Anyone know car audio? need some help

[89custom]

So im making a sub box for our 02 ford explorer which is soon mine. making the box in woodshop, going to be no problem.

my main issue is amps. i want to get 2 of these Fi SSD 18" subs. i wanted the primo Fi BTL's but there so damn expensive.

so there rated at 800w rms each, so i have 2 of them.
https://ssl.perfora.net/www.ficarau...Speakers/0040_SSD/product_overview.shopscript

problem is, i dont know what amp to get. i cant spend to much but i dont want some sh*tbox one that will f*ck up and break. if i understand it, i need an amp something around 1400-1800w rms, correct? i know you can go over and just not crank the volume all the way but also if you under power it you get clipping and sh*t. would best just be right on 1600 or what? everything with that much power is hella pricey. also, whats all the 2 channel, 1 channel, 4 channel blah blah, then the ohm rating...with the SSD18's theres a choice of Duel 1 ohm or Duel 2 ohm version. what the sh*t is that?

well, would greatly appreciate any help.

thanks.

 

[4cfed]

So im making a sub box for our 02 ford explorer which is soon mine. making the box in woodshop, going to be no problem.

my main issue is amps. i want to get 2 of these Fi SSD 18" subs. i wanted the primo Fi BTL's but there so damn expensive.

so there rated at 800w rms each, so i have 2 of them.
https://ssl.perfora.net/www.ficarau...Speakers/0040_SSD/product_overview.shopscript

problem is, i dont know what amp to get. i cant spend to much but i dont want some sh*tbox one that will f*ck up and break. if i understand it, i need an amp something around 1400-1800w rms, correct? i know you can go over and just not crank the volume all the way but also if you under power it you get clipping and sh*t. would best just be right on 1600 or what? everything with that much power is hella pricey. also, whats all the 2 channel, 1 channel, 4 channel blah blah, then the ohm rating...with the SSD18's theres a choice of Duel 1 ohm or Duel 2 ohm version. what the sh*t is that?

well, would greatly appreciate any help.

thanks.

ok first off... if your going to run 2 of them you need the proper box, when you buy them or look online and find the proper size box specs... in this case im guessing you wanna be loud enough to knock sh*t off walls of houses when you drive past, your box better at minimum take up the whole rear cargo space of the exlplorer, and go up to as high as the top of the back seat, big subs that do what the fi's do need alot of air space, in that you NEED a ported box, no round ports with tubes... slot port is the way to go!!!

id recommend a single port on one side of the box,( port opening should face the same way as the subs face) in youir case back facing the tail gate or facing up, that port should be 4-6 inches wide and run from top of box to bottom down one side, and go to about 3-4 inches from the back of the box, that port size should put you right in the ' prime hz range' the subs are designed to play in and be the loudest and will move killer air, in turn being even louder!! ( dont be a pussy if your going with btl's do it and do it big!!!)

now for amps you have alot of options, you want a straight mono amp ( 1 channel) well in your case.. two amps.. check into us amps, or some of the bigger rockfords, or the new alpine digital amp ( puts out 3000 something watts) two of them with the subs wired to the max lowest ohm load the amp will support will make the most power,

you WILL need at lest 1 if not 2 batterys becided the one under the hood, and you MUST run atlest 00 or 1 ot wiring from the main batter to the rear batterys, and you will also need a good power cap to help with power drain, and you will need a bigger high quality alternator,, also redo the main battery ground on the charging system with 0 gauge, this will also help with power drain and help charge faster,......

now as far as the ohms you can get. go with the dual 2 ohm versions, when wiring the two voise coils together this is that your gonna wanna do.....

pos and neg from amp to pos and neg on one coil, than have jumpers to go from the pos and neg on that coil to the pos and neg on the other coil, and wire the other sub the same way.. this will put you at 1 ohm..

now for speaker wire dont f*ck around here ether, get 8 gauge power and ground wire for car audio, trust me... i picked up almost 2 db and cleaner sound going from 12g wire to 8 g wire

 

[89custom]

oh dayum eh you know your sh*t.

i cant be spending to much so i need to know exactly what size/brand amp(s) to get for the lowest cost(with decent quality) so doesnt have to be some intence rockford's(which i want but cant afford lol).

you are way off with the box size though. there sayin 6-10cu' for 1 of these babys so like 18-20cu im thinkin. which isnt the whole cargo space

i thought maybe i should go with the 15"s but there also 800w rms.

i think ill stick with the Fi SSD 18" I:I I:I I:I

intence lol.

