I’ve got yet another audio question for you experts on here. New setup freakin rocks!!

I’ve upgraded all 6 speakers and it’s a huge improvement over factory system for sure. Me being me though like with most everything else. I want to keep pushing even further. My 6 speakers are extremely clear but I’m kinda wanting a bit not rattling but a bit more punch.. my speakers don’t sound very “full” unless I’ve got it turned up on the knob to at least 35 and will even play clearly at 50 now but it’s extremely loud. It’s even worse when listening to xm or local stations

Question is this... what would the difference be in adding an amp to my speakers front and rear opposed to adding a powered subwoofer to my setup? Pros and cons to one or the other per say? I know sub will likely take up more space than an amp or sound processor would but would it be a bigger improvement than just an amp to my coaxial speakers. Fronts are rated for 75 continuous wattage and rears are rated 55 continuous wattage FYI. From what I’ve gathered is this matters when choosing an amp. Not sure it does if I go with powered subwoofer. If my understanding is correct in most cases a sub is going to be more for thump and bass more so than an amp hooked up to my 6.5” co ax

 

Ok I believe I’ve decided to go with the sound ordnance powered subwoofer from Crutchfield after being recommended by two of their techs. Gonna skip the amp for speakers and hope this gets what I’m looking for.

was told the powered subwoofer will pull bass away from door speakers and let the door speakers handle the Mids and Highs as they’re designed to do.

 

If what you’re wanting is bass, that’s probably not a bad route to go. The door speakers, even powered, aren’t going to make much more than mud bass. For really low frequencies you need a subwoofer.

 

Thank you for response and knowledge. I’m looking for clean clear bass but not rattle and bump type. I’m old lol. Now decisions decisions.... looking at the 120w

$190 sound ordnance b8ptd sound ordnance B-8PTD 8" powered subwoofer

sound ordnance b8ptd, 125w jbl pro micro and 150w kicker hideaway as my choices. Latter two are around $250 the sound ordnance is sitting at $150

 

Small sub and low power will probably work for you. Systems I’ve built in the pass could get insanely loud for bass racing, but played very clean. That’s all down to system tuning.

 

Any experience or recommendations on the 3 I listed above or just in general around $150-$300?

 

Has anybody tried using the audio control 7i or Q6(I think)without adding a sub or amp? If so did it actually help much with bass and sound?

 

I’ve thought about going this route and a sub and or amp if needed

 

Essentially those audio control pieces are really nice Line Out (HI/LO) Converters. No reason to use these items, if you're not amplifying the system.

 

Thanks for the response. I have decided to go with a compact 125w class D amp powered 8” sub by infinity. Infinity basslink sm. I’m hoping to mount it underneath my front seat. I’m not looking to bump or shake the car next to me. I’m looking for clear bass fill for low frequency with least distortion or interference possible within my budget and this was what I decided to try out. I ordered the rca amp kit 8 gauge although it only calls for 12 gauge.

I’m actually looking at the Rockford Fosgate 2 channel sound processor and the audio control 2i to hook us to my aftermarket focals I recently bought


I was very close to going with the pioneer 8 inch sub with built in 50w class d amp but I thought maybe 50w would be cutting it a tad short although may very well been enough for my needs

 

This will only be the case if you high pass the door speakers. Simply adding a powered subwoofer won’t change the signal going to them.

 

So in order to do that will I need a special harness or something other than the add an
Infinity BassLink SM 8" Ultra-Compact Shallow Profile Hideaway Under-Seat Subwoofer System

$230 Infinity BassLink SM 8" Ultra-Compact Shallow Profile Hideaway Under-Seat Subwoofer System, Silver

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FV0IAQO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NEL6DbH3H7VHR

 

This is what I bought. It was $300 on Crutchfield. I’m hoping I got a great deal for $168

 

1) XM or or other non High Def audio will sound flat many times.
2) Find a song like Twighlight Zone (Golden Earing) and play with the Sound settings...turn off 2 of each with the third on full and see if you get the ranges you need...you can use test tones but I prefer a song. The purpose of this experiment is to see what range is missing from your setup.
3) If you are missing high ends, whilst you have just upgraded your speakers, you may still need tweeters....a common issue.
4) If you want more pounding, review your sub.
5) If you have enough volume at 50 an amp may not be the first product to buy.

You may want to get a hearing test...I grew up before the earbud era and use hearing protection most of my life, even at concerts and kids recitals...my high end is still very good but I'm losing the wife voice frequency...perhaps good for the marriage, but the point is you may need to fine tune your system not just to the mechanics of full range but to your ears.

 

lmfao at the 2nd paragraph! Hilarious. Thanks cudgel and that’s a damn good beat(got me playing air drums on way to work)! Forgot about that tune.. I’ve actually been “tuning” my current setup with bob seger King of Leon Metallica and even a little rap as Ive got a very diverse taste for music. I like a little bit of everything. I’m 38 but yeah I’ve tried a few differnt experiments bc although I’ve never upgraded a stereo system I am very particular about music sounded clean and full of range as possible.

