new to car audio, need some help putting together a system.

[im4an2idiot0]

as in the title, im very new to car audio and pretty much dont know too much about it. but im looking to get 2 10' subs ( was looking at the AW1051T's but everyone on here says there junk) a single amp and a box for around $500. i was just seeing if anyone on here could point me in the right direction for some decent cheap subs and amp. i drive a 88' oldsmobile cutlass ciera. and have already ungraded my front and rear speakers.


thanks in advance.

[AndonD454]

are you looking for sound quality, SPL, both? is one more important than the other?

why were you thinking 2 10s? can you fit a 15? or 2 12s?

and yeah stay away from audiobahn

[im4an2idiot0]

i want them to be able to get loud and still sound nice so i guess both. but i want good deep clear bass. i got a huge ass trunk so space isnt the issue. i want to go with 10 because i mostly listen to rock and metal. but i do listen to rap often. and i talked to a few people and they sayed that with going with 10's when i listen to rock it wont be a bass overkill like it would with 15's but ill still get the bass that i want for rap. but im just going on what my friends tell me. so if im wrong please correct me. so if u or anyone else here does listen to some rock and metal chime in and tell me if i would be better off going with 10's or 12's.

[CBFryman]

like ive said before. you dont have to run your sub fullt tilt all the time. if you can fit a single 15 i would say go with a single 15. Atlas 15 would probably be a great choice.

[AndonD454]

2 atlas 12s sealed would be sweet too though if you want a dual sub setup. but a 15 should give you close to the same output.

[GSteg]

if you have the room and the money, get the bigger sub. more displacement generally means less distortion at any given level compared to the smaller 10" counterpart.

[im4an2idiot0]

ive been looking around for prices on the atlas's and the only place ive found them was on ebay. there selling for around $150. so im guessing they sell new to around the price somewhere else. i think ive decided to go with 2 12'. witch model would u recomend? the AS12SQ (square ones) or the AS12R (round ones). and what brand would u recomend for the amp? and what kind of wattage should i get it to handle. the AS12R ones RMS at 600 and the AS12SQ ones RMS at 800. while still stay in a $150-$200 budget for the amp. and should i get a cap? thanks in advance for any help.

[bumpinstang77]

lol that's a different atlas were talking about the atlas from AA www.ascendantaudio.com and since the prices went down just get an avalanche 15 and a bx1205d from ebay that setup would kick some major ass.

[AndonD454]

good luck getting your hands on one ^^

both atlas and avalanche are selling like CRAZY right now. call by tomorrow to order an avalanche 15. at those prices if i had money i would be on the phone like mad

[ponchonutty]

Yeah, I love those avalanche's. They work great on holding open my shop's doors on nice warm days.

[im4an2idiot0]

i realy do think that im going to stick with 2 12's though. but the only problem with getting the atlas is that i dont have all the money for even just the subs. itll be anouther week to 2 weeks before i have enough for them.and by that time they will probley be sold out. im just curious but what is so great about these subs? they only RMS at 300. and those hifonics atlas's RMS at 600 to 800. but are the AA's better then the hifonics? what im looking for is to have good SQ but also be able to get really loud. witch one of these would make me able to accomplish both of those? or is there something else that would be better? are the hifonics just crap?


and also i have a question about amp's that uve probley gotten about a million times but if i have 2 subs and i want to get one amp to power both. i have to find a amp that has around the same power or higher that my sub RMS at right? and it has to be like 2X 500 watt @ 2 Ohms. or can it be a 1X? and what exactly does the ohm meen when were talking about amps because ive seen amps that have 1x 900 watt @ 2 ohms and then 1x 1200 watt @ 4 ohms. i dont understand why it going from 2 to 4 would increase it 400 watts.

and one more question. i was looking into getting a pro box super bass. i was jsut woundering what u all thought about those boxes. and is it really wroth the money. and do they really make a difference in sound? im figureing that this box is going to run me around $150-$200. is that in the right price range?

im sorry for all the questions and again thank you for helping a newbe out.

[CBFryman]

AA atlas's are loudar and sound better even with only 300w

[ngsm13]

Originally Posted by ponchonutty

Yeah, I love those avalanche's. They work great on holding open my shop's doors on nice warm days.

The Ascendant Audio Avalanche will simply walk ALL OVER anything DEI has EVER produced subwoofer wise. Thanks for playing

NG

[im4an2idiot0]

alright well im gonna try and scronge up $200 as soon as i can so i can get an order in for 2 12's atlas's.

what sized amp should i get for these? im guessing one that is over 300 watts thats 2 channel. any good brands that has this for under $200?
ive been looking alot on ebay but i dont know what brands to look at and witch to stay away from.

what brand for boxes? as i said in my last post i heard that pro box super bass was good. but is it worth the money?

and should i use a capacitor with this setup? any brands to stay away from?

last qauestion. best brand for wires? and what guage? im guessing around 5-2 gauge wire.

if someone can help me out on these last few questions ill leave u guys alone. thanks to all who have helped me with this.

[L|_|da]

some one correct me if im wrong, but i believe this is the deal with ohms, rms, and a
ll that shit.

Ohms:
Ohms are electric resistance, the higher the ohms the harder time the electricity [power] has passing to it. so, cutting you ohms in 1/2 [4 down to 2] would make it 2x as easy for the electricity to pass through, thus 2x the power.

RMS:
you almost always want and amp that can match your woofers @ RMS. meaning, if you subs have 300W rms, you want an amp that has 300W rms. now, most high end stuff is slighty, if not massivly underrated. so, have say, 400 wouldnt be to bad, jsut make sure you dont run it full tilt for very long. you should never go OVER the max wattage, this is how you blow your speakers, this almost happened to my 6x9s, i forgot to turn it back down after destroying my stock speakers and almost killed my "good" 6x9's.
Boxes:
I dont know jack about boxes.

Capacitor
i dont know how much power your front and rear are using, but i know im using 1000W and i have no dimming. i believe under 1500-2000W you dont need a cap, this depends on your car,battery, and alternator. but this wont be a very power hungry system from what im reading, so i would set it up, and then if you do experience dimming then go ahead and put one in.

Amplifier:
like i mentioned above, your amp should match your subs @ RMS. not the MAX. while it is good to have you maxes match, this can be controled with gains. the RMS is what your worried about. if your sub woofer as 300W RMS, and your amp is 300W MAX, you wont be able to have your SUBWOOFERS @ there RMS power all the time, cuz your amp will go into thermal protect. for example, my rear speakers pull 200W RMS, my amp puts out 500W peak, but only 125W RMS. [2 channel] thus my amp get hot like whoa when listening to it @ my speakers RMS, it doesnt last 20 mines @ the 400W peak, thermal overload for about 5-10minutes. you also need to make sure the configuration of your subwoofers voice coils will match you amp. if you wire your dual 4 ohms coils down to 2 ohms, make sure your amp is stable @ 2 ohms, i know mine isnt.

Recap

Match your amps RMS to you subwoofers RMS.

you shouldnt need an cap

i dont know jack shit about boxes

ohms are confusing.

i hope this helps, and again, PLEASE correct anything thats not right. i hopefully have it all correct, but im still learning.

good luck!