Audio Setup

[JamaicaBlue]

What is the best and roomiest audio setup for the CB7. I like the Sound quality and bass from the sub woofers, but I don't want a box in my trunk to take up all the space. Any suggestions on the type of setup that will save room and provide good sound quality. Speakers, Tweets, Woofer, Amp - Also good brands at reasonable price.

[sonikaccord]

It's hundreds of options for that. Give us more details on what you want it to sound like.

[blazedealh91]

if you do a subwoofer u would be best off custome makeing it keep in mind the specs on ur subwoofer or woofers

[visualpoet]

Some people will disagree, but a tube in the trunk is the most bass for the least space. As for the rest, stick with the better brands (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, (I personally think Sony sucks balls for car audio)), if the price seems cheap; there's a reason.
At that point, it's YOUR personal opinion. Go somewhere that you can listen to a combination of different setups. Ideally, you want as many components from the same manufacturer as possible for the best sound. I've seen $500 COMPLETE Jensen set-ups that had cleaner, more solid sound than $2500 mixed equipment set-ups.

[JamaicaBlue]

It's hundreds of options for that. Give us more details on what you want it to sound like.

I want it to sound clear and crisp so you can hear every sound with just the right amount of base. This is based on my music collection ranging from reggae to hip-hop/rap, R&B to Soft Rock, Acapella to Classical and Contemporary Piano Music and Orchestra.

Some people will disagree, but a tube in the trunk is the most bass for the least space. As for the rest, stick with the better brands (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, (I personally think Sony sucks balls for car audio)), if the price seems cheap; there's a reason.
At that point, it's YOUR personal opinion. Go somewhere that you can listen to a combination of different setups. Ideally, you want as many components from the same manufacturer as possible for the best sound. I've seen $500 COMPLETE Jensen set-ups that had cleaner, more solid sound than $2500 mixed equipment set-ups.

Hmm . . . This is helpful. I'll keep in mind to stick to the same brand. Are there any recommendations based on my music collection?
- ranging from reggae to hip-hop/rap, R&B to Soft Rock, Acapella to Classical and Contemporary Piano Music and Orchestra.

[Gr1m]

That's true, certain audio equipment might not be name brand, but that doesn't mean it isn't built right. I've had a great experience with Dual brand head units, hooked up to a Pioneer amp, along with the subs, speaker, & tweeters (also Pioneer). When I switched over to a 200 dollar Sony deck, the sound quality diminished perceptibly (everybody that got in my car told me so). To the OP, you basically want a universal sounding system, so the best thing to do would be to get modest sounding speakers, subs, & tweets, along with a NAME BRAND amp. Can't stress that last one enough. Then, when you get your head unit, tweak the EQ settings, or better yet, establish 4 presets (heavy bass for rap, higher mid range for metal, etc) that let you switch off between music types. IF you're that much of an audiophile haha. Most people find that setting there Bass, Treble, & Mid range from the start works with their whole music collection.

Oh, and to save space, get shallow-mount subwoofers. They're ridiculously slender, and pack almost the same punch as their regular size counterparts. Considering the size of our CB's, I'd suggest a pair of 10's.
And DON'T buy expensive ass "oxygenated aluminum nitrite encased" cables. A cable is a cable. Go online.

[JamaicaBlue]

That's true, certain audio equipment might not be name brand, but that doesn't mean it isn't built right. I've had a great experience with Dual brand head units, hooked up to a Pioneer amp, along with the subs, speaker, & tweeters (also Pioneer). When I switched over to a 200 dollar Sony deck, the sound quality diminished perceptibly (everybody that got in my car told me so). To the OP, you basically want a universal sounding system, so the best thing to do would be to get modest sounding speakers, subs, & tweets, along with a NAME BRAND amp. Can't stress that last one enough. Then, when you get your head unit, tweak the EQ settings, or better yet, establish 4 presets (heavy bass for rap, higher mid range for metal, etc) that let you switch off between music types. IF you're that much of an audiophile haha. Most people find that setting there Bass, Treble, & Mid range from the start works with their whole music collection.

Oh, and to save space, get shallow-mount subwoofers. They're ridiculously slender, and pack almost the same punch as their regular size counterparts. Considering the size of our CB's, I'd suggest a pair of 10's.
And DON'T buy expensive ass "oxygenated aluminum nitrite encased" cables. A cable is a cable. Go online.

Thanks man!! I appreciate this. It's very helpful.

[sonikaccord]

Some people will disagree, but a tube in the trunk is the most bass for the least space. As for the rest, stick with the better brands (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, (I personally think Sony sucks balls for car audio)), if the price seems cheap; there's a reason.
At that point, it's YOUR personal opinion. Go somewhere that you can listen to a combination of different setups. Ideally, you want as many components from the same manufacturer as possible for the best sound. I've seen $500 COMPLETE Jensen set-ups that had cleaner, more solid sound than $2500 mixed equipment set-ups.

