Hey Guys,

Thinking about the following setup. Please let me know if you think this is a good combo or what other brands/suggestions you may have.

For front components thinking about going with these: https://www.woofersetc.com/p-1091-cl...-speakers.aspx

For a direct sub drop in was thinking about this one:
https://www.woofersetc.com/p-8551-c8...fer-10c84.aspx

What amp do you recommend, 4 or multi-channel? I mostly listen to hip-hop, rock and some dance/techno songs. I am mostly looking for clarity and not crazy bass, otherwise I would just get a sub/amp and call it a day.

The total I would like to spend on components/sub/amp is around $500-700 Max. TIA.

 

I know this kind of response gets annoying but is it possible to blow your budget on just a set of comps and add the rest as you go?

The best money I've ever spent was on my Dynaudio 342 set. I had already upgraded comps in the TL twice and this was my 3rd attempt. I felt bad for spending that kind of money until the first time I heard them. IMO, if you really enjoy listening to music and doing so loud and clean, the front components are the most important aspect. Sub bass is relatively easy and cheap.

You don't want a direct drop in sub. Too many disadvantages and very few subs will fit. Plus a little 8" sub mounted infinite baffle will have to work it's ass off to deliver any sort of volume. You'll never get what you want even if you're not a bass head. Besides, that sub may not even work mounted IB.

There are a ton of good subs to choose from. I love the JL 12W6 if it's in your budget, it just does so much so well and lasts forever.

The Image Dynamics IDQ is reasonably priced and sounds great. Tons of good subs.

IMO (and I'll get flamed for this), no matter what sub you choose, bigger subs or multiple subs are better for SQ. Less excursion for the same output is going to give you better SQ. That's why my SQ system uses two 15s in an infinite baffle setup. I usually listen at normal volumes and at normal to moderate volumes you can't see the subs moving at all. It's almost annoying now when people ask me what I have and when I say two 15s the normal response is about how loud it must be.

For a reasonably priced comp set, the Massive Audio RK-6 set is getting very good reviews. Their 5 channel amp also looks very nice. I may still get one.

 

The RK-6 is no match for the Image Dynamics CTX, to my ears. I have finally heard both. The massive set is not adjustable and lots of people have to modify it to tone down the tweeter (easy to do with a resistor, just not a great design).

If you want to spend a bit more, the Image Dynamics CXS are very nice set for under $300, or so.

For $600-700, I would roll:
Comps:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Image-Dynami...item2eb5c43aba
Sub:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SA-12D4-SUNDOWN-...item19bea7bea0
4 Channel Amp:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-MB-QUART-ONX...item3cb8652b78

Bridge the rear channels for the sub and use the front on the components. Spend the rest on a small-ish ported box and wires.

 

The MB amps are really cheap here-
http://www.caraudiodeals.com/mb-quart-q480-p-4878.html
I got it the next day. They have the onyx and ref stuff too if you want that.

For a super budget sub, this was recommended to me on DIYMA.
http://www.parts-express.com/
1 260-642 Goldwood TR10S 10" Single Sealed Box $17.00
1 295-202 Dayton Audio DCS255-4 10" Classic Subwoofer 4 Ohm 59.00

Only a 200w driver, but dayton supposedly makes the focal speaker drivers. Plus its cheap enough to toss if you want more later.

 

That's really interesting about the CTX speakers. I sold my used set to a member on here who is using them as rear fill. He has the RK-6 as his front comps. He seemed to like the RK-6 better (If I'm remembering right) but maybe it's an apples to oranges comparison since he's not using the CTX tweeters and they're recieving less power. He did say though that the CTX would not take as much power before bottoming. I was never able to bottom them even running full range and past the RMS rating. They were bulletproof IMO.

I still can't believe their high end set is not adjustable. I have the slim 6.5" CK-6 or whatever they're called in the center and the tweeter level is adjustable. I wonder why they would not offer that on the high end comps.

My only complain with the CTX line was the normally smooth tweeter would get harsh at high volumes. Most people said it was due to the crossovers.

 

hmm..700 max

will be back with suggestions

 

Id ctx $129(props to jda for finding these)
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Image-Dynami...d=240995077639

Soundstream stl.320 $128
http://cgi.ebay.com/SOUNDSTREAM-DTR4...item2a10c2eeee

SSA dcon 12" $125
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/i...tion/dcon.html

Soundstream rub 1.400 $125
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sound...fAudioQ5fVideo

 

Thanks guys for all the suggestions!

