41 replies to this topic

[philster]

well a bit bigger, i've tried reducing the volume inside to see what effect it would have in making them smaller and they just don't sound as good.

[Snowfruit]

Total budget... good question. This is part of a complete rebuild so not OTT. but as I mor ethan likely will be buying all the components separately i'd say anything up to about £150 per item - probably off ebay. Keep in mind that I would like to keep the Pioneers up front (keep meaning to check exactly what they are) and I have the Aiwa head unit which I could keep unless somethng better is recommended.

What I'm looking for advice on is
Sub - (10" or 12" ? )
Amp (s ?)
possibly a head unit

and any suggestions on where to place them and any possible extras.

Cheers for the help so far by the way.

[Snowfruit]

Spotted these Pioneer amps on eBay:

Pioneer GM-X574 520 WATT 4 Channel Amplifier
and
GM-X374 400 WATT 4 Channel

Any good?

[mini_basser]

Purely IMO...no. Ok, they are cheap...but with only 4 x 35w RMS and 4 x 50w RMS, they aren't up a to a huge amount

[Snowfruit]

What sort of power should I be looking for in the amp? and would i be better off with two separate amps - one to run the sub and one for the front or does it make little difference?

[Snowfruit]

Would this alpine be better suited?

Alpine amplifier

and I like the look of this vibe, but I'm not familiar with the brand...?

Vibe

[philster]

Okay now we have a kind of budget we need to know what sub you want etc, there's no point buying an amp unless you know what sub you are getting.

I wouldn't buy owt off ebay unless you really have to or if its a business not an individual (that way you get some warranty).

If you have £150 per item then i'd say £450 without headunit

JL 10W3v2-D2 RRP £180 (contact cad for best price)

JBL GTO755.6 £130
running in 3 channel mode

JBL P550c £120

[Snowfruit]

Right, 10 minutes before reading your post, Philster, I aquired a pair of new JL12W0. I know 2 is a bit much, but they were decently priced and I'll probably sell the second one.
However I see now that the sub you recommended is a 10" one, is there a particular reason to fit a 10" rather than a 12" in the boot of a mini?

[philster]

not really a ten will give tighter bass and needs a smaller enclosure.

The 12W0 is a stonking sub, you won't fit 2 in the boot of a mini with the correct size box though. But having said that i doubt you'll need 2!.

I did one for a mate a few years back which used a single 12w0 in a ported box, the box took us 2 days to complete but was well worth the effort, it was very loud and very clear.

[TimS]

The JL's are mint subs but I would suggest spending at least £150 on the amp to power it. The V12 amps by alpine have been around quite a while now but are very nice. As for front speakers IMO id go for infinity kappa or alpine type r components amped from a seperate amp from the sub.

Power wise dont look at peak powers of things look at the RMS(see sticky guide).

As for head unit I would probably make a double din dash running one headunit with an AUX input and then a flip up screen above it. I have seen it done before and it looks great! But sadly its big money..£500 for a screen and around £300 for headunit (may vary on what you get though)

[Snowfruit]

Would you recommend the same amp to drive this sub? Also, the manual with the sub should tell me what sort of volume box the sub needs right?

Also as an aside and seeing as I now have a spare one, what would be the going rate for a brand new, boxed, unused JL 12W0 sub?

[Snowfruit]

Okay what is the general opinion then, one amp or two amps?

[TimS]

It going be an expensive amp as the sub could do with 250watts rms to power it... though I have seen people running them at 400 watts rms and saying that they sound great.

This might be of help its the data sheet for the W0 series JL

[TimS]

IMO go for 2 amps one for sub and then other for speakers this way you can have both amp more acustomed to their use.... aka a less powerful amp for speakers

[Snowfruit]

Looking at the following two amps, are any / all of these suitable:

JL 500/1
Vibe Blackbox 3 (4x100W RMS) <- I don;t know anything about Vibe...
Pioneer GM-X562 300 WATT 2 Channel
JBL GTO 75.2