learning about car audio

Systems · July 2005

im 16 years old, and my dad is giving me his old oldsmobile cutless supreme. it has a stock audio system, and i recently purchased a polk momo C300.2. its 850 watts. because it was on sale at frys for 99 bucks. which is 200 dollars off the regular. we saw it and said why not.

this is supposed to be a project for me, and my dad has installed the amp into the car already, and has attached some 50 watt speakers that he found in our garage.

i would like to get this project finished by the end of the summer before school starts. im planning on buying new speakers, and a sub, but im planning on building my own box, of course with the help of my dad. but i honestly do not know where to start, because i do not really no alot about audio. so some help would be great. thanks

CrBoy · July 2005

Read this guide... it should help you understand a little bit about car audio

MacLeod · July 2005

Youve come to the right place bro.

Here is a link to Polks car audio library. It covers the basics in plenty of detail.

Beyond that, feel free to ask any questions you have here. We've got plenty of knowledgable people around here and the Polk installers stick their heads in from time to time.

CrBoy · July 2005

Excellent Site tons of info...

Systems · July 2005

hey thanks

i have looked through all those sites. and they were really helpful. thanks

wut would you recommend in speakers and in a sub, that would match my amp? just to get some ideas on what to look for.

MacLeod · July 2005

MMC6500

ND13 · July 2005

While your at it why don't you go ahead and register and join the club:) . It's free ya know.......

nick13 · July 2005

i did. like right before you posted that. lol

neomagus00 · July 2005

ooh, a good first thing to know - that amp isn't 850 watts, it's more along the lines of 165W / 2 Ch @ 4 Ohms; the 850 is a peak value, which is worthless... similarly, a HU that says 50 watts really puts out about 13 watts RMS (RMS = continuous = the real numbers). So you're getting 165 watts to each speaker right now (if it's set up properly, of course - here is a walkthrough for setting the gain on the amp. The speakers and sub/amp you should get heavily depends upon two things - first, your taste in music and in music reproduction (two very different things) and second, your budget. other considerations include how heavily you want to modify the vehicle and how skilled you are as a craftsman - but that's a ways down the road...

swerve · July 2005

Yea give us your budget we will get you pickin' up all the freshman girls out the school parking lot... lol

oh yea... what type of car is it?

later,
adam

nick13 · July 2005

considering im a junior

ok

im not really sure what my budget is, prolly maximum preformence for a smaller to mid budget.

i listen to classic rock, metal, and the newer stuff, i dont really no what subgenres theyre considered these days, if that makes a difference.

neomagus00 · July 2005

nope, rock and metal is specific enough. and 'small to medium' means something different to everyone, so we'll need a number, when you're ready to move ahead.

and what's wrong with picking up the freshmen

?

nick13 · July 2005

im done with freshmen

to immature.

but im sure many of you are little passed that right?

ok ill get back to you on the price thing when my dad gets home.

nick13 · July 2005

id like to get the best sound for the lowest price you might say. my dad said price isnt an option, but wed stll like to be economic about it. u know not spend X amount of dollars when i could get similar results with something that costs less.

has anyone used the C300.2? what would be the best speakers to go with it?

neomagus00 · July 2005

um... again, best is a relative term. if you're looking for best bang for the buck, i interpret that as getting what you pay for. so, i'll reccommend something that gives you what you pay for, because you won't be getting a proportional increase in capability when you raise the price.

how bout the upcoming sr6500 set? the 300.2 should be an excellent match to those, but they are a cool $750. a more reasonable option is the MMCR6500 component set, for $350, and that's a perfect match for the 300.2. going out on a limb, what do you think of Focal's K2Power 165K3P 3-way set?

i personally run a set of mm6s off a 300.2 and love them to death...

MacLeod · July 2005

I got to hear the new Focal K2's at Tweeter the other day. Honestly they didnt impress me that much. They did sound great, dont get me wrong, but Id take a set of Q's over them any day.

But this was on a soundboard and Im sure they were optimally tuned.

Personally Ill just stick to Polk speakers. They sound the way I like, smooth with tons of detail, and cost half as much as a comparable speaker. With the wide selection of sizes and the upcoming release of the SR's I doubt Ill ever have need to go with any other brand.

Now amps are different. While I love the Polk amps, Ive just ALWAYS wanted an all-Xtant powerplant. Kind of like the way Ive always like Alpine. It was the stuff all the "cool" guys had when I was coming up so now I have to have it!

exalted512 · July 2005

i want a set of focal BEs
-Cody

MacLeod · July 2005

$3500!!

Even if I could afford them, Id be a nervous wreck having $3500 worth of speakers in my car!!

nick13 · July 2005

well today my dad went out and bought two Polk D4124s. that were 50 bucks at frys, that were originally 100 a piece.

he suggests i make a vented box. now id like to utilize the both subs. as u may recall i have a C300.2. now what would be best for me to do? thanks. any plans would be helpful

neomagus00 · July 2005

do you mean the MM124s?

if so, the best thing you can do with a single 300.2 is hook one sub up to it and put the other in your room as decoration. also, a vented box doesn't really work so good with the mm124 - a sealed is highly reccommended.

nick13 · July 2005

im sorry imeant DB124s

they arent momo. he said that the box at frys was tuned, and sounded great and he suggest i build something similar. any thoughts?

he also wants to know if he can bridge the amp into two ohms and run both 4 ohm subs, or would that blow something?

nick13 · July 2005

hes talking about this enclosure

http://www.polkaudio.com/car/product.php?name=db212

am i able to build it?

neomagus00 · July 2005

unless you're a great craftsman, it won't look like that, but you can probably calculate and build your own. perhaps polk will give you the specifics, if you call or email them, or you can use a number of programs (try unibox and winisdPRO) and calculate it yourself...

and no, you can't bridge that amp down to 2 ohms, it's only stable to 4 ohms bridged. there are plans on the polk site for a single db124 ported box, though...

nick13 · July 2005

ok.

ive decided to just run the amp bridged into one speaker. is that a good idea? and also, would a sealed box also run better for the Dbs?

MacLeod · July 2005

Yes. I prefer Polk subs in sealed boxes. Well actually I prefer all subs in a sealed box.

nick13 · July 2005

but why?

excuse me if u think im ignorant, but im curious.

im not ignorant btw. lol

b/c could i not get more gain out of a ported box?

MacLeod · July 2005

First off, never feel as if you have to apologize for asking questions. None of knew squat when we first started out.

Generally, ported boxes are boomier and louder. They are more for sheer SPL purposes.

Sealed boxes are usually tighter sounding and are better suited for SQ.

Now a ported box can be made to sound just as good as a sealed box but its harder to get it tuned right and if youre off a bit, the SQ will suffer.

Bottom line is a sealed is easier to make sound better.

nick13 · July 2005

oh ok thanks.

what do u got in ur car?

MacLeod · July 2005

Its not finished yet but I will have a sealed box for my MM2104.

nick13 · July 2005

i think ill make two boxes. one sealed, one ported.

is it alot of work, building one box? cuz ive got all the time in the world

MacLeod · July 2005

It depends.

I suck as a carpenter.

I only have a jigsaw and tape measure.

Im working on the deck of my apartment which is barely big enough for me to stand on.

Im using a small fold out table for a saw horse.

I have to worry about the noise pissing off the neighbors and getting evicted.

Did I mention I suck as a craftsman?

So its really hard and time consuming for me to build a box but thats me.

learning about car audio

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