budget system - how's this sound?

PoweredByDodge · October 2003

workin on pieceing together a budget system for a kid...

Three MTX Blue Thunder Legend 15" subs @ 300 wrms / 700 peak each.

Profile CA1200 2 channel amp... 900 x 1 bridged @ 4 ohms.

all equipment is brand new in box... subs are 12 ohm, wired in parallel to give a single 4 ohm load to the bridged amp.

subs would be in sealed chambers of whatever is the size mtx reccomends.

total cost for subs and amp would be $285 from factory/dealers.

figure maybe 20 more to build a box... another 20 for power wire... and another 15 for **** patch cables... that's $340 total.

you guys think three 15's off 300 w each would be allright?

opinions?

he's 17, wants "BLAMMO WAMMO SLAMMO" while still retaining some quality of sound....

and basically he got fked over by this other kid in his class who's a total terd and wanted to race my truck with his 6 cylinder mustang base model... paid 100 bucks for two Audio-Art 150 watt subs and a box that's for three speakers but has a piece of plywood bolted over the third hole. so i wanna put something pimp as hell (for a 17 yr old) in his car, while keeping money down, and keeping quality of product respectable.

opinions????

FYI - subs are 45 each from mitekfactoryoutlet.com
amp is 150 new in box ebay (199 retail the zeb).

Wolfmag · October 2003

I am but only a Car Audio neophyte as you well know but I do have an opinion on MTX Subs.

Back in 1999, I bought my very first sub set up for my car. The salesman set me up with a 12" Thunder 6000, a little 150 watt rms amp and a sealed box all from MTX. Of course, he charged me an arm & a leg since I was completely ignorant, but nonetheless, it sounded AWESOME.

The Sub recently died on me (not bad right, almost 4 years) so I've had to replace it. To my amazement, even to this day, I am having trouble accepting my new "supposedly better" sounding sub. Looking back, goddamn that's a good sub! It had pretty good SPL when turned up, but when brought back down, it sounded fantastic! Even to more melodic tunes like Delerium (which is the group/band that I base all my comparisons of the speakers I try out). But then, when I was in the mood to listen to some Mami booty rap, I cranked up the volume & amp EQ gain and the thing *seriously* thump!

Ever since that Sub went out, I tried (in my car) a 12" an Alpine type E, a Polk Momo MM12 /w Enclosure, and finally settled on an Infinity Kappa Perfect 12.1 which I ordered online for 137 bucks (gotta love that 30 day return policy).

Honestly, although I'm satisfied with my Infinity, I think that "budget" sub sounded a bit better. The Infinity sub sure does look purdy thou, hehe

Anyways my opinion goes as this... MTX Subs: They look fugly, but damn they bump good!

I think that kid is going to wet his pants when he hears it.

sntnsupermen131 · October 2003

I was looking around...but couldnt find anything comparable at that price
ive never seen a 12 ohm sub in my life...that stated...i dont think it will be a horrible system for the money
go with knukonceptz for the wiring if you can...havent had a problem with mine yet
-Cody

C-Man · October 2003

You can build a box for $20? Mine cost me like $55, of course I used 1" MDF though, which is pretty expensive ($40 a sheet).

Jstas · October 2003

Well, I think he means 2 ohm and just fat fingered the key. A pair of 12 ohm subs in parallel would yeild a 24 ohm impedance. However, a pair of 2 ohm subs in parallel would yeild a 4 ohm impedance. That leads me to belive that Vinnie was trying to type faster than he can and hit the 1 key before the 2 key and didn't catch the mistake.

I have seen a 12 ohm speaker though. Check out those PA systems in a store sometime. They are usually 8-12 inche full range speakers with impedance loads anywhere from 6 ohms to 24 ohms. They get wired off of blocks of mono channels and in series so that the load comes down to a nominal 8-2 ohm load. It allows them to have networks of tens if not hundreds of speakers in a ceiling for making announcements over the whole store.

Also, guitar amps will have speakers with odd resistance levels on them. It is not uncommon to get a 12 or 16 ohm full range speaker in a guitar amp. At least not in the older ones at least. Infact, Jensen is still making some of thier older, high impedance speakers for guitar amps. Last I checked, so was Cerwin-Vega and another company appartly has the rights to old Electro-Voice stuff because I saw that too.

As far as the cheap setup goes, as long as the subs can handle the power, that amp should do fine. It's not the cleanest but it will at least do its rated power. I was driving dual 10 inch Kicker Comps in a 2 ohm load on my Profile California Seris 400XL. That was when the Kicker Comp was worth writing home about. They pounded the hell out of my friend's Sunbird and then a ghetto Chevette he had. That 1200 should blow his mind without a problem.

