jimmy schitz

I have the possibility to get 2 12"s w/ a box and an amp for $250. I was just wondering if I'd have to replace the head unit with the addition, and if the stock speakers could handle the loudness with the new amp. I plan on passing this car down to my little brother in one year's time, so is it a good idea to install the subs?

Also, I've read that sonys aren't a very reputable brand when it comes to subs. Is this true? Wouldn't want to waste $250 when ill be needing it for a new car in a year.

Unrelated to this, i installed some blue LEDs, and the clock light will not light no matter which way i turn the nodes and the air conditioner light will switch off and on at will. Any recommendations for fixing the problem? Thanks.

andrewcjduong

I'm just going to go ahead and say it before on1wheel01 does. But any reason why your going for the Sony subs? They aren't good and there are a lot better subs out there.

Oh, and just read over this thread. Pretty much the exact same thing your going through:

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/questions-about-audio-setup-784111/

jimmy schitz

thanks for the point in the right direction, i thought i was getting a good deal for these, but i guess they are a piece of shit. What do you recommend?

andrewcjduong

I purchased 12" Alpine Type R's and I found them to be great but some other people would recommend other brands.

Was told these were pretty good.

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/s...7B47%7DS4.html

You can check out this thread where I questioned about subs. I ended up getting the ones I wanted in the first place but the ones that other members recommended are, from what they said, much better then what I got

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/choosing-right-subwoofer-783175/

on1wheel01

Lol I 100% endorse this statement

andrewcjduong

Oh, and you don't have to replace your whole system if your on a budget like I was. Not sure what kind of sound system you have, if it's a bose like mine. You don't need to wire your speakers to the new amp. Instead, you'll need a line out converter and tap into your rear speakers then connect that to your new amp.

fourthmeal

I wouldn't recommend Sony but I've used them with mild success. I would say this... you can hunt down superior deals on higher quality products if you know where to look. Quality defeats quantity in most cases in audio, so there's that to consider as well.

One thought that immediately comes to mind is the closeout deals at www.meniscusaudio.com, like those Polks they have. I mean for ~$50 bucks, I doubt you could do better. Amps-wise... sometimes surfing the classifieds at DIYMA or here, or CACO (if they aren't virus-sprung right now), get a lot for your money.

eggyhustles

Not like we were lying, though


See....

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

different strokes for different folks

thbhouse

Listen to eggy, go with SSA...don't put money into something that you're not sure will satisfy you. You'll spend more than $250 for a sub, box, and amp with SSA but you'll be happy. Get the DCON if you want a solid sub with decent output, go for the ICON if you want something that will rock the neighborhood. I just installed one 12" ICON and it's incredible and not even broken in yet.

thbhouse

Oh and when I e-mailed SSA on a Saturday afternoon when I hadn't received my sub yet (two weeks after I ordered it) the owner, Mark Lafountain, e-mailed me back within an hour with a tracking number, apologized, and said it would ship by the end of the week. SSA is a FANTASTIC company with a great owner who will do anything for his customers to make sure they're happy with his products. I doubt I'll ever buy any car sub from anyone other than SSA after my experiences with them thus far. Companies like this are hard to find these days.

sickcl480

Yeah stay away from Sony. I don't know what the other guys on here think about Eclipse but I have used a ton of their stuff over the years and found their products to exceed my expectations. They pulled out of the US now but still offer warranty support and their aluminum cone 12's can be had on ebay for dirt cheap.

fourthmeal

Eclipse subs were made by TC Sounds. Now no longer in business. Eclipse is also no longer in business with new products.

I had an SW8000 LMT sub, and it was phenomenal. TC Sounds is available on Parts Express as they bought most of it.

sickcl480

Really that is interesting. I just thought they pulled out of the US and still made new products in Europe and Japan. Either way I had 2 SW7124-T2's and I loved them along with a plethera of different decks and amp I have used by them. I'm still running an old school Eclipse amp to my Eclipse highs in my CL

fourthmeal

You may be correct about just USA pull out. Fujitsu-Ten is H U G E as a company goes. But if it isn't in the US...it kinda means we can't get it anymore.

mattastick

TC is back up and running, although at a much lower quality than previous products. I met Thilio at the Parts Express sale a couple weeks ago. He was reconing on of their Neo 5100's and trying to tell us how good they are for the money... I almost laughed in his face at that comment.

CACO is back up and running normally. It's CA.com that's now the virus ridden site.

And see below about Eclipse.

This is correct. Eclipse just pulled out of the US market, which is really a shame.

Mike_Cook

i have the good ol' sony explode 12s. and for the price they aren't bad at all. i mean unless your looking for some real hard hitting bass. but i use them to get a nice thud, because if you got hard hitting subs you get mad shit shaking in your car and gets annoying real fast. when you/someone installs i suggest getting a switch for them.

mattastick

You can kill rattles... It's really not that hard. Deadener is a wonderful thing...

andrewcjduong

If I were you I'd highly suggest going to a car audio store and listen to the subs yourself. I almost went for 2 subs but after installing 1 12" Alpine Type-R I found them to be perfect. If you turn them up they'll obviously rattle and my rear view mirror will fall down but they were perfect for me.

If you find the Sony's to be good then go ahead but I can guarantee you you'll find something better in the store for cheaper.

thbhouse

Not a great idea... a subwoofer will never sound anything like it will in your car when you listen to it at a store. Listening to a sub at an audio shop is a waste of time.

fourthmeal

People seem to think that this is all a sub does... "hit hard" or "pound", or in the case of the above, "thud".

A subwoofer anchors the bottom few octaves of the audio spectrum and provides tactile feedback as well. Among other things, low distortion should be on your wish list! It doesn't just play one loud note (unless you've grossly under-designed and implemented your system), and it isn't supposed to "flex fenders" or whatever the hell. All of that stuff is irrelevant as to the reason subs are implemented in a sound system.

Subwoofers, properly used, are to help reinforce the low bass that a front driver simply can't pull off on its own. We take advantage of the fact that subwoofer frequencies are hard to localize, and we take advantage of a trunk to put them in. If subs didn't need so much space and cone area, no doubt they would be installed somewhere up front to help tie the soundstage together, just like a venue does. Indeed some high performance SQ cars have put subs up front, with great success.


So these cheap Sonys, how do they fare in a distortion plot? Do they effectively blend with the front soundstage?

Nersh7

Bad idea, spend more than $100 on new subs

jeremyhall217

sony subs are a bad idea. they sound terrible. try pioneers or try looking in a pawn shop they have really good used subs. you can get subs fairly cheap. if you get them from a pawn shop it would be a good idea to listen to them before you pay for them.