I have a 1999 grand am sedan with all stock speakers and stereo ( except for some replacement 4x6's with pretty much same power) and im thinking about getting a subwoofer. what all would i have to buy/do. what subwoofer should i get. I dont have that much money, im only a kid. and also, where would i put it? just in the trunk?
welcome to the forum. you my friend are asking a very difficult question. first off how much money can you spend on this up grade? do you know how loud you want said woofer to get? do you want it to blend in with the music or do you want it to over power you on occasion? you'll need a Line out converter, and good wiring for the amp. an amp to power said sub and a sub. because there are literally 100's to thousands of brands and models to choose from you need to do a little bit of research before you dive in to this. its not an easy choice. you want to buy something that will sound good and last for a while the first time. so choose good reputable brands. start out by picking up an audio mag and do some reading or stick around here and ask away.
what kind of car you got? you want 2 12's, 2 10's, 1 12, 1 10, 1 15? the combos are endless. can you build your own box? lets start off by you telling us what ure budget is, and what kind of car you got. I'm just a kid too (16 now! woot woot) lol but if you save your money and not jump into it and buying cheap junk you can get nice things. But ya, what is your budget, car, and combo of subs.
the type of car and so on is in my first post. I don't have set budget, but my job is only during the summer, so my money has to last until then. aka my budget is not very big. i guess i would say $200. maybe a little more depending on whether i can get my parents to chip in as my christmas gift. if that isn't realistic, then tell me now lol. all i know is that it has to be louder than my regular speakers, but i don't know how many watts they are. It doesn't have to be so loud that it shakes me in my seat, but i want to be able to bump on those songs where i know the bass is meant to be played loud. with my regular setup, i have to keep the bass knob low or i feel like they will break, and the bass just doesn't sound good. to answer your question, it should be able to overpower my speakers a little if i want to move up the bass knob on the stereo for certain songs, but on other songs, it should just blend in. i could build a box, but i hear if you don't do it just right, it will sound crappy. would i have to get an aftermarket stereo? or will the factory installed one work fine. b/c that might put me out of my price range
Well if I were you I would get an after market head unit, and new component speakers and then go from there. I think that you would be pretty happy with that... maybe an amp to run the components.
x2 on that. If i were you id start off with upgrading my already "crappy" stock speakers and head unit. You will be amazed at the quality a good head unit and a new set of components up front will do you. Build your way up man, thats the best way to do it. Get one thing at a time and you can progressively hear the difference as you go along. I didn't get a subwoofer until after i upgraded all my other stuff first. You wouldn't want to put a quality amp and subwoofer into a system that it doesn't compliment...
first of all i never said that my speakers were crappy. they just cant put out loud bass. the normal frequencies sound fine. like i said i already replaced my front speakers cuz they broke a long time ago. they had basically the same power. they are pioneer 4x6 130 watt max. however my back ones are still stock, but they are 6x9 and seem to have more bass. so to get more bass from my normal speakers, would i again have to get better 4x6's and 6x9's? or could i just get better 6x9's so that the bass mostly plays from the those? also, are there any certain requirements for the aftermarket radio, or can i get the cheapest one?
Well I wouldn't get the "cheapest" aftermarket head unit, I mean if I were you I would want to do it all right the first time and maybe save up for a while, maybe get your new radio first and then get new component speakers if the current speakers don't sound very good
before i got my system. i just cut a hole in the rear dash, where the 6x9's are and set the 6x9's in it instead of having them underneath it in the trunk, sorry if that is confusing lol. but basicaly using the whole trunk as a box. a good set of 6x9s will do you fine while you save up for subs and and amp
dont expect any bass from your front speakers. 4x6's just cant do that. for a few dollars find some bass blockers for them. a 300 hz high pass will help them sound better when turn up the bass. the 6x9's have good bass due to the fact that they are bigger speakers than the 4x6's and have the trunk as an enclosure. you can keep those if you wish and get a better head unit for now. it will help. you can find a nice one for under your 200 budget. look for one with a built in crossover to help those front speakers out. you can look on crutchfield.com to find one with the features you want/need. then find it cheaper else where, or get it there. they provide the wiring harness needed and mounting plate. so its your choice. finding a sub and amp and the wiring kit needed plus a box for said sub can cost you more than your budget will allow. save some more or look for places with combo deals.
Today,I bought a 50 dollar Dual head unit. that didnt include wiring harness or dash kit, the dash kit i boughtonly fits in the grand am 01 and up (mine is a 99) couldnt find one for my car anywhere so i will probably get one online. found a new Infinity 12' 1200w 60-300 RMS sub on crutchfield for only 50 bucks, I am thinking about getting that. it had all good reviews, seems like a great deal. I also was able to find many different amps in all price ranges on amazon. there is a brand called pyramid that is extremely cheap, so i'm guessing they aren't good? how powerful of an amp should i get if i buy that sub, and what should it cost if it is a good brand?
sometimes buying a cheap unit can cost you more in the long run. does the radio have the features you were looking for. also does it have any rca jacks for a sub out? meaning will it need to be replaced if you upgrade due to lack of features? post links to it. im too lazy to look for it. oh and the sub too. i want to see it so i can recommend an amp that will work for you and your budget. PS. pyramid is flea market and pawn shop stuff. they over exaggerate their power ratings by A LOT. if money is tight, then save up for a good reputable brand. not the first good deal that you see. back in the day when i was broke i used to hit up my local pawn shops. thats where i found my phoenix gold M44 4ch amp. bought it for 95 bucks. that was 10 years ago and it was built in 92~94. i knew what it was and snatched it up. new it went for at least 900. that amp is unstoppable!! and its only rated for 40x4. so maybe you can hit up a local pawn shop or ebay. i got two more PG amps to match my 4ch, and they are strong for their age. clean power trumps dirty high power output all day.
Yeah i had two of the infinity reference 12s, dvc in a ported box at about 32 hz in a single cab truck and it killed. I loved my infinitys man, i wish i could of found the old school 10s but i got stuck with stupid kickers..
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1081252W/Infinity-1252w.html?tp=111 this is the subwoofer my stereo has ac jacks and an amp wire let me know what kind of amp i need
since your new, you dont need to keep posting if your link doesnt show up. give it time as we need to approve it first. i removed the other 2 post. by the way, does your radio have any rca jacks ? or did you mean "rca' instead of "ac"?
if its a single 4 ohm coil sub, then a good 250 watt amp should work out fine. how much can you spend on one now?
i would like to keep it at $50. I already purchased the subwoofer that i showed you in the link. im thinkin i am either gonna get the amp on ebay or amazon. so does that mean the amp should put out 250 rms at 4 ohms? cuz i know that an amp puts out twice as much power if the resistance is cut in half, and i didnt realize the sub was 4 ohms. so since i will need a more powerful amp than i thought, i might just go with a less powerful amp, maybe 200 or even 150 watts at 4 ohms, even though that wouldnt power the sub to the full potential, would that be good enough? cuz i dont need it to be really, really, loud, just a big upgrade from my regular speakers.
