Is Stock Infiniti System enough to drive a thumper??????

[Turbo_Frog]

I really want just a 10' sub in my car to give me a little bump. I dont want anything loud enough to give me a headache or wake up the neighbors. Just a little bass to create a clean sound. My question is, is the stock Infiniti radio and amp enough to give a 10' sub a little kick? I dont want to have to buy an aftermarket stereo but if I have to get a smaller more powerful amp I dont mind. So if the stock system is enough for what Im looking for.....great, if not what size amp do I need to get? Thanks!

 

[Black98GST10]

Well the Infiniti amp that should be under your passenger seat could probalby barely give you any bump and its also connected to all 4 of your speakers, so you would have to rewire those too. I would just buy the 10 inch you want a a cheap 600 watt amp or maybe even a little less. You could get one for like 50 bucks off ebay. If I were you I would just get one of those bazooka tube subs, cuz they weigh nothing and sound good!

 

[Turbo_Frog]

Are those Bazookas already amplified? Or would I still need a small 600 watt amp?

 

[jimwross]

It depends on what "bazooka" tube you get. Some are self-amplified, others require an external amp.

 

[Black98GST10]

Im talking about a tube sub, no u need an external amp to power it

 

[96TSi_Chris]

Just get an internally amplified bass tube. Ive had one for the past 2 years and i cant say enough about it. It puts up really clean, nice sounding bass. Nothing thats going to wake the neighbors or win compititions, but it sounds real good. It weights next to nothing, its cheap, and its cake to hook up. Id recommend it highly

 

[futrgsxonr]

OK, first of all, lets make sure that a 10" sub is the right size for you. A lot of people have the misconception that the smaller the size, the softer it hits. While this can be true, it is not the purpose for having different sized speakers. Its purpose is to provide different subs that perform best at different sound frequencies. Most people would agree with this:

8-10" - Rock/Jazz etc
10-12" - Most music
12-15" - Rap

Now if a 10" is still what you want then we can go from there. I have had great personal experience with Infinity Reference series subs and Rockford Fostgate amps so these are what I will recommend.

Infinity Reference 10" Sub

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3291&item=5718393648&rd=1

Rockford Fostgate Punch P2002

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39737&item=5718511253&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW


You'll also need to find a box with a .75 cubic ft enclosure. I looked but couldn't find one, sorry. Hope this helps.

 

[WhiteCloud]

If you listen to any rap, trust me go with a 12" sub . I had one MTX 10" in my camaro before I bought my Talon, and while it delivered beautiful bass, it was just not deep enough for some of the low notes in rap songs.

I am a staunch proponent in support of the stock Infinity system! IMO the door and dash speakers are plenty loud enough for my needs, and aside from the bass which distorts at high volume, the mids and highs are great!

I bought a $30 adapter from an audio shop (called a line-out or speakerwire-->RCA adapter). Just tell your local car audio shop you want to hook up an amp to a stock deck without pre-outs. Once you hook up the adapter, you can attach an aftermarket amp with RCA cables, just like you could on an aftermarket deck. I spent the following for my setup:

-$30 for RCA lineout adapter
-$70 for amp at Best Buy (350 watts)
-$30 for sub at Circuit City (Pioneer, 400watt max)
-$10 for amp kit at Wal Mart
-custom box and installation ($10 in materials)

Sounds great. Not a huge fan of the Pioneer sub I have in there right now...I may try an MTX at some point instead. Go for the sub with the stock system though, man--for the price of a low-end aftermarket CD player you can get a great sounding all-around system!

 

[n2orbit]

whats up man im the one who pmed you about your rims.. first off you dont need to get a aftermarket cd player.. my first system in my gst was all stock but i got this thing at best buy (its a like box, speaker wire goes in one side and other side has rcas you have 2 unplug one of the rear speakers i belive) hooked up a orion hcca 225 up to 2 12's sound quality was good and it beat like hell and u use the bass nob on the cd player to turn up the bass or down.. bass tubes are ok but i think over rated. the infinity basslink sounds really good though probally from what you said all you need and it has a built in amp and you can get them on ebay for 150-250 bucks depending how many are listed and if you wanna spend the extra money for one thats clear.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

8-10" - Rock/Jazz etc
10-12" - Most music
12-15" - Rap

.

thanks for that info! now i know not to get a 10" gonna go go with 12's

 

