ok guys i got a few questions for y'all since i'm not totally sure about which speakers and stuff i want, so here y'all go...

-- i was thinking of the clarion DXZ855MP cd touchscreen deck or the Panasonic CQ-C9801W cd deck. what do y'all think? any different suggestions i can look at?

next up, subs... remember i only have around 5 1/2" of mounting depth in my box. maybe a little more, i still need to go measure it. what is the difference between a 4 ohm sub and a 2 ohm sub anyways? i see the different ones but the prices are all the same.

-- i was thinkin' maybe 2 Phoenix Gold RSd12's or Kicker CVT122 or CVT124's or maybe some Rockford Fosgate P3SD412's or the P3SD212's. i can't really make up my mind on the subs right now so input on that is greatly appreciated.

-- what size amp do y'all recommend for powering 2 of these 12" subs?

 

what exactly do you need, a deck, sub, and amp for the sub? how much are you looking to spend on all of this? i am a poor college student, but was able to get the JVC KD-HDR1 receiver, 2 Blaupunkt component speakers, 2 Sony 2 way speakers, and 1 Blaupunkt 12" sub from www.crutchfield.com, and both a Visonik amp, for the sub, and a Sony amp, for the speakers...all for about 470 dollars. the amps were purchased off ebay. i highly recommend checking out ebay for the amp purchases.

clarion typically makes a decent deck, don't have any experience with panasonic. if you are going for max volume and you are not using an amp to drive your main speakers, then you need to examine and compare the peak power and rms power output by the deck PER channel. the bigger the better.

if you're using an amp for the main speakers, then the power output of the deck is basically irrelevant, then you need to look at the signal to noise ratio, SNR, for the cd player. the higher value the better (it's measured in decibels, dB).

frequency response is also important. the average human ear can't hear much higher 20,000 Hz, which is equivalent to 20 kHz. typical sub response will be between 20 Hz and 400 Hz. the cd frequency response should cover this range.

since you plan on installing subs, then the sub output on the deck you buy is important. it should have a pair of RCA connectors that you will run an insulated RCA cable to your sub amp, and then to your sub. the voltage of the RCA sub outputs is important, the higher the voltage the better, more voltage reduces noise in the signal.

as far as the sub and amps go, this is where you may find yourself dropping more money than you need. i don't know how the cab in you truck is configured, but my 97 extended cab f250 leaves little room for the addition of the sub. i actually removed my front seat and made a mounting bracket out of some fiber board that slips between the middle seat and the floor of the cab. the sub is pointed downward into the floor and it's magnet points up, fitting perfectly in a gap in the foam of the center seat. my one 12 inch, $39.99, Blaupunkt sub powered by a re manufactured 600 W Visonik amp, bought for $1.50 off ebay (yes, $1.50, that is not a typo), fills my cab with perfect base, no problem. imho, spending any more than that is not necessary. the 2 or 4 ohm distinction is referencing the resistance the sub has. if i am remembering correctly, the most common sub, and what any amp will want to drive, is a 4 ohm sub. if you hook up a 2 ohm speaker to an amp expecting a 4 ohm, you could potentially drive double the current and blow your sub, hopefully a fuse in the amp would blow first but it might not.

another distinction is the power rating on the sub. most of the time, the company will stamp on the peak power capability of the sub onto the face of the sub. but you need to look at the specs and find out the rms handling power of the sub, and size your amp to that power setting. this will ensure you do not blow your sub.

in short, you need to look at the speaker resistance (it might be called impedance, refers to the same characteristic of the speaker) and the rms power, and find an amp that matches that sub.

i'm sorry this was so long, and i'm sure i might have only made it more confusing, i would hate to see you spend more money than you need too though. don't be fooled by 'name brands', they are not necessarily much better. Blaupunkt makes very good quality sound equipment and it is significantly cheaper than most of the other brands. let me know if i can help any more.

-erik

 

all that made perfect sense. i already have 2 10's behind my seat, but i wanted 12's for the deeper sound capabilty and of course that they can be louder when i want them to be. i'm not concerned about the money b/c this will happen over a wide time frame as extra money rolls in. i'm a poor high school student so i understand how you feel. Tractor Supply doesn't exactly have the best pay, but good enough for a senior in high school. the clarion deck is the one i'm leaning towards, but that may change since the Panasonic has more power to 4 speakers than the clarion does, i think. i need to look at that again.

amps... good idea, i will look at ebay and see what i can find. i may even check it out for some subs as well. thanks for the help. i learned quite a bit from that post. i didn't really know that there was that much to it until now. thanks a ton!!!

 

no problem man, i'm glad i can help, if you have any more questions i'll be happy to share with you what i know, good luck picking your stuff!

 

I'm a send my member over here Capitol Customs. He's badass on the speaker market.

You can check out his truck in the michgian forums for the dundee pictures.

 

Hello everyone, thanks william for the heads up to here. now the one thing I can tell you all is that ebay has better prices then I do. but sometimes I get lucky. I can help you with what has worked for me and what I sold at my shop that we closed in june
of 2007. check out my gallery. this year things are changing. just changed subs behind
rear seats also changed from the bench to bucket seats in rear. I only have 6 1/2"
behind the rear seats. 12" subs do not work well. to tight. low pro subs will work but
do not sound as good as 2 good 10" standard subs do. we went from 2 kicker 10"
comp down fire subs under the seats to two 10" mtx thunder 6000 subs behind the the seats. other changes are still in the works. now I still have invintory for sale at rock bottom prices.I also still have all my acct`s., with the companies I worked with.
contact me I just may be able to help.

 

i love jvc head units and rockford amps and subs. i cant remember the head unit in my truck but it has made its way from my mustnag into both trucks. i love it dearly. the rockford amp is awesome as well. i will have to get the numbers off of it but i beleive its only a 150 amp? but it powered 2 rockford 12's excellent. they are definatly underrated for power output. my truck now has the jvc head unit with all speakers by rockford with no amp or subs yet. as soon as i get a box at least 10's will go in and the same old rockford amp.

i have tried lots of brand speakers and amps over the years and by far rockford takes the cake

 

Rockford makes some of the best amps out there. they are also very under rated
on power. jls are ok. but I have had nothing but bad luck with them. others love them
Kicker is my top brand I sold for years. other brands I sold were rockford,MTX,pioneer,
eclips,earthquake. I still have some stock left. It is all in the set up that makes the
system

 

Yes. you can take crappy speakers and make them sound good with a good setup.

 

i can agree with that. all i have are 2 pioneer 4x6's and 2 10" subs and it sounds ok with quite a few different kinds of music. i want to put 6x9's in the back corners and some different subs that are more capable of getting the lower bass in some of the music i listen to. these subs just can't quite get to a low enough frequency and will kinda distort sometimes.