Looking to add a subwoofer to my car...

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slugg

slugg

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
4,723
80
91
I'm not trying to shake the cars next to me, I just want to fill up the low-end sound. I'm looking for fidelity, not volume. I'd rather have a quiet sub with a consistent frequency response than something extremely loud, but completely unbalanced.

My head unit lets me control high pass filters to my speakers, as well as a low-pass to the sub. Thus, I'd like to divide the two at some frequency (which I could always change on my head unit), keeping the low-end frequencies OFF of my speakers, thus reducing distortion. In theory, of course.

Currently, I have Alpine Type-R speakers in the front and back (6.5" in the front, 6"x9" in the back). They really sound fantastic in my 2000 Honda Accord, considering that they're running straight off the head unit.

I do _NOT_ listen to rap music. I mainly listen to jazz, latin jazz, and latin music. Occasionally, I'll listen to trance (techno).

I was thinking of going with a 10" subwoofer. I don't know what model I should get (Alpine Type-R, since I already have the speakers?), or what type of box, or even what amp. Hell, I don't even know the best place to buy this stuff. I am not set on the Alpine brand; I am open to anything, but so far my experience with Alpine Type-R is very good.

So what advice could you guys offer me?

Thanks in advance!
 
D

DisgruntledVirus

Lifer
Dec 26, 2007
11,782
2
76
We need to know more information.

Price, what size trunk, would you want to fiberglass your own enclosure or buy a prebuilt one, do you have an amp for it already, and do you want sound quality/accuracy or loudness (sounds like accuracy/quality). There are some other questions I'm sure, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.
 
slugg

slugg

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
4,723
80
91
I would like to get the price as close to $200-300 as possible, including the box, amp, sub, and cabling. The trunk is 14.1 cubic feet in volume. I'd like to buy a pre-built enclosure.

Like I said before, I still need to buy an amp and I'm going for sound quality, not loudness.

Thanks
 
C

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
0
No need to fear.....audio geek is here!

I'm guessing you'd be happy with a small sealed-box sub. Unlike ported boxes, which are VERY specific to the thiele-small (electrical and mechanical) properties of a subwoofer, sealed boxes are pretty much non-specific so long as you don't get one too stupidly small.

Recommended subwoofers include the Dayton RS210HF, Hi-Vi SP10, and Infinity Kappa Perfect 10. All of these are well-regarded subs, though the SP10 is known for both good performance at the 80+hz crossover frequencies commonly used for car audio and the small space it occupies - a 0.75 cubic feet box should be just fine.

http://www.parts-express.com/p...cfm?Partnumber=297-460
http://www.amazon.com/Infinity...spension/dp/B0002DFIOI
http://www.parts-express.com/p...cfm?Partnumber=295-462

A heavy-duty box is very, very important. If possible, get one custom-made out of 3/4" or thicker MDF and have it heavily braced. A poorly-made, resonant box will ruin the sound.

I don't know car audio amplifiers so well (I'm a home audio guy), but for subwoofers, it's mostly just an issue of not melting. A 300W from any of the respected brands - JL, MTX, etc - should be fine.

EDIT: It is worth noting that subwoofers that are separated from you by some seats will not sound as good a as subs that aren't. There are some 6x9 subwoofers that you could swap out into your rear seats, or if you're feeling particularly mad, you could put some small subwoofers under the front seats of the car.

Further edit:
The 6x9 sub in question is the Tang-Band W69-1436.
http://www.parts-express.com/p...cfm?Partnumber=264-864

There's a good chance you'll need an unsightly MDF spacer to use it in the rear seats, but it's not too expensive and takes up no space.
 
K

Ksyder

Golden Member
Feb 14, 2006
1,829
1
81
I got 2 Alpine type r 10's running at 500w x 2 and they are awesome. Go with them if you like alpine gear. I hooked up just 1 by itself and it was still a ton of bass. Go with 1 in a sealed box like cheesehead said, Im sure you will be happy and it won't take up all of your trunk space.

Also, http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/ has some great deals. Look for a monoblock amp to go with that sub. Anything small would be fine, you should be fine with a cheap but good brand name amplifier.
 
BassBomb

BassBomb

Diamond Member
Nov 25, 2005
8,390
1
81
type r is a great sub
alternative would be infinity kappa

10" is fine for what you are looking for
 
K

Ksyder

Golden Member
Feb 14, 2006
1,829
1
81
Amazon or ebay also have great sub deals. I snagged the type r's for $100 ea. on Amazon.
 
C

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
0
Originally posted by: BassBomb
type r is a great sub
alternative would be infinity kappa

10" is fine for what you are looking for
Click to expand...

The Kappa Perfect measures much better, as does the SP10 and Dayton RS265.

I might point out that Alpine's top-spec components - the "F1" line - are not made by Alpine at all. They're actually just versions of off-the-shelf ScanSpeak midwoofers and tweeters built to Alpine's specifications by Tymphany.

