First car audio system.

[Irate-pirate 0]

Ok i will start off with the car they are going into.I have a 1978 chevy caprice pristine condition low miles everything is stock.

GOALS: Set up a decent mid grade system , i forgot the term .I think interior speakers are just as important as the subs in the trunk tho.

SubWoofer:After a few days of research i came to the conclusion that a 12 inch alpine type R would be a good choice.I found an older model one in a box with all the wires that were in the car for 50 bucks seemed like a good deal so i bought it.It is in a small seald box that i think i may replace.

AMP:I was looking at hifonics amps on ebay and i found one with 650 watts @ 4 ohms ( just learned i can use 2 ohm set up aswell ).No clue what alot of that crap means still need to read more.However i did see a member here selling a jbl amp that looks like it will do a great job with my alpine type R aswell.

Head UNIT: Alpine CDE-9870 or Alpine CDE-9881 look to be pretty good.I am not what the differnce between the 2 are.

Interior Speakers : After some testing in stores i like the way 6.5's sound compaired to 6x9's.The only problem is my car only has 2 speakers in it , 6x9 in thback and a 6x9 in the dash.I am looking for others thoughts here on what i should do about this.I would like some tweeters to , i found a few pyle kits on ebay pretty cheap that looked nice no link handy atm.Kit had 2 6.5's 2 tweeters and crossovers.I am not sure if i want to cut up the car myself , or about how much it would cost to have someone else do it for me.

I AM OPEN TO EVERYONES ideas so please let me know what you guys think.

[WildSebring 0]

4 ohm and 2 ohm's just represents the power an amp can produce. The lower you wire the ohm level on the sub's coils, the more power you force the amp to produce. I.E., if you wire a sub up at 2 ohm vs. 4 ohm it will receive more power from the amplifier.

Would you be into making any custom moldings for your door panels since you like the sound of the 6.5" mids? I'd replace the 6x9's in the stock locations with better ones and maybe the door moldings if you wanna add some nice sound. Also maybe a set of nice tweeters with silk dome's on the dash or mounted in the apex area in the top corner of the windshield? I know Pyle was good stuff back in their hay-day, but I'm not so sure now, I'd stay away from them in my personal opinion. I'm not knocking the company, I just haven't seen anyone running Pyle anything anytime in the last 5 years.

Type R isn't a bad sub, for the power you want to run. For the price and ratings of it, 400-600 watts would be sufficient to run it around 2ohm's from the amplifier. You could wire it down to one, but I'm not sure it would be stable on either of those amps. Won't heat up on ya at 2 ohms and I think it would be fine, if you watch your gains and dont just turn it all the way up and blast it all the time. Another question is, do you want punchy tight bass in a sealed enclosure, or do you want a ported enclosure that will produce lower bass notes that you can tune to different frequencies? Hi-Fonics amp isn't a bad choice and neither is the JBL, both are decent clean power amps. I personally would choose the Hi-Fonics(I might get bashed for picking Hi-Fonics:), but I think they are better amps but I'm just one man and its my opinion.

Alpine 9881 is a nice headunit, I'm using the Alpine 9885 and I love it, nice SQ headunit with a ton of options to use. Main differences between the 9870 and 9881 are just options on the headunit itself. Not much physical difference. I know if you buy the 9887, you can use the Imprint system and sync it all to reproduce the sound even better which I'm not up to par on fully yet.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

Edited February 3, 2008 by WildSebring

[Irate-pirate 0]

I defantly like the idea of custom moldings for the doors , i have never done such a project but i like that kind of thing.I am just torn between cutting her up sence it is a 30 year old car thats in very good shape inside and out.I wouldnt wanna mess it up , having someone else do the work may not be a bad idea but custom work like that is probly pretty pricey huh?I plan on saving the stock radio so i can put it back later if i decide to.There is a slot for a 2nd 6x9 in the back just no hole in the upholsrety yet , it may have been an extra option that the buyer did not pay for.As for the encloser i think i would prefer a ported box , the one that it is in now is seald it is looks REALY small i have lots of trunk room so i figure i should use it.

Edited February 3, 2008 by irate-pirate

[WildSebring 0]

Yea it might be a bit pricey, but it will be a nice addition.

