Are good wiring, sub boxes worth it?

[CB7Nub]

Is it worth it to upgrade the car's regular speaker wires or something? Could the regular wires distort the sound somehow, blow/give up over time? What about a sub box? Not trying to have the best on the block just good enough that will last for a while.

For speakers, deck, sub etc I'm thinking mostly Pioneer/Alpine deck, JBL/Alpine speakers, Alpine/Pioneer/JBL sub. Any thoughts? (Type S Alpine's)

[renegade28x]

i had to run new wires to my front speakers cuz there was a short :/ and i stand behind ALPINE all the way....Alpine everything and 2 10s n a ported box and youll have the best system

as far as upgrading wires you could but i think the stock wires are fine unless you see a bad connection at the ends but like i said i had to overlay my 2 front wires

[Sarthos]

If you put a large amp to the speakers, you might as well upgrade the wires, otherwise it's not necessary. I upgraded to 12 gauge wire and it's nothing noticeable.

A good sub box is definitely worth it, it can make a huge difference in the capabilities of your sub. But alpine type s speakers aren't the best, the difference between S and R is huge.

[benjiaccord]

Unless there is a problem with your speaker wires, there is no reason to replace them unless you're running big power through them.

Sub boxes are important, make sure you find some different ones and listen to them to hear what you like. Box choice is really dependent on what kind of music you like to listen to. Don't just hear, "get this kind cause its great", instead, figure out what you like to listen to most and then find the speaker that best fits your budget and go from there.

I've had in order, a 12" old school Lanzar USA in a sealed 1 cu ft box

that same 12 in an MTX bandpass "thunder" box

switched to an old school Kenwood Tornado in that same box

Got a Lincoln Mark VII and put 4 lanzar 10s in a shared airspace sealed fiberglass box

Put two of those into a sealed box into my accord

Then had two 12s in a sealed box in my accord

Now I don't rock subs, but I'm thinking of going with some 8s in custom enclosures inside the rear doors.



Its most important to decide what kind of music you listen to because you'll get different performance from different subs and boxes. If you listen to Rap and Hip Hop most, you'll probably want a larger sub 12" or bigger and going with a nice ported box would probably get you the loudest and cleanest sound from that speaker. Porting causes the speaker to be loudest in a certain frequency range, usually 30-40hz where most bass is played at on rap and hip hop songs. The reason for the bigger sub is because more surface space causes more air movement, which is how you get your low bass notes to sound better.

If you listen to rock more, going with 8s or 10s is a better choice. (Or a high quality 12) The reason being is because bass from rock music is quicker and tighter as opposed to the long, drawn out bass notes of hip hop. Therefore you want quicker response. Also, rock music bass consists of bass on a more ranged scale, whereas rap is (usually) in the 30s and 40s, rock is all over the place. This means going with a sealed box will generate a better sound overall....

HOWEVER!! Using a sealed box needs more power to be as loud as a ported box.

Now you have bandpass. This is similar to a ported box in that it is tuned to a certain frequency, however, instead of the speaker firing into the trunk, it fires into a sealed area...bandpass is by far going to generate the loudest bass in a narrow frequency range, and for a lot less power too. However, it does so at the loss of quality...

There is good quality bandpass boxes out there, and they can definitely be made, but they can be a hassle. Bandpass boxes require the most room, followed by sealed (this is dependent on the requirements of the sub) followed by ported (which is also dependent on the sub)

That being said, there are subs that are specifically designed for certain types of boxes...

So, what I would say, is first:

Figure out which music you like to listen to.

Then choose a sub that works best for that.
(I've found that 8s and 10s work the nicest for rock unless you have a high quality 12 that will respond quickly to bass drum kicks, 10s and 12s and 15s for rap so you can reach those low bass notes that rap will have, sometimes down to 10hz where you can't hear it anymore but your bowels will start to release due to the air pressure

Then if you decide that you listen to a mixture, get a really good set of 10s, slap em in a sealed (or ported) box and feed em some power...

and I will say that bigger doesn't always mean better sounding or louder.

If you need more info on different types of boxes (and there is more styles out there than the three that I mentioned) check out JL Audio's website. Not for their gear (its overpriced now) but for their tutorials, which are amazing.

[KeeM_JDM]

Anything is better than stock.

I have all 4 new sony speakers inside my car with two 12" Sony XPlods subs and Dome tweeters connected to my 1200 watt amp.

Sounds 100% better than stock

[sonikaccord]

Its most important to decide what kind of music you listen to because you'll get different performance from different subs and boxes. If you listen to Rap and Hip Hop most, you'll probably want a larger sub 12" or bigger and going with a nice ported box would probably get you the loudest and cleanest sound from that speaker. Porting causes the speaker to be loudest in a certain frequency range, usually 30-40hz where most bass is played at on rap and hip hop songs. The reason for the bigger sub is because more surface space causes more air movement, which is how you get your low bass notes to sound better.

If you listen to rock more, going with 8s or 10s is a better choice. (Or a high quality 12) The reason being is because bass from rock music is quicker and tighter as opposed to the long, drawn out bass notes of hip hop. Therefore you want quicker response. Also, rock music bass consists of bass on a more ranged scale, whereas rap is (usually) in the 30s and 40s, rock is all over the place. This means going with a sealed box will generate a better sound overall....

