Anyone know anything about car audio?

[RamsOfCastamere]

I have an '02 Pontiac Coupe GT. I wasn't pleased with my sound, so I bought a bluetooth stereo system. My 6x9 stock speakers do not produce enough base for my enjoyment so I want to buy a subwoofer, but I have no idea if I should get a 10" or 12". I know the 12" produces better lower frequencies and is louder, and the 10" has a better sound quality. Which one has the better trade off? I'm not trying to annoy the neighbors, but I listen to hip-hop.

 

[PhxRam]

I have an '02 Pontiac Coupe GT. I wasn't pleased with my sound, so I bought a bluetooth stereo system. My 6x9 stock speakers do not produce enough base for my enjoyment so I want to buy a subwoofer, but I have no idea if I should get a 10" or 12". I know the 12" produces better lower frequencies and is louder, and the 10" has a better sound quality. Which one has the better trade off? I'm not trying to annoy the neighbors, but I listen to hip-hop.

Go with the one that sounds the best to you. Who cares what others think. YOU are the one who has to listen to it.

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

Go with the one that sounds the best to you. Who cares what others think. YOU are the one who has to listen to it.

By that, I meant I'm not trying to sacrifice quality for loudness. I don't know what it would sound like in my car in comparison to an audio store, so that's why I'm here.

 

[-X-]

10's.

 

[Pancake]

Well the first thing you have to figure out is how much space you have to work with. Every sub requires a specific amount of air volume to operate correctly.

But either size speaker will give great bass.

To bad your not near me. I have a garage full of subs and amplifiers.

I have 1500 watts worth of Sundown amps in my truck right now. 1k on a single 10" infinity Kappa 104.7. And another 125 x 4 on components, front and back. It gets pretty loud.

It's pretty funny when my oldfart ass pulls up next to some punk at a red light blasting his Beiber crap. Let me introduce you to a little band called Led Zeppelin kiddo....

 

[Faceplant]

Go with the 10". I traded my boat in a few years for a new model that was 2' longer and the stereo in the new boat had a 10" sun whereas the smaller boat had a 12". I actually worried until I heard them back to back. The 10 hit much harder and more crisp than the 12.... even in that bigger hull.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I know what not to do with car audio systems. Don't buy any on sale without first going over them thoroughly. I did that and the stupid thing was so hard to operate that you just as soon not try to figure it out every time you got in the car. I quickly realized why they didn't sell.

I am way behind the times though. I need to get an Ipod and start using MP3s for my music. I just have so many CDs though that I hate to not use them. I guess I could load them onto ITunes and then reload to an Ipod.

 

[raised_fisT]

How about UPGRADING the stock 6x9s and maybe adding a small amp?? You won't have to sacrifice space that a sub and box would take up and you'd be surprised at the sound you can produce with some quality x9s. With a sub addition you will most likely need a box to put it in. And most head units don't provide enough power to properly run a sub without causing distortion. Keep in mind that when playing music from bluetooth you usually ALWAYS sacrifice sound quality, even if you have an awesome setup.

In my truck I can hook my phone up (my music device) with an auxiliary cable, a usb cable or run wirelessly via bluetooth. With the aux cable and bluetooth I have to crank the volume up to about 20 for normal listening. With CD or USB I can have it at about 14 or 15.

MY biggest bit of advice is to start slow and build your system up gradually. Start off with some good quality 6x9s. Depending on the power and efficiency of your head unit, that might be all you really need to get the sound you want. Crutchfield is not bad for newbs who might wanna try their hand at some car audio DIY.

Good Luck

 

[Sum1]

10" sub(s) are what you are looking for.

It's been a while now, but I used to be really big into car audio back in high school. I had three different systems of different power, prices, brands, etc.

In my '95 S10 pickup I had (2) 10" Rockford Fosgate subs running off of a Kenwood amp. It was ok for a first system. It wasn't the greatest in quality as far as sound goes but it was louder than the stock speakers. At 16 years old that is what I was going for.

A couple years later I bought a '99 Chevy Malibu. This time I went bigger and cheaper with some lower-grade brands. I had (2) 15" AudioBahn subs running off of a Pyramid amp. For paying very little for this stuff off of eBay it sure did give some loud low end. It was a fun obnoxious system...but alas, I wanted something better.