What are you doing for a head unit and full-range speakers? What kind of car is it going in? I might have some stuff I could let go for cheap if it'll work for you.

MTXMAN · October 2003

I believe that he did in fact mean 12ohm speakers. MTX made both the legend's and the 6000's with a 12ohm model (possibly other series too, those are the only 2 that i know of though). It was designed to run 3 subs down to a single 4ohm load. It's a decent idea... The 6000 series 10" 12ohm svc came in a loaded enclosure of 3 subs at 4ohms with a cool plexiglass back to the box...
Links to prove it ;D
http://www.mtx.com/caraudio/products/enclosures/thunder6000Loaded.cfm
http://www.mtx.com/caraudio/archive/2001Thunder6000Sub.cfm
http://www.mtx.com/caraudio/archive/blueLegend.cfm
http://www.mtx.com/caraudio/archive/blueEnclosures.cfm

and PBD I think it'll sound great for the price...

sntnsupermen131 · October 2003

no it really was a 12 ohm sub, i looked up at www.mitekfactoryoutlet.com
i thought it was a typo too
-Cody

PoweredByDodge · October 2003

yes - although i DO have fat fingers - i did mean 12 (twelve) ohm subs..

three in parallel = a 4 ohm single load -- they're 300 w rms each... the amp is 900 x 1 at 4 ohms.

they're 15's. three 15's = boom.

gotta run the idea by the kid tomrorow, hopefully he'll bite... those subs were 199 each retail back in teh day - 45 now.

he'll blow away the rest of his highschool bums.

Systems · October 2003

If you guyz did your science and got to resistance measurements, u'd know that 3 12ohm wired in parallel would give 4ohms and that would suffice for the wiring configuration. For the buck, u'd get the best boom.

MTXMAN · October 2003

PBD, Jstas and the rest...
Our kids are gonna be the most popular kids in their highschools with the soundsystems that we're gonna put in their cars... I know i'm gonna rig up my kids cars (when i have kids that is) to beat anything that their punk friends could ever put together, course the requirement from my kid will be that he lets me teach him about car audio and why his **** sounds so much better than his friends

Jstas · October 2003

You know, I just realized that I got everything backwards again. I do believe it is serial wiring that adds impedance and parallel that divides impedance.

But what is up phantom0112's butt?

PoweredByDodge · October 2003

john just likes to jump on spinning beds after chasing them around the room for 8 hours -- messes up his head.

if/when i have a kid -- god forbid its a girl -- imma take all my used stuff that i dont want anymore and load up their dodge with it (yes, my children will be required to own mopar product - or not live under my roof). wonder if a 18 year old IDmax will sound any good? eh i can always have them reconed.

sntnsupermen131 · October 2003

heh...if/when i have kids...if GM isnt inside the car anywhere...they wont have a car until theyre out on their own
i saw one of the funniest commercials ever the other day
im not sure how widely spread these commercials are but im guessing everyone has seen the dodge commercial
the one with a dodge truck and a hemi in it is pulling a charger (i think its a charger)with a hemi...pulls to the stop light...guy in another car asks him if thats a hemi and the guy in the dodge says yes...they race to the next stop light...dodge wins...guy in dodge asks "did you mean the truck or the car"
well...heres fords version of that commercial
same dodge with a charger on the back
guy with a ford and a mustang on a trailer pulls up...asks the guy with the dodge if it has a hemi...they race and the ford beats the dodge...
there is something terribly wrong with that commercial...while i have not seen/heard anything about the new fords...i really dont think it would beat a hemi
i found that commercial pretty funny
ford has a good advertising campaign this year...i really like their commercials even though i cant find them all truthful...the new fords look good
still hate the chevy headlights...at least gmc hasnt sold out yet...lol
the tundras look pretty nice too...but i saw a stepside yesterday and the tail lights looked pretty ridiculous...they were normal size when it was height...but the light goes about a foot along the side of the truck...if you see one youll know what im talking about
-Cody

PoweredByDodge · October 2003

what really impressed me are the new chevy "SS" silverado's

they're all one color (bumper / body / grille / etc etc)... and they look really nice.

GM seems to have been able to pick up that "futuristic boxy look" without losing any styling points.

i REALLY like the looks of the new SS silvy... REALLY REALLY ... its a beautiful truck.

even the wheels look good and appropriate.

