buying a new system for my 03 cavalier - Audio & Electronics Forum

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buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 9:10 AM
any opinions or suggestions? newegg wishlist below.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=13445514

i was told to go with 6.5" in the back, i don't remember where i heard that or why. :p

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 9:56 AM
I would definitely change things up and also NOT buy car audio from newegg lol.

Looking at that list, it seems you want a bit more bass than I personally prefer, but also are looking into installing and amping 2 sets of speakers, so you still want good clear music. That's good, and we can help you find some better equipment to get you there.

Dual is a junk brand and the head unit is THE source of all your music. Get on Crutchfield(they offer free installation accessories when you buy a head unit and their prices are the same as you will find anywhere reputable), look into Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood Excelon, Eclipse, and even Clarion. See what head unit appeals to you the most in features and looks and get it. None of those brands are going to be bad.

Now, based on the newegg wish list, I am guessing that once you buy a decent head unit for $100-200, your budget for the rest is about $700-800?

I would suggest g for that clarity and still plenty of bass, a single 12 in a ported box. Cheaper, plenty of thump for you kids and when done right can sound perfect. If you wanted to dip into some higher end equipment so you can have quality, and be happier with it longer, my obvious first suggestion is Rainbow. I can actually get you into a 12" Rainbow Hammer for $190 shipped. Then just have someone build a quality ported enclosure, and I can help you find someone to do so. BUT, if you wanted to get it to come with a nicely build ported box matched to the sub straight from Rainbow, ready to go, they have that available for $260 shipped.

As for your speakers, I would suggest one very good set of 6.5" components up front and either leaving the rear speakers alone and keep faded towards the front a bit, or removing them completely. You want to focus on 2 speakers, up front. Keep it simple and you can get the most bang for your buck. Something like Rainbow's SLC265.25NG components for $260 shipped would be great.

At that point, you should be able to get one good solid 4 channel amp to power it all. Front channels to the components, rear channels bridged to the sub. Soundstream is a brand that, on a tight budget, makes amazing amps for the prices. And if I remember right, they have one that would be ideal for this setup.




(tabs) wrote:
z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 12:28 PM
pm'd
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 1:09 PM
Embarrassed to give the guy advice publicly?


(tabs) wrote:
z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 1:50 PM
not as embarrassed as someone who'd call rainbow subs "a high end equipment" LOL
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 3:01 PM
excuse me?
Feel free to share your vast amounts of knowledge. Want me to bring up some of your posts?


(tabs) wrote:
z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 3:18 PM
don't you have anything better to do in life than going thru dirty laundry?
grow up kid
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 3:36 PM
Kid? You're hardly older than me.


ANYWAY, I didn't give that guy recommendations on FAR better equipment than what he originally find just to start a pissing match with you. What was your PM? "Hey man, Rainbow is junk". I will gladly have many people on this forum who've bought from me, or ran Rainbow products they didn't buy from me chime in. I can also link you to any reviews(from reputable installers or users, not punk ass kids expecting to blow windows out). I don't get your trash talk or whatever, but please enlighten me on how Rainbow is not a high end brand. I'm listening.


(tabs) wrote:
z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 5:07 PM
if you're worrying that i am bad mouthing you, relax, my pm didn't involve you or the rainbow equipment that you're selling..
taking a look at T/S parameters of the sub you were referring to first of all its electrical parameters suggest that it is suited only for a sealed enclosure
which is cuts it low cut off to mid 40s at best, second its power handling of 300 watts is somewhat pathetic taking into account that it is a 12'' sub (hell my mids can handle more power), same goes for all their amps..
you want high end you might want to look into DC audio, sundown, JL, FI, Critical Mass, CDT or focal
perhaps rainbow does make decent speakers, but that's about it, their amps and subs are in no way anywhere near high end and considering the fact you're selling them proves that once and for all
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 5:21 PM
Is this garbage still going on?

There is more to consider in a subs output than the RMS power rating. Mainly sensitivity.

If you're planning to run a small amp, you want to match it properly to a sub. A higher sensitivity, lower power sub (the two trade off of each other, more or less) will sound better with a low power amp than a high power low sensitivity sub.

And there is no such thing as a sub that is 'only suited for a sealed enclosure'.



Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 5:35 PM
i guess i should do a demo of what a high end system sounds like, even without any subs..

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 5:52 PM
I don't need to be convinced of that, believe me I know. Although I'm not sure in what way it is a response to what I said.

But this is a kid shopping on newegg for heavily discounted parts. For god's sake he was going to buy a Dual deck.

If there is one thing I've learned in my career as an audio installer, it's that if kids aren't looking to dump a bunch of money on a big amp then they will usually be happier going with a lower power - higher sensitivity sub because it will be louder per watt.



Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:02 PM
higher sensitivity does not necessarily mean that the sub will be louder per say. it'll just output more power at lower gains, that's all
and i wouldn't say it's a good thing because you can easily clip the sub at higher power levels, especially if you don't set the gains properly.
but that's not really the point, what i was trying to get thru to JL is that there's so many other subs that are way better than the over-the-rainbow one he's trying to confuse the ppl with his 'high-end' terminology.
I spent 10 years learning/installing car audio and I never came across Rainbow (although i heard they make decent speakers, but that's it)
but speaking of high end audio, any upcoming shows in the north-eastern region?
i think i am ready for 1
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:06 PM
For a long time Rainbow was the top-tier car speaker developer.

They used to have a 2-way speaker system that cost $15'000.

Now they are diversifying to sell to consumers, but they're still under the same ownership and I would expect they still have high standards among the top competitors.



Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:09 PM
Sorry, memory a little foggy I guess.
It was a two-channel, 8 speaker set.
Regardless pretty pictures below.
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diyma-sq-forum-technical-advanced/60540-rainbow-reference-line-speakers-*exclusive-pics*.html



Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:13 PM
Andrey B wrote:higher sensitivity does not necessarily mean that the sub will be louder per say. it'll just output more power at lower gains,


At lower gains = more power per watt, which is exactly what I said.

Yes it's easier to blow them, but you can blow anything by setting it up wrong, so that argument isn't really very valuable when we're talking about tight budgets.



Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:27 PM
frankly i wouldn't get a sub/amp combo on a tight budget
i would focus on front stage more, and then build my way up.
and the reason why i am saying that is once you build a good front stage you may notice that you don't even need a sub if SQ is really what you're after
however if you want more SPL i would just save up and get at least 1-1.5 kW sub/amp and call it a day
but really to each their own, and that's a good thing about car audio is that there's always somewhere where you can improve so it's like a never ending project
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:34 PM
Yo I have (2) JL 13W1 V2 Sub's, a Polk/Momo C500.1/ 500W Amp, and A Alpine V12 4 Channel 475W Amp for sale and a Power Cap.

If interested hit me up.

Wanting $100 for the Subs, $125 each Amp OR best offer. Everything is in GREAT condition!





Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 6:22 AM
Is this any better? I already have this kenwood headunit.

http://aethersix.com/sound/default.aspx.htm
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 6:27 AM
As nifty as the rainbow components look, I don't really even have that big of a budget. $800 is pushing it, but if i can come up with something that people knowledgeable in the subject, like yourselves, don't oppose to, I'll go for it.

isn't it usually a bad idea to bother buying used speakers and subwoofers?
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 7:45 AM
Andrey B wrote:frankly i wouldn't get a sub/amp combo on a tight budget
i would focus on front stage more, and then build my way up.
and the reason why i am saying that is once you build a good front stage you may notice that you don't even need a sub if SQ is really what you're after
however if you want more SPL i would just save up and get at least 1-1.5 kW sub/amp and call it a day
but really to each their own, and that's a good thing about car audio is that there's always somewhere where you can improve so it's like a never ending project




umm if your after sound quality you want all of the frequencies represented and your not going to get a componet set that will play down to the 20 and 20hz range with any amount of power effectively. you cant have an accurate sound system without bass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography

Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 7:54 AM
most songs don't go below 40 hz, unless you listen to rap/hip-hop but even then they don't go below 30s
my components have low extension down to 48 hz, and i don't listen to rap/hip-hop..
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 10:39 AM
Currently I have a Dual headunit 'cause it was all I could find for low end with bluetooth. The only problem with it so far is the remote wire stopped working for some reason, so i wired the amps to turn on with ignition. Anyway right now I have a Sony xplod 280w rms sub powered by a 2 channel (180w bridged) offbrand amp, and two kenwood 6x9s in the rear powered by a kenwood 2 channel 60w amp, then two kenwood 6.5" in the doors off of the headunit. This setup doesn't actually sound bad, it's pretty loud and there's no distortion to speak of. I do however want more sound up front because of the difference of volume between the front and back, sitting in the back seats, it's deafening, where as sitting up front with it cranked isn't so loud. have anything to do with the rear speakers pointing upwards towards the back windshield? I dunno, but yeah that setup cost like 400 I think.

I do plan on insulating everything as well as replacing all the components. So I'm looking for bigger sound up front, a little bigger bass, and both sound quality and volume. Decided budget for HU, speakers, subs, amps, and deadening is $1000. Sadly the same budget for the body, which should be priority but I'm going with making it look decent and keeping it primed for now.
Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:23 AM
aethersix wrote:Currently I have a Dual headunit 'cause it was all I could find for low end with bluetooth. The only problem with it so far is the remote wire stopped working for some reason, so i wired the amps to turn on with ignition. Anyway right now I have a Sony xplod 280w rms sub powered by a 2 channel (180w bridged) offbrand amp, and two kenwood 6x9s in the rear powered by a kenwood 2 channel 60w amp, then two kenwood 6.5" in the doors off of the headunit. This setup doesn't actually sound bad, it's pretty loud and there's no distortion to speak of. I do however want more sound up front because of the difference of volume between the front and back, sitting in the back seats, it's deafening, where as sitting up front with it cranked isn't so loud. have anything to do with the rear speakers pointing upwards towards the back windshield? I dunno, but yeah that setup cost like 400 I think.

I do plan on insulating everything as well as replacing all the components. So I'm looking for bigger sound up front, a little bigger bass, and both sound quality and volume. Decided budget for HU, speakers, subs, amps, and deadening is $1000. Sadly the same budget for the body, which should be priority but I'm going with making it look decent and keeping it primed for now.


You can always turn the gain on the amp that is running the 6x9s down. Amps do more than make sound loud. They also make it cleaner, punchier and 'thicker' when set up properly.

Aside from that, look into a quality 4 channel amp so you can amp (and level-match) both the fronts and rears. It will make the most difference over running the speakers straight off the deck, so that's where I would start.



Re: buying a new system for my 03 cavalier
Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:28 AM
Andrey B wrote:most songs don't go below 40 hz, unless you listen to rap/hip-hop but even then they don't go below 30s
my components have low extension down to 48 hz, and i don't listen to rap/hip-hop..


Actually a lot of pop and 'sound quality' songs use the 20-30Hz range to give their music a really nice sounding, natural thump.

For instance, try listening to some of the songs on 'Interpreting the Masters vol 1' by Bird and the Bee. Probably not your taste in music (not really mine either), but they have a lot of this trick, I've noticed.




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