Hey everyone. Alright, So I finally have some money to begin purchasing what I need to finish up the sound system for my car. But I have a dilemma. I'm not quite sure what amp(s) or sub(s) to get. Here's what I've got so far. Alpine CDE-9845 head unit and i'm going to purchase a pair of Infinity Reference 6812 cf 6x8 front speakers. My brother has in his car 2 12" JL Audio subwoofers and 2 amplifiers, one for his speakers and the other for his subs. I really like his set up, but he spent a hell of a lot of money on it.

So basically, Can you all give me some input on what some good subs are and the same with amps? I've got my eye on some Alpine Subs and some JL Audio subs but im not quite sure what would be better for me. What type of amp am I going to need to power my speakers and what kind will I need to power 2 subs?

Thanks for the help guys and sorry if its hard to read

Here is an idea for you as I don't know what you budget is on your system. Alpine type R subs work great I had 2 12" in my explorer. I was also running a Alpine v12 350wx1 mono amp to them which is now in my CV attached to 2 12" kickers. to give you an idea for the CV install (which I reused my previous amp) ran me almost $1000 (I did also however have a amp installed for my door speakers as well as some Kenwood 5 ways in the doors and back panel.) I am also running a JVC cd/mp3/wma player using all preouts for power. JL audios subs/amps are awsome I used to have 6 w6 12" subs powered by 2 1000 watt JL amps in my grand prix I used to have (this was way to much in my opinion as you could barely turn it up without getting a noise ordanace sitation). One thing to remember about stereo systems it is easier to blow a speaker by under powering it than over powering it and also the cleaner the signal (use the preouts) the better quality and louder you will be able to turn up to before distortion starts. Any way I am rambeling. Alot of time if you go to HiFi buys or circuit city or similar they will sometimes have whole packages if I remember correctly for the kicker subs and slot port box combo I got for the CV only ran like $350 IIRC. Also make sure that you do the install or at least have it installed by a reputable install shop as you will get what you pay for there and stay away from best buy installers. Usually the little local sounds shops will do a good job and be resonably prices. Again without know you intentions on whether you want it to be loud or just sound good (as I like mine but they will still get pretty loud just won't make your ears bleed) and what your budget is it is hard to say what to look at. to give you an idea even with my (what I consider to be)low power setup I can still rattle the windows at my neighbors house that is two houses down while I am sitting in my driveway. I do however recommend getting an external amp to push door/rear deck speakers as this will give you a better sound that the amps built into the decks (even alpine decks which I have owned) as the external amps are made of better parts and are cooled better so you don't get the distortion. Hope some of this info helps.

Thanks for all that info! When you mentioned getting an external amp for my speakers, would it be stupid to just power the front 2? or should I might as well power the rear deck speakers as well? Also, what kind of amp (4-channel?) would I need for powering these speakers?

I would recommend getting a 4 channel and powering all four speakers (so you do not have a difference in sound quality coming from the front/rear) As for a amp get one that will run around 55wx4 - 75wx4 RMS (depending on the speakers, I usually go about 1/2 to 3/4 of peak power for door speakers)Do not go to cheap on this amp and it will be the providing the vocals so you want that to be a clear as possible. To give you an idea I have a ample amp model A410x running my door speakers and I love it very clear and the cost is good as well. Here is a link to their webpage.

http://www.ampleaudio.com/product1.html

I have an Alpine 4 channel amp driving Alpine type-Rs all the way around, signal supplied from an OEM Visteon/Ford single CD for a factory look. I also put in an Infinty Basslink subwoofer system in my trunk. I love the sound, clear, crisp and excellent response. My goal was to duplicate the sound quality of fmy father's factory Alpine Navigator, and it has easily succeded that.

My system isn't much for the BOOM BOOM i suppose, for the music I listen to it is perfect.

First off don't order from Crutchfield they overprice. Okay, what are you looking for SPL (SoundP ressure Level [loud as hell]) or SQ (Sound Quality)? For head units Alpine is a good choice. For speakers Infinity Referance series are a great entry level choice, and you can do much better. Depending on how much you are willing to spend I can probably help you build a system that you will like, $500 on a sound system won't get you much so remember car audio can get expensive.

For wiring the subs I would stick with a MONOBLOCK amplifier, you can wire as many subs to them as long as your impedance is okay. So if you have a 1000 watt @ 1 ohm monoblock amplifier, you can wire up two DVC (Duel Voice Coil) 4 ohm subwoofers to it at one ohm by simply hooking up all for + to the amplifier + terminal and all the - to the amplifier - terminal.