I had a mixed speaker set-up that sounded awesome. It was a three way with LPG titanium tweeters
Dayton RS100 and RS225 midrange and midbass respectively...I really like that setup . But my point is as long as it's quality equipment and installed correctly, it's hard to make it sound crappy.

I want it to sound clear and crisp so you can hear every sound with just the right amount of base. This is based on my music collection ranging from reggae to hip-hop/rap, R&B to Soft Rock, Acapella to Classical and Contemporary Piano Music and Orchestra.



Hmm . . . This is helpful. I'll keep in mind to stick to the same brand. Are there any recommendations based on my music collection?
- ranging from reggae to hip-hop/rap, R&B to Soft Rock, Acapella to Classical and Contemporary Piano Music and Orchestra.

Diversity...I like that. Classical would probably be the hardest to reproduce accurately along with acapellas and orchestras. I'm going to assume you want a natural sounding system without the exaggerated highs and lows. Are you going to amp your speakers too?

I'd would say get a quality amp because some "no name brand amps" or a better term would be mainstream, smash so many name brand amps in build quality, technology, sound etc. Alpine has a new thin type-r out. If it's like the regular sized type-r it would be an awesome bass filler sub.

[onelivinlarge]

i suggest a sundown audio sa 8 in a ported box tuned to like 35hz. and a good 400rms amp that does 400rms at 2 ohms something like a rockford fosgate r500 . and a nice set of componets and amping them with like 50 watts rms

[Sarthos]

ugh... I'm afraid some of those here don't know much about audio systems and are not to be trusted...

So I'll just go through each statement and extract the useful information...

if you do a subwoofer u would be best off custome makeing it keep in mind the specs on ur subwoofer or woofers

Yes, if you custom make a subwoofer that would be best. Do you happen to have the machining skills to go and fabricate your own frame, as well as all the other design and assembly and manufacturing skills to put it together? Probably not. What this person should have said was build a custom BOX. Don't go and make a custom subwoofer unless you have a ton of skills.

Some people will disagree, but a tube in the trunk is the most bass for the least space. As for the rest, stick with the better brands (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, (I personally think Sony sucks balls for car audio)), if the price seems cheap; there's a reason.
At that point, it's YOUR personal opinion. Go somewhere that you can listen to a combination of different setups. Ideally, you want as many components from the same manufacturer as possible for the best sound. I've seen $500 COMPLETE Jensen set-ups that had cleaner, more solid sound than $2500 mixed equipment set-ups.

Best bass with least space = a really good pair of component speakers with an amp. I had 4 Alpine Type R 6.5" speakers with 95 watts/channel, got more bass than some people's subs.

Matching brands is in no way helpful. Unless you're talking about matching certain things like putting an Alpine CD changer with an Alpine stereo since it won't work with a Pioneer stereo. Etc. Mixing brands does not hurt you. All this guy heard was either an all Jensen system which someone put a TON of work in with deadening the car and such, or a Jensen stereo that got louder than the others and therefore was the best sounding despite the 75% THD.

I want it to sound clear and crisp so you can hear every sound with just the right amount of base. This is based on my music collection ranging from reggae to hip-hop/rap, R&B to Soft Rock, Acapella to Classical and Contemporary Piano Music and Orchestra.

How do you listen to it? CDs, iPod, what do you use?

That's true, certain audio equipment might not be name brand, but that doesn't mean it isn't built right. I've had a great experience with Dual brand head units, hooked up to a Pioneer amp, along with the subs, speaker, & tweeters (also Pioneer). When I switched over to a 200 dollar Sony deck, the sound quality diminished perceptibly (everybody that got in my car told me so). To the OP, you basically want a universal sounding system, so the best thing to do would be to get modest sounding speakers, subs, & tweets, along with a NAME BRAND amp. Can't stress that last one enough. Then, when you get your head unit, tweak the EQ settings, or better yet, establish 4 presets (heavy bass for rap, higher mid range for metal, etc) that let you switch off between music types. IF you're that much of an audiophile haha. Most people find that setting there Bass, Treble, & Mid range from the start works with their whole music collection.

I almost find this one hard to dignify with a response. Take a guess which one sounds better, a crappy pair of speakers on a $50,000 amp, or a good pair of speaker on a $100 amp... the good speakers. You can NOT hear the differences between two amps. Seriously, it is not audible to the human ear. I could explain it to you in greater detail, let's just say there's a guy out there who is offering a very large sum of money to anyone who can hear the difference between any two amps putting out the same power, and nobody has managed to win his money. Because it CAN'T be done.