[n2orbit]

dont forget it also depends on the make of the subs. i had 4 10's and it was louder and hit harder and yes i know its 40 inches of air space vs 24.. but hell get a 10" orion hcca sub or jl w7 hook up the right amp and it will hit harder then alot of 12's out there so remember this when you go to lay down your money. just like im sure some of u know guys with a jensen 1,000 watt amp pushing 2 subs and have another boy with a say, rockford,sounstream, 400 watt amp that sounds alot louder. get what i'm sayin

 

[HighPsi92GST]

when i go to do my audio stuff in my show car, looks like i will be doing a lot of searching to figure out what i need/want. i cand do all types of custom body work and sub enclosures, anything like that...but when it comes to audio, dont know anything

 

[WhiteCloud]

dont forget it also depends on the make of the subs. i had 4 10's and it was louder and hit harder and yes i know its 40 inches of air space vs 24.. but hell get a 10" orion hcca sub or jl w7 hook up the right amp and it will hit harder then alot of 12's out there so remember this when you go to lay down your money. just like im sure some of u know guys with a jensen 1,000 watt amp pushing 2 subs and have another boy with a say, rockford,sounstream, 400 watt amp that sounds alot louder. get what i'm sayin

Have you read anything in this thread so far? We've already established that 10s and 12s can be equally LOUD, but the difference is in the range of notes they can hit. 12s can hit much deeper notes than 10s. So if you're going for loud, take your pick. If you're going for deep, go with a 12 or 15 inch woofer.

 

[n2orbit]

yes i know what you are saying and im staying with my statement.. i dont care if u have a 15 if its a pos it will not hit as deep as a good quality sub.. buy a poor quality 12 or 15 give me a good quality 10 and it'll hit deeper.... i mean you think about it a 15 with a paper cone going to hit has hard as the new high quality stuff thats out.. i think not.. im not trying to be a pain just trying to get the point across that i first tried to make

 

[Generation1JeY]

n2orbit is right, u can talk about specs all u want being better for certain things, but believe me it all comes down to how much money u put down for it and who makes it. They have 12" 1000Watt RMS Subs at Kragen for 25$, just because its 12 inches and has a lot of power outtage does not mean it will hit hard or sound good at all. One of my friends had a jl 8" sub with a better amp, with pumping out less than 800watts he would hit harder then most guys with 3 12"s, it all depends on who makes it and how much it costs, not how big it is and the power it can put out.

 

[Turbo_Frog]

Ok, so this is what I am doing.......12' Punch Sub. (found one for $35) and a small Amp with 300-500 watts. My cousin will make me a small box cause I really dont want anything big. I really prefer compact and I dont want it to stick out and draw attention. My question was hooking up a sub to the stock Infiniti amp and radio, but obviously I would be better off just getting an external amp to rock the sub. One last question though, If i get an external amp (external, as in something other than the stock one) would I need to rewire everything to the new amp or would the Infiniti amp still be in use? Thanks again for all the replies...... Keep the info coming, I know nothing about wires and car audio.

 

[WhiteCloud]

Right, I agree. Quality definitely matters. Some lower quality 12s will still hit deeper notes than more expensive 10s. But I agree that if you get a POS Circuit City Brand 12" sub, you may not get as deep of notes out of it as you would a nice JL 10".

But still: decide your size first, in my opinion. There isn't a terrible amount of difference in price from 10-12". Maybe 5-10% per sub. So decide what size you want (the music style to sub size chart posted earlier was pretty good ), then decide how much you want to spend.

 

[n2orbit]

this is all u have to do.. go to a best buy/circut city or audio store.. tell them your running the factory radio and are adding a amp and sub.. i forget what its called but i exsplaned what it does in my first post. maybe what the otehr guy stated RCA line out adaptor... leave the stock amp alone... run a new power and ground wire to the new amp.. hook up the sub run the speaker wires and on the radio turn up the bass and the sub gets alouder .. also if your going with rockford try and get one thats a dvc (dual voice coil) but thats up to you...

 

[WhiteCloud]

n2orbit is correct...keep your other speakers as they are, connected to the infinity amp. You connect the line-out adapter to the wires coming off of the back of the stock receiver. Then you connect the RCA cables to the adapter, and to the back of the new amp (run them under the carpet and the center console). Run JUST the sub off of your new 300-400 watt amp (bridged). I like to turn the bass dial in the infinity headunit all the way down (thus minimizing bass from the door speakers) and the bass boost setting on my sub amp almost all the way up. This way nearly all of the bass comes from your sub.

Let me know if you have any questions about the install, I'd be glad to help!

 

[pinknuggit]

I've never seen as much skewed information in one thread as this one. Remember, that there are certain opinions, which are reasonable, yet there are factual points on the matter which haven't been discussed yet.

