sound system suggestions

[gm830]

i really know nothing about what equipment is good for what...I just want my music to sound really nice even when the volume is up really loud (fyi i'm not the type that makes it so the whole neighborhood has to hear your music as you're driving through lol). I'm not looking for a lot of bass, i really hate it when i'm in my brother's car because all you here is tons of bass vibrating everything and you can barely hear the music (i'm not sure i'd call what he listens to "music" though =P ) I mainly like rock and pop music so bass isn't a focus, i just want clear sounding music, anyone know what type of speakers are best?

[eTiMaGo]

I'm more or less the same as you, I have some Boston Acoustic speakers with non-fancy amps, and a single 8" subwoofer, it's more than enough, and didn't cost more than the car itself :biggrin:

[staticorex]

Sig. :biggrin:



Feel free to check my garage.

[mygrnthmb]

check out crutchfield.com. great customer service and no high pressures sales pitches. its all about the speakers imo.

[gm830]

what do amplifiers and subwoofers do exactly =) i'm not looking for anything that's going to take the place of my trunk, so if it's not small it's not going in

[staticorex]

Ha. Subs are all bass. Amps circuit more power to either speakers or subs.

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/images/funkygarage/303/DSCN1220.jpg

Sub Amp Amp Sub :)

[gm830]

ok so i'm guessing i should just get speakers and an amp since i'm not worried about bass. what specs are good for speakers? i see all this stuff about watts "peak power" and watts RMS and 2-way and 3-way...what specs are considered good quality? i don't want anything too expensive but i also don't want crap. :-)

[sdmf]

DLS speakers are the best, they continously win awards, its so clear. match it up with a good amp, ppi, rf or audiobahn. 10" sub, crystal, jl audio or eclipse

[gm830]

but are all DLS speakers good? i'm concerned about what max watt and watt RMS i should be looking at

[Kaotic Lazagna]

peak watts is the most watts the speaker is capable of at any given musical note. RMS is the continuous power that the speaker is capable of. i would try to find a nice cheap speaker that has a high RMS rating. i went to Best Buy and saw a Kenwood that sounded really nice and it wasn't too expensive. however, i don't know which amp was powering it.

[gm830]

lol but what range of RMS rating is considered good quality??

[Kaotic Lazagna]

i would think 75W-100W RMS is good enough. i don't think you would want those speakers with 150W RMS since your would probably need two amps, and like you said, you don't really like blasting your music.

[sdmf]

but are all DLS speakers good? i'm concerned about what max watt and watt RMS i should be looking at

you cant go wrong with any, made in sweden, not that cheap china or taiwan crap. they dont outsource their stuff, i i wish i can afford a pair, but i'll settle for crystal or quarts, definitely go with a good amp to power up your component speakers, 200w amp is good enuff.

here check out their product line, i might wait it out and save to buy a pair, go with the ultimate series

http://dls.alfredo.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_16

[gm830]

can someone explain what's so good about 2-way and 3-way speakers please?

[Blenjar]

its like having sex with 2 person or a 3sum..
but speakers

-- Blen

[Blenjar]

if you want to buy a sound system..here's what I suggest:

front speakers are components 2 way
rear is coaxial 2 way
amp
subwoofer or subwoofer selfpowered.

i rather stick with alpine, infinity, rockaport or w/e its spelled.
get the top end infinity components 100 and maybe coaxial 100.
get a alpine amp to match the RMS of the top end. 400 max
i do rather get a selfpower sub, saves space and helps keep amp cheaper. 100-300.

here's my set-up I got.
type-r alpine speakers. 110 RMS component, 100 RMS coaxial
alpine 4.100 channels. meaning each speackers (4) will get 100 RMS
infinity basslink T (bolted on rear seat). eats away small amount of space IMO.

now what I need to get is a head unit. your speakers or amp wont sound as clear as they suppose to be without a decent head unit. 100+.

i spend about 800 so far on the system. another 200 for headunit to make it 1000k.

