If any car toys out there is like the one i have here in my hometown, they charge up the wazoo. so what i do, is go to car toys to see whats out on the market. they have a friendly way of comparing different subs to different speakers, using different head units and amps. and their employess will answer questions you ever have.

I found what i liked, and went to ebay to purchase. alpine's website offered each of my subs (10" alpine type Rs) at $180ea. car toys charged $160ea. I bought mine at ebay for $80ea. and my amp was $300 at car toys, $130 on ebay. Save yourself some money.

I knew a buddy who's family did custom boxes. I talked it over with him, and we decided on my setup. His older brother did the MDF, fiberglass and bondo work. My friend did the sanding, his dad did the painting, and his mom did the vinyl.

car toys, ultimate electronics, those places will do neat, custom orders if you are looking for that sort of thing. Or if a generic capeted box is your thing- a lot of people can do that for you, or read op on it.

A common thing to keep in mind with boxes, is sealed or ported. with sealed (as this question comes up a lot) the sound starts and stops quicker. great for instruments like kick drums and idea for punk and rock music. pro- clarity, con- sacrificed volume. with ported, the sound resonated off of the walls and escapes, making your sub's sound last longer, and since it's open, sound louder. but since it doesnt stop as quickly, it's less clear. it's all in opion and music taste.

Thats how I went about my set up. If anybody else has any good ideas, or different ideas, or thinks my ideas suck, let me know. Click on the pic to check out my subs

 

If everybody did that, the local shops would go out of business. I don't like to pay retail either, but I usually stay out of the stereo stores as much as possible. I will go in sometimes to put my hands on a product that I might be interested in, but I usually don't bother the staff. I would be wasting their time because I know that I am not going to buy anything, and paying customers are who pays the staff. People are expensive. That's why you pay "up the wazoo" in a retail store.

If it's a store that is selling good products at reasonable retail prices, then the price that you pay is justified if you know little or nothing about car audio. You are paying that extra percentage for the knowledge and expertise that your situation requires. I don't claim to know everything about audio (who does?), but I know enough to put together my own system. So my conscience generally doesn't allow me to overwhelm the retail staff with request for advice and suggestions. After all, I would venture to say that 80% of the time, that advice will be tailered to suit the needs of their business before it will suit your own needs.

About the sealed or ported thing... Personally, I love the sound of a kick drum on a ported box. It just seems to give added resonance and depth to the drum, but it's those sustained notes that really turn me away from ported boxes.

 

Now, I'm not a business owner. So i can't justify this, but I have seen places around here that don't charge up the wazoo, and are effecive. They know what they're doing, sometimes impress me to extremes. And this is a little hole ine the wall shop on the side of the road. Butat the same time, I'm sure you're eapking generally and I'm naming one example.

At the same time though, many poeple are suckers. And they don't konw what to do, where to go, how to go about doing it, etc. That's what car toys is for. I believe that the reason car toys is so expensive, is because they are a 1-stop full audio location. They know you don't know everything there is to know, and they know that they do.

Besides that, you find a kit for any car prduct, 9 times out of 10, its going to be more expensive because it's a one stop deal. more convenience means more price. And besides that, car toys is great for exotic installations and parts, just not my hting for audio. And I have knowledge about the audio systems as well, just now about specific products. That's where I ask questions.

In short, car toys is fine, but charges up the wazoo bc of convenience. same with all those places specializing in car audio

 

OK. I'll bite...

What the he|| does any of that have to do with "The perfect audio set up" ??

 

hah. its the perfect way, I've found, to get exactly what you want for a good price.

 

I found Ebay 9 years ago.... Where the hell you been???