Audio system. Need opinions

[Dsmj89]

I want to finish up my audio system by finally getting a pair of subs and amp installed, and wanted to know what do you guys think of MTX subs ?
I am thinking about getting 2-12" MTX subs in a ported box getting 500watts each. What do you guys think ?

Also, would 2-10" sound better on these cars ? I'm just looking for some thump but be able to hear my music good as well ?

 

[GSXSixteenG]

I didn't have any luck with MTX. I blew you 12's easily. Then I changed to JL. This was back in my CRX days. I never put any subs in my Eclipse so I can't advise you on what sounds good in these cars.

 

[97gst_spyder]

Alpine all the way... I ran a type-r 10in with a jl 1000.1 for 2 years+ with no problem.

 

[Dsmj89]

Nice. Just 1 sub getting 1000watts to it by itself ?

 

[97gst_spyder]

Yep. The rms is 500w the peak is 1500w. I picked the happy medium, .

 

[black_gst]

2 dvc kickers comp VR's with a 2400 d class mono block amp @1 ohm stable rms watts @ 1800

 

[Dsmj89]

I don't want obnoxiously loud bass, i just want some thump. A friend of mine has a 2g talon and he has 2-12's with 800watts to each i believe and sounds clean.
I just wanted to know if 2-10's would sound cleaner ? I'm not looking for competition just some more detail in my music.

 

[Spoolin18]

I've had several systems in my day. There is nothing wrong with MTX. I doubt the mtx subs failed because of the sub itself. In most cases, sub failure is due to the gain set to high on the amp. Wrong wiring, and wrong box design. Of course if someone did not match their amps watts to the subs output would be another cause. I ran 4 mtx 10"s and 2 mtx 1,000 watt amps in my truck for 3 years and never had a problem. It was so loud it rattled the cab welds loose. Most brand names are good. 10's are not as deep as 12's. They are more punchier. A sealed box will give you better detail and more accurate than a ported box. Rap music sounds best on a ported box. I personaly would go with 2 Diamond Audio 10's in a medium box with one of their amps. I have heard them all and love DA. Focal is good.

One other thing, Don't go by peak watts. Go by RMS. Peak is the amount the speaker/amp can handle/produce in a brief musical burst. Rms is the continous watts a sub/amp can deliver/handle all the time. The higher the rms, the louder the amp. Always try and match your amp to produce 80% watts of what your sub can handle. Like if your sub can handle 1,000 watts rms, get a 800-900 rms watt amp. Less chance of blowing and sound better without distorting. There is numerous possibilitys of wiring solutions to such as dvc mono amps. Cubic volume feet plays a role in the box design and the sound of the sub.

 

[Dsmj89]

Thanks a big bunch spoolin great info. I'm leaning towards 2-12's. So you said sealed is the best ? I listen to a little bit of everything but mostly spanish music.
Can you hear the sealed just as nice and clean inside as well as out ?

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Bad call asking what you think of a brand with car audio.

Everything will be biased answers.

Go to BestBuy, Frys, or any car audio shop and hear them for yourself. Of course the sales people will almost always try to lure you to the more expensive one, and talk down on the cheaper ones.

But let your ears pick, don't be afraid t hear the cheaper lesser names, if your happy with how it sounds there you go.

I personally recommend ported box if you dont have a powerful amp to drive the things to it's optimal requirement with a sealed box. 2 10s or 12s is plenty loud for our hatches. 1 12 should be satisfying for most people.

And yes you seem to be talking about peak power, speak of RMS please. I like getting a sub with DVC so I have some options with wiring configs.

 

[i_nick_2005_i]

I've always had (2) 12" subs in my vehicles they sound great. Especially in a sealed box, sealed is the best IMO. Also, with a sealed box you have alittle less chance of blowing/clipping your subs. Everything I own is Kenwood: Head unit, subs, 6x9's, amps for subs, amp for 6x9's.....never have had a problem. Just make sure you have enough wattage. I use (2) 920 watt max. amps for each of my 1200 watt max. subs and it's perfect, although bad for your hearing

 

[Spoolin18]

Thanks a big bunch spoolin great info. I'm leaning towards 2-12's. So you said sealed is the best ? I listen to a little bit of everything but mostly spanish music.
Can you hear the sealed just as nice and clean inside as well as out ?

