Where the hell is that noise comming from? My car...

Sound system for my VS Commy is on the way to completion. I'm not Commadore fan, but I decided that instead of trading this one in and getting something more to my taste (2001 BMW M3 Coupe please!), that I'd spend the money on something I appreciate a hell of a lot more than fast cars; music, no wait... loud music.

The current setup, a total retail value of "900 (a quater of what I bought my car for):

Head unit:
Sony CDX-F7705X (MP3)... Xplod Specialty Series, not availible in Australia, but you can read about the CDX-F7700 on Sony.com.au or the F7705X in this thread.

[Image: http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/products/2004/158/h158cdx7705-o_wide-1.jpeg]

Front speakers:
Pioneer's pride-and-joy Pro-Series flagship component splits, TS-C160R. This is the top of the line, please brace yourself...

Rear speakers:
The same as my front's, actually. While I could have saved a lot of money going for some full-range 2-way speakers, esspecially considering sound detail from the rears isn't as apparent or audible in the driver/passanger seat, I decided to grab them anyway. I'm sure I won't hear any difference, but the people in the back will. :)

[Image: http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/images/products/tsc160r.jpg]

With these speakers I have no immediate need for a sub, as my 4 6" speakers will handle the mid and low frequencies just fine, my 4 tweeters taking care of the high.

Runnig off of my head unit however, they'll only be able to chew about 23W RMS each; a third of what they're capable of abusing. This means volume, nor bass will be big and bold as they can be. So I'm yet to get a 4 channel AMP that can put out at least 50W RMS to each speaker, and am considering a 10" sub and an AMP to power that. Probably close to another "200-1600 there. Oh, and let's not forget a damn flash-arse alarm system! *smirk

I will have my current setup installed before next Friday night, and I thought I'd never say this, but I might just go for a drive... with no purpose, for no real reason at all... I think this is called "cruising"? Don't worry, you'll still be able to tell me apart from the actual posers, as my car isn't purchased by my parents, isn't a $60k Supra, and I won't be wearing Fubu!

Very nice setup man.
Im not sure what mine is setup with, but im sure you would blow me outta the water. I have a sub at the moment (was it a 12' kurt?) and that handles the bass. The splits in the front keep ME happy (**** the passengers).

I will have to come and listen mate.

you under under budget reccy?

that is a kickass system, hope your happy with it!

Cow; remember when I first spoke to you about this endevour and mentioned a budget of around "000? I knew that wasn't going to happen as soon as I bought that head unit, haha.

Think pretty sure its a 10 Sean. may be wrong.

didnt really look that hard.

If you're a fan of clarity, 10" is the way to go anyway. The smaller the sub, the quicker it responds - the more accurately the bass is going to be produced.

You could go a 15" or something if you really wanted to compensate for the size of your penis.

Ok here's an example... let a fat woman represent the 15", and a Bruce Lee represent a 10". Now picture the fat woman jumping on a trampoline (naked), and Bruce kicking into the air, snapping the wind as he makes that funny "hoaaawwaaaaaa" sound in tbe background.

If you want finely tuned, sharp, kicky, accurate bass, then a 10" is always going to be a more suited option. 12" subs aren't a bad way to go, but why would you sacrafice reproductive perfection for a little more bass when you could simply get... two 10" subs. ;)

System looks good, but once you get the sub, you'll be wondering why you found the current level of bass acceptable.

That's what I dread, Neo. And then I'll decide that's not even enough and get a second... before I know it, I'll be addicted to bass. :)

neo, what happens then is, he buys ANOTHER sub.

two weeks into getting my system, i thought it had broken, it sounded so weak, but it was just me getting used to it

If I get a 10" sub at some point, it'll be the Adire Brahma 10" Mark II. Designed for SQ/SPL. Apparently marginally better than both the Eclipse and JL subs...