Thats the time when you appreciate if you know how to do it yourself.

I'd probably design an enclosure around 2.25 cubic feet and tune it near whatever the Fs on the T/S parameters is on that particular sub, and it should sound very nice.

I wouldn't want to cut up a nice older car either, I like to keep it clean where I can put it back stock if I need to.

Go to Alpines website and find T/S parameters on that sub, and then I personally would go for about 2.25cubes tuned to the Fs of the sub.

Good luck.

Edited February 3, 2008 by WildSebring

[WildSebring 0]

The sub is 500 RMS and 1500 MAX, you might even try finding an amp around 800-1000 watts, if you want to go that much.

If Alpines website is right, the Fs is 23 which means it is a sound quality bass sub.

Tune around there in a vented enclosure and it will be pretty darn nice.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 3, 2008 by WildSebring

[JimJ 11]

Just because a Type R has a low Fs, does not mean it's a driver meant for sound quality.

[WildSebring 0]

And I agree Jim, but I also noted that it was a SQ Bass sub. And not all times when the Fs is low, will it be a SQ sub, like the T5 SS for example, Fs is 19.73 but it's not SQ either.

Good luck on the build/install Pirate.

[ANeonRider 3]

SQ bass sub? New term!

Fs is just a tiny little itty bitty piece of the puzzle when it comes to picking a subwoofer for your system

[Irate-pirate 0]

Good info guy's thanks a ton , i was thinking of picking up this amp. http://cgi.ebay.com/HIFONICS-BRUTUS-BXi120...1QQcmdZViewItem

From what i have seen it looks to be the best bang for the buck , and i could upgrade subs later and still use it.

The amp is going to be the last thing i buy tho , going to get the interior up to par first , i am thinking about takin a trip back to michigan and having my buddy install it sence he is good with car audio.I may just take a crack at it myself if the radio and new 6x9's go in ok.Sucks that all my toools are back home , i am renting atm an my room mate owns a hammer and thats about it.I am stil iffy on buying new 6x9's they seem to be made for bass and with a sub in the trunk i wont really need them.With my current knowledge and skill it may just be the easiest thing to do tho.

what do you guys think about making a box for the 6.5's ( say 3 or 4 in one long box ) and then just sticking it on ther back window ledge.dunno how well it would work out in the back of the car , maybe even somewere else.Gonna look at the dash pieces i think i can get away with just a philips head screw driver to install the cd player , if thats the case i may just do that today.I can't take the damn audio in this car much longer hahaha.

*edit* this one looks nice to but a little bit to pricey http://cgi.ebay.com/Memphis-1500D-Excellen...1QQcmdZViewItem

Edited February 3, 2008 by irate-pirate

[WildSebring 0]

Yes it is a tiny piece of the puzzle, one of many characteristics for the woofer. But it tells a big part of it. Just like the the BL and the Xmas.

We all use different terms, just one I'm used too.

[///M5 2,833]

You really don't want your speakers behind you. You also really only need two. I would really think about just buying a single set of 6.5" components and modding the front 6x9 holes to let them fit. All it will take is an mdf baffle most likely. If not, that car is pretty easy to do stuff in I would guess.

I would shy away from the Hifonics, not what I would consider a quality piece. A real amp used would be a much better option.

[Irate-pirate 0]

I would shy away from the Hifonics, not what I would consider a quality piece. A real amp used would be a much better option.

Well what do you consider a real amp , i will look for used ones.

[///M5 2,833]

100's of options in that realm...I would assume most things you look at or could find would be better.

[subwoofery 0]

You could always replace your stock 6x9 by some quality ones:

http://www.imagedynamicsstore.com/idstore/...7f4db667f8f35d9

I believe this set comes with silk tweeter also. Might have to check them out.

[subwoofery 0]

More infos here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-x-9-XS-69-Image-Dyna...6.c52.m20.l1116

[Irate-pirate 0]

More infos here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-x-9-XS-69-Image-Dyna...6.c52.m20.l1116

Thats's great but about $400 more them i am looking to spend on a componet set..They look very nice but as i said i am just looking to build a mid grade system.