View Full Version : A Little Help
I promise this is the last time I will ask a dumb question about ICE (this week! :p ). I really want to sort the bass out in my car as I have a nice DVD etc setup .. but no subs!
I am a complete dunce when it comes to AMPS and SUBS and all that rubbish. I can install and setup etc no probs .... it's just what AMP I need to power what speakers that confuses me :conf: ! I have made a little picture of roughly what I think my setup should look like ... Does it look right? Is it worth having 1 six-channel AMP to power the 4 normal speakers and 2 Subs. Or is it better to have 1 four-channel AMP for the normal speakers and a second two-channel AMP for the 2 subs? Or have I got it COMPLETELY wrong anyway!!
Can anyone suggest an AMP that will do the job at a 'Christmas has killed my bank account' budget. Also .. any ideas on some half decent 10" subs with the same budget restrictions applied! :cry:
Cheers for any help ,
J :twak:
terribleturner
03-01-05, 00:15
Personnally i would get an amp for the subs and another for the rest. I know that somone will have a go, but i used to buy those purple mosfit amps from places like c.a.r. and other high street car shops (Halfrauds don't do them). They are cheap and cheerful and i find sound pretty good.
ive got a 12 inch 2000w sub and 1600w amp in the supra, the problem you have is first you will probably need 2 bridged amps (one for the speaker and one for the subs) also most likely a single 10inch sub or a single 12 inch sub will be more than enough bass to go with ur DVD setup.
i decent 10/12 inch sub wud give 800w and u will need a 600w amp at least should total about £150 with the sony xplode sub and amp
Cool ... thanks guys. I'm guessing that my little picture 'looks' right then?
I was thinking that the 2 AMP route would probably be more cost efficient though, as I can imagine a 6 channel AMP with about 1500W to run the system may be a bit pricey!!
One sub is an option .. yes. I don't know why, but my plan has always been to have 2. Maybe even 8" ones?
Cheers, J :conf:
yeah you could use a pair of 8 inch subs if you want but to keep costs down just keep with either a single 10 inch or 12inch sub, also if you wanted to run all the equipment from your pic onto a single amp then you would need more than jsut a 6 channel 1500w amp, thinking about it i dont really think it would work at all with all that equipment and just a single amp. Have a look on ebay, lots of good quality cheap offers on there.
Matt Harwood
03-01-05, 12:04
I would definatly get a four channel amp to power the full range speakers and a mono block class D amp for the subs.
Most mono block amps, (single channel) are class D these days anyway. It simply means that they are dedicated sub amps, (because class D cannot reproduce high frequencies well), and their current draw is significantly less than a normal amp with similar output. If you choose wisely, you can get a decent amp with decent features without spending a small fortune.
Worthwhile features are: Fully adjustable crossover, Subsonic filter, Phase reversal/shift.
Don't get sucked into high power figures. It's not the be-all and end-all of a decent amp. Some manufacturers sell their amps on the basis that they produce more power, in reality, it's not always the case.
Any suggestions for make/models :thumbs: :tongue:
I've noticed a few of the online stores do Sub/Amp bundles? I'm assuming the Amp they provide in these bundles is suitable for the Subs they supply - or do they just throw any old Amp in there?
Cheers for all the help so far ... it's becoming much clearer!
J :thumbs:
Hmmm...
Not sure I would agree with the 2 amps required bit...
It all depends on how crazy you really want to go... Most head units are at least 4x55w these days, and they do the job, might not be high end quality, but for general listening they are fine..
As far as a sub amp goes, get something like a baby alpine class D... IU'm currently running 2 10" JBL's off an Alpine MRD301 (something like that, can't be arsed to go check), and I've had to turn it down, because it booms too much...
All depends on what you really want, no need to go OTT unless you really want to.
Matt Harwood
03-01-05, 14:45
Hmmm...
Not sure I would agree with the 2 amps required bit...
It all depends on how crazy you really want to go... Most head units are at least 4x55w these days, and they do the job, might not be high end quality, but for general listening they are fine..
As far as a sub amp goes, get something like a baby alpine class D... IU'm currently running 2 10" JBL's off an Alpine MRD301 (something like that, can't be arsed to go check), and I've had to turn it down, because it booms too much...
All depends on what you really want, no need to go OTT unless you really want to.
Alpine currently have the best internal headunit amps with a 4x60 watt output. In real terms, thats 21 watts RMS. Most don't even reach 18.
So where you have 175 watts RMS going to each of your subs, and roughly 18 watts RMS going to your full range speakers.... I can see why you need to turn it down. ;)
That's a very good, nice quality amp. The whole sound system would work sooooo much better if it were backed up with a decent amount of power going to the full range speakers.
