Saturn SL1 Subwoofer Recommendations

rskarvan

Ok guys... I've finally decided to put a sub in my old 1995 Saturn SL1. The receiver is a Pioneer 50Wx4 with sub out. The door speakers are Pioneer 3-ways (6"). The Rear deck speakers are Infiniti RS 2-ways (6"). I found a 2x10 sub enclosure that looks pretty nice for $45 at Pep Boys - for the trunk.

Here is my question:

1. What qty=2 subs should I throw in the enclosure.
2. What sub-amp should I buy.

I'd like the system to be very value-oriented.
I want clean, tight, deep bass. I want it loud - but, not so loud that the trunk lid pops open.

Key word is value. There is no reason to spend mega-bucks buying two 10" subs and an amp. But, I don't want the system to sound like crap either.

I know nothing about this stuff. Should I run pre-amp signals to the trunk - or, just take the inputs from the rear deck speakers.
I'm willing to run a power cable to the amp from the battery. Also, I want the sub-amp to switch on/off automatically.

Reliability is important. I don't want to have the amp burn out on me in 6 months.

Thanks

Ron Skarvan
Long-time Polkie (on the home-system side).

MacLeod

First off, your receiver is making 50x4 MAX which basically means its never making 50x4. Youre not getting any more than 12-15 watts at around 2% THD. Head units are horrible power sources. I strongly recommend getting a seperat amp for your speakers. Doesnt have to be anything super fancy. Hell a solid 50x2 will run all 4 speakers 100 times better than your head unit.

As for which subs, look to Polk for value. Their subs sound as good as anything on the market and yet cost under $200! Cant beat that.

MTX is also a highly recommended sub. They are virtually undestructible. I know, Ive owned severl of them over the years and the 150 watt MTX sub I have now has been getting nearly 400 for about a year and it still plays fine.

My favorite place to browse is here.

Not only do they have a ton of stuff and good prices but they have dependable service and are authorized dealers of what they sell so you get the manufacturers approval as well.

exalted512

first off, anything audio in pep boys is not good...simply not good.
second off, a budget is always good...im thinking a single 12" Image Dynamics IDQ is in order.
-Cody

RuSsMaN

Ron, I've got a pair of NIB Polk EX12's I need to unload, and I'll do it on the cheap.

Cheers,
Russ

rskarvan

Russman, please send me a private e-mail and give me your best price. I am still figuring out what I want to do... so, don't be offended if I don't buy... but, if this price is right... it might just motivate me to act now.

Thanks.

ronskarvan@aol.com

MacLeod

Originally posted by exalted512
first off, anything audio in pep boys is not good...simply not good.

Not everything. They will be the new place I buy all my speaker wires from now on.

They carry Lightning Audio 12 guage, 50' for $25 and 14 guage 50' for $20. Thats the best prices Ive seen.

Systems

I have a saturn sl2, 1 polk mm124 sub in the trunk puts out ALOT of sound. (now built into the spare tire well) The trunk adds untold DB's of sound in those cars, and resonates at 32HZ. Also ditch the rear deck speakers unless you carry around alot of people. I follwed the advice here and slapped in some mmc650's in the front bi-amped and it sounds great (not as good as a mm6 or mm6500 but hey $$ is scarce).
To give you an idea of what My setup puts out (with a bad deck, and a crap front amp) is 140.1 db clean, past that and my crap amp for my fronts starts to distort.
If you really want to get the saturn sounding great make sure to dampen your panels. Saturns use quick change out cheap panels on the body for lowered repair costs in case of an accident, but they sound hollow as hell. Hit up ant at secondskin audio and deaden those panels.

ilikesound

yea, you're right about the hollow sound. my gf's saturn ion just got retrofitted with my OLD pioneer 6.5'' 3 ways, and my old jbl 8'' sub. sounds pretty good, for what it is, but those panels add something to be desired...thinking dynomat is in order for her birthday lol.

rskarvan

Old thread. I sold this car a little over a year ago.