System advice

steve simmons

I am buying a 2003 Tahoe and would like to get a decent sound system for it. Not competition level but good. I would like CD player (doesn't have to be multi disc), speakers, and amp. Can I do this for $1000 or less? What would you recommend? I would like to keep it as stock looking as possible. I have been out of car systems for over 20 years and much has changed. Back in my day Jensen Triax II's were the hot speaker- around here anyway- with big flashing eqaulizers

PoweredByDodge

well, 1000 bucks retail versus 1000 bucks ebay/online are two different things... 1000 online = 1500 / 1750 retail.

anywho --- get a decent set of component speakers up front -- use adaptor plates to fit the 6.5 inch woofer in the door where it probably has a 6x9 hole. a good set of comps online will run you 200 bucks online. look at polk dx / polk db / polk exIII / pioneer TSA line / infinity kappa series / alpine type R. -- you can do the momo's but they'll suck up a lot of power and they're expensive, the cheapest you can find them online is about 300.

swap out your rears with a good pair of coaxials -- for best sound, match them to the brand/series of components that you buy. the matching 6.5 inch / 6x9 coaxial to the above listed component sets can be had for 100 bucks online.

head units are a bit of a quandry these days -- tested and true lines include alpine / kenwood excelon / pioneer premier... personally i swear by the alpines, as do many other people who want a rugged, sturdy, yet precision quality piece of audio -- a good deck with dual 4 volt preouts and osme nice toys will run you 200 - 300 online. (note -- most decks have the option of adding a multi-disc changer that just plugs into the back of the deck... the changers run from 150 to 300)

power for your 4 highs -- get a good solid 4 channel amp that'll give you at least 100 x 4... a lot of people will argue that 50 or 60 x 4 is enough -- sure, if you've got a little honda, or saturn, or even an impala... but you've got a good size truck there, and a lot of air space to fill -- you'll need that 100 x 4 ... there are various good amp companies out there (mtx / coustic / rockford / xtant / jbl / alpine / alphasonic / zapco / dei / orion) look for either one 100 x 4 or two 100 x 2's or one that's 200 x 2 at 2 ohms (and just parallel your speakers, but you will lose the ability to fade front to back). you're looking anywhere from 250 to 600 bucks for power for the highs, depending on what you go with.

this is about as far as you'll get on 1000 bucks(especially after you're done with wires and what not) -- if you want to dump in another 1000, see below...

subwoofer(s) -- one, two, ten..its up to you... but remember one good sub is better than two mediocre ones. if you want a one sub setup -- i highly reccomdned either a Digital Designs 3512 (800 rms) or an Image Dynamics IDmax (1000 rms) ... either of those speakers will fill your entire tahoe quite well. one wont get you 160 db's in such a large airspace as the tahoe, but it'll sure sound pretty darned good, and keep ya happy while still being only one sub (hence not taking up much room / staying stock look). if you want to stick with polk subs -- two momo's will probably do about the same job as one of the above mentioned subs, but you're going to have to deal with more space taken up by woofers and what not.

amps for woofer(s) -- if u do a single sub in the 800 - 1200 watt range... get something that is dual 4 ohm coil so you can run it at a 2 ohm load ... this will allow you to get a class D amp which is usually cheaper and more power efficient than a 2 channel amp. while class D is not as clean, its vastly more economical and the difference in "quality" is rarely noticed / nearly impossible to notice. suggested amps -- rockford bd1000.1 / jbl bp1200.1 / mtx 81000d --- any woul drun you about 300 - 400 online.

have fun

Systems

I own a 2001 Ford Escape. I was running 2 10" Bazooka RS tubes paralleld off a Sony XM3001 (I think that was the number) 1 ohm mono. 1000watts. They were loud and could be unhooked if you needed the cargo space. Currently I am running a RockFord Punch 800.2 2ohm stereo. Am using 2 15" Blaupunkt OverDrive DVC subs in a sealed box. This combo is loud but plays deeper than the tubes. Problem is I have no trunk space left. What do you reccomend I try that will give me this Bass without using the trunk up? The amp makes 1006 watts rms bridged (According to the paperwork). I was think about a Kicker L7 15" DVC 2ohm per coil in a sealed box.
Thanks in advance.
Chris
C.J.PHILHOWER@WORLDNET.ATT.NET

sntnsupermen131

Chris,
I think that would be good.
I think that amp will push it fine but if you can find a rf bd1000.1 it will push it better.
But that one should work great too.
But I haven't heard many good things about square subs though...
-Cody

Systems

I was told that the L7's were SPL subs. Not really SQ becuse of the shape. I would have had a BD1000. Except it wont run the DVC subs. That amp makes 500 at 4 ohm and 1000 at 2 ohm. I do remember the Sony class "D" amp. That thing made my headlamps dim alot. It was drawing close to 80 amps on peaks. I also had a Sony XM 75*4 in the Escape. Total draw was over 100 amps. I cant afford a high-output alternator. If one is available yet? If you want to see my Escape, Its on WWW.CRUTCHFIELD.COM under site directory. Click on Road Tests (I think its called) Then you will see my problem. I was thinking about a box that will run across the width of the trunk and not be as deep. So I can gain some trunk space.
Thanks Cody.
Chris

