[Dirty Mormon]

Alright, i am new to the audio visual endevors.... Could some one give me a basic run down of the componets (what each thing does, best brands, basic prices, ect...) of an audio system...
(i.e. Amps, Headunit, Subs, Tweeters, and all the current, ohms, and stuff...ect...)

Thanks
-Chad

 

[VTECnicalAccord]

OK, let's roll here.....

1) Head-unit....Reads information off CD, sends signal to amplifier...
2) Amplifier....Takes signal from head-unit, sends it to your speakers...
3) Subwoofers.....Big speakers which take care of your low frequencies, i.e: 100 Hz and down...
4) Midbass...Handle frequencies from where sub left off to the point where your tweets come in...
5) Tweeters...Take care of your high frequencies, picking up at the midbass xover point and going up to the top of the freq. range
6) Crossover (xover) breaks signals into "categories" of frequencies, sends low freq.s to sub amp, mid freqs. to mid amp, etc.
7) Equalizer..Allows tuning of each frequency for each speaker, able to +/- decibels, Dbs, for each frequency until everything is sounding nice.
Personal favorites for audio stuff are..

Head-units..Alpine, Nak, Eclipse, some Kenwood stuff, Pioneer Premier high-end stuff

Components...Image, Dynaudio, Focal, CDT, Diamond, etc etc

Subs...Image Dynamics, JL is over rated

Amps...Arc, Mac, if you're as addicted as me...Brax

EQ's...Tough to beat Image IDQ-31s, USD, AudioControl, RF symmetry, etc

Xovers... AudioControl, Image IDX-24, etc.

Hopefully I answered your ?'s man, if not post away, I'm here.

 

[VTECnicalAccord]

Sorry, forgot the ohms...

An Ohm is a measure of resistence, lower ohms means less resistence, and vice versa. Sometimes lower ohms will mean less sound quality, but not all the time. Subs do not really matter what ohm you run. I can BARELY tell a difference between a sub run at 4 ohm, and one run at 2 ohm. Not enough difference to worry about for the daily user.

 

[dohctor]

Alright, i am new to the audio visual endevors.... Could some one give me a basic run down of the componets (what each thing does, best brands, basic prices, ect...) of an audio system...
(i.e. Amps, Headunit, Subs, Tweeters, and all the current, ohms, and stuff...ect...)

Thanks
-Chad

Get your hands on a Crutchfield catalog. Beleive it or not there is a LOT of good information in those catalogs expalinaing why and how about all the components.

 

[Dirty Mormon]

wow thanks alot, when i get more questions, i will post away!

 

[Dirty Mormon]

Alright, can you explain sub enclosures, like ported and sealed.... which is best for quality.... and what the enclosures do

 

[1200mk]

sealed boxes are better for sq, ported are in the middle and bandpass are for spl...... i dink iam right. anyone else?

 

[PupaScoopa]

True on the ported vs. sealed vs. bandpass. Choosing an enclosure should depend on what kind of music you listen to. Good all around is a sealed box, you want something boomy go with bandpass (very boomy). The ported is the best of both worlds, but the power handling is less than that of sealed/bandpass.

Sound-deadening materials are also something to look into. On another note, a 3 decibel (db) increase is sound requires you to double the power into that speaker. Thus, if you can lower the noise getting into your car, you are essentially being more efficent with power.

Headunits now adays are very colorful and flashy. They usually advertise 40+ watts/channel. Decide on your future plans and determine weather you would like to run your mids/tweets off of a seperate amp. If you do that, you'll get much better sound quality due to the fact that a dedicated amp will provide much cleaner sound than the one built into the headunit.

Generally, any pricerange under $300 to $400 is the average. $400 to $600 is upper-end, and anything over $600 is really good stuff. Features that you'll find in really high-end heads are: a higher quality D/A converter for better CD sound, better CD loading mechanism, better FM tuner, more outputs/inputs, and some have no internal amps to further improve sound quality. Generally, the mega-size retailers will have items up to the upper-end, specialty shops have the a wider range of products.

 

[Leon21]

What about those sealed glass boxes???
does the glass even help at all??
I am getting a new box next thursday so if i want more boom i should go with a sealed box right??

 

[Dirty Mormon]

So do you think you can run me through a system, like all the parts, and how they interact?

 

[VTECnicalAccord]

Dirty, ask anything you want man, I will do my best to help you out. Or, if you would rather, drop me an email with ANY and ALL questions you have and I will help you out.

 

[dohctor]

What about those sealed glass boxes???
does the glass even help at all??
I am getting a new box next thursday so if i want more boom i should go with a sealed box right??

The glass is strictly for looks... it's so you can see the woofer... those are bandpass enclosures, and make a lot of low quality bass... also note it's plexi glass, not real glass that they put in those things... Sealed is the prefred method, but a lot of people use ported and some usde bandpass.. go with sealed the bass is more rich and tight... and suits a wider range of music for those times when your friends/neighbors are in the car.

 

[VTECnicalAccord]

Since I saw Dyn mentioned I may as well toss out some killer amps too, although very pricey: Brax, Genesis, Milbert, Blade. Hey rcurley, do you know if vifa and audax have a site? I'm looking for something out of the mainstream for my comp. install and have heard pretty good things about both of those.

 

[rcurley55]

Since I saw Dyn mentioned I may as well toss out some killer amps too, although very pricey: Brax, Genesis, Milbert, Blade. Hey rcurley, do you know if vifa and audax have a site? I'm looking for something out of the mainstream for my comp. install and have heard pretty good things about both of those.

Audax is just www.audax.com Vifa should have a site as well, check out www.madisound.com and www.partsexpress.com for more info on those drivers. They are used extensively in home audio DIY projects. I have some links...email me.

I would mate the Vifa X25t (?) with the Digital Designs 6.5" woofers. Many have had good results there.

 

[VTECnicalAccord]

Thanks for the links man, I really appreciate it. You don't have your email listed, but please drop me an email. Like I said, I am looking for something different, orm at least not over used. My front stage will be an 8" in a door pod, and mid-range in a kick, a horn mounted under the dash, and a tweet in the A-pillar to take over where the horns roll-off. I was originally going to do all ID stuff, but too many people use ID as it is, and I just want something different, and better. I will probably still use an ID horn, but I would like my others to be a non-popular make.

 

[SpeedxRacer]

Wa do you guys think bout the polk/momo 6.5 components? I have heard nothing but 5 out of 5 reviews from it and im thinking about going for it. My other choice were the MB quart reference series or the infiniity perfect components. Anybody gots suggestion on the best components around for say about 250?