Yes as long as your amp is loud enough. I also heavily suggest giving MEMPHIS AUDIO a listen. For sound quality, Memphis and Diamond Audio can't be beat. Sealed is the best for detailed accurate bass and will sufice for almost all music. Just make sure your box design matches your sub. You will have to run a little more power to be as loud as ported though. But sealed is still the way to go for detailed bass, it ain't as muddy as ported. One other little trick is a sub with a high sensitivity will squeeze more out of your amp than one with a lower sens. I also ran my amp on a heavy duty toggle switch so I could listen to talk radio if I wanted to, I could just shut the amp off.

I've always had (2) 12" subs in my vehicles they sound great. Especially in a sealed box, sealed is the best IMO. Also, with a sealed box you have alittle less chance of blowing/clipping your subs. Everything I own is Kenwood: Head unit, subs, 6x9's, amps for subs, amp for 6x9's.....never have had a problem. Just make sure you have enough wattage. I use (2) 920 watt max. amps for each of my 1200 watt max. subs and it's perfect, although bad for your hearing

Do you run the Kenwood excelon series?

 

[toxicity883]

Tens will always be cleaner, as for brand of subs MTX is ok as long as you dont overpower them. Memphis are great subs for the money, so are pioneers new comp line. Mtx are clean subs but usually fall prey to people using cheap amps with the gain turned as far us as it can go distorting them, The rms rating on a sub is put there for a reason and people tend to ignore that...alot.

 

[Spoolin18]

Each brand/company will have different leves of performance. There is alot of high dollar brands out there, It just depends on how much you are willing to spend. In my last system I had a mix of Memphis and Diamond audio. I also had a planet audio EQ in addition to the EQ on my head unit.

 

[i_nick_2005_i]

No, here is my head unit:

Kenwood KDC-MP528 MP3 and WMA enabled CD receiver:eBay Motors (item 280392620411 end time Sep-09-09 14:03:51 PDT)

Here's the amp I use for each one:

*Kenwood KAC-7202*2/1 Ch.Car Amp*920watts/Max output! - eBay (item 270408328305 end time Sep-11-09 20:17:47 PDT)

The subs:

NEW KENWOOD KFC-W3012 12" 1200 WATT CAR SUB SUBWOOFER - eBay (item 390075139104 end time Sep-26-09 10:08:16 PDT)

 

[Dsmj89]

Thanks guys, I will make sure the amp i use will be close t othe max rating rms of the subs. So if the sub is rated at 800rms i'll make sure it sees nothing less than 500 watts to that sub, per sub.
Thanks guys. And i like the idea of sealed, i think i'll go that way.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Well i have a jl 12w6v2 in a sealed box, with jl 500/1 amp, and its enough for my tastes in that small car. Its loud but clean, and not too boomy. Also i have a jl 300/4 with focals components, its sounds good for me. Two 12s thats a bit i think, but its what you want in your car, and other factors.

 

[Dsmj89]

Hmm, i'm having a good thought about it and i'm starting to lean into just 1 good sub and amp. I just want some punch and i agree with redturbo and jugrad, 2 subs sound loud as hell on our cars and bigger suv's.
I think i'm going with just 1. It's not like i'm going to be blasting the thing all the time either.
Thanks a lot guys.

 

[GSXSixteenG]

I've had several systems in my day. There is nothing wrong with MTX. I doubt the mtx subs failed because of the sub itself. In most cases, sub failure is due to the gain set to high on the amp. Wrong wiring, and wrong box design. Of course if someone did not match their amps watts to the subs output would be another cause. I ran 4 mtx 10"s and 2 mtx 1,000 watt amps in my truck for 3 years and never had a problem. It was so loud it rattled the cab welds loose. Most brand names are good. 10's are not as deep as 12's. They are more punchier. A sealed box will give you better detail and more accurate than a ported box. Rap music sounds best on a ported box. I personaly would go with 2 Diamond Audio 10's in a medium box with one of their amps. I have heard them all and love DA. Focal is good.

I can vouch that I had a lot power running to them. But they didn't hold up as well as I was expecting I guess, never got a distorted bass. They just decided to start sounding like bongo's one day. Never had the gained turned up too high because I had a Audiobahn Class D monoblock (800 at 1 ohm I believe, this was like 6 years ago when I first had my license). It was ###### a mix between too much power and having them bridged.