Well you got most of the info right except this part...

big subs aren't slow and small subs aren't fast

Rap music covers about 2 and a half octaves in the bass range...20-100ish Hz.

Rock music also covers a wide range but is usually centered at the kick drum frequency...around 60 hertz. A sealed box sounds better with rock because the higher frequencies are more pronounced.

Also, a ported box is best for all applications as long as you have the space IMO. The are more efficient(louder) and play lower(to a certain extent) than sealed boxes when tuned correctly.

[2.2litrebeater]

Is it worth it to upgrade the car's regular speaker wires or something? Could the regular wires distort the sound somehow, blow/give up over time?

Nope, the human ear cannot detect anything less than a one decibel change, even with a 100 watt rms per channel amp on stock wiring will lose about half a db, youll never notice.

[cloudasc]

Nope, the human ear cannot detect anything less than a one decibel change, even with a 100 watt rms per channel amp on stock wiring will lose about half a db, youll never notice.

When it comes to wires, its not about sound quality, its about safely providing power to the speakers. With smaller wires you also lose more power the longer the distance the wires have to travel (its called resistance). Using too small of wires, or not upgrading to larger wires for high power situations is a fire hazard.

Push too much continious power through the stock wires, they will get hot, and they will melt, possibly short, and set your beloved car on fire, and possibly take all your audio equipment with it. Or at the very least you could blow a fuse and/or fry your amplifier.

[sonikaccord]

Stock wiring is good for about 100 watts

[mercyboy]

If you happen to have stock...wiring...and you have a 1000watt amp or sub...You know woring back then couldn't handle it...So yes it is important to buy good wiring, not only it's good, but it will give you great sound tooo

[jakeafton]

When it comes to wires, its not about sound quality, its about safely providing power to the speakers. With smaller wires you also lose more power the longer the distance the wires have to travel (its called resistance). Using too small of wires, or not upgrading to larger wires for high power situations is a fire hazard.

Push too much continious power through the stock wires, they will get hot, and they will melt, possibly short, and set your beloved car on fire, and possibly take all your audio equipment with it. Or at the very least you could blow a fuse and/or fry your amplifier.

THANK you. People always assume that simply because you don't lose sound quality with stock wiring in these older cars that it's OK to leave them in. Bad. Not only do you run the risk of high resistance, which, really, the only thing wrong with this statement is the fire thing, cause you'll blow your amp before you light your car on fire. Not that that can't happen, it most definitely can, but the most likely of scenarios is you're going to fry your amp.

I worked as a car audio installer for about a year and a half. This is what I told customers

"you like the new products you bought? You want to keep them the way they are right now? Buy and have us run new wires. Otherwise you run the risk of damaging or completely frying your new goodies."

It may be slightly over the top, but it's still true...

[StreetNewb]

Is it worth it to upgrade the car's regular speaker wires or something? Could the regular wires distort the sound somehow, blow/give up over time? What about a sub box? Not trying to have the best on the block just good enough that will last for a while.

For speakers, deck, sub etc I'm thinking mostly Pioneer/Alpine deck, JBL/Alpine speakers, Alpine/Pioneer/JBL sub. Any thoughts? (Type S Alpine's)

The wiring all just matters about how much wattage you're going to put through it. If you're going to do 1600watts you only need 4g. Just don't play with your gain on your amplifier, setting it to max will probably distort it like I did to my first kicker last year

[sonikaccord]

THANK you. People always assume that simply because you don't lose sound quality with stock wiring in these older cars that it's OK to leave them in. Bad. Not only do you run the risk of high resistance, which, really, the only thing wrong with this statement is the fire thing, cause you'll blow your amp before you light your car on fire. Not that that can't happen, it most definitely can, but the most likely of scenarios is you're going to fry your amp.

I worked as a car audio installer for about a year and a half. This is what I told customers

"you like the new products you bought? You want to keep them the way they are right now? Buy and have us run new wires. Otherwise you run the risk of damaging or completely frying your new goodies."

It may be slightly over the top, but it's still true...

High wire resistance won't fry your amp...
Amps prefer high impedance loads.

[gloryaccordy]

You're not gonna start any fires powering inside speakers with stock wiring

I would upgrade anyway though, 10-12 AWG wiring is fucking cheap.

[cloudasc]

Lets have a little science experiment....

Supplies:
1x Battery (aaa, aa, c, d, 1.5volt is fine, or a 9volt will work)
1x Some foil
Tape
Scissors

Instructions:
1. Take the scissors and cut a piece of foil into a strip a few inches long, maybe 1/4" wide.

2. Take the foil you just cut, and tape the foil to the negative end of the battery, then touch the other end of foil strip to the positive side of the battery, hold it in place, and watch the foil.

What you witness happen is the same thing that happens if you try and draw too much power through stock wiring.

My fire example may have been over the top considering that amps today have smart circuitry designed for safety, but the circuitry only really detects when there is a short, and the amp will shut itself off (if a fuse doesn't blow); until the actual short happens, your going to have the insulation of the wires melt, and that alone could cause a fire if the melting insulation gets on the right things, or at least it makes a mess, and your stuck removing and replacing the wires that melted.

Do it right the first time, and save yourself the headaches later.