My audio plan and a few questions - Opinions wanted.

I just bought an '02 doublecab and am putting together my install on paper. I would love to have your thoughts on what I have in mind.

HU - Pioneer FH-P8000BT w/Ipod and XM Radio - got a great deal on a lightly used one, so this is a done deal. From all the reviews I've read, I feel sure I will be happy with it other than the fact that you can't change the display color - how is this not standard on all HU's over 100 bucks?

Speakers
Front - Infinity Reference 6820cs components
Rear - Infinity Reference 6822cf two-ways

Sub
Either the SuperCrewSound enclosure or something from Mr. Marv with two Pioneer TS-SW841D low-profile 8's.

Now the questions. Sub power/wiring really confuses me so please bear with these probably-dumb questions...

1 - Where to mount the amps???? Can they be mounted under the front seats? Is there enough room? Will I have heat problems?

2 - What size mono amp should I be looking at for the two 8-inch pioneers? Also, if I wire the subs in parallel, doesn't that yield a 2 ohm load? So I should be looking at the 2 ohm power output rating of the amp?

3 - Assuming I am correct about the ohms dropping from 4 to 2 when wired in parallel, does that mean that both subs get the full rating of the amp or does the power get divided by 2?

 

Check the measurements on the specific amp, but yeah, you can mount them under the seats. You won't have any heat problems. It looks like those subs are 120w rms each, so you'll want at least a 250w amp (rms, not max). It depends on the amp, but generally when you cut the ohm load in half, the wattage doubles (simplified - ohms are a measurement of resistance, so if you have less resistance, you get more power through). Check the specs on the amp to see what they list for different ohm loads. My JL amp, however, runs the same wattage no matter what ohm load you throw at it. I have the 500/1 and love it. JL makes a 250/1 amp that I would recommend. Some others here may have other recommendations, but I'm kind of simple minded when it comes to car audio To be completely honest, I wouldn't get the 8" pioneer shallows. I don't know what will fit in that 02 dc, but I'd go at least 10's and no shallow mounts if I could help it.

 

Depending on the dimensions, yes you can mount an amp under the front seat. The driver side has slightly more room than the passenger side. Heat should not be an issue. However, I would recommend mounting them between the subs on the amp. Just look at the box layout and see if there is room for a mounting plate, between or on one side of the boxes for the subs.

Amp specs differ as said above on wether or not the power will be doubled when you drop the load by half. Many do, some don't. Also check that the amp is 2 ohm mono stable. There is a difference between two ohm stereo and two ohm mono. Most amps are 4 ohm mono stable 2 ohm stereo. Typically you'll have to spend a little more money for an amp that is 2 ohm mono stable, because the internals have to be a little beefier.

And, as was said above, I'd recommend 10' in lieu of 8's. However, 8's can sound damn fine if set up correctly. I just find it a little easier to get a deeper sound out of 10's, especially in a sealed enclosure.

 

I would love to go with 10's but I've looked through 90+ page of the AV forums here and everything I have read seems to agree that the ONLY things that will fit behind the rear seat are the low-pro 8's (either the Pioneers or the Kickers).

 

is that the kicker compvt? If so, I'd go with that sub instead of the pioneer...at least just by looking at the specs. I haven't heard either, so go with whatever those threads you've been reading say to go with. The kicker handles 200w rms instead of 120w, and the low frequency response is at 25hz as opposed to 30hz.

http://audiovideodimension.com/kick...atures&zenid=48dd57e34abd104f638ba01a0534f94b

$63 each? seems like a deal to me.

 

Many of us here are running 10" subs - you just have to watch the airspace and mounting depth.

 

he has an 02 double cab which has no room behind the back seat. 8 inch subs can still sound good but they wont pound the block. i think if you can fit 8's and an amp under the seat then you will be qquite surprised at the quality.

 

I noticed you're driving an '08. I'm talking about a 1st gen ('02). If there is anyone here running 10's in a first gen without losing the use of the back seat, I would love to see some. I just don't recall seeing anything so far.

 

I saw "I just bought" and then skipped to the meat from there

 

Not sure how dead-set you are on having multiple amps, but if you want to simplify your installation and still get good, reliable performance (and a great price on Ebay), take a hard look at the Alpine PDX-5. It is a very small and efficient 5-channel amp.....4 full range (and bridgeable if desired) channels, plus 1 mono channel for your sub(s). It will run at 4 or 2 ohms as long as it's not bridged (4 ohm stable when bridged). The only thing that may be a factor is (as others have said) that the power from the mono channel remains the same whether the load is 2 ohms or 4 ohms. I found a great deal on 2 Infinity 1052W 4 ohm DVC subs, and will wire and use these to produce a 4 ohm load for my mono channel. Can't wait to begin my install this weekend!

 

Just curious, how do you wire two 4 ohm speakers together to produce a 4 ohm load? From what I remember, series would be 8 ohms and parallel would be 2 ohms. I would think you'd need four subs wired series/parallel (2 in series wired in parallel with another set in series).

 

I wondered if someone would question this. Good catch! Although they aren't as prevalent in today's configurations, the subs I got are dual voice coil 4 ohm subs. Even though the PDX-5 is good down to 2 ohms (unbridged), I still wanted to try and achieve a 4 ohm load just to get that little extra bit of efficiency and take that much more load off the amp. The fact that the amp delivers the same power at 4 and 2 ohms also was a factor. Got these two subs new delivered for $82 and couldn't pass it up. Here's where I did some of my research and saw that this would work if you're interested:

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp?Q=2&I=42

 

edit: misread your reply
Rockford Fosgate also has a wizard that will generate schematics you can view for a particular setup.