01 sentra

Systems

I have a 2001 sentra and i was considering a few "hairbrained schemes" as to the stereo. Now, at the moment everything is completely stock, and it doesnt sound 'bad', but i think theres room for improvement. I surfed these pages a bit and i got a few ideas as to a nice stealth install, since i dont want anyone getting 'tempted' to steal things from my car. I like the idea of taking out the rear speakers and just having 1 or 2 subwoofers in the trunk firing through the back dash, but i was wondering if i should get say 2 8's and mount them facing upward from in the trunk, or get a set of those 6.5" woofers and just mount those in the old locations in the back dash. I would also like to keep the HU, since aftermarket stuff is kinda flashy and like i said before, 'tempting', but can i keep that and use an amp, cause i do remember there being a "rem" wire that u have to hook up...?
thanks for reading my novel, and any input would be greatly appreciated

Systems

I guess what im asking is, which of the two sub options would be easier, im thinkig the 2 6.5's would be easy, since they already fit in the backdash, i could bolt the speakers and enclosure up from underneath... but would the sound they produce be worth the effort? thats why i was thinkin of usin 8's and just having a "flange" to bolt the enclosure up to the dash, maybe use some rubber washers to decrease vibrations... i dunno, like i said im just debating at this point, any input would be most welcome

1996blackmax

I am not very familiar with 6.5" subwoofers. Midbass drvers yes, but not subs. Maybe some of the other guys here might be able to help there.

I personally would try to make the 8's work. I plan on getting two of these in my next vehicle, they are supposed to work great in very small sealed enclosures. I currently have the 10" version, and it puts out great sound.

http://www.soundsplinter.com/rli_series/rli_8_inch_DIY_car_and_home_subwoofer_driver_information.html

I've read that Ascendant Audio is coming out with a hefty 8" as well(maybe already out). You may want to keep and eye out for that.

http://www.ascendantaudio.com/index.htm

Systems

Well, that soundsplinter looks killer but the ascendant site doesnt seem to work, i read the newsletter or whatever they called it, i guess they have to offload the old stuff before they can do anything else.

Systems

oh, and on the soundsplitter site, they have the frequency graphs with three different size sealed enclosures, are they using different crossovers? I saw butterworth and i thought that was a design of crossover, but i dont recognize the others.

neomagus00

butterworth and bessel are crossover types, i've never heard of enhanced q, so i'd ignore those lines, and damped should just be with stuffing in the box.

and if you're going to be mounting subs in the rear deck, you'll probably want to build them into a sealed enclosure, then bolt that to the deck. otherwise, you'll be running "freeair", which involves sealing your trunk completely, and is usually much more difficult than planning a sealed box.

Systems

yeah, i was going to build sealed enclosures , cause i have no patience for calculating ports and such.. i was also wondering if it makes a difference if i use a bridged amp or a stereo setup, i do listen to some old songs that have the bass on one side, and i wonder if a stereo seperation on the subs would sound better... <Im talkin like old beatles tracks that were recorded in mono>

neomagus00

you won't be able to hear stereo sub-bass, but the midbass part of it will be stereo (and will be taken care of by your fronts); there's no need to try to set up a stereo sub system.

Systems

ok, that takes care of that. But im still wondering if ill be able to run an amp with my stock h/u?

VR3

Tang Bang has a 6.5" Subwoofer with a 11 MM PTP Excursion.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=264-832

neomagus00

focal has a tiny subwoofer, too

Systems

hmmm... but wouldnt they be more midbass than anything? and it also says theyre made out of paper... im a little leary of that

neomagus00

focal says they're good to 50 Hz from a 5" sub :eek:. and paper isn't automatically bad - my home sub is paper, and acoustically, that's supposed to be the best - but that's no issue with the focal, they use a composite cone.

Systems

is there a link to the focal? i dont see one on the partsexpress site

neomagus00

http://www.focal-america.com/catalog/K2%20Power/13ks.html

Systems

i think ill go with the 8s, i mean the 6.5's look more like midranges to me

MacLeod

A good rule of thumb is to NOT be leary of ANYTHING made be Focal.

They are some of the finest speakers on the market and theyre hand made and have exceptional build quality.

Their only real downside is that theyre french.

Systems

well, i dont have anything against the french, i do like french fries.. anyway, would those 6.5's have the low end to complement the mids? i guess im stuck in the old 'bigger is better' mentality, even though i know that isnt necessarily true

MacLeod

Well generally it is, especially when youre talking about bass.

I think 6.5" midbass speakers from a quality manufacturer will be able to keep up quite well with any mids.

Systems

well, on the point of 6.5's, i remember seeing pioneer coaxials that "supposedly" went to 35hz if i were to put a set of those into enclosures and disable the tweeters, would that be the same as one of those "subwoofers" i mean maybe not quality wise, but pioneer usually has pretty good stuff

neomagus00

there's an idea....

and good point, about the enclosure, that's a definite must.

and bigger is in fact a requirement for the truly low notes, i believe - i recall seeing some paper that said you can't always replace Sd with xmax, no matter how much excursion you get...

Systems

thats what i was thinking, i mean a 4 cyl engine can pick up quick, but an 8 cyl will usually accel faster lol or something like that

Systems

so anyway, ill put coaxial speakers in enclosures, theyll have a better bass response... not sub level, but more than freeair... which is fine for me, should i post in the electronics forum about the amp thing, i know i keep repeating myself, but i dont want to break any rules by posting in all the forums at once

MacLeod

That Pioneer is, as Neo says, rated optimistically. It may hit 35 Hz but I guarantee you, you wouldnt want it to do it more than once cause it would sound like ****.

Systems

Originally posted by MacLeod
That Pioneer is, as Neo says, rated optimistically. It may hit 35 Hz but I guarantee you, you wouldnt want it to do it more than once cause it would sound like ****.

Thats prettymuch what i thought...

neomagus00

Originally posted by giggerman
thats what i was thinking, i mean a 4 cyl engine can pick up quick, but an 8 cyl will usually accel faster lol or something like that

well, seeing as an 8 cyl is essentially 2 4-cyls pushing the same wheels...

1996blackmax

Originally posted by MacLeod
That Pioneer is, as Neo says, rated optimistically. It may hit 35 Hz but I guarantee you, you wouldnt want it to do it more than once cause it would sound like ****.

Agreed.

Nothing like hearing your speakers bottoming out. Very bad.

Systems

well, since this is the polk site, how about the db650/db675, would they sound good in an enclosure? I have seen enclosures for 6x9's and friend of mine had them, it made his cheap lanzars sound better, not great, but better...

Systems

ok, im looking at the crutchfield site and im really thinking of getting the db675 and a set of 650s for the doors... 150 all together with that 1/2 price deal...

Systems

i got the db's yesterday, i hooked them up to my home reciever, just to hear em, and man... even just sitting free they had more clarity than my stereo speakers, (albeit they are KLH's) the only thing that concerns me is have to drill to install the speakers in the doors... i think i can handle it

MacLeod

Cool. Glad you finally got them.

Theres nuthin' to installing em. Im leary of cutting and drilling as well but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.