newbie that wants subs

crazy kid said:

hello. i'm new to audio stuff for cars. i'm plannin on using my stock system on my 00 accord. but i want to add one 12" sub. i wanted to get a truck box cuz it's small and i need the trunk space. does it sound worse than a regular big box? and wat are good name brands for subs and amps? and how many channels and watts do i need? i just want decent bass, not earthquake shaking bass. i was gonna get two 10" subs but it's too much space. any advice would be appreciated. thanks. how much would a total package cost?

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do you have the 6 disc cd changer? if you do, i know you want to keep but i recommend you get another headunit for better sound quality. alpine i suggest but anyways about the subs. well, of course everything depends on your budget. but lets say you didn't have big money problems and since you just want one sub i suggest the 12" kicker solo baric L7. man im telling this one sub is all you need. these things give deep bass with sound quality. this sub you can get around for 200. an amp just get a kicker amp with it as well, probably the kx400.1. i think thats around 220. other good brands are jl audio, rockford rosgate, adire, etc...there are plenty of brands out there. good luck!

if you want a good sub, i suggest an Elemental Design E12K subwoofer. it is only $135 direct from the factory, but don't let the price fool you. it might not be as loud as the kicker solobaric (pretty damn close) but sound quality is amazing. trunk space? this sub is for you! it will work in a small sealed box (check dimensions on edesigns.com) as for amp, a JBL 600.1 ($194 shipped) is enough to provide this beast some heart pounding bass, while keeping its sound quality. the sub should be seeing about 700 watts RMS if given the right voltage and wire gauge.

GSteg said:

if you want a good sub, i suggest an Elemental Design E12K subwoofer. it is only $135 direct from the factory, but don't let the price fool you. it might not be as loud as the kicker solobaric (pretty damn close) but sound quality is amazing. trunk space? this sub is for you! it will work in a small sealed box (check dimensions on edesigns.com) as for amp, a JBL 600.1 ($194 shipped) is enough to provide this beast some heart pounding bass, while keeping its sound quality. the sub should be seeing about 700 watts RMS if given the right voltage and wire gauge.

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i just got my e12k yesterday w/ no amp or box to listen to it hey do you know if the 194 price comes with warrenty or not?

i don't think it comes with a warranty... but hey..i would buy one. reliable amp if you dont' push it too hard

i would suggest you change the Head unit also.

And, i second the notion for the E12K. Great sub at a great price. WILL work in small sealed enclosure, but best in ported.

Why not just get an IDQ? They can work in a good ported box thats only around a Cubic foot of space, maybe a little more. Needs minimal power to get loud, and has probably the best SQ for the price.

i was wondering why it's necessary to change the head unit? does it give more power and better sound? i wanted to use my stock system because it already has a cd player and don't want to spend more cash since i'm on a tight budget.

I've done quite a few cars with stock HU installs, and as long as you tune it right, it will sound good. For box shape, it doesn't matter, as long as you have the correct volume for the sub.

how do you tune it to sound better? you mean tune the head unit?

Tuning involves a various things, ie adjusting of gains and signals with the line output converter and amps, processing, install, box etc.

Your budget is really going to depend on what you should/can get.

Since you're new to car audio, you probably won't notice much difference between a lot of the different brands out there. With a single 12" sub and a decent amp you should be pretty happy.

I don't recommend truck boxes. Usually they don't have enough airspace to allow a sub to play to it's full potential. You can probably find a small enough 12" sub box that won't take up too much space in your trunk.

You don't have to change out your deck if you don't want to or aren't ready to. It used to be that factory head units had no more than 5 watts per speaker output, but on many new cars the power output is increased to where there are less advantages to replacing the factory head unit.

with a flat out setting on the headunit, all head unit should sound the same (with the same external amp also)

how exactly would you go about hooking an amp up to a stock factory head unit? what parts do you need? I think i may do this as just a temporary thing until i can afford a nice alpine head unit. Details would be appreciated. Thanks

iamthecheeseman said:

how exactly would you go about hooking an amp up to a stock factory head unit? what parts do you need? I think i may do this as just a temporary thing until i can afford a nice alpine head unit. Details would be appreciated. Thanks

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u would need something called a line converter. its really simple to install. pretty straight forward.