 

[i_nick_2005_i]

Here is another opinion of mine, to better help you. My system I listed above (which is pretty extreme) is carried over from my 92' Blazer, then was in my 79' Vette, then was in my 98' Eclipse RS.....I enjoyed it in my younger years (like 2 years ago, I know), but I also liked rap music back in my days. Now, however, I mostly listen to rock/alternative....I've grown out of my rap stage. I mostly put the system in the car because, basically, I had it. But I rarely listen to it at it's potential (or at all, for that matter) for the simple fact I'd rather hear my car and know if something is making wierd noises and what-not. Because it's had some issues. So, it's un-practical to say the least, and one sub will suit most people just fine, unless of course you want to "bump" like crazy.....More than likely you will enjoy the space of one sub versus two, and not to mention our alternators suck. I should have clarified these points earlier. Hope I helped in any way.

 

[black_gst]

I've had several systems in my day. There is nothing wrong with MTX. I doubt the mtx subs failed because of the sub itself. In most cases, sub failure is due to the gain set to high on the amp. Wrong wiring, and wrong box design. Of course if someone did not match their amps watts to the subs output would be another cause. I ran 4 mtx 10"s and 2 mtx 1,000 watt amps in my truck for 3 years and never had a problem. It was so loud it rattled the cab welds loose. Most brand names are good. 10's are not as deep as 12's. They are more punchier. A sealed box will give you better detail and more accurate than a ported box. Rap music sounds best on a ported box. I personaly would go with 2 Diamond Audio 10's in a medium box with one of their amps. I have heard them all and love DA. Focal is good.

One other thing, Don't go by peak watts. Go by RMS. Peak is the amount the speaker/amp can handle/produce in a brief musical burst. Rms is the continous watts a sub/amp can deliver/handle all the time. The higher the rms, the louder the amp. Always try and match your amp to produce 80% watts of what your sub can handle. Like if your sub can handle 1,000 watts rms, get a 800-900 rms watt amp. Less chance of blowing and sound better without distorting. There is numerous possibilitys of wiring solutions to such as dvc mono amps. Cubic volume feet plays a role in the box design and the sound of the sub.

This guy is right on... it is always better to have more amps than you need and you always want to match the rms watts between amps and subs i always try to match the rms watts of the amp to the peak watts of the subs or at least get close... then you wont ever max out ## amp.. and the more gain and power your amp puts out the more distortion you get and then BOOM!!! you blow your subs.. and be sure to match your OHM's also.. thats very important or BOOM!!!

 

[92AWDHX40]

With my amp ive got plenty of power with the sub i use, its no where even being maxed out. I play i now and then but, a lot of times id rather listen to my exhaust, and my turbo spool up. LoL.

 

[ian_maham]

Infinity Perfects if you can get a hold of them or some Infinity Kappas. I don't like Rockford Fosgate cause they are overrated, overpriced, and over populated. Another good choice would be Bose

I don't want obnoxiously loud bass, i just want some thump. A friend of mine has a 2g talon and he has 2-12's with 800watts to each i believe and sounds clean.
I just wanted to know if 2-10's would sound cleaner ? I'm not looking for competition just some more detail in my music.

I would mic match it up. Get a 10 and 15 or a 10 and a 12. 10's hit mids and highs pretty good. but 15's will hit those lows.

No, here is my head unit:

Kenwood KDC-MP528 MP3 and WMA enabled CD receiver:eBay Motors (item 280392620411 end time Sep-09-09 14:03:51 PDT)

Here's the amp I use for each one:

*Kenwood KAC-7202*2/1 Ch.Car Amp*920watts/Max output! - eBay (item 270408328305 end time Sep-11-09 20:17:47 PDT)

The subs:

NEW KENWOOD KFC-W3012 12" 1200 WATT CAR SUB SUBWOOFER - eBay (item 390075139104 end time Sep-26-09 10:08:16 PDT)

eww kenwood

 

[Spanky2324]

I had 1 Alpine 12" Type-S and it was more then enough for the eclipse. I forget which Alpine amp I had with it but it rocked the car very well. Clean sound inside and out.