The Size of a speaker has Nothing to do with the way it performs. A speaker's performance is 100% dependant on the install in the vehicle and the enclosure charachteristics.

"8-10" - Rock/Jazz etc
10-12" - Most music
12-15" - Rap"

This is, for the most part, true. However, that is if you follow manufacturers reccomendations on enclosure designs.

The only reason a different speaker Size should be considered in an install is Space limitations or Output level. A brandX series 2 10" subwoofer will sound exactly like a brandX series2 15" subwoofer if both boxes are proportional to each other spec-wise and share the same design and implementation in a vehicle.

More or less, the theile/small parameters of the majority of consumer car audio subwoofers are within a certain boundary considered "the norm". These specs are things like resonant freqency (fs) (The frequency at which the sub will resonate in free-air), mechanical/electrical and Total Q factor of the driver (Qes, Qms, Qts), and impedance.
Taking this into consideration, you are able to basically do anything you want with more or less any driver on the market. You can make a 15" driver perform as a midrange (if you somehow feel the need to), or you can make your 8" druver perform as a Sub-bass module.
It's ALL in the install!!!

Vehicle also plays a role too. Generally, a larger cabin space with appropraite damping will yield a lower cabin resonant frequency, while smaller cabs like single cab trucks will yield a higher cabin resonant frequency, thus displaying differente charachteristics. A brandX 10" sub system in your truck will sound different than the same system in a suburban or soft top jeep or a CRX.
Generally, when you plan a system, you need to take these things such as vehicle resonance and enclosure charachteristics into play.

Just for kicks, I did an install for a customer on a budget once. She had this old 8" MTX blue thunder classic sub (Old!). I built a 2 cubic foot ported box tuned to 26 hz!! In her car, and with approximately 55 watts, it registered 124db @ 28 hz!!! Everyone who heard the sub would swear up and down that it was a 15" or 12" sub!

If you're interested in enclosure design and speaker performance in different enclosures, check out www.powered4sound.com. They have a special box design called the "snail shell". As a demonstration, they built a snail shell box for two audiobahn 6.5" drivers and went on to show performance similar to a general 15" sub in a 15" enclosure.

So in summary, speaker size has nothing to do with the way it sounds. With enclosure tuning, you can make a 15" sub have quick, sharp response like a 10", or you can make a 10" sub extend lower than any 18" sub on the market.
It's ALL in the install! (implementation of design charachteristics of a sub box in relation to sub specs). it's a good motto to remember.

 

[futrgsxonr]

Good info pinknuggit and I completely agree with your statement. But honestly, it was probably too advanced for the original poster. Like he said, he knows nothing about car audio so your technical description probably wasn't too helpful. That was why I kept my discription nice and simple. Not trying to bash at all, just saying.

I have a single 12" Infinity Referance sub in a sealed enclosure with the Rockford Fostgate 301s and an alpine 9813 and hit a 141 db. I beat a lot of guys with 15"s and 3 12"s. So yes you can make a 12" hit harder then a lot of other things. Car audio is just like an engine, you have to tune it to get it working at it's best. I've spent countless hours messing with the amp's gain settings and the headunits crossover settings to get the most out of my sub. But most people arn't as into car audio as I am and just want something to fill in the bottom end. So my point here is: yes I totally agree with pinknuggit but because of the original poster's experience and goals, it's probably best to keep things simple.

Later | "B"

 

[pinknuggit]

Also look into the Infinity basslink for a simple bass solution. That way, you won't have to worry about buying an amp and sub separately. The basslinks will outperform the bass tubes hands down!

 

[Attack Eagle]

i'll second that, but it wont be as "tight" as a sealed enclosure 10 with a larger amp would be and they are pretty pricey. (400+ new)

I have one now and it worked well with my mostly stock system butI have outgrown it, so out it goes for a kicker compVR 10"... I'm sacrificing a little lower bass but i can't afford the space a 12" requires. I am trying to get it mounted where the factory "pocket" was on the pass. side so I still have room for luggage, stroller, etc.

I honestly wish I had gone with 2 10's, a box, and an amp for the same $$$.


hopefully by next week i'll have my q forms and mbquarts in to supplant my 6.5 subs in the doors, and have the amps and xovers in so I can start construction on the enclosure for the 10"

 

[pinknuggit]

cool, i've got a set of aura mobile reference components running active in some modified q-forms.

 

[Turbo_Frog]

Well thanks again for all you guys info!