 

[4cfed]

ok... well you will need a extra battery and big wiring.. ether way run the wiring i told you to, and for amps.. if you run the subs to rms or alil higher they will be fine.. in that case, you can pick up two kenwood 1200 watt amps one for each sub and you will be fine...

alot has to do with the box, go big with the port i explained and it will sound like your running twice the power you actually are

 

[specialized7]

hey man, i have a MTX amp that i might part with , i have the birth sheet for it to
i got it from a guy in ontario that was a MTX dealer about 2 years ago at future shop it was over 1000 i paid 750 cash on delivery brand new in box.

 

[89custom]

ok the port help sounds primo. ill defently do that. and man, you say kenwood 1200s, whats the rms on those? if its 1200rms, isnt that a little overkill for 2 of those with 2 800w rms subs?

 

[4cfed]

no the 1200s are 1200 peak..... basicly do your research and find any amps that put out over 900 peak watts.... basicly the subs take 800 rms... which is basicly a concsistant running power... so if therer 1600 peak and you run 1200 into them, you will be fine, over powering dont kill subs distortion does... if you have any questions on amps feel free to ask,....... ohh hand i can tell you to stay away from these amps for sub use ( there good amps for mids and highs) but dont use them for subs.... sony, lazar, pyrimid, vr3,.. and there are others like i said just ask...

but what ever you do you want to run matching amps..


also you will need good mids and highs to make up for the dominant bass...

beleve it or not mids and highs wil make your bass sound better because it makes the 'system complete'

here is acheap and good sounding option for your mids and highs and wallmart is your friend on this..... find out what size speakers are in your doors, dash or where ever your truck has speakers... PIONEER is the way to go for clean sounding cheap highs.... get matching speakers.. so lets say you have 6.5 inch door speakers, get 6.5 2 way pioneers, and 6x9s in the rear or w/o get the 3 ways, and get a set of 1 inch soft dome tweeters and mount them on the a pillars up by the headliner ( a pillar is the pillar between windshield and doors) and run the pioneers off a 300-400 watt amp, and run the tweeters off the cd players pre amp.

 

[2smoker85]

a dual voice coil sub with 2 2ohm coils you can get your ohms (resistance) down to 1 ohm, or up to 4 ohms. a dual 4 you can get to 2 ohms, or up to 8 ohms. alot is going to depend on what type of amp you are going to power them with. find out how many ohms your amp will go down to. it will simply come down to how you are going to wire the subs, but again that is going to depend on how stable your amp is. my buddy has dual 2 ohm subs wired in parallel. i would also reccomend bridging it depending on what size amp u are going to run.
and also if you want u can run a reverse bandpass box with a plexiglass front, thats where you will get the best sound out of it

 

[djack12]

you wont need another battery. i used to run a 1400 watt amp in my civic with just a Optima Red top battery. then i didnt like the lights dimming, so i just bought a capacitor. it pretty much just stores up extra juice so when there is a hard hit it uses the power form that.

i dont see why you want such large subs in such a small truck. i would recommend 10's. nice tight bass sound.

 

[89custom]

ok sick. ill tackle the subs first then move on to better mids and some tweeters. oh and about the amps again, 1 channel mono did u say? amps seem to be a pain in the ass for me to understand. you said get the duel 2 ohm fi ssd 18"s so am i looking for 2 amps, 1 channel each, mono, that handle 2 ohms?

like the amp specialized posted, says 800w rated for 2 ohms and 1200 for 1 ohm.

 

[89custom]

you wont need another battery. i used to run a 1400 watt amp in my civic with just a Optima Red top battery. then i didnt like the lights dimming, so i just bought a capacitor. it pretty much just stores up extra juice so when there is a hard hit it uses the power form that.

i dont see why you want such large subs in such a small truck. i would recommend 10's. nice tight bass sound.

PFFFFT 10"s haha.

go big or go home. i want no smaller than 15"s but for 30 bucks more each, almost all same power ratings, i want the 18"s. maybe ill toss in some 10"s later on with the 4 mids and 2 tweeters I:I

 

[2smoker85]

kids....haha i was there once too i guess

 

[dburroug]

dude...im not downing on this system, in fact it will be awesome...but you didnt really say what your trying to do with this thing and i just want to throw a warning out there and say the ideas you are throwing out there are very specific and will only do ONE thing well and that is SPL (be loud). I dont know how much you know about sound, but i know a fair bit, all from experience, and if you throw 2 FI's in there you better be serious about SPL. FI's and all 18's are made to produce SPL not sound good....i dont know how many systems you have actually heard in person...but i think you are overshooting on subs...To take advantage of those subs you need to know alot....your mounting baffle is gonna need to be at least 1 1/2 inch thick to support these without flex...and your box should prolly be double 3/4 mdf ....flex is your enemy in spl. Also your gonna want like ~8 cu. ft a sub if your porting that...thats 16 cu ft man....thats huge...i would recommend doing some more homework and you will see that you can get a much better sounding, almost as loud(still loud as balls), half the size, half the cost system. let me know if you would like some more info...but unless your planning on hittin some db drags or SPL competitions i think your gettin in over your head.