If you're feeling flush, I've been informed that the JL 8W7 will give impressive high-quality bass in a small ported box.

If you want a subwoofer that can be placed anywhere - say, under your seat - consider a Tymphany LAT transducer. While you pay a price in efficiency and sound quality, the unusual transducer shape means that you can put one almost anywhere - while they do require a box like any other subwoofer, it can be quite oddly shaped.
 
K

Ksyder

Golden Member
Feb 14, 2006
1,829
1
81
remember the price limit is $200 to $300 for the whole thing... thats why the type-r's are a good recommendation in terms of bang for the buck.
 
alfa147x

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
what amp for Type-R 10" subwoofer or the Dayton RS265HO also if i were to build my sealed enclosure how much would that run?
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Depends on the tools that you have. At the very least you'd need a circular saw and some scrap wood to build a sawboard (guide) from, or a table saw. Then some clamps to glue everything up. You could cut the hole for the driver with a jigsaw, router, or rotary saw (e.g. a Dremel). A power drill will help to pre-drill the holes to mount the driver, especially if you use MDF; this'll prevent splitting.

You'd also need some binding posts or a terminal cup, and some wiring to connect the posts to the terminals of the driver.

EDIT: I wouldn't recommend a sealed enclosure for the RSS265HO-4. See this?
 
SithSolo1

SithSolo1

Diamond Member
Mar 19, 2001
7,740
11
81
Get a 10" Alpine Type R w/ dual 4ohm vcoils
A profile AP1000M amp off e b a y
And a good 3/4 MDF sealed sub box and be done with it.

I use cables from KnuKonceptz but you can probably get what you need from partsexpress.
 
J

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
I have a 10" Image Dynamics IDQ in a sealed 1.1 cf box with about 800w going to it from a 5 channel amp. ID is well known for good SQ subs and mine didn't disappoint but is pricy. The sub alone is your whole budget already. :)

Type R's are good but since youre just looking for something to fill up the low end I say you can do with the Type S (~$70) and use the money saved instead of going with the R's to buy a box. Look for a mono amp with 300w RMS and you'll be happy.

I recommend looking through www.sonicelectronix.com. Good prices and great service. For wiring go to partsexpress.com.
 
C

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
0
Originally posted by: Howard

EDIT: I wouldn't recommend a sealed enclosure for the RSS265HO-4. See this?
Click to expand...

The RS265HO-4 is down -4dB at 50hz. However, in car response will do a lot to boost this. An F3 of 40hz is all you really need for general music listening, IMO. Also, the power handling on these woofers is quite large - a bit of equalization couldn't hurt.

I'd much rather use a ported box, but a ported box will generally be much bigger and cannot be bought off-the-shelf.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Originally posted by: Howard

EDIT: I wouldn't recommend a sealed enclosure for the RSS265HO-4. See this?
Click to expand...

The RS265HO-4 is down -4dB at 50hz. However, in car response will do a lot to boost this. An F3 of 40hz is all you really need for general music listening, IMO. Also, the power handling on these woofers is quite large - a bit of equalization couldn't hurt.

I'd much rather use a ported box, but a ported box will generally be much bigger and cannot be bought off-the-shelf.
Click to expand...
Yes, cabin gain is significant, but it also works for the ported box, which is tremendously more efficient even 10Hz lower. With the ported box (which happens to only require 1 ft^3 and a 2"x12" round port) it'll be flat down to ~25Hz with perhaps a small hump at 30Hz due to cabin gain. Way better than the sealed which will poop out around 40Hz. I'll grant that most music doesn't go lower than that, but why waste such a nice frequency range?

EDIT: Simply consider that at 30Hz, the ported sub will need less than a quarter the power that the sealed sub needs to play at the same volume.
 
C

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
0
Originally posted by: Howard

Yes, cabin gain is significant, but it also works for the ported box, which is tremendously more efficient even 10Hz lower. With the ported box (which happens to only require 1 ft^3 and a 2"x12" round port) it'll be flat down to ~25Hz with perhaps a small hump at 30Hz due to cabin gain. Way better than the sealed which will poop out around 40Hz. I'll grant that most music doesn't go lower than that, but why waste such a nice frequency range?

EDIT: Simply consider that at 30Hz, the ported sub will need less than a quarter the power that the sealed sub needs to play at the same volume.
Click to expand...

All of what you say is correct. However, please consider:

A. He doesn't actually need anything below 40hz (below which you only find the bottom few keys of massive church organs and stupid drum-and-bass synth riffs)

B. He doesn't want much SPL

C. He doesn't want to build a properly tuned enclosure - he wants to buy one off the shelf.

D. He wants it to be small.

That said, if you want to try something unusual, consider the Hi-Vi D6.8. I have a pair of these in my speakers, and they produce all the bass you'd want out of a relatively small ported enclosure. A pair of these under the drivers' and passenger's seat running from 40hz-100hz would work very nicely indeed, providing you didn't want the volume up too loud.
 
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