This may sound stupid, but one of the reasons I don't want to get a sub/amp combo is because of the weight. Would removing the factory 8" sub and replacing with a sub/amp reduce weight or does it really not matter..lol.

Are the components fairly easy to install and do you all getting dynamat (or any sound proof) for the front doors??

 

Will this amp also be able to power the rear speakers as well. Basically, looking for an amp to power the front comps, rear speakers and sub.

 

If you're worried about weight, you may consider an infinite baffle setup. No sub box to add weight and IB specific drivers are usually lighter. I have 2 15s and the two of them combined along with the baffle only added 47lbs to the car. You can look at some of the small amps like JL's XD and HD line. The XD line especially are very light and put out decent power.

There's an Acoustic Elegance IB12 for sale right now for $120 brand new over at DIYMA. Weight of the sub is 15lbs. Only requires 100 watts to hit xmax at 20hz. 250 watts would be more than enough. Super efficient, goes super low but will play up into the midbass range if you want it to. These subs are the best sounding subs I've ever heard by a long shot. They play every type of music perfectly. A single 12" IB won't give you earth moving bass but it is more than enough for SQ listening.

 

So did you find the RK6 tweet to be harsh? What'd you think about the midbass, etc? I only got a few days of listening time before I came out here to Colorado,but I'll be back next weekend and will get more listening. If I don't like them or think they're too harsh...they'll be up for grabs if someone wants to give them a try. I thought they were a tad harsh, midbass was pretty good but could get a tad sloppy at some points...but I'd need to audition and hear more comp sets to really have a fair say.

What way did you go about making your IB baffle? I'm losing the small sealed box when I return and I can't decide between 3 cubes sealed (pre-fab..but I'll seal it up correctly), middle ported box, IB. I really don't want to build another ported box and I'm really interested in this IB stuff. If I can have a go at it for the cost a single MDF baord (like $30) then that's not bad if I end up not liking it. I just wanted to see what the best way of making the board would be. How to measure, how many boards you had the sub attached to, how you attached to car, etc.

So I've got this to do, find another component amp (Which I'd like to order now so I have it when I get home!...any idears?) and find out if I want to keep my RK6's. Gonna be hard due to this damn tranny rebuild...but it'll happen.

 

To the OP, I would definitely pick up those CTX's for $130. Good buy for that kind of money!

For subs, the Dcon or SA-12 would be great and not add much weight. Why not pick up the Dayton 12" that calls for a really small box? Just a thought

 

One $30 board will be enough for a double thickness baffle. I cut one board out with the "top mount" diameter and dropped the subs in and screwed the subs to it. I cut another that would just barely fit around the outer diameter of the subs and screwed and glued the two together. This makes the subs nearly flush, helps protect them, and IMO looks better. Two 3/4" sheets is plenty. I added extra bracing behind the subs out of leftover pieces. The easiest route would be to make the baffle just large enough top to bottom to fit the subs. Leave a little extra on the sides so you don't have a huge gap to seal. Install the baffle and use "trim" pieces or even towels to seal up the holes temporarily to see if you like it. Then you can go back and seal it up more permanently later on. I used to try and make the baffle fit every contour of the car perfectly but it's super time consuming and you get squeaks from the wood rubbing on the metal as the car flexes. It's so much easier to make a baffle that fits "loosely" and then seal it up.

Here's mine during the build. I still need to take pictures of the final clean install. Keep in mind you usually can't see the MS8 or any of the wiring and the subs are invisible too. Additional bracing was added to the top, bottom, and sides after the pictures were taken.



Probably the most trunk space you'll ever see with two 15s lol.



Here's the two boards stacked. At this point, the top one was larger so you can't see the bottom one.





Installed. It now has black cloth over the opening so you can't see the subs with the armrest down. I also removed the plastic around this opening to give it more room to breathe.



I wanted to watch them for a few days to check excursion levels at low frequencies. If you can get these things to bottom out, you have a tolerance for pain.

Off topic a little but there's a great thread on DIYMA on the 12W6 with some really good info. When I was running the single one IB I said it looked to have nearly 2" excursion peak to peak at some points even though xmax is 16.5mm one way. After Klippel testing it looks like it bottoms right after 25mm one way so it does have 2" peak to peak and even though it was past xmax it still sounded very clean. FWIW, it takes 250watts as verified by the Klippel to bottom one at 20hz in an IB configuration. 200 watts to each would produce tremendous low end and would be all the power they could safely handle with a little head room.

