Fi BTL N1 or BTL N2

[SubSam 21]

I'm not trying to turn this into an argument, but this is the way it works-

Determain your output goals (nothing to do with power yet)

Determain your drivers you will use (still nothing to do with power)

Design your enclosure, and then you will actually know what your power requirements are....

If you are able, apply the power you need to meet you goals......

I would say that particular chronology is realistically flawed. If you are a dB drag guy, and you know how it all goes in and out of a particular vehicle, then it works. But not in the real world, as somebody is bound to say:

"MY GOALS: OUTPUT = 170 dB BECUZ I WANT MAD DEEBEEZ, with 2 JL w0's BECUZ I LIKE THE COLOR AND I BROKE, in 5 cubic BEECUZ I HAS A CIVIC HATCHBACK ... what do i need theoretically, 50,000 watts? OKEEEEY thats cheap right?? HOORAY i planned my system!"

Instead, do what I do EVERYDAY: :simulated conversation: Hello ma'am/sir, you would like a nice stereo system? ok lets see the car... ok you have a (insert car model) how much space in the trunk/interior space can you SACRIFICE for your sonic goals? How much money are you willing to SACRIFICE for your equipment/electrical upgrades? How much time are you willing to SACRIFICE to build it yourself or to leave it here with us? LASTLY, what are your output goals, and what facet of your listening preferences are you willing to SACRIFICE to allow all of this to fit into your given space/budget/time limits?

Nobody gets a perfect system, period. And rarely is there not a major sacrifice that ppl just wont be able to make. Some ppl want their spare tire to be accesible, some ppl cant afford too much equipment, and some ppl just want it in fast. Its easy to think everyone wants an SPL setup just because they want BtLs or have 2000+ watts, but i think our friend here just wants a "daily" (when i use that word i intend to stay far away from SQ or SPL arguments) system that sounds good the first time.

The alloted size of the box and budget together, when walking a very fine line, allows you to determine your equipment. You cant have your heart set on an 18" btl if you have 16" for the baffle and 2.5 cubic to work with. If you really want 6 10's then expect tuning complications compared to a single woofer arrangement. If you want to determine the best setup for your car, start by deciding what you can live with and what you can live without.

Example from personal (non-professional) experience: Outside of my Q15's in my truck, ive never been big on multiple woofers, as im not much for SPL unless its at 28Hz. Therefore, for my latest personal installation, which the deadline was Dec. 2nd started Nov.11th, I calculated if I built the box in the car, I had roughly 7 cubic to cram into my trunk without blocking the tire well (huuuge trunk i know), but anytime its ported you need to err on the safe side, so estimate accordingly. After wood etc. my box is roughly 4.84 cubic @31Hz and 100 square inches of port flared with .75" PVC, (which isnt quite enough port area but i know that so i dont want to hear about it like i said its about walking the tightrope and making sacrifice) and i only knew that thanks to my $12000 dollar cad software. Most wont be privy to that, so you will have to carefully estimate. Now you can estimate a good match(s) for the volume/desired tuning you have. Now just bc i get to install $2000 systems everyday doesnt mean I will scrap that much dough for my install, so I budget for the maximum electrical load I am willing to punish my 150 amp rewound alt with. I figure i can easily run 2000 watts off three batteries with a custom built monoblock amp I have laying around, so i opted for the 15" gen 2 btl (but boy was i surprised when i had a newer btl option when it came to ordering time, so now its a N2 going in instead). If i wanted multiple woofers, I wouldnt be able to fit BtL 15's or even 12's probably, but luckily, i dont. If you saw my other posts elsewhere, i mentioned the car install isnt done as there is no woofer to install yet, though its finished for all other practical purposes, just the woofer didnt arrive in time for the car show. Also i gotta shave .25" off the bottom of the amp rack so i can actually get my spare tire out (i calculated too closely... the fiberglass i didnt plan on using added some thickness)

