I wanna put a complete sound system in my '90 firebird, and dont have enough money for a $4,000 JL audio system. My planned setup goes as follows.

1. 2x PowerAcoustik FUBR-12 $160 for both shipped
2. 2x PowerAcoustik 1920w Plasma Sphere amps $300 both shipped
3. 2x PowerAcoustik 6 x 9 3-Way 300 Watts (for sail panels) $35 both shipped
4. 2x 120wt 4x6 2wy (for front) $25 Shipped
5. Possibly a Cap (power acoustik) and another smaller plasma sphere amp for the rears, but if i amp the rears, i'd probibally add another set of 6x9's in the hatch area like the 4th gens.

I'm not just dreaming, i've got the cash and the drive to install these components. I'm going to build a glass box in the well.(hopefully figure out something to keep my t-tops, lile a amp rack)
i'd appreciate any reviews of these products, or honest advice. Thanks

 

Here are the pic's/specs of some of the components.


TS1920-2 2channel 4 Ohm RMS 370x2 2 Ohm RMS 440x2 Mono Rms 880 Bridged Max 1920 Dimensions (WxHxD)20.5” x 2.25” x 11”

 

Key Features
Type Component
Elements 1-Way
Function Subwoofer
Size 12"
Nominal Power Handling 700 Watt
Powered Non-Powered
Technical Features
Peak Power Handling 1800 Watt
Sensitivity 91 dB
Impedance 4 ohm
Components
Woofer Material Paper
Surround Material Rubber
Mounting
Enclosure Non-Enclosed
Top Mounting Depth 6.75 In.
Mounting Diameter / Length 11.12 In.
Miscellaneous
MPN fubr-12
Product ID 20248232

 

Why all Power A-Crap-Sick? Is it just that you want all one brand of stereo stuff. It is okay to mix and match things.

 

I just think it looks cheap to have one sony pentagon sub, one roadmaster sub, with a pyramid amp, and jensen speakers. If they're all the same blue theme i think they'll flow beter. And they're all in my pricerange. I do appreciate the input, though.

 

Okay why now sony, roadmaster, and jensen. You know that those are probably the worst or one of the worst quality product companies in car audio right. If you are set on buying stuff from walmart spend the extra 10 bucks and get pioneer stuff. At least they will be a little better.

After my experiences with walmart audio stuff and even cheap stuff elsewhere....you get what you pay for in this area.

 

Instead of spending your money on all that crap, why not spend the same amount on a lower quantity of higher quality stuff? You'll have a much better stereo now, and you'll have a better stereo later when you have more money to upgrade. The stuff you picked out is going to sound like total garbage, especially those coax speakers.

You've got a budget of around $550, and from your list I'm guessing you've already got a head unit.

So, let's pick out something that won't sound like pure crap, and is also expandable so that you can add to it as you get more cash.

Let's start with the front speakers, since they're the most important element of good sound quality. Since you're on a budget, you're pretty much stuck with 4x6" speakers in your dash, which is unfortunate. Boston Acoustics 746 plate speakers are about the best 4x6s you're going to find. Usually you can get them for around $100-130.

This leaves $420.

Let's go subwoofer shopping. Let's find something that's affordable, has great sound quality, good SPL, and high efficiency so that you can get the most out of a lower powered amplifier.

The new Parts Express Dayton Reference Series subwoofers appear to be an extremely impressive product so far. I'm hoping to get a pair for my IROC actually. The RSS265HF-4 10" sub (part number 295-460) is $120, and has a phenominal low distortion motor and an aluminum cone structure. This sub will work very well in a .75-1 cubic foot sealed box with an out-of-car F3 of 40hz. Best of all, this sub has pretty decent sensitivity at 87dB. That's much better than most high excursion subs that need more power than you'll ever actually feed them.

So, this leaves us with $300.

