Here is the setup I want to go with, please add your thoughts and if you would change anything, especially size of amps because I am mostly unsure there.
Pioneer Premier DEH-P670MP HU
Focal 6.5" Components (not yet sure what type yet)
Focal 6"x9" Rear (not yet sure what type yet)
12" Kicker SB L5, 1 or 2?
Kicker KX850.4 4 channel, power fronts and rears
Kicker KX 850.2 2 channel, power sub(s)
My goal is a very good sounding SQ setup, I do want bass, but not ALOT like I hear everywhere around here, this is why I am unsure of whether to go with 1 or 2 12" SB subs, I really only want to go with 1.
Any ideas? Thanks!
You will LOVE any of the speakers by Focal.. they are a great company when it comes to car audio ... As far as the subs go.. I say just 1 since your going for SQ over SPL, but why not just get a focal sub? No offense to Kicker subs (I own a kicker L5 actually) but I bet going all Focal will sound awesome. For the fronts and rears that amp or similar will prolly be fine. But for the subs you prolly wanna go with a mono amp if you can .. get a class D it'll keep it from overheating.
But honestly if I had that setup I'd not be complaining one bit. Though I would prefer my Premeir DEH P8MP over yours but that's negligable difference...
Manual or auto? If manual, you may not want to go this route..(below) Unless you have TINY feet..
I'd ditch the rear speakers all together, get two sets of 6.5 comp's and some kick panel pods.. (2 for the pods, and 2 for the doors).
"If life throws you a curve, pop the clutch and drift it!"
I could go Mono amp... and I have not yet looked at Focal subs, I will talk to some people about prices and go from there.
Manual, and I have looked into doors and pods and am still considering it but for a later time, I just want a real nice stereo setup for now because I am in the middle of an engine swap, the parts aren`t cheap
I do want rears because I want to be able to have that "all around" SQ sound, its just what I prefer. I just am not sure what size amps to go with to make sure they will power the speakers enough.
What size Mono will be enough? the 1200? She looks massive.............
And yes I am partial to Kicker amps and speakers still, I have not had any problems at all with any Kicker amps I have had, and have blown a couple of Kicker Components in my past. (my fault).
Thanks for the info!
you dont want it loud and yet your talking about a 1200 watt amp? one or two subs isnt going to make that much of a diffrence with that amount of power, either way youlle be doing major damage to your hearing.
as far as what amount of power you want just feed the speakers based on what they require, me myself would ditch the rear speakers and put more power to the fronts, but i'm also going for a more accurate music reproduction versus just being loud. im sure if you heard some cars setup properly with a good solid front stage you most likely woulen't run rear speakers again.
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As I said, I am considering 2 pods and 2 door speakers at a later time..... just not right now.
As for not wanting it loud, let me rephrase, I want the system to be a very good SQ system, but I am going witha sub to have that thump when I want it, cruising and just plain off piss off the neighbours type of thump. Going with a nice sub and powered by a nice amp will give me that choice of having it low, and having it make me go deaf.
I have heard both just fronts and fronts and rears, hell I`ve had both, and I like both, I really like hearing the quality come from both front and rear, the mix.
what kind of stereo was it that you heard it without though? big diffrence in a car done right and a car done wrong. when i took my rears out. no one knew i had even removed them. most wouldnt beleive me. so i went so far as to fiberglass in my fuse block in the rear speaker locations so i could just snap off the grill and show them.
also if you do go with more up front, i would just go with a high powered setup in the kickpanels. or a 3-way setup up front with midbass in the doors. going with a componet set in the kicks and another set in the door is going to kill any soundstage your trying to acheive.
and know that im in no way saying your wrong by wanting to run rear speakers, its just what ive found as far as getting the best audio in the car over the years so its the way i tend to push people in that direction.
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Hey, I welcome all help, and what do u mean what kind of stereo? What speaker size and such were in the install?
