someone school me on stereo stuff.

[colbystephens]

ok, so i'm pretty unknowledgeable about stereo stuff - and i don't know where to begin searching. i'll list off basically what i want to do and some questions and any assistance and recommendations on gear you might provide would be great.


so essentially what i want to do is run 4 regular speakers and one sub. i want to build a sub box similar to what greg72 has done on the drivers side. i might do a second box, but for storage on the passenger side. i'm thinking to put my amp under the drivers seat, and maybe use some of that grating which you can buy at home depot to protect it from stuff rolling around. i have a couple ammo boxes for a center console, and i was thinking to put my deck in there. i think i'll drill some holes around the faces of the boxes where the stereo is actually attatched for air flow. i'm not looking for impecable sound, but i want it to sound pretty decent. i want the sub to just fill out the sound of my music - i'm not looking to ricerize my truck. my front speakers i'm just going to put in the kick panels up front. i can't decide what to do with the rear speakers - the only thing i can think of is to build them into the storage and sub boxes and make the point upward - but i don't know if that will kill the sound. i don't really want to put them in the cargo space, as all the stuff i keep back there might inhibit sound. i was also thinking to build tool boxes into the walls back there anyway.

so here's my main questions. i'd like some recommendations on how to mount my rear speakers (is pointing them straight up on either side of the truck ok) and i need some recommendations on cheap gear. again, i'm not looking for anything amazing, just relatively low-end, but decent stuff so i can have some tunes.

thanks for any help!

 

[Greg72]

Firing speakers straight up isn't terrible as long as you run with the top on.... with the top off, that sound is going to disappear pretty easily.

As for where to mount the rear satellite speakers, if you mount them in a shared enclosure with the subs, you will need to keep them in an isolated airspace for best sound. As the subs operate and pressurize the box, that air will start moving the cones of your satellites too...and you're not going to want that.

You could also consider getting a pair of speakers that are completely self-contained, and mount them with brackets to an existing rollcage....that way, they are out of the way, and you can aim them exactly where you want them.

 

[NEK5]

try ikesound.com

they have pretty good customer service, as i got all my speakers from there

 

[colbystephens]

Firing speakers straight up isn't terrible as long as you run with the top on.... with the top off, that sound is going to disappear pretty easily.

As for where to mount the rear satellite speakers, if you mount them in a shared enclosure with the subs, you will need to keep them in an isolated airspace for best sound. As the subs operate and pressurize the box, that air will start moving the cones of your satellites too...and you're not going to want that.

You could also consider getting a pair of speakers that are completely self-contained, and mount them with brackets to an existing rollcage....that way, they are out of the way, and you can aim them exactly where you want them.

thanks. i don't have a rollcage just yet, so i'll have to come up with something else regarding the sattellites. thanks!

 

[Avery4jc]

If your going for inexpensive just go with a simple head unit with 4 powered outs and one pre-amp out for you to run into your amp for the sub.

Something like this head unit...
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panasonic-In-Dash-CD-Player-CQ-C1101U-/sem/rpsm/oid/116414/catOid/-13089/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

along with these 2 way's (since your sub will round out the base), their shallow too...
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/142772/originURLEncoded/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.circuitcity.com%252Frpsm%252FcatOid%252F-13092%252FN%252F20013088%2B20013092%2B739%252Flink%252Fref%252Frpem%252Fccd%252Fcategorylist.do/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#tabs

and to round out your bass get a nice yet simple 10" sub to top it off, it won't blow your doors off but it'll fill in the low tones...
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Pioneer-10-Subwoofer-TSW251R-/sem/rpsm/oid/143681/catOid/-13093/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

and of course you can't forget the amp going from your pre-amp out to power that new sub, not a ton of power (only 150W rms but that filler sub is rated @ 120W rms @ 4ohms so you'll take full advantage of it's power without damaging it)
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kicker-Mono-Subwoofer-Amplifier-06ZX3001-/sem/rpsm/oid/146771/catOid/-13095/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Hopefully that'll take care of pointing you in the right direction for components, as far as mounting them you were in the right direction. I'd put the two mids and highs in the door/kick pannel area and as far as the rears you could put them in w/ the sub but I wouldn't reccomend it for the reasons stated above. I'd just put them in the side pannels next the the rear seat, mine face up and are fine but as said if you ever go topless you can kiss music goodbye, be nice to yourself and mount them in the side pannels next to the seat firing horizontally. As far as the sub goes just make sure that you build an enclosure within the reccomended volume for best performance and to be sure that you don't over-extend or damage the cone. I'd do a simple MDF box, wrap it in some carpet and call it good but the possibilities are endless as I'm sure you have seen.

Did that help at all or was that not really what you were looking for?

-Avery

 

[colbystephens]

thanks man. that gives me a good place to consider pricing. that amp sure does kick up the price!

 

[NEK5]

thanks man. that gives me a good place to consider pricing. that amp sure does kick up the price!

give ikesound.com a look