me towards it somewhere. Also don't deal with Cructfield I have had nothing but shitty service from them and everything but one sony cd player that I have ordered has gone back! And they are WAY to high on their prices even the shops don't charge that much.

[NightriderAWD]

Also, you might want to look at a MTX Blue Thunder sub...they are really good subs for the $$ IMO

[turboawdtsi]

www.carmedia1.com

I've had great experiences with these guys, as have some of my friends. They carry many brands at nearly wholesale prices. As a lot of others have said, Rockford makes decent amps for fair prices. Their older ones are much, much better than the new stuff, IMO. Also, check out Image Dynamics for subs. I have two IDQ12s and I think they're some of the better subs for the money out there.

[DmoneY]

also try out www.sounddomain.com .. i've had great experiences with them...although it also helped that one of their offices was in my town.. heh

[Redsand187]

Haha, I doubt this is too helpful to this guy anymore, since this was posted 2 years ago! :D
BTW Sounddomain.com is one of the best places to buy stuff, they have a lot of good products, they have great customer service, and fast shipping. I wish I didn't lose my hook up :( oh well I'm not into car audio much anymore since my jeep and stereo got trashed.

[bnpimpn]

if i were you i'd go with phoenix gold all the way! u have 2 zx500 amps and 2 15" phoenix gold xs series subs that are around 4 years old and STILL GOING strong if not stronger than new!! as soon as they do blow...haha IF they do...im lookin on investing some money into some rockford 15's i have them in a ported box....my stereo is one of the loudest in my city...(not a very big city but hey....bragging rights are always good haha) good luck!

P.S ALL those rumors you've probably heard about 15's being "SLOPPY"...well it can be true if your amps not big enough...but not im my cars case....before i got my 15's i had a pair of 12" kenwood cyclone subs...those subs hit HARD with these amps...thats my opinion and hey...there damn cheep right now!....in my personal opinion 10's are to small...but hey thats just my 2 cents. good luck and let us know what u get!

...dammit i just read that it was posted 2 years ago hahah dammit oh well waste of time..