17 replies to this topic

[Pavel]

Alrite, in my mini there will be going in a 12" sub with 1200W RMS at 1 Ohm.

It's not a cheap sub, and its by a reputable manufacturer and the quality is very good, this isnt just for watt numbers.

Powered by an amp also running 1200W RMS at 1 Ohm.

What I want to know is what speakers do I get for the front?

The maximum I can give them is 125W RMS x 2 at 4 ohms, but most speakers that im looking at dont even get to 100W RMS.

I'm looking at the Focal line, and perhaps RF FNQ3146 3-way component set.

The system will be pricey so I want some quality speakers up front, but I also do want them to be able to keep up with the sub.

The sub will rarely be turned up very high, but the higher i can turn it up without drowning the speakers, the better.

D'you think putting a second set of components in the back would help with midrange volume? Although this would mean i have to get 2 cheaper amps and 2 cheaper components than 1 good of each...

Given I have the sub, would 5.25" comps do fine up front, or should I really go for a 3 way with 6.5", 4" and a tweeter?

[Pavel]

Just realised if i get some cheaper comps for the rear, i could power them off my head unit, right?

[philster]

I'd power the rears off the head unit. What you don't mention is whether you will be using a crossover of any kind. My old set up used to consist of a set of pioneer 6x9's in the shelf, some 5" pioneers up front and a 12" phase linear sub. The system sounded great for a few weeks but after about a month the 6x9's and the 5" were both shagged and sounded really rough and crackley. So i went out and bought a set of jbl power series 6x9's and some 5" jbl components. These were an instant improvement but after a few months the same happened again. After speaking to my local car auio specialist he said the problem was not that the speakers were'nt good enough it was the fact that they were playing some of the low frequencies that the sub was doing so that when i turned it up the speakers just distorted. He told me to buy an active crossover and try from there. I set this up so the 5" and the 6x9's gave everything over 125hz and the sub gave everthing under 150hz. This was an instant improvement and the system can now be cranked as high as the sub will allow (to the point were i'm struggling to see because of the vibration!). I then bought a new sub (12" jbl power) and have now had the system in for about 4 years and its still going strong.

[rob mini]

The only problem you may realise with the higher RMS on the amp is that it could lock out and maybe blow the speakers. But if you are looking at the expensive ramge of the focal line up i cant see this being a problem as they are so well built. if you need some really good ICE advice goto www.talkaudio.co.uk and on their forums see what they suggest.

thanks, rob

[Pavel]

Of course crossovers will be used! Besides, the speakers and sub would be powered off diferent amps anyway like I said..

Speakers getting blown is not an issue.

What I want is some speakers that are high quality (i need quality more than loudness) that wouldn't get drowned by the 1kW sub

[adam c]

OK - sorry to be annoying but i have just been reading this post and it went staright over my head! All i know about ICE is that you have a radio in the front and two speakers in the back and the sound comes out of them! Could anybody please explain the significance of ohms and Hz to me??? and how do watts work, I presume its not the same as watts as in electric because 1500w sounds a hell of a lot??
Sorry to ask some stupid questions :erm: :erm:

[Pavel]

Watts are the same in ICE, same in electrics, even in Africa.

1200W IS a lot... It's VERY a lot.

Ohms are the unit of resistance in electrics. The higher the resistance the harder it is for current to flow through whatever. High resistance = high heat (think kettles and the like).

Smaller resistance allows more power to go through amp/speakers, but it causes more distortion which is why before even hi-end car audio rarely went below 4Ohms. However, nowadays with technology, 2 and 1 Ohm operations are made possible with minimum harmonic distortion.

Hertz are the frequency of the sound. 1 hertz = 1 vibration per minute. The alternating current in your socket in your house is about 50Hz. This means that the electricity changes direction 50 times every second.

The lower the frequencey in hertz, the deeper, lower the sound. Bass is around 30-50 hertz. Vocals and musical stuff is much higher... 500Hz, 1kHz and higher, with hats and cimbals (very high pitched drums) being the highest frequencies. The young human ear can hear from about 20 to 20,000Hz. With most people the upper boundary drops to 15,000 at middle age. This of course depends on how much damage you do to your ears.

