[crizz99]

ok obviously im new to this forum, and youtube isnt effective enough to act as a chatroom for advice on subwoofers. Sometime this summer of 2010 i want to put a subwoofer in my car. Im willing to spend up to $400 on it about. I want a heavy heavy bass. But something ive noticed in my friends cars and stuff is that everything in the car also vibrates with the subwoofer and makes an annoying rattling sound. is there anyway to avoid this in my car without dimming down the bass?


Im very very new to this whole thing so if i went into bestbuy or something like that (idk where to go for it). what do i ask for? and the budget includes the amp and installation.


that brings up another point, is installing it hard? because my friend had his dad do it whos an electrician, and my other friend is wiring it himself. i dont wanna mess up on it but if its rlly easy then id love to not pay extra for it.



and sorry for asking this. im sure the forum is filled with questions like this

 

[socwrkr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crizz99 /forum/post/18185043


ok obviously im new to this forum, and youtube isnt effective enough to act as a chatroom for advice on subwoofers. Sometime this summer of 2010 i want to put a subwoofer in my car. Im willing to spend up to $400 on it about. I want a heavy heavy bass. But something ive noticed in my friends cars and stuff is that everything in the car also vibrates with the subwoofer and makes an annoying rattling sound. is there anyway to avoid this in my car without dimming down the bass?


Im very very new to this whole thing so if i went into bestbuy or something like that (idk where to go for it). what do i ask for? and the budget includes the amp and installation.


that brings up another point, is installing it hard? because my friend had his dad do it whos an electrician, and my other friend is wiring it himself. i dont wanna mess up on it but if its rlly easy then id love to not pay extra for it.



and sorry for asking this. im sure the forum is filled with questions like this

This forum isn't filled with questions like this because it's a home audio/sub forum. You're better off looking for a car audio forum.

 

[cubdenno]

Like most anything electrical, you have to get over your fear of breaking something. Installing a car stereo is not rocket science. To be safe, disconnect the negative wire at the battery. This way you are much less likely to cause any shorts messing with wire.


Sub bass is incredibly easy in a car. people worry to much about subs. Even more than if amp a sounds like amp b and the ever popular which brand is best.


If you are doing it all yourself including building an enclosure you are going to need tools. Start researching some woodworking tools such as a skill saw/table saw clamps drill etc. Also wire strippers and cutters, screwdrivers and various other tools that you may need.


Vibration control. sounddeadenershowdown.com go there read up. Don is the guy who runs it. A super nice guy who will not steer you wrong, even if he has to send you to another seller for a better deal/product. Though, his stuff is top notch. Also regarding "dynamat" products "cld" Don recommends 25% coverage. After that you lose bang for the buck. Also a lot of that buzzing is the plastic panels in your car buzzing. Using some 1/8-1/4 closed cell foam as a barrier in between the panel and car sheet metal helps a ton.

http://www.bcae1.com/

Go here and read up. A TON of great info.


Sub bass.


A vehicle has a little gift from the audio gods called cabin gain. basically this is free bass below 80 hertz. Some have a lot (hatchbacks), some have less (vans large SUV's). So depending on your goals, you can utilize this cabin gain to your benefit.


If you run a sealed enclosure (recommended if you are building for the first time), even though the sealed sub may roll of (producing less output) at say 50 hertz, you are getting and increase in low frequencies that counteract this roll off. Look up cabin gain via google.


OK. Figure your budget. space requirements, and start looking for a sub. Stay away from the mainstream brands, kicker,JL, MTX, Rockford Fosgate etc. They are good brands. Just why pay for a name? Unless of course you have to have name brand bragging rights or they are on a killer sale. I of course like to kick name brand ass with not name brand product. Parts express has really good woofs. The dayton line is a sleeper. The HF and HO woofs rock. Phoenix Gold are often on sale at Amazon. Bought my son 4 P.G. RSdC 10" subs for 80 a piece. ridiculous output. Digital design, PAP or any number of brands are out there. Look up a decent car audio site.


Box building, If you want a ton of bass, look into porting, have the port tuning frequency 40-45 hertz. In car it will still reach mid 20's. Most music has little info below 30 hertz. The bigger the box the lower it will play and it is usually more efficient. Not always but generally. The trade off is finding what you can live with in box size and power needs and woofer requirements.