Oh, and to save space, get shallow-mount subwoofers. They're ridiculously slender, and pack almost the same punch as their regular size counterparts. Considering the size of our CB's, I'd suggest a pair of 10's.
And DON'T buy expensive ass "oxygenated aluminum nitrite encased" cables. A cable is a cable. Go online.

Shallow mount subwoofers aren't always that great, check the xmax on any you look at before purchasing... if it's a quarter of other subs it's not a good sub.

No, don't buy oxygenated aluminum nitrite encased cables. Oxygenated aluminum would be a horrible material to make cables out of, that would be corroded aluminum... you know how your engine looks? That's what the cables would look like, kinda rusty but not rust because it's aluminum not iron.. Other than that, he's pretty much right, wire is wire. Just don't buy corroded aluminum wire.

Thanks man!! I appreciate this. It's very helpful.

No, it wasn't. Ignore the first paragraph, the second one is kinda helpful.

I had a mixed speaker set-up that sounded awesome. It was a three way with LPG titanium tweeters
Dayton RS100 and RS225 midrange and midbass respectively...I really like that setup . But my point is as long as it's quality equipment and installed correctly, it's hard to make it sound crappy.

Yep, mixed brands often results in a greater quality than matching brands... throw a good Eclipse headunit to a decent Planet Audio amp to MB Quart speakers and you know what you have? A system that sounds better than an all Sony or all Jensen or all Dual system! Unless those people put a ton more work into the install. Remember the importance of the install...

I'd would say get a quality amp because some "no name brand amps" or a better term would be mainstream, smash so many name brand amps in build quality, technology, sound etc. Alpine has a new thin type-r out. If it's like the regular sized type-r it would be an awesome bass filler sub.

Maybe I'm just tired, seemed like you sorta rambled here. Are you saying no name amps are mainstream and are better than name brand amps? :/

i suggest a sundown audio sa 8 in a ported box tuned to like 35hz. and a good 400rms amp that does 400rms at 2 ohms something like a rockford fosgate r500 . and a nice set of componets and amping them with like 50 watts rms

I agree, that sounds like a good setup. I'd just bump that amp up to about 550 watts @ 2 ohms to give you more headroom, and about 100 watts rms to each front speaker. You can put about 50 rms to each rear speaker. While you're at it, get a good headunit with at least a 7 band equalizer, or an external equalizer like an Audiocontrol or something.

[JamaicaBlue]

Lol! Thanks man really! I'm glad someone knows what their talking about.

[onelivinlarge]

I agree, that sounds like a good setup. I'd just bump that amp up to about 550 watts @ 2 ohms to give you more headroom, and about 100 watts rms to each front speaker. You can put about 50 rms to each rear speaker. While you're at it, get a good headunit with at least a 7 band equalizer, or an external equalizer like an Audiocontrol or something.

op this right here all the way^^^
a sundown audio sa 8, (you can pick them up used for under 100 bucks shipped)
then some good comps i recommend the re audio comps they r 99 dollars new at audiosavings.com
and then some good amps like i said a exlent one would be a kicker zx500 because its designed to run at 2 ohms.
and then a 50-100 rms 4 chan for your mids and highs and then a good head unit
somthing like the pioneer deh 6200bt

[sonikaccord]

Maybe I'm just tired, seemed like you sorta rambled here. Are you saying no name amps are mainstream and are better than name brand amps? :/.

I'd would say get a quality amp because some "no name brand amps", smash so many name brand amps (or a better term would be mainstream amps) in build quality, technology, sound etc. Alpine has a new thin type-r out. If it's like the regular sized type-r it would be an awesome bass filler sub.

Fixed

But yes I did mean some unbranded amps are very, very good.

[visualpoet]

Wow, miss your morning coffee or something? Allow me to address some problems with your 'knowledge' here.

ugh... I'm afraid some of those here don't know much about audio systems and are not to be trusted...

So I'll just go through each statement and extract the useful information...



Yes, if you custom make a subwoofer that would be best. Do you happen to have the machining skills to go and fabricate your own frame, as well as all the other design and assembly and manufacturing skills to put it together? Probably not. What this person should have said was build a custom BOX. Don't go and make a custom subwoofer unless you have a ton of skills.

Okay, here, I'm pretty sure the guy was simply talking about a custom box and forgot to put the word in there, get off his ass.


Best bass with least space = a really good pair of component speakers with an amp. I had 4 Alpine Type R 6.5" speakers with 95 watts/channel, got more bass than some people's subs.