My upgraded ks tweeters and 6.5” focal and infinity combo sounds perfect at my settings when it’s cranked up to around 40-45. 50 it starts distorting just a bit unless I turn my bass and treble down. It is missing low end imo especially when it’s below 35 on dial.

Also what do y’all recommend the setting from factory head unit being on? The “automatic sound levelizer”? I’ve got mine at off at the moment but I can’t even tell a difference in off and high tbh and fwiw it seems my speakers are getting better every day in what they’re putting out. I have no complaints in the speakers I’ve installed.

update: after blasting twilight zone and radar love by golden earring I’ve got the current setup dialed in but I’m still wanting a tiny bit more low end punch. I feel like the sub I’ve just purchased should be the answer but we’ll soon find out as it’ll be here tomorrow.

Can somebody please tell me what harnesses other than the add an amp kit I will need? If any?

Also why isn’t it very popular on here to use fiber optical rather than the rca? Fiber optical cables only for component setups? I was almost positive that they were for digital setups but I’m hesitant to pull the trigger on a set wo knowing what harness to use since I went with coaxial speakers bc of my tweeter kicker ks subaru upgrade and them being good enough of an upgrade..

 

Drove my ass an hour and 20 minutes north to Best Buy to get an amp and Toyota stereo harness bc website said they were in stock in store at that location and I get there and they’re wiped out! They had a couple mono kicker amps and an alpine amp. The alpine was very nice but more than I wanna spend. Wasted a trip and 3 hours of my day lol. Damn you Best Buy. That was as terribly kept up and as bad of a Best Buy I’ve been to although I haven’t been to one in a while. Nobody acted like they gave a damn to help me out neither. Kinda surprised me bc they used to be very well kept up and organized from what I can remember. It’s been about a year since I’d been to one. Shelf prices were extremely expensive too. Most Didn’t match online prices.

 

Guys I’ve got my truck dialed into perfection to my ears now.. this sub/amp combo underneath my seat is exactly what I was missing. Sound is so clear absolutely no interference or hiss clear highs clear mids clear lows and upper/lower bass. Very happy I went this route and although it was ALOT of work to keep it clean flex tubing everything and zip tying overkill I’m 100 percent happy with this set up. One other major difference in my fronts is they have an adjustable built tweeter in the center of them. I noticed today I had them both pointed in the wrong direction. One was pointed toward the engine of the truck and passenger was pointed to the back downward. Moving them to face upward towards the head ear area made a monstrous difference in acoustics! Thanks for all help and input. I now have my personal perfect sound system. Stayed up til nearly 3am working on this thing last night in the 35 degree cold lol

 

Since you already replaced the speakers I would def add a nice subwoofer! Personally o would do something behind the rear seat with a 10 or 12 inch sub or a nice ported 8 instead of underseat subs! But I like good solid lows! We sell a ton of the alpine under seat subs with built in dsp and 4 channel amp and they sound great! But after you get your sub installed I would treat your doors with a couple layers of sound deadening material and purchase a speaker ring such as fast rings or soundskins! That will increase your mid bass which is crucial to get a good sounding system. My 6x9 woofers in the doors out our really good mid bass most people think there subwoofers! But I have 3 layers of soundeading, rings and a dsp that has then band passed from 45hz-450hz.

 

This is greatly appreciated info! So I actually bought the infinity basslink sm 8” and I’ve gotta say that when It’s tuned it sounds perfect for me. I also have put 2 layers of boom mat on both my front doors and I’ve got another 20 foot roll coming. I actually broke my driver side speaker ring that my focals came with so maybe that’s where the vibration/minor distortion sound is coming from? So far I’ve done kicker ks tweeter replacement. Focal isc 165 front door replacements and infinity ref 6632 rear replacements. Like I said it sounds great to me when I’ve got it tuned but I can’t seem to find that sweet spot tuning it for every song as I listen to a large variety of music and I like it loud when I’m alone lol! Anymore tips and recommendations? I’m actually browsing equalizers and sub tuners now but don’t even know if that’s what I really need or not? I don’t need much tbh. Maybe a slight tune and I’d be set.

 

Sorry y’all but here goes. Just need some confidence here so I can do another install by myself.

I do have a question for my install today as I researched a lot last night here and YouTube. I’ve currently got a powered sub installed into my non jbl factory tapped into the right front speaker wires behind the head unit. I’ve got the kicker key similar to the alpine power pack to install and audio control lci2 Loc w accu bass and I’ve also got the RockfordFosgate rp equ loc. In order to get mypowered sub filtered or converted and my two fronts how would the simplest most effective way to do this be? I’ve read several hours and the more I read the more anxiety I get about it bc some of the info seems contradicting to me. Should I tap into the same full rangefront speakers again behind the head unit that my powered sub is tapped into but before it’s tap with lci2? In doing so will this automatically take care of both the speaker tapped into and the powered sub? Sorry y’all but any help would be appreciated or a diagram. Also I’ve still got the key andFosgate loc to use. Where the heck do I tap these? I would rather keep the items all small in dash but if under passenger seat would be better or easier to control the units n the future that’s no problem. My powered sub has a wired remote hooked up. Will it control everything or will I need to mount and wire the loc remotes and have 3 different remotes to control them all?