PoweredByDodge

dude i dunno man -- i looked at the crutchfield pics -- honestly, i think you've just abotu done all you can with the vehicle -- if it were me i'd run two 12's intead of two 15's... and i'd run them off the 1000 watt class D becuase you'll get more power -- two momo 12's off the 1000d would be fine, probably louder, cleaner, tighter than what you've got now, but it'll take up the same amount of room.

downfiring - the way you have it - is the way to go, so dont change that.

i think you over did it on highs though -- three sets of highs? and tweeters to boot? that's a bit much. you might want to consider cutting off the speakers in the rear doors and just going with the fronts and far back 6x9's -- this might add better imaging and actually make your music seem louder that it is now (proper imaging has a way of doing that.).

i could be totally off though - i've never dealt with an escape, so i haven't got much of any idea.

sntnsupermen131

looks good man
i like yellow
do you have any room under your back seat?
you might get 3 8" L7's and face it downward under there
-Cody

Systems

Cody, I dont have any room under the back seat. The gas tank is under there. The 6*9's I bought to put in the rear doors. They fit. However I wasnt able to put the door panel back on. So I couldnt return them. I got the boxes at RadioShack for $10. So I just screwed them to the top of the sub box. They would come out if I went with a L7. I would put the cargo cover back to hide the stuff.
Chris

PoweredByDodge

not to take away from kicker, they make a hell of a good product -- the comp vr is almost a legend, and the L7 is nice.

However, if you REALLLLLLLYYYY are drooling for some good SQ but with some heart pounding SPL levels... get an ID-max 12.

the L7 15 is 445 at crutchfield, and the ID-max 12 is 449 at sounddomain.com or any retailer -- maybe even cheaper if you get it from the guy i got mine from (he's a registered dealer, Smokin Joe Audio out of Missouri).

The L7 15 will do 900 - 1000 rms but keep in mind, its square... anything but a perfect circle takes away a bit from your sound quality (the same way a 6x9 doesn't sound as good as a round 6). Also, the IDmax, while rated at 1000, will take 1200 in a heartbeat, and its also MUCH more efficient than the L7... L7's efficiency is 88.8 db's.. idmax's efficiency is 93 db's... that means more boom for the watt.

i know the L7's a 15 and the max is only a 12, but I've got two of these maxes, and I swear to god they're the only speaker i've owned since my polk dx's that i've been happy with -- very happy with... i went through 4 subwoofer brands/models in 2 1/2 years and didn't find anything i liked until these maxes.

sntnsupermen131

dodge,
do you have momos?
j/w
-Cody

Systems

Well I have narrowed my choices down to two models. The Ultimate Culpric 12" DVC or a Dayton DSQ 12.4. Both are 12", work in small sealed box. The DSQ will handle 350 watts rms at 4 ohm. The Ultimate DVC will handle 400 watts rms total. Would be able to run this model at 2 ohm stereo. I have used Ultimates before in the past. A pair of Attitude DVC. 6 ohm per coil. Paralled off a Bridged MTX 3002. dumped about 500 watts rms into each speaker. They were rated at 250 or 300. Also it was a ported box. And that combo was loud!! The Xmax on both models is about the same. 19mm Ultimate, 18.9 Dayton. The Dayton was originally designed for Home Theater use. But they found out it worked better in cars. I have used the Titanic MKII 12" for a Home Theater sub and it worked great. What do you guys think?
Chris

TrappedUnder Ice

I'm putting solo 8" round in the stock sub spot of our 2002 Tahoe. I have 2 comming..may put the other under the front of the center consol..not sure yet. 8's that handle 250 rms..mmmm - wifes wants it as stock as possible..and with 3rd row seating..dont leave beans for anything else.

I havnt looked at the 03's... my back doors hold 6.5's... and the fronts 6.5 comps? may put some 3-ways there..not sure

Already have the monitors in the Head rests; dvd,vcp under seats an Alpine 7893 in.. just waiting on subs..and what speakers to put up front.

Systems

i haven't owned momo's but i've demo-ed them (new style)a couple times in my truck, in my girl's car. a couple of my buddies have / have had them(old style), so i've got a good grasp on what it does and what it sounds like.


the mtx 302 / 8302 is a solid amp -- even after redesigning their amps (into what looks to be junk for 2003), they've still kept the 302 under a new name, 502.

Blue Thunder Pro150.2, Thunder 302, Thunder 8302, Thunder 502, same amp, same output, and I"m glad its still in the mix. I've got one that pushed a couple EXII's, then a couple 6000's, and soon a momo 12 -- 5 years old and runnin strong.

My buddy's got two BT150.2's he's been runnin on DB's, Momo's, Type R's for almost 8 years... damn things wont break.