Spares out, but i had to deflate it to 5lbs first lol... yanked the carpet off the bottom so it looks weird but itll be fixed soon enough

My other choice was to turn the car into an SQ beauty, as the floors are already covered in MLV i had laying around and with center stage stock and a longggggg chassis. I couldve done 5.25 cubic tuned to 22Hz (yea thats right say something) with slightly smaller ports on a Q15 and 800-1200 rms and taken down the subsonics like it was nothing, but ive already done that, and i am willing to sacrifice the subsonics for extra output on a "higher" [low] tuning. Less strain on my vehicles electrical would be nice; its funny when ppl overload their VCM AND PCM as a result and start burning up the grounds to their engine sensors (like i just did running my bigass inverter straight from the alternator to weld my father-in-laws gas powered portable hydraulic log splitter back together out in the middle of nowhere), but its avoidable if you are willing to compromise.

Wow sorry this is so long... basically you can plan your upgrades in whatever order you please, but if you dont address the fundamental limiting factors first you will just waste time redesigning and rebudgeting.

[SubSam 21]

One more thing: If you really want to go over the top eventually, but you cant afford to now, try and plan for upgrades wherever possible. I know I will love the sound of my BtL N2 on 2300 watts rms, but I know I may eventually upgrade to even more power if I so choose, so i built room for a second monoblock if I eventually wanted to mount a 4ch elsewhere and put two "d's" in the trunk:

its ugly at this point i know but it shows how i obviously left plenty of room to accomodate two monoblocks if i want to... the auxiliary batteries are mounted to the right, so the bigger amp sits there closer to the batt at the moment

[SubSam 21]

Sketchup is a great, user friendly program. Autodesk is actually working on a simplifier AudoCAD to compete with it, because honestly, Google blew them out of the water with Sketchup

Sketchup has great potential with pretty good texture capability and it is quite user friendly, but seriously lacks the cleanliness and computational power of the better licensed programs, and gets glitchy when you model too extensively (in my three hour experience on my fiances HP laptop, probably would be better on my thinkpad). If you are the type to design anything or everything on a daily basis (like me) you may want to cough up the money for solidworks... not quite autoCAD but cheaper and it pays for itself in the headaches it prevents, especially in the car audio world. Let the program calculate the volumes, bracing positions, and overall mass of your enclosures (or many other applications) before you build them. Its awesome!

I look forward to seeing a "personal" freeware autoCAD tho, who knows maybe I can stop paying a grand annually for SW.

[95Honda 486]

So in your long post you had your drivers choosen before your power, right?

I'm not going to argue with you bud, the OP didn't really understand what he was asking and we pointed him in the right direction. Subjective answers only perpetuate incorrect knowlege.

Believe it or not, there are people on here who have more experience and knowlege than you. Help by giving objective advice.....

[NDMstang65 403]

You must figure out how much power you want to run first, and the budget for the electrical system as that is the foundation that the house is built on.

Then you match speakers to that.

[SubSam 21]

You must figure out how much power you want to run first, and the budget for the electrical system as that is the foundation that the house is built on.

Then you match speakers to that.

thank you, money determines everything

[///M5 2,833]

You must figure out how much power you want to run first, and the budget for the electrical system as that is the foundation that the house is built on.

Then you match speakers to that.

thank you, money determines everything

As in order of magnitude sure but your goals would already predefine that so in other words that order makes no sense unless you are being completely rudimentary. Installation parameters are always step one and that means driver selection. If not, you are really doing this backwards.

[95Honda 486]

You must figure out how much power you want to run first, and the budget for the electrical system as that is the foundation that the house is built on.

Then you match speakers to that.

The only thing we'll ever agree on is shitty diapers, lol.....

[///M5 2,833]

You must figure out how much power you want to run first, and the budget for the electrical system as that is the foundation that the house is built on.

Then you match speakers to that.

The only thing we'll ever agree on is shitty diapers, lol.....

Amusingly I just sent Nick a crossover in a diaper box, lol