Finally, I came across a smoking deal on some JL 12" W6 subs, 3 of them. I had a custom box made to fit my trunk. Bought (2) JL 500/1 amps to run them. Added a JL 300/4 amp to run my Infinity rear and door speakers. Had a 15 farad capacitor installed and that SOB still dimmed my lights when it hit. All that audio gear is now sitting in some boxes in my Dads garage...I can remember that I had a student bank account and my limit was set at $500 per transaction...so when the audio store went to run it it was declined...I called my old man to pay for it upfront and I was going to pay him back...the install on this system was like $700, my dad says, "You spent $700 on a fucking stereo?"..."Umm no, that's just to install it."

Oh, to have all that money back that I earned in my youth and pissed away on frivolous things...

 

[ChrisW]

@RamsOfCastamere
If you only listen to Rap/Hip Hop then I'd go 12". You'll pick up more Freq's in the bass line with that size.

If you listen to a broader spectrum of music with heavy rock, then the 10" will do you better.

Also, the enclosure that you put the speaker in will affect the sound quality. A sealed enclosure will give you a tighter bass response, while a vented enclosure will typically give you more volume.

 

[brokeu91]

Here's what I know:
1. When I press the on/off button the radio either turns on or off
2. When I turn the volume button the volume goes up or down
3. When I press the tuning button the station changes

Otherwise I'm totally clueless

Hope that helps

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

Thanks, guys. I think imma go with a 12" with a sealed enclosure.

 

[ChrisW]

Now to just figure out the brand of speaker to buy

 

[sostl]

I have an '02 Pontiac Coupe GT. I wasn't pleased with my sound, so I bought a bluetooth stereo system. My 6x9 stock speakers do not produce enough base for my enjoyment so I want to buy a subwoofer, but I have no idea if I should get a 10" or 12". I know the 12" produces better lower frequencies and is louder, and the 10" has a better sound quality. Which one has the better trade off? I'm not trying to annoy the neighbors, but I listen to hip-hop.

Sounds like you not looking for much added bass. I'll say start with some upgraded front and rear speakers and amp them.

Well the first thing you have to figure out is how much space you have to work with. Every sub requires a specific amount of air volume to operate correctly.

But either size speaker will give great bass.

To bad your not near me. I have a garage full of subs and amplifiers.

I have 1500 watts worth of Sundown amps in my truck right now. 1k on a single 10" infinity Kappa 104.7. And another 125 x 4 on components, front and back. It gets pretty loud.

It's pretty funny when my oldfart ass pulls up next to some punk at a red light blasting his Beiber crap. Let me introduce you to a little band called Led Zeppelin kiddo....

Nice.
I have some sundown in my garage right now. 2 1500s and 2 12" nightshades

 

[Pancake]

Sounds like you not looking for much added bass. I'll say start with some upgraded front and rear speakers and amp them.




Nice.
I have some sundown in my garage right now. 2 1500s and 2 12" nightshades

Out of my 4 Sundown amps 3 have died from minimal usage. I would never recommend them to anyone in a million years. I also had a bad experience with Jacob when trying to get the matter resolved. Their speakers I don't own but I have heard nothing but good stuff. Then again I've only heard good things about the amplifiers too.

I'm now to going replace all of the Sundowns with 5 channel PPI amps. One in my truck and one in my wifes car. The newest ones are tiny and they still put out rated power. If they break I'll only be out a few hundred instead of a few grand.

 

[sostl]

Out of my 4 Sundown amps 3 have died from minimal usage. I would never recommend them to anyone in a million years. I also had a bad experience with Jacob when trying to get the matter resolved. Their speakers I don't own but I have heard nothing but good stuff. Then again I've only heard good things about the amplifiers too.

I'm now to going replace all of the Sundowns with 5 channel PPI amps. One in my truck and one in my wifes car. The newest ones are tiny and they still put out rated power. If they break I'll only be out a few hundred instead of a few grand.

Oh wow. Sorry to hear that. I've had mine for 5 years and still going strong.
I've heard some good things about ppi. Never used them tho