Hope this little bit helps.

 

[bluesky636]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crizz99 /forum/post/18185043


and sorry for asking this. im sure the forum is filled with questions like this

Quote:
Originally Posted by socwrkr /forum/post/18185626


This forum isn't filled with questions like this because it's a home audio/sub forum. You're better off looking for a car audio forum.

Like this one: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forum...ysprune=&f=160

 

[juanchibiris]

Rockford Fosgate is not at all expensive, i prevously own Kicker, JL Audio, Kenwood, Pioneer, Logic, JBL, Lighninght Audio and some other brands, and let me tell you for the price you pay you have a very good subwoofer, maybe try some other brands but my favorite is Rockford for the moment.


EDIT: Sometime i hear this brand powerbass and it has a very good quality, and looking for the prices they are very affordable.

 

[head_unit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cubdenno /forum/post/18186774


...If you want a ton of bass, look into porting, have the port tuning frequency 40-45 hertz. In car it will still reach mid 20's. Most music has little info below 30 hertz...

All really good advice, except the quoted bit has a down side. It's true that pop music doesn't have much output below 40 Hz, so tuning the port to 40 "maximizes" available excursion. BUT:

- There is almost always a sound quality penalty to be paid. This is why Bazooka subs always had a very heavy boominess. Such a high port tuning worsens the transient response compared to a lower tuning.

- Some kinds of music DO contain quite low bass. If you're into those special bass discs, content below the port frequency will just bottom out the woofer, and the front sound will cancel the rear sound. It's true that due to cabin gain there may still be significant output, but that's not very efficient.


Really ports should be tuned more like 30 Hz (yah, a very broad generalization) or maybe skipped. It's really difficult in most car enclosures to fit a port that is really big enough to flow as much air as needed AND be obstruction-free enough at the ends as well. Plus, a lot of the woofers are not optimum for ported enclosures-if you want to port, be sure the woofer's parameters will work with that. And, get some good modeling software and/or detailed advice here and maybe more so at DIYAudio.com (lots of folks there help newbies with simulations).


A simpler approach is a beefy woofer in a sealed box, if you're not up to calculating and building your own ported deal.


For DIY, look at Crutchfield.com and/or call them. They've been in business a loooooong time and specialize in helping folks install for themselves. Best Buy might be OK, or look up local Alpine dealers (Alpine1.com. I say Alpine because they are the choosiest about who carries their product-which doesn't mean every dealer is perfect, but at least it's a start).


For rattles, get the sub put in, then run a frequency sweep. There are test CDs which do that, even 1 Hz at a time, so you can play the same note and see what rattles in the car. When you get to that point you can make another post recommending test discs. Sorry, I just can't remember offhand the disc that had every frequency from 10-99 Hz one at a time.

 

[cubdenno]

Head Unit,


I agree with the boominess comment. BUT if you read the OP's post. Especially regarding what he is looking for. Heavy heavy bass.


I put him in the 16-24 demographic. I could be wrong but that is what I got out of the topic. As a dad of a 17 year old and all his friends, boomy bass is what they want. it's all about rattling the fillings out of their heads. Soooo, that is what I recommend.


I agree, sealed is truly easier, the gentle roll off couples very nicely with the cars cabin gain usually providing a less boomy experience. Of course "quick bass" is more a function of good midbass drivers than sub drivers but hell play with the crossover settings.


Unloading your woofer (frequencies played below tuning frequency) can be handled by a highpass filter or SSF on most mono amps now days. And the whole port size thing is a very good point. No one likes Chuffing (port noise most often occuring because the port area is to small. Think using a 4" PVC pipe for a port instead of a 6"pvc pipe.) but depending on vehicle like a car with a trunk, one can play around with what they want to live with. But again I advised a higher than what is considered SQ porting frequency because of port length requirements.


In car, it is really all about tradeoffs for most people. Unless you are going to compete SQ. And you have a pretty significant budget, figuring out What you are really wanting can save you a lot of money. Just remember sometimes your tastes will change. All bass is fun for about 1 week. Eventually you will want to hear some words and some other instruments.

 

[bluntguy]

www. dbdragracing. com has some great forums for car audio.

Eliminating the rattles is as easy as adding something like Dynamat to the rattling parts.