Car systems questions (sub woofers)

[DWBurke811]

So I've had my car for around 2 years, and plan on keeping it for a little. Bow that I know I like it, and since I don't really plan to do many "performance" upgrades, I want to get a system. I have a 2009 Mazda 6s GT.


What I'm thinking is two JL 8W7AE (8") and one 13W7AE (13"); being fed by a JL HD750/1 and a HD1200/1. Does anyone have a JL set-up that can comment on how it performs? I'm going to build the box myself, 13" in the middle with a 8" on either side, covered in black carpet matching my truck with a decent sized window(maybe multiple?) with red lighting/glow, and not sure yet what to do with the amps. While I'm doing this, I'm thinking(right now probably a 85% chance I will) about replacing all the speakers with JL Evolutions and checking into fitting a nice head unit, I would love something with internal storage(50GB+, or a SD slot? Or?) that plays FLAC(if it can't play FLAC then any internal storage is pointless IMO).

Now I do have a question about Dynomat; it's worth doing, right? I plan on doing the whole car.

I know this will be a pretty expensive set-up, but if I'm going to put the time in doing this, I want it to be worth it. Is there a better(higher quality, not cheaper) brand or anything I should look at?

Thanks everyone.


EDIT: My dads an electrical engineer, so once I have everything I'll just drive the 5 hours home(I'm in Tampa, FL and "home" is in Boca Raton, FL) for the weekend, so there's no worries about building the box or install or anything.

 

[MorphingDragon]

The JL subs should be a fine choice... but don' t you think 3 subs are overkill for a car that size? You could also explore Alpine as another option for a brand, as they seemed to of kept their quality up over the years. Pioneer are no longer as good as they used to be.

This is what I would do in terms of getting your components if you're tight for money:

Get a new radio/head unit in first. You'll see an instant improvement in sound quality, be patient and wait until you can get good quality components. Don't rush the progress, otherwise you'll end up with JVCs Once your head unit is in you can decide where to go to next. You might find that the original speakers are sufficient etc. I don't know about any head unit that plays FLAC, but spend enough money and you can get Head Units with an iPod dock, so you could play ALAC. Most newer Alpine, JL Audio or Kenwood Head unit should meet your needs. Fusion is also a good brand if you're willing to spend the money.

A well designed speaker box is more important than any acoustic padding in the car, as a badly designed box will distort sound and echo among other things (Unless you like the wub wub farting ) How large are you planning to make the box? Personally, I would put the 8"s in their own box. It should be sufficient to mount the amps on the back of the box.

 

[DWBurke811]

3 may be a little on the heavy side, I wanted the two 8"'s so it would be symmetrical; maybe I'm better off with one 13" and one 8".

I haven't measured my truck out yet, but I'm fine with giving up most/all of my truck; I can always put my golf clubs in the back seat, and, while my GF has a SUV, our 3rd car is a 500SL so I'm fine with not being super practical seat/space wise.

I'm cool with having separate boxes for the 13" and 8"(s), I would probably have them appear to be in one box but be two separate ones.


I think I'm going to do it all at once: head unit, speakers, subs, sound dampening.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I spent several years installing car audio systems professionally, including helping on the build of a car that set a world SPL record. (5 JL 15's in a Geo Metro )

DO NOT mix the 8's and 13's if they are both going to be playing the same frequencies. Doing that will only add distortion and not add anything, or cover more ground, than running either 2 8's or 2 13's.

I've spent plenty of time playing with W7's and you won't be disappointed with the 13's. Throw as much power as you can afford at them and have a blast, they play cleanly and get plenty loud. Set the crossover around 70Hz as a starting point and work from there. The lower you can get the front the play, the easier it is to blend the subs in without pulling the sound to the back of the car. Fixing rattles with help in this regard, I know you don't think the car rattles now, but trust me, it will. The Autosound 2000 tests CD's will help with the setup too.

Plan on upgrading the ground from the engine block to the chassis, the chassis to the battery, and the alternator to the battery with 1/0Ga wire. It will help greatly with power delivery to your amps. Don't bother getting any on those giant capacitors, the ESR is too high on almost all of them for them to be effective, especially if they have displays.

Go as hog wild with the sound damping as your wallet will allow. Make sure you clean all the surfaces thoroughly before sticking any damping material to them. Do the entire trunk, the floor, the decklid, the sides. Do the interior floor and roof if you feel like pulling the whole interior. Do the doors for sure. On the doors with speakers, do the outer skin, then seal off the inside of the door from the outside and cover everything you can see once it's sealed off. This will get you MUCH better response, and less distortion, from your door speakers. Do the back side of the door panels while they are off too.

If you have the interior out, then fill any open cavities with open cell foam too. If there is any chance of moisture getting in there then use closed cell foam.

 

[mscriv]

Now that I'm an old married man with children I don't have a system anymore, but when I did (17 years ago) my car audio was Alpine, JL Audio, and Phoenix Gold. The sound was clean and I really enjoyed it. I think Phoenix Gold has kind of fallen out of favor, but I believe JL Audio and Alpine are still good quality products. I don't think you can go wrong with either of those.

Please post some pics for all of us when you get the project going.

 

[MacHamster68]

i got 2 rockford fosgate T2's 12" and i cant say they are not loud enough or deliver not enough bass but a good 1000+ watt amp for each is a must i got 2 rockford fosgate R1200-1D @1 ohm amps


should see the kids dropping their jaws in their evo's standing on the lights next to my little chevy , when I get annoyed from the sound coming out of their car and turn up the volume full (a total of 5000 watt ) and listen to that


i'm over 40