For now, look at a good quality, powerful 4 channel amplifier. You use 2 channels to power your front speakers, and bridge the other two for your subwoofer. This will maximize flexibility and expandability. When you buy a 2nd amp later on, you can use this amp to power 2 subs, or use it to power your front and rear speakers, or use it to power just your front speakers. Sounddomain.com has a refurbished Rockford P4004 for $170. This is a phenominal deal. This is rated at 50x4, or 200x2. This means that in your application you'll be giving your front speakers 50 watts each, and 200 watts for your sub. In reality, the Rockford will probably make more power than that, but even at rated power you're off to a good start.

So, this leaves us with $130.

If it was me, I'd just stuff that into the bank and start saving for a set of components and some kick panels so that you can upgrade beyond those 4x6s. Those are definately the weak part in this system. If you really think you need rear speakers (you don't), you can use this money for a decent pair of 6x9s from Boston Acoustics, Alpine, etc. Your head unit power will be sufficient for the rear speakers.

Another thing that you could do if you felt confident enough to install it would be to spend a little more on a set of 4" component speakers (Phoenix Gold Octane R components are inexpensive and sound pretty good) and install them in the 4x6 location. You may have to get creative with tweeter placement, but the components come with enough tweeter mounts to let you play.

Also, you never mentioned a sub box. If you're not capable of building one for yourself, plan on using most of that $130 to buy a good quality enclosure. Since this system is just a single 10" sub, you should be able to find a 10" prefab wedge box that will fit into the back of the car reasonably well. You might even be able to get a shop to build you a simple wedge that fits snug in the well of the car for $130 if you keep it simple enough.

This system will sound WORLDS better than that power acoustik crap, and will also give you the flexibility to upgrade as your budget allows, but since you will have a very high quality single 10" sub instead of 2 ****ty sounding 12s, 99% of young people won't take this route because they want more and bigger even if it's not as good.

 

well put jim. i second all of that. the only loud power acoustic system i ever heard was 2 **** 15's in a ranger. they made a lot of noise, sure. they also sounded like complete *** doing it. im used to hearing my rl-p's, when i heard this i just shook my head and got out, it was awful.

edit - this wasnt an all pa system, just the *****. his amp was an orion 2500d.

 

I plan on making a fiberglass sub box. That'll be no problem. And i have an alpine head unit. I listen to mostly heavy metal, so my music would probibally be better on a loud subs than crisp subs, but i'm just guessing. I'll definately scrap the PA speakers. The subs look totally impressive with a like 200 ozs magnet. i'll start looking for a new brand of subs, though. I still would like to run 2 12's, even if it's more expensive than i expected. I like the lower sounding bass. My other car is basically rinning on 2 6x9 jensen tri-axles, and that's clear enough for me, but for this project i'm going to want something a little better. This totally flipped my audio plans upsidedown, but i have to agree with everything you said. Back to amazon.com, not wal-mart.

 

oh yeah, I really like the design of the amp(s). Is there really a huge flux in quality in an amp that's running at like 80% capacity? I know it sounds real ***** to match amps and neons to the interior, but i think it'd make the trunk look pretty good, and the sub box will be lit up with blue. they're pretty cheap, and basically the only part of the PA system i really liked.

 

i also think that is very well put jim. although i wouldn't use the 4chnl amp to power front and the subs (bridged or not). you could, but i really dont like doing that...well, i guess depending on the resistance you wire the subs at. i would just go with good fronts (infinity makes good reference interior speakers 4x6 & 6x9) you can go with a decent amp (around 3-400 watts or so rms) i would suggest infinity, kicker, or mtx for your amps. they are moderately priced and they are very underrated in power. as for your subs, i would go with something like kicker comp VR subs or something along those lines. they are good dual 4ohm subs that will sound great in the back of camaros. as far as your interiors sounding great, all you have to do is turn the bass on the interior speakers down all the way (you dont need bass from those speakers because you have subs and that's where you're gonna get all the bass from). i have the same setup in my car :

CD Player: Sony CDX-M9900 (dont know why i have sony)

Front speakers: Infinity Reference 4x6

Rear speakers: Infinity Reference 6x9

Amp: Kicker KX600.1 (4chnl comming soon)

Subs: Kicker Comp VR dual 4ohm 12" (soon to come: single Solo X 12" competition sub w/ the Kicker KX2500.1)


**not knocking any of the suggestions, just adding my 2 cents. hope no one minds. but any suggestions, let me know. good luck with your system. hope everything turns out great!