Basically the more watts your system has, the louder it will be. However, this can often lead to bad quality, which is why you see all this overpriced equipment, its not because its SO powerful, its because it still sounds good when cranked that high.

Unless you're an audiophile, a set of components and a small sub perhaps will more than do enough for you. Even a set of comps up front and 6x9s in the back will probly appeal to you enough (and by the price too ). They can all be powered off the head unit (radio) since modern head units have quite nice amplifiers built into them.

[Sutty01]

THAT INFO AGHOULD BE A STICKY

[Brawlyrox]

Al* if you are planning on Running 1200w RMS from the amp to the sub at 1ohm and 1 channel my first advise is your going to need COOLING.. BOOOY its gonna get hot. It will be extremely BASSY but you would be a LUNATIC to turn up the gain with that set up on the sub..

As for front speakers definately get some components.. i would reccomend FOCAL as these are pretty good altho a few names like Fusion etc are coming thru with TOP end ICE. Running 125w RMS through these small speakers is a hell of a lot. And im guessing its going to be very loud. As for Mid range .. you can buy specialist mid range drivers from people like FOCAL that you could stick in the back... running from the headunit you will probably blow these up as they are not designed to run with such a low wattage at a high volume so it would be much better to get ALL speakers amped IMO...

Also is this going in ur mini?? To get the BEST performance from all this sound system that you must be spending $$$ on you will need to thoroughly sound proof it as it DOES make a difference. HOPE THIS HELPS

Nick

[Al*]

Al* if you are planning on Running 1200w RMS from the amp to the sub at 1ohm and 1 channel my first advise is your going to need COOLING.. BOOOY its gonna get hot. It will be extremely BASSY but you would be a LUNATIC to turn up the gain with that set up on the sub..

As for front speakers definately get some components.. i would reccomend FOCAL as these are pretty good altho a few names like Fusion etc are coming thru with TOP end ICE. Running 125w RMS through these small speakers is a hell of a lot. And im guessing its going to be very loud. As for Mid range .. you can buy specialist mid range drivers from people like FOCAL that you could stick in the back... running from the headunit you will probably blow these up as they are not designed to run with such a low wattage at a high volume so it would be much better to get ALL speakers amped IMO...

Also is this going in ur mini?? To get the BEST performance from all this sound system that you must be spending $$$ on you will need to thoroughly sound proof it as it DOES make a difference. HOPE THIS HELPS

Nick

whats on your mind Nick!?! this wasn't my post.

Al

[Brawlyrox]

LOL

sorry Al* ive lost it

Hope this helps Pavel :tongue:

[Pavel]

Yeh im aware of cooling and sound-deadening. Sound deadening will go in very nicely.

As for cooling, i will not be running this system at loud volumes for long at all.

And thanks, that cleared up a lot that 125W through some comps will be loud enough to keep up with the sub

Also are fusion good? They're on the cheap side...

Rockfords FNQ 3146 fanatic 3 way comps are what im looking at now. and they only take 100W RMS, so can get a cheaper sub!

[adam c]

Thanks very much pavel that all made sense aswell!!
I spose i should know that though (I'm a physics student). I understood about hertz because i remember my school physics teacher explaining why electric at 50Hz can kill because it makes your heart try to beat that fast!!
Cheers mate :grin:

[Alburglar]

Rear needs 2-ways powered by head unit.
Components at front with your spare 125w from amp. It is very important to get the best quality tweeter and mid up front and they should be amped. This gives really good sound quality and means you can have a really basey set up at back (which yours will be) and still have a good range up front to suit different styles of music

[Madmax]

sell focal at work, everyone seems to look past focal, straight to the Sony or Kenwood components, how wrong are people. Buy Focal, great quality, im having a full Focal component speaker line up in mine. For listening to at standstill anyway, tuned Minis are too loud when driving for any good quality music.

dont buy any 6x9`s if you can get away with it, if your after SQ