I am brand new to this - I know nothing about ohms, brands, cost or anything. I've been reading on here for a few days now.

I just bought a used 2003 Super Cab. They guy before me had a new stereo installed and a custom box with 2 12" on top of the back seat. He kept the subs and box and amp when he sold me the truck, and now the stereo sounds very high pitched as there is no bass in the car anymore. The other speakers are stock.

I do a lot of wood working, so building a box is no problem. I don't have a very big budget, so I'm shopping used on Craigslist. I learned from reading a bunch of threads on here that I want shallow mount and I probably want 2 -10". I don't need competition level sound. I just want to hear it above the hum of my 36" mudders on the freeway

So here are my questions
What are some brands/models I should look for on craigslist? What should I expect to pay?

I read a lot of people like the Alpine type R. What would a used pair of those cost (roughly - I know it will depend)? I found one pair on my local craigslist with no price. I texted the guy and he said "make me an offer".

Same question about amps. Brand/model and what should I pay?

How can I tell if the speakers and amp are any good when I go to pick them up?

Maybe it's easier for me to post a couple things I've found and you tell me if the speakers are any good and if the price is fair.

Thanks!

 

Definitely would be easier to find things and post them.

If you want under the seat subs, you'll either want 2 10's, 2 12's, or 1 12". Depends on the sub, for an underseat box you'll most likely be able to get .65ish cf per each sub at the most, so you'll definitely want shallow mount, and a sub that can work good in small sealed boxes (check manufacture specs).

If you go with the subs on the seat, I'd go with a single 12", easier box to build, and around the same output as two comparable tens. Here depth of the sub and airspace needed isn't as big of an issue since you can build a box as big as needed.

Brands to stay away from for subs and amps: Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, Boss, Audiobahn, Autotek, FLI, there's so many more that I don't want to list. The easiest way to check is to google something like "whatever sub review", and only read the ones that are on sites dedicated to car audio. Reviews on sites like amazon, sonic electronics, etc. all are from people who generally have very low knowledge of car audio past walmart.

The brands you'll generally see on craigslist that are worth looking into are JL, Rockford Fosgate, Kicker, JBL, and Alpine. At least that's what I generally see around here on my craigslist.

If they're type r shallows used, you just hit a gold mine. They rarely pop up used and retail new for like 360. If they're standard type r's ebay or caco is always a good reference for average going rate of used subs/amps.

To test speakers, you can use a dmm and do the 9-volt test. You use the dmm to test the resitance of the voice coil (the + and - terminal on the sub). You want it to read close to what the sub actually is. For example if it's a 4ohm sub it may read around 3.4ohms, but that's okay. The 9-volt test you touch a 9-volt battery to the terminals and if you see the cone move then you know it's not blown. Also you can gently press down on the center of the cone with your hand. If you hear nothing it's fine, if you hear a scratching sound, the sub has a problem somewhere.

Testing the amp is harder, the only real way is to power it up and see how it works. And testing the sub is easiest that way too, so you can really listen for anything that's off.

 

so assuming by saying shallow mounts u want to keep it under the seat. you can prolly fit 2 12 shallow mount under there. check out rockford they have some decent shallows. box building isnt hard but there is some math behind it. the formula is length x width x height = cubic inches then cubic inches /1728= cubic feet. when you measure make sure to account for wood thickness. i like to account for sub displacement also. like the post above me said for the sub take a dmm to the coil or both coils if it is a dual voice coil if it is 4 ohm vc it should read any where from 3 to 4.2 ohms. the amp only way to tell is hook it up really. make sure to check fuses to.

 

You guys are awesome! This is exactly what I was hoping for. I think I have enough here to at least narrow down the 100s of listings on Craigslist to a few finalists. I'll post here if I find something that looks worthwhile. Thank you!

Yes, I'm thinking under seat. My kids sit in the back all the time so I need the seats.

DMM - is that an abreviation for a a multimeter? I googled it and I'm assuming its not climbing gear or disease models and mechanisms. haha. My bro in law has one I can borrow. He can teach me how to use it. I can work through most of my engine, I can build just about anything out of wood, I'm an expert bike mechanic, but electronics are not my world (yet). I just swapped my wife's battery in her car last week and managed to weld the handle of the wrench to the body of her car - and give myself a good scare in the process. That's how much I understand about electricity and electronics...

Thank you for your help!

 

Yup multimeter! If you don't have one you can pick one up at radioshack for like ten bucks, you don't need a fancy one. It'll come in handy later on in case something ever starts acting weird in the audio system, it makes testing a lot easier.

 

yea a dmm is cheap. i think mine was like 5 bucks or some thing like that. just make sure it is able to read ac and dc voltage along with ohms. you dont need one with the amp clamp unless you want to really figure out the true rms your amp is putting out then you would need 2 dmm one for voltage and 1 for the amps.

 

Is DTX an ok brand? Seems like there are tons of them floating around craigslist in my area.

Also, is a single 12" enough to make the system sound pretty good? I have no frame of reference for what 2 10" vs 1 12" would sound like. I can buy a new Alpine type R 12" inch for around the same price as two used 10". (there was a guy selling two 10" type r for $150. That's a new 12". I'm thinking of maybe going that route instead.

 

in my opinion i have yet to hear any shallow mounts that sound good. but if you dont want it really loud just go with 1 12 in a sealed box. as for dtx i have never heard of them.

 

Two type r 10's would sound nice.

Never heard of that brand either so I'd stay away.

As for shallows, the best are the stereo integrity bm, alpine type r shallow, or the jl tw5. All the rest of the shallows are subpar.

 

I know why you guys have never heard of DTX. It's because I'm an idiot - it's MTX. haha

Anyways - what do you think about these?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0JR-000V-00026

 

Good subs, my friend has a pair and they sound pretty good in the right size sealed box.

And I'd pass on mtx too, definitely not what they used to be.

 

yea if they were older mtx id say go for it. but i havent seen any thing good from mtx in a few years.

 

I bought those speakers that I linked to above. They were on clearance, read several reviews that said they were good, and got the ok here so I bought them.

I'm going to build a box for them. The specs said the sealed box volume should be .4-1.0 cubic feet. That seems like a huge range. Should I shoot for the lower or upper end of that range? Should I mount the amp inside or outside the box?

So now I need an amp.

The speakers are 300W each 2 ohm. From what I read, if I go for something like a 750W amp, that will easily power the speakers and thus the amp doesn't work as hard and doesn't get as hot. Is that logic sound?

What is the difference between a mono and dual channel amp? Can I use either one?

One of the board members messaged me and mentioned that I could wait until black friday, which i think is a great idea, so I'm just shopping around now.

I've noticed a huge range in price for these though, so I'm not sure where to start. Any tips or brands I should look for when I shop the black friday sales?

 

your gonna want a amp that puts out 600watts rms at either .5 ohm or 2 ohms. since those dubs are dual 2 ohms you can wire each one down to 1 ohm or wire each up to 4 ohms to get a final load of .5 or 2ohm.

 

here is a amp that would be fine for those subs 600 watts rms at 2 ohms. http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...t-FX1.600.html