Oh...don't get me wrong... I fully intend to get a standalone amp for the 4 doors (will 5 channels), as I want to link the car pc into it properly via a DAC to give me proper 5.1 sound for the dvd / movies system.
Gav
Soonto"HAS"soop
03-01-05, 16:56
You could always find a nice 5 channel amp that is capable of running a 2 Ohm stable sub connection. Then you could run the two subs in parallel.
Coolio ... Cheers, that's another option!
Any ideas where I find an Amp like that. I get confused when people start talking about Ohms etc
:stupid:
As a guide ... I'm looking to spend around the £300 mark for the lot - is that possible for what I want to do?
Do any of the twin 10" sub deals HERE (http://caraudiosecurity.com/catalog/index.php+cPath+60_98_173) look any good? Then I would just buy a 4 channel Amp for the rest of the speakers?
Cheers, J :thumbs:
Matt Harwood
03-01-05, 19:56
It's a personal thing, but I'm really not keen on 5 channel amps. Especially cheap ones. Mainly because they all share the same intenal cooling and power supplies. If/when you get a heavy bass note, the rest of the full range audio suffers as a consequence of the power drop from the bass beat.
Kinda ends up sounding like that crap repeatative song in the charts recently... "Call on me" :shakeheadindisbeliefsmilie:
Okay ... how do these look: -
THIS (http://caraudiosecurity.com/catalog/product_info.php+cPath+3_96_166+products_id+1301) for the 2 x 10" Subs and Amp (either that or THIS (http://caraudiosecurity.com/catalog/product_info.php+cPath+3_96_166+products_id+2626) one?). Obviously I will ditch Sub Box that comes with them :p
And then THIS (http://caraudiosecurity.com/catalog/product_info.php+cPath+3_94+products_id+2123) Amp to power the 4 Focal Speakers.
Any good? If so ... Do the prices look okay :conf:
Cheers for all the advice so far - much appreciated!
J :nana:
Anyone .... ???
I'm this close [----] to pressing the 'BUY' button!!
Please stop me if I'm about to do something retarded! :friday:
Cheers, J :conf:
Matt Harwood
05-01-05, 21:27
Sorry James, I'm not ignoring you, but I don't really like to make too much of a comment comparing stuff we sell, against to stuff we don't.
I don't have enough product knowledge regarding the other products so it would be unfair of me to try.
There are quite a few deals on at the moment, so you should be able to pick up a bargain.
Feel free to call me at work and I'll be more than happy to discuss stuff that we do stock/sell. ;)
Hey Matt :tongue:
Heh Heh ... No problems, that's perfectly understandable!! I'm not sure what you do and don't stock ... Do Sextons have a website (or anything like that) with that sort of info on it?
I'd much rather give my money to a fellow Supra owner than some nameless web-based company! :thumbs: :thumbs: . I may well give you a ring tomorrow or something to see what you have .... I just like to look at stuff on the web to get an idea of what they look like etc etc!
Cheers, J :stickpoke
Matt Harwood
05-01-05, 22:32
Well, yes, Sextons do have websites, but you have to bear in mind that we're high street retail stores. So you won't find any internet type prices on there! :p
FWIW www.sextons.co.uk
The Hornet
05-01-05, 23:15
I would have to agree with Matt on this, A seperate D class amp for the Sub is best IMO. With the D class amps drawing less current you will suffer less light dimming and can get away with smaller cables which will help your budget.
I don't know about Matt but I know when people ask me what should they buy I find it really hard to suggest stuff unless their budget is 2.5 - 3k.
When I first started with ICE many years ago I too use to use the Pink Boss or Mosfet amps etc which were cheap, but I soon got sick of the sh*t noise it made so upgraded & upgraded & upgraded etc etc. In the end a couple of years ago I spent approx 4k on a full ICE system that I wanted, utilising 8 components and 1 sub across 3 amps. However I did a lot of research into what sounds I liked from which components etc as they do vary quite a bit.
The reason I've gone into quite a bit of depth is to try and explain that it's all down to YOU and what you want it to sound like. All about personal preference matey, and having enough cash, which we all know we could do with more so we can mod our cars even more :D
Anyway best luck,
Hornet
Cheers guys :friday:
I'm certainly not after a £4000 competition system by any stretch of the imagination. I just want something to add a little 'weight' to the Focals that are already in the car - if you get what I mean? The system just sounds like it's in need of a sub or two to even it all out!
I'll keep trawling about and see what I can come up with!
Cheers for all the advice .. been really helpful,
J :nana:
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