 

actually for metal and most any rock you want accurate, fast speakers. just flat out spl speakers are good for SOME rap and bass cds. a lot of rap has fast transitions too and will sound better through a sound quality oriented system. stuff like korn, metallica, tool, sublime, pantera, cannibal corpse, chimaira, and hatebreed sounds awesome on my 12's. and it will still POUND that heavy rap bass, it knocks my rear view mirror down within a few seconds if i play something deep. but then they cost as much as you want to spend on the whole system

 

I'm a big fan of 4 channel amps for a couple reasons.

The first is that they are economical. Going with a separate amp for components and subs is great when you've got a bigger budget, but on a tight budget, you get more for your money with a single 4 channel amp. You also save on wiring costs because you don't have to deal with distribution blocks.

The next is that a 4 channel is more compact. In a basic installation, it's easier to find room for 1 amp compared to 2, as well as cutting down on extra wiring.

Thirdly, it gives you more upgrade options. You can use it to power a pair of speakers and a sub, or 2 subs, or 2 speakers, or all 4 interior speakers. Flexibility is key when you're first starting out.

Anyway, on to rock music. For rock music, you DEFNATELY want a clean, accurate sub. Rock music is REAL music, not synthesized crap like rap. You need more than just the "boom boom boom" for rock. You need a sub that's articulate enough to make a bass drum sound quick and clean with a lifelike attack. Likewise, you want your bass guitar to sound accurate. You want to differentiate between various chords, as well as be able to separate it from the bass drum. With an SPL sub, you won't get that.

Just because the sub is clean and accurate doesn't mean it can't get more than loud enough too. With your budget, you're going to be dealing with low power amplification anyway, so you'll get no benefit from an SPL oriented sub.

 

i think 10'S sounds good with both rock and hip-hop. when i first started out and built my own custom box (which only went down to the first ledge in the trunk well) i only had enough air space for some moderate 10's. they sounded great for just about every genre of music i listen to. of couse in a hatchback you can have someone beatbox back there and it'll sound good, lol. but the setup i had was 2 sony 10's (they were cheap, $40 for the pair. and a DHD 500watt *yeah right* amp). the car audio shop that i was installing at wasn't paying me much at all and, at the time, that was all i could afford. for the setup that i was working with, it really didn't sound bad at all. i think your ability to tune also plays a role in SQ because at the time i wasn't really thinking about SPL, i just wanted something that sounded relatively decent>>>Low $$ = i cant be picky

 

I have power acoustik FUBR 12's and they sound pretty good... the hard part is matching the 700w RMS required to power them, otherwise they'll sound like crap. I am running 2 Rockford Fosgate P6002 amps that are rated at 600w RMS up to 1800w max. The build sheet for one of my amps suggests that Rockford makes their amps slightly better than the rating on the box... rated for up to 1800w, tested at 2223w

 

If money is going to be a big concern, don’t over look quality used equipment. I’m always looking for great deals on good stuff. The only thing I’ve spent over $100.00 bucks on has been my HU. And I got that, a DEH-P8600 NIB, never opened for $300.00 with 4 year extended warranty. I got 2 sets of Alpine 6.5 comps for $80.00 NIB. And I dropped $100.00 for a APX400.4 and a DPX1000.2. They where used, but both amps for $50.00 a piece is still a good deal. I even got a 12” Type-R sub for NIB for $75.00. An alpine MRV-T505 used for $25.00. Not the end all be all of equipment, but good deals on quality stuff. But to work deals like this takes time, and forethought. When someone shows you there new stuff, ask then what they did with the old stuff. Ask the shop guys if there selling any of there old stuff (when no ones around). Is there anything you have (motor/suspension parts) that they my need? Anything to work the deal, and ALWAYS make certain you get the better end of the deal.