[Image: http://www.acoustic-visions.com/~acoustic/products/subwoofer_drivers/adire_brahma/images/b12mk2_iso.jpg]

And perhaps a Subzero ABS102 enclosure to go with that. :)

[Image: http://www.acoustic-visions.com/~acoustic/products/subwoofers/car_audio/images/abs151.jpg]

Kicker subs all the way.

rockford fosgate!

rec, were u up until 4am researching subs?

ahem...nut

I was actually, and this little baby stomps all over Kicker. ;)

nice set up rec.

lol so i know where to come if i need a kickass system.. and i know where u live too.... lol nah thats a kicass system man. congrats

yeh rockford fosgate!
freinds got two 15" subs and 900w amp from rockford and it pumps

Two 15 inch subs?? Loves his R&B I take it... Yeah, it probably pumps like nothing else, but pumping is about the extent of its contribution toward the actual music... I don't care what brand it is, anything above 12" just isn't a sound quality sub. I'm not saying they're neccessarily bad, I'm just saying for people who care more about clarity than power, there are better (smaller) options.

Refer to my earlier post, which you might have missed. ;)

actually for sound quality they are really good. he has some front 6" speakers in the front pioneer i think. wich i didnt think would be able to keep up with the subs but because his amp (rockford as well) has a remote gain control he can limit the subs. plus the way his head units equlizer is set up, which can make all the difference his system sounds really good. being a heavy metal fan myself i think his sytem sounds better than mine. but the bonus of haveing to 15" sunbs is that if u turn the gain up it gets very loud, loud enough to make the rearvision miror fall off as i found out.

I'm sure they sound just dandy... but if we're talking reproductive precision and sound quality, they don't sound dandy in comparison to top-shelf smaller alternatives - I can garuntee you that without even hearing them personally. It's not such a bad thing, some people aren't as anal as others when it comes to music clarity as others, guess it takes an audiophile type of ear to really get passionate about output perfection.

Rockford lick ballbags. they blow so easy. Kicker all the way.

and kurt, seans sub IS 12".

Nice setup rec, atleast you took some time in research, im sick of a few of my friends buying cheap shitty arse brands of headunits, speakers and subbies expecting good quality sound from them.

Whle myself I AM PISSED OFF! My 300 buck face plate got stole this morning... they didnt even take the unit, just the face plate, now the unit is useless. there goes my cool 45w JVC mp3 KD- SX995.
Atleast they didnt nick my 2 x 6"5, my 10" sub and my 4x50w responce set up in the back. that would have set me back more. but anyhow, the bunch of freakin pricks or solo artiest! they also screwed the drives side lock trying to get in, thats another 100 bucks gone... Hopefully 3rd party fire and thieft might cover some of the costs.

rec, i will have a scroung around inside my car sometime this week and see whats driving my speakers and what kind of speakers i have (this is milenko...AGAIN GODDAMNIT).

They sound pretty decent and it may give you an indication as to whats good/bad.
All i know off the top of my head, is the following:

Head Unit - JVC MP3 (i stole it off Psye_Ave.....just kidding)
Sik Subwoofer - Sony Xplod 12' (i thinks).

Will grab the amp details later. Btw, discovered im actually running 2 amps, not just one. Seems that i have one driving the sub and the other driving the front splits, kick speakers and rear door speakers.

Im thinking of pulling the 3 way 6x9's out of my old car and putting them in the rear cargo shelf of the VT too. But that might be too much work :P

Sorry to hear about your head unit Psyave - anyone tries to rip mine off and I'll have their balls... if I ever find out who it is. ;)

Would be interested to know what your speakers are Milenko - I assume they're Xlpod too, although you might be suprised to find that they're stock 6" - paired with a sub and a good head unit they will sound suprisingly good, esspecially if not given too much of a hard time.

Your head unit is a doozy, however probably one of the earlier MP3 units I assume, as it puts out 4x32 in comparison to the current 4x50 standard. See if you can find the exact model for me.

