i was sitting in my freinds truck which has a REDICULOUS amount of bass in it. and with 8 subwoofers inside the ab, i couldnt help thinking how clean it sounded even at high volumes. so the questions are, what do i need to do to have a nice clean sounding system at high volumes? amp to compo? what components? good components? what all is neccessary? thank you for the help

 

there is alot of stuff that goes into this. too much for a wall of text.
Well the deeper your pockets the better you can get. if price is no option look at the Focal Utopia BE. If you are like most of us research quality speakers to give you a full sound spectrum.
good Head unit mid/high range speakers, and low range speakers.

The combination of setups is endless. and you should think about what music you like, how much you want to spend, if you want a simple hook em up and go or if you want to do some mods to make it perfect.

 

Subs are the last place quality comes in to a audio system. First are quality components.

I'd recommend Rainbow for components. I run Rainbow's 6.5" Germanium components they run around $600 a set. They sounds absolutely fantastic and I haven't heard anything come close to them in quality. They do a great job down to about 60 hz but I cut them off at 80hz with a 12db roll off down to 60hz. Then my subs start to fill in around 80hz.

You can't use cheap amps or head units, this is where specifications count not just the names brand. Kenwood, Eclipse, Alpine, Pioneer, ect.. all make crap level stuff and all make platinum level stuff.

This will get long winded but I really don't want to carry on though unless you can tell us what sort of budget you have. I just don't have the time building wet dreams.

 

well, as far as price range goes....i have my subwoofers and amp for those as well as a aftermarket head unit. i would like to spend $300.00 for the speakers and tweeters front and back. an amp would also help sound wise?

 

While $500+ components are tempting, I would highly recommend focusing on your install and processing. Do a lot of research. I bought most of my equipment used: spent $90 on my mids and $80 on my tweeters, and I am confident it will compare to or beat the majority of high dollar passive component sets. I use a lot of power and have done a lot of prep work to the doors and floor of my truck. Speaker placement and aiming is also key. Processing equipment will really shape your soundstage and give you that solid center image you seek. Oh and about your question "is an amp necessary?" Proper amplification is an absolute must for quality sound.

 

msall, thank you for your input i will really consider your information while shopping as i have read most posts and your knowledge is in most, plus we both have arizona beige supercabs

 

Alpine Type R components are bang for the buck.

 

True, installation can make or break any system. Sound deadening really helps boost your audio levels. You've heard vehicles that sound like they are going to shake apart with rattles everywhere. They are loosing considerable amounts of volume through those rattles. The goal is to move air not metal so the added weight of sound deadening helps do that. There are many different brands of sound deadener on the market. I used dynamat Xtreme from a ebay seller named soundsgreat. There was a website called www.sounddeadenershowdown.com that went into an in depth review of nearly all the products available but it looks like they turned into a vendor so I can't say their test are not biased at this point. I did manage to find a thread over of RoE that summarizes their original results here. RoE is a fantastic source of information especially on subs.

One thing you are going to find is the better speakers tend to have a higher sensitivity rating exceeding 90dB 1W/1m and they don't boast extreme power ratings. I didn't beat around the bush and went right to the best I could afford at the time and got lucky buying mine used from a member on here. I'm sure there are a few hidden gems out there that don't cost as much but you'll have to do some heavy research there.

 

Polk makes some really good speakers also. I love JL for my subs.

 

I have Hertz HSK 165s in my doors and they sound perfect.

 

PLANNING. If I had to put it in one word that would be it. First thing you need to do rather than listen to your friend's truck for a minute or two is sit in there and really listen closely to each aspect of the sound and decide what you like and don't like, what you want more less of. How do the vocals sound. How do instrumentals sound. Is everything clear? Where does the music sound and feel like it's coming from? Is there any aspect to the sound that hurts your ears?

Research the basics: What frequencies correspond to what types of sounds, what drivers reproduce what types of frequencies. The relationship of rms wattage to loudness and sound quality. What equalizers do, what the controls on an amplifier do. Do it for yourself, don't let a car audio shop educate you.

Then start accumulating parts based upon the sound you want. This seems to be where people get most confused: People will SAY they want all around clear, quality sound but then they'll couple an amplified, thousand watt-plus, multiple woofer substage with Best Buy coaxials run off the 15 watt/channel head unit and wonder why they're not getting the effect they were shooting for.

If you want SPL (loud bass) then fit as many large woofers as you can, feed them lots of power, and call it a day. If you want loud bass incorperated into an overall SQL (sound quality) oriented system, you will need to pick drivers and amplifiers with an eye towards balance, with good enough equipment and enough power in all aspects of the install so that nothing drowns anything out. Those who don't know the hobby all that well think a subwoofer setup = a car audio system. There are other types of speakers out there. (sarcasm intended but not directed towards you.) You can have lots tons of bass and clear sound but you have to invest in good drivers all around. Garbage in, garbage out. The type of sound you get will be determined by where you concentrate your efforts and money.

Oh and I don't care what anybody will tell you, buy the most powerful amplifiers you can afford. The more power the better in both sound quality AND sound pressure installs. Don't listen to any drivel about how feeding a speaker 2 watts more than its rms rating will kill it instantly. Just ain't true. It's all in how you tune, but better to have an overabundance that you can control with the gain **** than not to have enough.

No resource is perfect and some of the information from the following website is a bit outdated but it breaks things down about as good as any for a beginner.

http://www.bcae1.com/