Any other serious car audio nerds here?

[rideit]

You missed the part about me valuing my hearing. At 120 db and up, sure, you will hear it, but at ~ 100db, barely.

[thaar]

All true, but I already own three Sundown SA 8 v.1.5's, so I am going to build a box for them that will be compatible with the beastly v.2s. Have you checked these out?
Qts ~.476
They are pretty sick for the price, as well.

http://www.sundownaudio.com/index.ph...?category_id=3
As for components, what de you prefer?
Hertz?
ID?
Rainbow?
Home brew Tang Band?


As to 300B's, I wouldn't run them for off road 4 wheelin'

I almost went with some Hertz Imagine 6.2's for their midbass, but decided on the JBL's since they have received solid reviews and put out a ton of midbass. I like the Rainbow Germanium's but they were more than I wanted to spend. The ID XS's were too deep for what I wanted, and I don't necessarily trust their QC anymore since Eric Stevens left. I loved their IDMAX, but can't wait to get my WGTi installed.

[neonorchid]

For real? I find that hard to believe. Is the interior space more cramped due to the soundproofing? Can you still hear sirens/other car's horns while inside the car? Not saying you're full of shit but I was unaware things like that existed and find it hard to believe I wouldn't' be able to hear your bass if you turn it up.

Of course you'd hear it, a 50Hz wave is 22.6' long, 28.25' @ 40Hz, 37.66' @ 30Hz...! I hate being stuck at a light around the run of the mill* car audio jerk off, like you said it's annoying as fuck, thump thump thump thump!!!!

*i said run of the mill, obviously the OP isn't bothering anyone in the expanse of Wyoming and is thoughtful enough to know when and where to turn it down. And fucking Wyoming, darn i'm envious! All i can do is look at cloud formations imaging the mountains of his landscapes!

[PNWbrit]

I have never seen the point of put high end, expensive audio equipment inside a noisy glass and metal box that rattles and vibrates.

^ This........

[rideit]

That's assuming the wave is uninterrupted, of course.
Hence the advantages and disadvantages of box rise!
Did you know that the Grateful Dead pioneered the use of stage setups that allowed for precise waveform tuning to the soundboard?
As well as the first PA sets to use time alignment for tuning large venues?

[rideit]

Orchid, I just scored a set of Diamond Hex pro 6.5' comp set with their best passive X overs for $100 shipped five minutes ago.
Killer.
I will try them before going to full active with a JBL MS8 or a mini DSP, haven't decided yet.

[Mathematics]

BUMP

Always amazed what pops up when I search on TGR. Not really a legit car audio nerd but have gotten alot more into it this summer for whatever reason. Put infinity 8602's in the doors & replaced the stock sub & amp with a 10" pioneer shallow mount sub & kenwood 5 channel...everything tucked away behind trim, looks factory/stock until music starts playing. Will be putting in Polk MM6501 comps next time I'm home...never had tweeters so stoked to hear the difference.

I find that hard to believe. Is the interior space more cramped due to the soundproofing? Can you still hear sirens/other car's horns while inside the car? Not saying you're full of shit but I was unaware things like that existed and find it hard to believe I wouldn't' be able to hear your bass if you turn it up.

My sound-deadening is on the doors, pillars, & floor - butyl mat with foam & a layer of mass loaded vinyl...everything is behind trim or under the carpet, no lost space. I have to have music turned up louder than I would ever comfortably listen to it for you to hear it outside of my car. Dudes bumping six 12" subs at stoplights just to rattle the car next to them = ghetto audio, not car audio.

[iceman]

Bump -Not a serious car audio nerd by any means here, so I could use some guidance. Getting ready to replace the POS stereo that was in this car when we bought it, what brands/power/whatever should I be looking at? It's a small loud convertible, so a real audiophile-quality system would probably be pointless but still want a decent system.

The ability to stream internet music from an iphone would be a big plus. The wife drives this car, she is perhaps the worst person on the planet when it comes to using technology, so simplicity is also a hudge plus.

[4matic]

Bump -Not a serious car audio nerd by any means here, so I could use some guidance. Getting ready to replace the POS stereo that was in this car when we bought it, what brands/power/whatever should I be looking at? It's a small loud convertible, so a real audiophile-quality system would probably be pointless but still want a decent system.

The ability to stream internet music from an iphone would be a big plus. The wife drives this car, she is perhaps the worst person on the planet when it comes to using technology, so simplicity is also a hudge plus.

Spend the money on speakers. Skip the pop up video displays and get a unit that has display which is easy to read in the sun (convertible)

[stfu&gbtw]

I've been thinking about this recently - I used to be big into car stereo equipment.