In relation to 6x9's, don't bother mate. Tech in the range hasn't gone far in years, it's a waste of time in my opinion, good quality 6" mid-bass speakers put out as much bass (if not more) these days. If you're prepared to pay top dollar, some good quality 6x9's are always going to be an option to be considered, but in most instances there are better solutions.

Not the best quality shot, and I don't have any pictures of the install itself (probably a good thing, it was messy, ugly and time consuming)...

My speakers also rocked up today, I was quite keen on getting them installed myself but got a hell of a nice price to get them installed professionally at Sound Spectrum, so will wait until Friday morning.

lol amazing what you can learn from the internet... One moment you were asking all the pros on this forum what to buy... now your one of them :D

As for the system I am glad someone with a decent taste in music has got a good sound system... My ears feel safe again on the streets. Do me a favour and outblast the idiots who turn their car stereos up fullbore and play crappy music :)

Quote from rec:

Your head unit is a doozy, however probably one of the earlier MP3 units I assume, as it puts out 4x32 in comparison to the current 4x50 standard. See if you can find the exact model for me.

In relation to 6x9's, don't bother mate. Tech in the range hasn't gone far in years, it's a waste of time in my opinion, good quality 6" mid-bass speakers put out as much bass (if not more) these days. .

The head unit is a JVC KD-LH2000 (retails for $379 US).
It does the job ;)

Also. The 6x9's i already own. I will pull them out of my old car. Thats the attraction - no cost :D

I'm unsure about the VT's, but many earlier model Commodore's (mine included) only have shelf holes for 6" speakers up back. So you'd have to find someone with a power tool and steady hand, or get it done professionally.

Anyone looking at buying some car audio equipment;

I would have felt guilty not posting this here:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4950&item=5704776280&rd=1

That's a Rockford Fosgate 501bd Monoblock Amp, retailing as high as "400. It's currently sitting at a sweet $305, with 4 days left on the bidding you'll be able to pick it up for under $500 with any luck.

Got my new speakers installed today, unfortunately the setup overall is still really lacking, I'm going to have to invest in at least an amp for the setup to get some real power to these mid-bass speakers.

Amps are always the way to go .. 1 for the speakers and 1 for the future sub :)

While it doesn't sound all it could without being amp'ed, the installation was still very nicely done. I'm tracking down a nice JBL amplifier at the moment that will be able to throw out 50W RMS to each speaker.

I had a chat with the technician about my rear splits and what we were going to do about the installation position; the result can be seen below. To all you disbelievers who have convinced yourselves that splits in the back prove to be no advantage over a pair of 6" full-range speakers... I beg to differ.

Quote from rec:
I'm unsure about the VT's, but many earlier model Commodore's (mine included) only have shelf holes for 6" speakers up back. So you'd have to find someone with a power tool and steady hand, or get it done professionally.

We did this with flammables VN and it turned out pretty well given the tools we had......(a pair of sidecutters and a screwdriver ;))

Eeek, I think I may have already done some damage to my front tweeters... my speakers are severely under-powered, and while that normally means they'll simply distort and have a horrid lack of bass, it occasionally also means that if I push them into the head unit's distortion range there's a change of making them go pop. I need this amp to get here, and fast. :)

Looks like I will be scoring that JBL amp, GTO 4000...

[Image: http://international.jbl.com/car/images/allproductimages/GTO4000.gif]

You Beauty!!

why?
4watts per person (10 if it is heavy metle).
besides that on the bass you don't too much diffence between the size of your subs and the splits other wise you lose responsiveness on your mid lows, a sub is only realy there for bass and kick (as most Recording engineers rolloff the bottom end on everything else) and responsivness isn't as critical here unless your splits are week in the midlows (this where adjust your lowpass filter comes in to determain what the sub is actually doing).

Why what? No, wait, just what? :/

Quote from rec:
what? :/

I'm lost.

4 watts is a bit... urm, low. Most 6x9's will be sitting at 100w RMS with peaks of 200w+.

And the sub is only there for bass...? Really? :p