So, I could go with your idea and run no rears, 1 or 2 12" subs in the back, mids (not comp.) in the doors, maybe 5.25 or even 6.5 or a real nice set of 4x6 (?) and run a 6.5" comp. set in the kicks.
As far as your subs go,I would ditch the 2 12" idea and go with 2 10's. remeber the larger woofer wont play any louder,just deeper,so if you dont want your car to be a bass machine go a little smaller and loose a couple hundred whats on the sub amp
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oh so annoying i just made a huge post and it said i had exceeded my posts for the month, wich im premium so i lost it all. i'll try this again.
depending on how the install is done just simply removing the rear speakers isnt enough to get a good sound. if you front stage isnt powerful enough to carry the sound, it is going to sound like something is lacking. also if the speakers arnt properly installed the midbass could be lacking wich would give you a bad sound with the subs trying to mix with the lack of midbass. all this can contribute to a poor setup with just front speakers.
to do a front speaker setup properly you need to have some power going up front. you need to have good midbass, and you need to have your vibrations and rattles taken care of.
im going to get into the basics of a soundstage, dont know how educated you are on audio but otheres who are less knowledgeable may find it interesting and informative.
when most people think of great music they tend to think of live concerts. granted not every concert has the best sound. but live listening in most peoples opinions is the best you can get. engineers will record the cd's to best recreate that experience as far as the soundstage goes. meaning when played thru a well built system. u could close your eyes and pinpoint the musicians on an imaginary stage. for example. when u close your eyes you could basically point to the left and find the guitarist, point to the right and find the bassist, point to the center front for the vocalist and center back for the drummer and may inbetween the guitarist and the vocalist is a pair of backup singers that are chiming in. this is what a good soundstage can do for you. and the diffrence between hearing it like this and just hearing the music is pretty dramatic when setup right. i like to compete in car audio and even though i havent been in the judging lanes recently hearing a setup like this has pretty much spoiled me and i dont want to hear it anyother way. would be kinda of like the diffrence of sking in 3000 vertical feet of fresh powder compared to say 400' vertical feet at your local ice slush hill. some would say snow is snow, but to those that have seen skied both, the distance is dramatic. now, to get the most realistic soundstage in essence you'd want to get every single speaker up front, including the subwoofers, but in a car allot of times getting a sub up front is to much trouble, (something i may be doing when i make my fiberglass dash and center console.) so we stach the subs in the trunk. basically the human ear has trouble localising frequencies from around 70hz and lower. so if you keep your sub at this range or lower, your ears can't tell where the sound is coming from. most of the sound in that range is the bass that is more felt then heard. to do this though you need good midbass. get your midbass playing down to 70hz and below. and your system is going to sound accurate because now you can hear the drumstick hitting the drum that gives you the bass hit. this adds to the realism extremely. now the thing with soundstages, is that the more speakers you have, the harder it is to acheive. most of the best sound most realistic sounding cars in the world have no more then 6 speakers (2 of those being subs) this is because in getting the best audio, more doesnt mean better. your best bet is to stick with either a single pair of 6.5" componet set up front.( or a solid 5.25 componet set) or go with a 3-way componet set wich will generally consist of a dedicated 6.5" midbass driver in the doors and a 4" mid and tweet in kickpanels. this is what i tend to use. this gives you a dedicated midbass driver, and it keeps the kickpanels smaller since your only housing a 4" and tweet. these take a bit more time to angle properly but i think the benifits outweight the downsides.
as for bass 2-12" will be louder then 2-10" if your comparing similar subs. and yes the 12" w ill play a few hz lower in frequencies then the 10's will. but if your buying a quality sub it should get pretty low allready. another thing to consider is just going with a single sub. i think thats probalby a better option for you , one quality sub with a good amount of power will give you a good amount of bass without sacrificing all of your trunk space. another option u have is going with a single 15" its going to play even lower then the 12" will and be a tad louder. only major downfall to it, is the size of it.
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