... far as the truck / trailer commercials -- i've never seen any of them, although people have told me about them. hadn't heard about the ford one yet... that would bother me.

what bothers me more is the fact that i "lost" over a quart of oil -- after 2 months and 4,100 miles, i "burned off" or "drained out" or otherwise "lost" nearly 1 1/2 quarts of synthetic motor oil.

now i pulled out the plugs -- every one of them is a tan-ish / grey-ish color (what they should be). none were mucked up or black. and i've neve rhad a puddle or any visible leak -- and i do leave the truck running in the driveway for periods of time so if it was leaking only while running i'd notice that too -- the disappearing oil is bothering me.

mechanic said it didn't even come register on the dip stick it was so bad. i was like "um.. k" -- found this out later -- long story to this -- but anywho - it was my normal mechanic i know, love, and trust, so i dont think he's wackin me around. he has no idea why it would drop oil unless it wasburning it or leaking it, and since neither, he's as baffled as i am.

sntnsupermen131 · October 2003

if your exhaust pipe is a little darker than normal or if you step on the gas and the smoke is a little darker than normal you might very well be burning oil
just remember to open the garage doors:)
-Cody

Jstas · October 2003

Well, about the new trucks. Number one, the new HEMI is not an old HEMI. No ifs ands or butts about it. It only makes about 345 horses in it's top state of tune from the factory. That's good and all but the average Dodge truck is a fat-**** weighing in at over 6500 pounds for a half-ton truck. Also, I have seen that the HEMI doesn't have a whole lot of torque for it's power level. Enter Chevy and Ford. Chevy just flat out makes more power than the Dodge. Not much but it does. The Chevy is geared for a smoother, more comfortable highway ride so it's drag racing performance is lacking. The Ford makes less power but, compared to the other two trucks, it is something like 800-1200 pounds lighter. That makes one hell of a difference. Also add to that a limited slip rear and 3.73-4.10 gearing, that Ford will out accelerate either of the two competitors.

So believe it or not, it is entirely possible for a Ford to out-run a Chevy or Dodge. Even the retarded Chevy commercial with the Ford chasing it uses an old model. Also, another point here. The Ford is trailering a Mustang. The Dodge is trailering a big fat pig of a Charger IIRC. The Mustang was lighter than the Charger. That is even less weight. So while it is "unbelieveable" to most of you, it is a fact due to the power-to-weight ratios of each vehicle that the Dodge would just be slower at the drag strip. Trailer or no trailer.

Sorry to burst your bubbles guys.

Oh yeah, that Silverado SS, it's a dog. Painfully slow for a truck with 355 horses. Too much weight and way too cushy of a suspension. It should be an SL for Super Luxury not SS for Super Sport. Or maybe SS will work as Stupid Sport? Eh, who knows.

PBD, do you have a cranckcase breather? If so, you may be burning off your oil out of teh breather. IIRC, you have a hose hanging down to the road, correct? If so, that is where your oil is going.

sntnsupermen131 · October 2003

i agree...i think the SS is a damn nice truck...but shouldnt be called an SS
if you want to call a truck an SS...IMHO it should be a single cab short bed with at least a 5.7...not a fan of .454s...and i dont like the fact the newer Z71s come with a 5.3...im not sure if you can get them with a 5.7
i have a 350 in my truck...and im thinking about getting about getting a 2000-02 Z71 but i REALLY dislike the fact that it wont have a 350
only other thing i could do is get a 1500HD 4x4...but not too crazy about the mileage or the stiffer suspension
i get 12 mpg as it is...and i have a 2wd 3/4ton
-Cody

PoweredByDodge · October 2003

Originally posted by Jstas
PBD, do you have a cranckcase breather? If so, you may be burning off your oil out of teh breather. IIRC, you have a hose hanging down to the road, correct? If so, that is where your oil is going. [/B]

i sound so dumb, but i dunno even what that is.

however i dont recall a hose hangin from the motor block to the road anywhere.

Jstas · October 2003

Not the block. It comes out of the valve cover. Most people call it an oil breather.

PoweredByDodge · October 2003

hmm -- i will check.. what would the purpose of this hose be? to drain off overfilled oil (put 6 qts in a 5 qt motor?) or to just get air in there?

i'll check, and let u know.

Jstas · October 2003

The purpose is to allow gases and water vapor to escape from the crankcase so it doesn't mess things up. Usually they are run back into air filters so that the fumes, gases and vapors can be burned off in the combustion process. Sometimes though, people just run them right out into the open air.

budget system - how's this sound?

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