car audio

[purekgw]

I have been recently looking at getting a sub for my truck to add a little bass and was wondering if any one had any advice or experiences with certain subs and amps, and as for wiring i have to run the main power for amp off the battery through the fire wall right? Am i better to build my own box or buy pre-built one? (want a ported box) dont know if any one on here is into this kind of stuff just thought i would ask.

[trevy727]

I have been recently looking at getting a sub for my truck to add a little bass and was wondering if any one had any advice or experiences with certain subs and amps, and as for wiring i have to run the main power for amp off the battery through the fire wall right? Am i better to build my own box or buy pre-built one? (want a ported box) dont know if any one on here is into this kind of stuff just thought i would ask.

 

Yes the amp power comes straight from your battery through the fire wall. I like rockford fosgate subs and I built my own ported box formy mustang. Make sure to build the box with the proper air space inside for the sub you get. I believe my sub came with specs for the box and if i recall correctly, it required 1 cubic foot of air space inside the box for my 10" sub. sounds great anyway. good luck

[drwxr]

if it's first time for you, do it right way right from the beginning.

 

decide if you want to get one sub or two. 

 

here is my advice. amplifier and subs have to match in specs, meaning the amp produces enough power for the subs. but not too much to blow them. always check RMS watts both on subs and amp. i had subs that stated they are 900w each but the rms was only 300w, still too much for me if you ask.

 

other thing to look for is resistance. check the subs resistance and with the circuit calculator check the resistance of the whole circuit. the amp produces different wattage at different resistance. 

 

if i were you i would get mono amp and match the subs to it.  2 ohm dual coil subs will give you flexibility with the wiring

 

it might sound little complicated but that is the proper way doing it to get full sound out of the subs.

 

I'm not saying Rockford fosgate is the best, but imo it's good for the money and for start you can't go wrong with it. here is more info

 

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp

 

as far as the boxes go, everyone has their own opinion, i think custom fiberglass boxes look best.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

[purekgw]

im kind of on the fence on 2 subs or just one i dont want them shaking my truck to pieces.

[Gerritt]

But carpeted MDF is suitable for a student on a budget..

 

all the other advice has been pretty much spot on.

 

G

[purekgw]

the box isnt really a big deal i can make one at work and spray it, im just figuring out what would be suitable

[bigbuck]

Definitely power directly from the battery and make sure you have good thick power and ground wire, at least 8ga. You don't need much more than 100-150 watts RMS, more than that will shake your truck apart. Go with 2 10" subs with a good amp, don't skimp out on the amp.

[n8tivebigguy]

What kind of truck is it your putting it in? regular or extended cab? it matters on how much space you have to work with.

[purekgw]

its a club cab dodge Dakota, so im just going to have the box sitting on the seat so i can take them out if i have to

[n8tivebigguy]

I had a 15 inch kicker in the back of my pt cruiser and had two 700 watt kicker amps running it. Had to take it out when the lil one's came along. If you have that much room then go for two 10 inch subs, your truck will rattle a lttle bit but it can fixed.

[JMahon]

Check the MTX website, or Rockford, or Sony, whichever you want to get, and see about getting a pre-fab box that will fit under your rear seat! You can get the box's empty or already loaded with sub and built in amp. 'm not a fan of Sony subs or amps myself, but I know for a fact they make pre-fab's for full size Dodge & Ford pick ups and I'm quite sure MTX do as well! Worth a look.

[SlowPoke]

First question should be budget.

Brax and W7's?

-or-

Audiobahn and Lanzer's?

 

Next question should be music preference.

You stated you want to "add a little bass". A ported sub will give you a whole lot of bass; good for hip-hop, trance etc. A sealed box is; smaller, much more refined and can pound when you want it to dependent on power and driver size.

 

Lastly, what components do you currently have in your system? (stock/upgraded/mix of both)

If you have a factory system; you can punch it up with an amp and sub. If you have at least one set of outputs from the headunit, you can add an EQ which will divide the signal into front/rear and sub outputs. This will also give you subwoofer gain control, tailor your sound with 5-11 adjustable bands and offer you an auxillery input and volume control for satellite radio or MP3 player.

 

If you really are after 'a little more bass' keep an eye out for a used MTX Blue Thunder Pro752 and match it with a NEW quality 10" sub. Never buy used subs unless you're playing around in the compitition class range. These are old school bullet proof amps and vastly underrated for power output. Birthsheets usually test twice the advertised power rating. They usually run about $70-$100 on eBay. I would put it up against ANY new amp with twice the "rated output". The amp is roughly the size of a Plano 3600 tackle tray and will pound a 4ohm 10" sealed sub all day long. I use 2 of them to drive 2 12" Infinity Perfect subs. It's enough thump to seperate the adhesive between the body panel and piller on the wife's van. Oooops.

 

If you have a few bucks to throw around, I'd highly recommend JL Audio amps and subs. The Slash v2 series amp is incredible and accurate. W6 and W7 subs will rock your world.

[blaque]

I put a JL Audio Stealth box in the back of my F-150 supercrew. Fits under neath the back seat and takes up zero space. See if they make one for your dodge. It pounds

[purekgw]

i dont mind if it takes up some room in the back seat as long as i can take it out if need be, and i am looking at a 12" kenwood sub with a alpine sub tomorrow only problem is that box is sealed but ill try it out i also plan on replacing the deck thats in my truck for one with aux/usb port in it

[tnt]

Check out the classifieds, I have two 10" subs in MDF carpetted box and amp for sale. All MTX audio. I drive a Jeep TJ and got a new dog....had to take them out so I could get him and his crate around.