Well, I just found out that I'm going to start working at the local hardware store 2 months earlier than expected(start this week), so my budget is more leneant. As far as what I was from my sound system, I'd rather it be more of a quality sound than just a loud bass setup. I wanna say my budget is around $700 or so for now cause i'd like to get this put in before April.

Crown-Viscious, to answer your question on how much my brothers system cost. It cost him around $400 to have a custom box made and installed, and another $1,000 or so in equipment. To you all, it might not be much, be to me its a lot cause I wont have that much money for awhile. I plan on buying as much as I can from some site that I found here on crownvic.net I think its something like www.davidmosesinc.com and its got a bunch of stuff for low prices. And what I can't find on that site I plan on buying from crutchfield. I've found some amps made by "Profile" that are priced great (IMO) and have gotten great reviews also. Thanks for all the help with this guys!

Head Unit - http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/2824 $130

Sub - http://www.ddaudio.com/dd/caraudio/woofers.asp?series=2500a ~$200 (have to call to order)

Amp - http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/2119 $125 (shipped) Refurb but a good amp, I owned two of these refurbs for 2 years .

Coaxials - http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/4696 - $59.00

Wiring - http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KOL-AK44 $41



Total $481 (prob about $550 because of shipping)
$50 for enclosure (make your own;))

decent set up, not too many people are familiar with Digital Designs drivers, so if you want don't be afraid to ask them questions. With the left over money I would buy sound deadening. Or keep it, sound deadening will help increase sound pressure level in your car!

This for the front/rear speakers http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=269-164

This for a sub http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=269-162

Maybe this sub http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-404

JL is a rip off and Alpine's speakers are made by Tymphany who also makes home audio speakers, Vifa, Scan Speak, Peerless and more, you could likely find an "Alpine Type R" in one of their home audio lines for much cheaper (Alpines speakers are rebadged home audio stuff). I have a 12" Type R and I wasn't that impressed with it. The IDQ 10 I have now is much better, for me anyway.

Well, I ordered a Profile Ap1040 80 x 4 RMS today. It cost $101 including shipping and 3 year warranty. Call me stupid but it's gotten great reviews and i'm excited to see how it works out for me.

I've got a few other questions. Regarding speakers, would it be worth it to buy a pair of 6.5" Infinity Reference speakers for the front instead of the ole 6x8 oval speakers? Both cost the same amount, its just taking the time to instal the 6.5" round ones that i'm questioning.

I can get a JL Audio 10" W3v2 sub for either $103.00 or $108.00. The 10" Dual 2 ohm costs $103, and the 10" dual 4 ohm costs $108. Whats the main difference between a 4 ohm and a 2 ohm?

Nice recommendations gents

I've heard nothing but love for Profile AP, so I'm anxious to hear your impressions.
I would go with a subwoofer amp of the same series, if only for appearance' sake.

Speakers up front? I wouldn't go to the trouble of making a round baffle, if I weren't upgrading to separate component speakers. But components would easily fit within your budget if you keep shopping around so thoroughly. (Props on doing your homework!)

About ohms.. if you used the 4-channel to power just one pair of speakers up front, and bridged the rear outputs for your subwoofer, then you would want the dual 2-ohm sub, wired in series to get optimal power from that particular amp. If you went with a separate, "mono" sub amplifier, it would MOST LIKELY be fine with a 2-ohm load, if you ran dual 4-ohm coils in parallel. If the amp is "stable" down to 1 ohm, AND you want a bit more power than a 2-ohm resistive load will allow, then wire a dual-2 ohm sub in parallel.

Visit bcae1 for a more exhaustive explanation of Ohm's Law.. hope this helps

For the cleanest sound I would recommend getting a mono amp to push just the subs as I do and run the 4 channel to run speaker front and rear. This will give you the cleanest sound. As for the subs I would recommend getting the dual 4 Ohm speaker as most sub amps will only allow for a low current draw which will only go down to 2 Ohm stable. So what you do is take a piece of speaker wire go from positive on the back of the box connector to a positive on one of the voice coils on the sub then take another piece of speaker wire and run it from the voice coil negative you just hooked up to the voice coil positive on the other voice coil of the sub then run a speaker wire from the negative on that voice coil to the negative terminal on the box connector. Wire other sub same way (if you have more than one) Now run your speaker wires to the amp ane wire them up according to the diagram on the amp for a bridged connection. Wiring the speakers in this manner on a dual 4Ohm speaker will give you a 2Ohm impeadence now.