I was friends with a guy who was the lead tech at a shop in NJ and he gave me free access to use the shop. I had a mazda miata that tore apart to get a system into. Custom sub enclosure in the trunk - disassembled the whole interior to cut through the firewall into the trunk and added bracing for bass ports behind the seats. Had 4 10" JLA W6 subs in the back. Cut the doors up to make room for some MB Quart 8's and another pair of 8's on the rear deck behind the seats. Pulled the tweeters from the headrests and moved them to the upper door panels. I forget which amps, c/o, caps I was using. Had a nice Kenwood head. We stripped the whole car down to metal and dynamatted the interior frame, and body panels. I don't recall exactly how long it took to put it together - every sat and sun for about two months. Had about $6,000 into it when it was done. It sounded awesome - maybe not audiophile awesome, but Wu Tang, Beastie Boys awesome. Super tight without even a hint of rattle. You could hear that shit for blocks. We'd roll up in some parking lot and hang out tweaking our stereos and no one could believe that much sound was coming out of a miata. Never tried to compete with it, but it sure was fun. Ended up tearing the car apart a couple of years later and stored the stuff at a friends house that ended up getting robbed. I knew the guy who robbed him and he'd already gotten rid of the stuff, but I took his whole record collection as repayment.

I sometimes think about getting into it again, but I'm too old for that shit. I can just imagine the look on my wife's face when I tell her I'm headed for the sound shop, again.

[Benny Profane]

I want two things. Sirius reception cheaper than the ridiculous amount the dealer wanted from me, and IPod info on a large screen that I can actually read. Can I get both in a new unit in the dash?

[The Tortoise]

The ability to stream internet music from an iphone would be a big plus. The wife drives this car, she is perhaps the worst person on the planet when it comes to using technology, so simplicity is also a hudge plus.

A bluetooth deck has the potential to make playing music from an iphone seamless. However, most aftermarket car audio interfaces are shitty. Hopefully they've come a long way.

That plus some reasonably prices speaker (Like cheap Polk Audios) will make a world of difference.

[rideit]

Ice, I would highly recommend a head unit that has a mini USB input in order to hard wire the Ipod. Streaming audio is already extremely compressed/compromised, adding BT would just degrade it further. The newer head units also control your Ipod, and some even vice-versa.
Personally, I have been very happy with Pioneer.
Usable units are very reasonable now, here is an example of just HOW reasonable.
(but this would be like rental skis, IMO...does the job, but little 'magic'..)
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...FexxQgodBQcASA

[iceman]

Damn that stuff is pretty cheap! Like, amazingly so.

[Deebased]

Some very nice systems here. I ended up going with the lexicon.

Other then a little shy on the bass and a bit more configuration on the center channel, its hands down one of the best car audio systems I've purchased.

[rideit]

Sounds like there are a few folks here into it.
Ice, I think we could help you pece together a sick system for damn cheap.
Details
Car type (double din, o single din?)
Budget
Specific needs...cd or DVD necessary?
8 track?
Subwoofer a mandatory thing for you?
Full system, or simply head unit?
(it is for me currently, but man, it would be awesome if the technology progressed to where stock speaker locations could do it!)
Speaking of, agree with the above.
Speakers are the no 1. mandatory upgrade. It's like ski boots...they are the 'biometric interface', ultimately.

[Crass3000]

Back in the day I think they had some book called The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook or something like that. Pretty sure you probably would know about that though. It's an old book and if I remember it was at a calculas level. It might not even be relevant these days.

[rideit]

A lot of what is in that book is relevant, but some technology has rendered opinions in it a bit dated.
Notably subwoofer design and newer magnet technology. Small subs and 'low profile' subs kick ass now, they didn't then.
And power management/caps are MUCH better, which means less power draw, cooler/more efficient operation, etc.
(read: amps are smaller, cheaper, and more flexible than ever)
Even stock alternators in newer vehicles are 'good enough' for most systems, they didn't used to be.

[guroo270]

In my old 93 integra I ran
1 12" diamond audio Mac daddy in a ported AND sealed box powered by a precision power ppi 1400 dropped down to 2 ohms to run at 700ish watts continuously, peaked at 900 iirc
Alpine don't remember what's 5.5" in the back seat, but they were solid.
Diamond audio hex series components in the front
All powered by an alpine flex five amp at about 50 watts per ch continuously.
Premier deck iirc, alpine 10 switch eq so I could make rap to bluegrass sound awesome. I miss it.

[rideit]

Ported and sealed at the same time?
WoW!

[iceman]

Car type (double din, o single din?)

no comprendo

8 track?

hey fuck you maaan

Subwoofer a mandatory thing for you?

I wouldn't say mandatory. Just want it to sound good.

Full system, or simply head unit?

Head unit I think. Non-technology Woman will be running it usually, keep it simple.

[Crass3000]

Double din means the spot your stereo would be installed is twice the size of a normal sized stero hole (single din). You can fit bigger screens in double dins.

[iceman]

Double din means the spot your stereo would be installed is twice the size of a normal sized stero hole (single din). You can fit bigger screens in double dins.

Ah. Thanks. Single.

[PlayHarder]

Ah. Thanks. Single.

What vehicle? Most newer vehicles have room for double din, once you pull the plastic off, and there are adapters made for most vehicles that allow you to retain a somewhat stock appearance.

[iceman]

It's a '96 911. There's not much space on the dash, and I definitely don't want to be cutting it to fit a stereo.