Car Audio Component Speakers

[FreakyOCR]

60/watt channel Hybrid V-Drive Amp.... I know it is not RMS, but still nice.
45-59 are all the same because they have no difference. But my 60w has a difference, it gives it a 20w rms per channel. Oh and BTW all amps are listed the same as decks. My 240 watt deck will have the same power in four channels as a 240 watt amp. 20w per channel. You can get a 1000watt amp, but that is only max power. RMS is MUCHlower, what is the formula again jad???

[Warthog]

Hey, my speakers cost me $30 for the rear and $20 for the front.

They sound real good too.

See what I mean regarding "Audio can be very difficult subject to judge".

It's all in what you can distinguish.

Nice headunit, btw. Almost got that model.

Never heard of that amplifier. What box are your subs in?

After doing much research for the past year and reading many, many reviews, both "official" and "unnofficial" (message boards), I decided to get a single 12" Infinity Perfect powered by a JBL 600.1 amplifier with 600w RMS going to it in a 1.75cu. ft., homemade ported box tuned to 32hz.. The Perfect is highly regarded as a SQ subwoofer but also capable of output. Putting it in a ported box will give it a bit more boost on the output end. It should be the rough equivalent of my Klipsch home sub.

Just "bid" on the items yesterday (dutch auction). Once I finish setup with Paypal, they will be on the way to me. I still have to order the box building components and build it. Also have to get the amplifier installation kit.

Prices:
$255 (installed) - Pioneer Premier DEH-P330
$168.94 - 12" Infiniti Perfect
$233.95 - JBL 600.1 amplifier
$60 approx. - ported box (carpet, 3x8" port, 3/4" MDF, corner protectors, etc.)
$0 - bareable stock speakers

Total - approx. $717.89 for a kick @$$ subwoofer, kick @$$ box, kick @$$ amp, pretty good head (Alpine would've been better but didn't want to spend that much)

Eventually:
$150 x2 - 5 1/4" BA front/rear speakers

Warthog

[flash4master]

pssst...wartpig, that amp is only gonna give you 300rms and 600 max

[Warthog]

600 x 1 Watts Peak at 4 ohms
300 x 1 watts (rms) at 4 ohms

1200 x 1 Watts Peak at 2 ohms
600 x 1 watts (RMS)at 2 ohms

I get confused over the power thing sometimes........wouldn't running a single 12" subwoofer produce 600w RMS?

If I ran TWO subs off it, wouldn't they get 300w RMS each @ 4ohms?

I mean, if it really was 1 sub @ 300w RMS......then what's TWO subs......more power (600w RMS)?!? The higher figure comes from somewhere.......I've gotta be missing something. Either way, I guess it doesn't matter, 300w 12" is still enough power for me.

EDIT

Ahhhhhh, me thinks me gets it now. "Impedance: 4 Ohms" <-- that's it? That's what limits it to 300w RMS, right? I see. And if I added another, would it still be 300w RMS each?

Warthog

[HfdWolfPack]

Wart- I went to c.a.f. and they all have mixed reviews.
ie. "Jls blow them away", "infinity sound much better"

Yeah I know, Different strokes for different folks......

"Anyhew", I took a trip to Tweeters etc. and lo and behold, what do I see on the board....Bostons (forgot model#'s)and JL Xr650scs'.

I popped in a little Godsmack tried both.

IMO

Straight off the HU, no subs, just the comps;

Bostons (each model) - good sounding at low volume, adequate bass, highs a little too high.good sound, not $420 good though.
JLs Sounded better imo, didn't distort too bad, until I started to raise the volume past 1/2 ( this is expected). Got the Tweeters guy down to $325 ( 25 more than the cool, local guy)

Now with 100x2 amp ;

Both sounded real nice. JL wins by price.



Then I went to Circuit Chitty to see if they had the Infinity Refs set up and more than 1 side working.

Straight off HU : Sounded pretty nice, better bass response than previous choices, until I upped the volume.

Off whatever amp they had wired : Sounded nice , until i to 50% then strarted to break up.

At the "Install ripoff" shop, the kid let me listen to his Kappas in his car....I never got a headache listening to S.O.A.D. until I heard his speakers....sounded good, but either he had his treble way too high, or they are just too harsh.

The guy with the Jls, said he could get me the Infinity comps if I really wanted them. Price would need to be discussed.