I got top end reasonable price speakers with the amp to match it too (really small amp =])
awesome selfpowered sub that leaves me space in trunk + soon to be decent head unit. no dvd, ot tv. ust a god damn unit with satellite possibilities...i hate normal radio now.


if u go with box in trunk..it will be ugly IMO, if u go custom..thatsh ott but might cost some dough.

any questions?

-- Blen

[Kaotic Lazagna]

can someone explain what's so good about 2-way and 3-way speakers please?

i believe that they sound since the frequencies are distributed 2 or more ways (tweeters and super-tweeters).

[gm830]

if you want to buy a sound system..here's what I suggest:

front speakers are components 2 way
rear is coaxial 2 way
amp
subwoofer or subwoofer selfpowered.

i rather stick with alpine, infinity, rockaport or w/e its spelled.
get the top end infinity components 100 and maybe coaxial 100.
get a alpine amp to match the RMS of the top end. 400 max
i do rather get a selfpower sub, saves space and helps keep amp cheaper. 100-300.

here's my set-up I got.
type-r alpine speakers. 110 RMS component, 100 RMS coaxial
alpine 4.100 channels. meaning each speackers (4) will get 100 RMS
infinity basslink T (bolted on rear seat). eats away small amount of space IMO.

now what I need to get is a head unit. your speakers or amp wont sound as clear as they suppose to be without a decent head unit. 100+.

i spend about 800 so far on the system. another 200 for headunit to make it 1000k.

I got top end reasonable price speakers with the amp to match it too (really small amp =])
awesome selfpowered sub that leaves me space in trunk + soon to be decent head unit. no dvd, ot tv. ust a god damn unit with satellite possibilities...i hate normal radio now.


if u go with box in trunk..it will be ugly IMO, if u go custom..thatsh ott but might cost some dough.

any questions?

-- Blen


I thought the liftback didn't have rear speakers

[Jerkratt]

not on the hatch they dont but there are 2 on the side in the back where the back seats are on the sides... idk that does not make sence if u understand me then yay if not ill try and take pictures later

[Kaotic Lazagna]

i don't have a LB, but aren't the speakers right next to where your thighs would be if you were sitting in the rear seats?

[seriousfun]

A speaker has to play a wide range of frequencies.

A one-way speaker can sound great because it has no crossover to color the sound, but I know of no great sounding one-way car speakers (Magnapan and other one-way home speakers are considered very high-end).

A two-way speaker splits the frequencies to different drivers, usually a tweeter for the highs and a woofer for the lows, and a three-way adds a midrange driver for, guess what, the mids. If you add a subwoofer, that would actually be a four-way system!

I don't know of a 6.5", 6x9", or any other door speaker, that goes down to the lowest sounds in music (20 Hz). That's why, in any car or home system, a subwoofer is almost essential. CDs, DVDs, iPods, etc. can all deliver sounds this low. Bass notes take a lot more power to play cleanly than high notes - that's why big drivers and big amps are used for subwoofers.

Power is often misunderstood. What usually blows up a tweeter, for example, is an amplifier with too little power driven to distortion. The way to keep that distortion away is to have an amplifier with more clean power - you can almost never cause harm with a bigger amplifier. The wattage numbers on the speakers mean next to nothing - each manufacturer can call them just about whatever they want - but the sensitivity number can mean something (a speaker that is more sensitive than another will play louder with the same available power than the less efficient speaker, leading again to cleaner sound).

So: speakers first - a lot of good brands out there. You can't evaluate them in your car, and a dealer's wall o' speakers can't show you how they will sound in your car, so it's a tough job. Luckily, there are many 6.5" component speakers out there that will fit where the stock Yaris speakers fit and sound tons better - I chose MB Quart QSC 216s. I would avoid most Japanese manufacturers, but there are exceptions.

amplifiers second - as much clean power as possible, within reason.

head unit third - get the features you want from a reputable company. I'm not a huge Sony fan, but I just installed a Sony MEX-DV2000, for its surround sound capabilities.

calibration - hire somebody knowlegeable who won't just throw the system together. They should have test gear to help them calibrate the level of each speaker, establish the gain structure, etc.