You might have gotten a good punch, but without an enclosure, there's no low end roll, and with that small of a speaker, you're not going to make any decent bass. The Type R frequency range starts at 60 hz, so anything below that (and there is a LOT of bass down there. I'd bet your 6.5" Type R won't hit 30 hz with anything near the power my 12" Audio Arts do.) is going to be both damaging to the speaker itself (unless the speaker has a built in LPF in which case it won't be making anything below 60 hz at all) and sound like crap.

Matching brands is in no way helpful. Unless you're talking about matching certain things like putting an Alpine CD changer with an Alpine stereo since it won't work with a Pioneer stereo. Etc. Mixing brands does not hurt you. All this guy heard was either an all Jensen system which someone put a TON of work in with deadening the car and such, or a Jensen stereo that got louder than the others and therefore was the best sounding despite the 75% THD.

Matching brands is helpful. When the manufacturer puts together and tests new equipment, who's equipment do you think they're testing it out on? Their own. It does make a difference. I'm not in any way saying it's necessary, nor did I say it would hurt you in anyway, and it is possible to build a decent sounding mixed system, but a matched set-up is going to sound better most of the time. The system I heard was in a car with no sound deadening at all, Jensen head unit, four Jensen speakers, one Jensen amp, one Jensen bandpass with two Jensen XS1010 subs (the old school fat surrounds, not the skinny ones.) And it didn't get just get louder than the others in it's class, it was crystal clear all the way up to the top without any audible distortion. Louder =/= better sounding. And I did better with it in competition for SQL than most of the big money competitors. I don't do SPL competition simply because I prefer to hear my music, not my ride vibratig to pieces one burp at a time.


How do you listen to it? CDs, iPod, what do you use?

This makes very little difference other than rather or not he'll need an auxilliary jack on the HU. I'll blindfold you, put a pair of headphones on you and then let you listen to the exact same song from a CD and from an ipod. If you can tell which is which, I'll give you the bottle to my n2o.

I almost find this one hard to dignify with a response. Take a guess which one sounds better, a crappy pair of speakers on a $50,000 amp, or a good pair of speaker on a $100 amp... the good speakers. You can NOT hear the differences between two amps. Seriously, it is not audible to the human ear. I could explain it to you in greater detail, let's just say there's a guy out there who is offering a very large sum of money to anyone who can hear the difference between any two amps putting out the same power, and nobody has managed to win his money. Because it CAN'T be done.

Not even arguing this one. Speakers are key. You can't hear the difference in equal power amps (unless one is a total POS), however, the difference in the quality of the build does make a difference in how long it's going to last.

Shallow mount subwoofers aren't always that great, check the xmax on any you look at before purchasing... if it's a quarter of other subs it's not a good sub.

No, don't buy oxygenated aluminum nitrite encased cables. Oxygenated aluminum would be a horrible material to make cables out of, that would be corroded aluminum... you know how your engine looks? That's what the cables would look like, kinda rusty but not rust because it's aluminum not iron.. Other than that, he's pretty much right, wire is wire. Just don't buy corroded aluminum wire.

Wire is not wire. Electrons actually travel along the outside of the copper wire, not through it, so using finer strand, higher end wiring can and does make a difference in power transfer as well as signal transfer. Think of each strand as a freeway lane, is a four lane going to accomodate as much traffic as an eight lane? The finer the strands, the more you can have while retaining the same outside gauge and therefore the more conductive it's going to be. The oxygenated aluminum does sound pretty useless, corrosion is electricity's worst enemy. I wouldn't even use regular aluminum wiring: it sucks. There's a reason they don't use it for anything anymore. I'd walk out of any audio store selling aluminum wiring, oxygenated or otherwise.


Yep, mixed brands often results in a greater quality than matching brands... throw a good Eclipse headunit to a decent Planet Audio amp to MB Quart speakers and you know what you have? A system that sounds better than an all Sony or all Jensen or all Dual system! Unless those people put a ton more work into the install. Remember the importance of the install...

Already addressed the mixed/matched set up, but, if you compared the entire mixed high end set-up to a matched high end set-up, which do you think is going to sound better?

The install is important, good contacts, solid connections, and aesthetics should all be taken into account. No bends in the wires tighter than 90 degrees or five times the diameter of the wiring itself (I.E. .25 inch diameter wiring should never make a loop tighter than 1.25 inches across. It does make a difference in how well electricity flows, creates a 'hot-spot' so to speak. Thermal imaging has shown that tighter bends show higher heat concentration where the electrons have to flow through a tight bend. (You learn a thing or two when you install nothing but telecommunication switching equipment worth millions and millions of dollars every day for five years. They tend to teach you some things that most people never need to learn))

[onelivinlarge]

visual can i take the bet on the n2o? =) cuz cd always sounds better the ipod on aux. now usb is another story tho