 

[Blasterguy]

Man, you want a kicker 2 clanel class D 800 wat amp. A class D amp is the best. It means if you have a 800 wat class D amp, it will pump 800 wats to all speakers, if you have like 8 speaker it will still pump 800 wats to all of them. Personally I say kicker is the best, I have the sickest kicker system in my truck.

 

[2smoker85]

yeah i got out of the bump when i turned 20

 

[4cfed]

actually.. my buddy has a jl 8w7 in his vw and it hits harder and cleaner than most 12s on the market........ 142 db outta a single 8 in a slot port box...... the reason i say run a extra batter is cuz yes the lights will dim, but with pulling that much juice out of one battery all the time will kill it and the altornator fast, the less strain on the charging system the less offen you will need batters...... and definatly go with yellow tops... id personally run blue top marine batterys.. there made to handle the deep cycles. and the deep cycle comes into play on hard bass notes that draw alot of power


and by the sounds of it.. he just wants to be loud..... personally i i think 2 12'' dd75s or 95s will all around out perform the FI's 12s will hit the lows and stil be clean sound,

but obviously he wants loud. and thats the direction im sending him in, i have herd some good sounding 15s though, and 18s the cerwin vega stroker is the way to go, but there 'old' school and ugly!!! but man o man are the fin loud!!!!!!

 

[4cfed]

yeah i got out of the bump when i turned 20

i still like the bump... just toned down... i like clean sound... but i like veryone around to enjoy myrock music.... once funds alow it.. im adding to my truck, right now, just stock doors, pioneer cd player, and a home theater sub just for alil kick..... once i can swing it its gettin 1 inch tweeters, pioneer door speakers to match the rears, and a single 10 inch infinity in a slot port...600-700 watts... will sound super clean and stick kick you in the pants when needed

 

[djack12]

PFFFFT 10"s haha.

go big or go home. i want no smaller than 15"s but for 30 bucks more each, almost all same power ratings, i want the 18"s. maybe ill toss in some 10"s later on with the 4 mids and 2 tweeters I:I

see thats how i know you are young. all you are going for is power ratings. i have had systems that are pushing 1400 watts, and sound like crap, and then systems that are only putting out 400 watts and sound great.

if you are doing comp sound then go big or go home, however is you are going to be listening to this everyday, less is more man.

my brother has a single 10 in his durango, and it sounds awesome. im hoping to get a 10 in my jeep soon with only about a 300 watt amp.

 

[dburroug]

yeah im just sayin... go with a solid reliable 2-12in setup and a good amp and you will be plenty loud....trust me....and yes there is waaaaaay more to being loud than sub size and watts haha...I have 2 alpine type R 10's in my Audi TT and and a 800 watts rms and it is louder than 90% of the systems ive heard....why? cause its done right, i.e. ZERO flex in my hand laid fiberglass enclosure, airtightness, actually knowing what frequency your subs are meant to operate at and tuning you box to it, air space and knowing whether to port it or not....its not just a huge amp and sub game guys...brains are good too. oh an ps if you have over 3x the wattage to your lows as you do highs, then you arent listening to music...your just trying to get attention haha...to each his own

 

[Trick440]

Get a Class D amp, definately the way to go for a Bass system.

I built a few sub boxes in my day and let me tell you a few facts. First off sub size. If you go with an 18, thats more of a setup for real low frequencies.. deep, deep bass. And its so damn big, its going to miss notes and sh*t cause when the speaker bumps it won't come back fast enough.

Boxes... You can't just throw any old port on a box and call it good. The port has to be engineered. The port size, shape and lenght actually tune the frequency. Ported boxes have to be an exact volume the manufacture recommends and the ports have to be correct. So ported boxes are alot harder to make, can sound sloppy and have a tendancy to blow speakers more, especially if its not designed correctly.

Sealed boxes, much easier to make doesn't really matter the size although bigger is better. Tighter sound.

I would recommend a high quality 15" sub in a sealed box, its gonna hit real hard and should still be able to come back fast enough to not miss notes.

Only setup I did with an 18" was I had 2 - 10" in a ported box, and a single 18" in a ported box and all that 18" did was low, low, lows, most songs that 18" only hit a hand full of time cause it was low frequencies only.

Heres a port calculator
PORT Size Calculations and Formulas for WOOFER and Subwoofer BOXES
Heres also my last ported box, about 8-9 years ago?.. man I'm old, I haven't had a system sense, but when I did have them I was really into them.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/343319/4
(..My 440ex, a dyno sheet and some other stuff is in there aswell)