 

You need 5 channels to do that. That's a 4 channel amp. There are 5 and 6 channels amps out there, but what many people do is use the amp to drive the fronts and sub, and let the factory amp driver the stock speakers for fill. If you decide you eventually want more powerful rears, you get a big mono amp for the sub and move the rears onto the 4 channel amp. It'll save you some money now. Only reason to go 5-6 channels now is if you really want to replace the center with something big too. Trying to do it later will end up with a strange amp setup or wasted channels.

 

No. The 4 channel can do fronts and rears, or fronts and sub. I was thinking about fronts and subs - 125w each for components and 500w to a sub.

 

You should buy 4 12"x24" sheets of dynamat, hushmat or the like. 4 square feet for each door just to cover up the holes and seal the midbass. It is worth it. The components are medium/easy to install, but will require a MDF ring and maybe even some metal cutting on the door.

Don't sweat the weight. My FI Q and fiberglass box is around 45 lbs... which is not too much. It makes enough sound to do permanent hearing damage. I dunno how much the amp weighs, but probably around 8 or 10 lbs. If you take the plastic covers out of your engine compartment, remove the stock sub, trunk counterweight, owners manual and keep your car clean, you can get about 20 lbs of that back. Check out the TL on a Diet thread if you really are serious about weight.

On the RK-6: I wish that nobody would ever use the word "harsh" again in car audio. Without using that word, the tweeter overpowered the midbass at the static -6 db, which gave the appearance of a weak midbass for the stage. Just listening to the tweeter, it lacked a bit of authority and detail that even the CTX tweeter has. I had the kid turn the midbass frequences up on his HU crossover and it sounded better, but had a processed sound like you might imagine (might be similar to the sloppiness that you described). I would like to hear the set with a 4 ohm resistor put onto the tweeter. It is probably a pretty good set for $200, but I have liked others better. Heck, any set in the $200 range have issues that need to be dealt with.

 

Sounds like a baffle setup would be the way to go, thanks.

I figured it wouldn't really make a big difference but I just don't want a heavy ass sub to take out and put back in if needed.

Thanks for the great suggestions.

 

I suppose my question will qualify for this subject too. I just purchased 2008 TL and looking for a little more bass than the stock sub offers. I have tried turning bass full and sub to full but still lacks punch. I do not want change rattling, window shuttering, hair dancing etc etc bass. But i would like to know its is there. I listen to mostly heavy metal but i throw in classic rock and rap occasionally. I would like to keep as much trunk space as possible and my cash flow is not bottomless. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

2 13w6's IB....

Ask I hate cars about that...

 

IB, or higher powered sealed will keep the most trunk space. Pros and cons to both, but either will yield more than enough sound. I would seal a single 600-1000w 12 and mount it on the rear seat braces - easy and cheap.

 

IHC, I wish you were local, I'd love to hear that setup in person. I agree about the 15's thing...kinda like a V8 getting good gas mileage. I mean it has the capability of moving 15" of air times 2, but requires very little to get it going so you end up not having to push it too hard.

 

I'd love to hear that IB setup also. I'm just not too happy with my sound for what I've spent. I need to figure out what I'm going to do asap b/c I'm getting fed up with critiquing my music constantly and not being able to enjoy it.

 

Is it the speakers, or the application that you're not happy with? Maybe processing? I don't even want to venture down that road, myself. Costs too much to become a TRUE audiophile. I'm stopping here...namely...sounds good and clear when played loud while on the highway with windows down.

 

I 2nd Eggy's recommendation on the DCON but you would have a tough time on budget for sub box.It did take a while to receive it but a nice sub and can't wait to get it installed. For a front and rear replacement of speakers only, you might be better off to keep the stock sub and just get some midbass-heavy 6.5s for the fronts along with some ID 6.5 coaxes in the rear. You might consider a pair of the ID comps with a Kenwood XR-5S 5-channel and if you braced the deck well, you might be able to get away with a JL Audio 8" or an ID 8 sub back there (not optimal but might suit your goal) if you wanted to do a 5 channel replacement.

 

Guys-I just ordered the ID CTX speakers and found an old sub/box, the sub is an old Pioneer Premier sub. My question is how can I tell for sure if it is 2ohm or 4ohm or not sure if this matters if I am bridging the 4-channel amp?

Also, looking for an amp under $200 to power the front ID CTXs and the sub, which is like 250w rms. Do you recommend Boss or MB Quart as these are the budget amps I have found online. Thanks again for the recommendations and suggestions!