Why not install them myself?
Because to me, $40 is fair. Yes i can do it myself. I did my Probes' system, my brothers truck, and my sis in laws.Thats three vehicles. Im sure the pro installer has done more than that. This is a brand new car ( 5 months), if I break clips or anything , I'm S.O.L.
If they break something, its their problem.
Plus to me, $40 is worth not getting aggravated on a saturday afternoon.


thx for replies so far.

[pickel]

I just installed two 6 1/2 by 9 " speakers in my wife's Stealth, the rear ones were blown. Pioneer 200 watt 3 way on sale at Best Buy for $94.95 w/ 4 year warranty( anything happens ..replaced free)
total..$124.00 w/ tax. I was planning on putting an amp or booster but with these speakers the front 6 1/2"s and dash tweeter the sound is unbelievable. Took about an hour but well worth it!!

Oh and BTW all amps are listed the same as decks.

Well you have me a bit confused here, just woke up from a nap. But I will tell you that statement is incorrect. If you go out and buy a cheap 1000watt amp you may get a crappy 20watt amp but if you go out and buy a good 100watt amp it may be able to do 200watts RMS. It’s all a matter of ohms law really, still not awake yet so the formula does not come to mind. There is no head unit that will put out a clean 40 or 50 watts per channel x4 RMS as advertised AFAIK, they just couldn’t do it without massive amounts of distortion and heat. I have a Lanzar cheater amp that says it is 25x25watts but is more like 50x2 @4ohms and with a 2ohm load it is more like 100 x2, clean. I also have an old Craig amp that is rated at 75x2 and it’s output is more like 22x2@4ohms. The problem is there is no laws to regulate how amps are rated so some manufactures blatantly lie about the rating of an amp. To push a real 100watt amp you will need a bigger alternator, at least one more battery, capacitors (a 2 pharad I think), heavy gauge wire, and the goes one. My little 25x25 watt Lazar has two #8 gauge power wires coming out of it and requires a 30 or 40 amp fuse, see what I am getting at here? Also wattage does not mean as much as people think. I have seen 100watt systems in cars that you can’t sit in because they are too loud, clean sounding though. It’s more a matter of having good equipment and using a well though out method of speaker placement and some clever wiring.



Wolf the reason for the distorion is because the HU does not have enough clean power to push them. To me the BA's are worth the money. If you can't hear any difference between the BA and JL then get the JL's if that makes you happy.




well I think i'm going back to bed

[HfdWolfPack]

Jad - I thought the Ba's sounded really good, but not another 120 bones on top of 100 too much.

follow that?..

Come to think of it...the Infinity Refs are out.


Hows this:

*Infinity Kappa 60.3 comps - $200

*JL Vr650cs - $200

*JL Xr650cd - $300

damn...now Im leaning toward the Kappas.

The prices for each, I'm happy with. Couldn't find any of them much cheaper.

[edwelly]

I installed Car Stereo for 8 years. I was the head installer on a shop for 3+ years. all of the brands that you have mentioned are fine products. There are 2 things that should determine what speakers you buy (assuming the speakers are within your budget)
1. What do they sound like to YOUR ears? We each here things differently so I would suggest finding a very well recorded CD and listen for as long as you like. While I am not a huge fan of jazz, I find that jazz usually has a GREAT variety of sounds plus it is recorded well.
2. What do they sound like in YOUR car? While this may sound impossible, I would suggest trying to find a friend who has the same vehicle as you and see what he/she has installed. Listen to how it sounds in the vehicle (try to turn off everything BUT the speakers you want to listen too… ALSO, turn the treble and bass to flat). This will give you a much better idea of what you are looking for.
One of the most important things to remember is “the speaker will sounds just as good as it is installed”… Meaning, if you really install a speaker well, then it will sound well. I have seen people spend $500 on a set of front speaker and they sounds like crap. I have also seen a $50.00 set of speakers sound GREAT! All due to the install. Think about how you want you vehicle to sound and then try to achieve it.
Hope this helped and if you need, you can email me or PM me for any installation tips you need.
---edwelly

p.s. M.B. Quart have the best sounding car audio speakers IMO

[HfdWolfPack]

Edwelly-
What is a fair price to install a set of components?

The place with the JLs would cost $40
The place with the Infinitys would be more like $100

Do you think the JL XR650 are $100 better sounding than the Kappas...for Rock/alt music?

Would you be pissed if you owned a shop, helped someone out by pulling out 4 different sets of comps...gave him your undivided attention and the customer turned around, bought comps somewhere else and asked you to install them?

By quality install, what would be the difference on how they mounted the tweeter? and how they screwed the speaker in?
Why would it sound any better?
Not knockin...just askin