'99 Alero - Help With System

[mikegett]

The v6 has a 105 amp alt and the 4cyl. has the 102 amp alt. If you have the original altenator, deffinately think about a upgrade. If you have replaced it within the last two years, figure it into your budget but wait until you get the system installed. You may be able to get away with running it for awhile. It will deepend on how loud you use the system. If you run it at half volume you will only be seeing a quarter of the amps pulled 100 percent of the time.
The HU voltage and amplifier input should be kept close. You don't want to send 6 volts into a amp rated for only 2 volts input. If the amp rates for 4 and the HU is 6 you will probably be ok. Just keep the gain down as low as possible or you can burn up the inputs at high volumes. (INFO: the HU voltage increases as the volume is increased. This is why you set gains with the volume at near max)

[violentrapture]

Thanks for all the replies you guys. I'm back at it again with more questions.
First off, I've decided to keep at least one, if not both of the subs I bought from xsavyor1 for my car (the S15L7s). They will be arriving this Thursday, so my car will be going in either this weekend or early next week to have everything installed. I'm looking at head units right now - I had planned earlier to use the CD3434 from Eclipse, but have since been looking at some others. I've narrowed it down to these two: CD5415 ($240 from car toys locally) and CD5425 ($270 from car toys locally). Here is my question regarding this: the only difference I've been able to find between the two is that the 5425 has something called E-iSERV, which from the scant information I've found online has to do with using your cell phone to get weather or something, and the 5425 has a crossover. They both have 3 band EQ, 1-bit DAC, 5V preamp with 55 ohm impedance. Has anyone used the E-iSERVE thing? Would the addition of the E-iSERV functionality and a crossover be worth the $30 more?

So, that takes care of the head unit part.
Regarding the subwoofers:
(Before I start asking questions - I know these are going to be a little much for my car, but from what I've read they're great subwoofers, and I got them cheap.)
I was reading on Kicker's site about the technical specs of the L7. They said that for optimum sound quality, you need 6 cu. ft. The minimum sealed enclosure was 1.5 cu. ft. (if i remember right.) Does that mean that for two subs, I would need a 12 cu. ft. enclosure for the best sound quality? Or could I divide that in half, and have a 6 cu. ft. enclosure (3 cu. ft. for both) and still have -decent- sound quality?
As far as amplification, for the time being I'm going to use the Kole Q1-3000D. It says it does 1800W @ 2ohm RMS, so each sub should get somewhere around 800-900W RMS (the subs are 1,000W RMS each from the specs). Should this be decent as an "I need power on a budget for the time being" solution?

I'm staying with the same front speakers/amp that was decided on earlier. I know I've asked a ton of questions on here, and you guys have been great in being patient with me and answering everything. Hopefully all this should translate into a pretty decent system going in over the next week or so.
Thanks y'all,
Collin

[jamcllw]

I can't say much for Eclipse radios because I'm not familiar with them. But I do know L7s and they are not a sound quality sub. They get loud as hell though. I've heard people say they think they sound great but I think they're real boomy and lack higher end frequencies. (60-90) Hz. 6 cubic feet is extremely large I don't know if there's enough room in the trunk for 6 feet. My box is 3 cubes and there barely any room left. I've never heard of the amp but for the cost it's not likely to put out 3000 watts.

[BLK03GXS]

for that kicker you could either go with a large termcad box, vented, for SPL or give it an easy life with about a 2 cubic foot box, unloaded, and 1000watts rms at 12 volts or so
So you would want an amp with about a 1300-1400watt cea 2006 rating... thats gunna be expencive.... or even 1000wrms at 14.5 would be ok... it will be loud. I mean hell i only have a MRD-M605 on my R15, and its LOUD and my charging system has a hard time keeping 13volts :S

[violentrapture]

Thanks for the responses.

Regarding the amps... BLK03GXS: What about something like the Infinity 1210a - it says that it has "Fully CEA-2006 certified specifications", and lists the specs as
RMS Power: 854W x 1 @ 4 ohms
RMS Power: 1300W x 1 @ 2 ohms
and it can be bought for less than $300. Perhaps one of those on each sub?


jamcllw - Wow, I didn't realize that 3 cu. ft. was so big. I'll have to talk to xsavyor1 and see what size box that is in his trunk that's housing these things, because it takes up his whole trunk too.

Collin

[jamcllw]

Here's a pic of my box it's just a touch over 3 cubes for reference.

http://invision.aleromod.com/index.p...topic=5564&hl=

[BLK03GXS]

yea.. but is your box 3 loaded or unloaded? and its not baffled either is it?

6 cubes will be right to the back of the trunk... using 90% of it...

[mikegett]

CEA 2006 certification means very little. I would personaly stay away from the infinity amps. I love the speakers but the rest of there probucts are pretty iffy on the specs versus the price range. There are alot of factors that need to be looked at on amps to get decent comparisons but to put it simply you won't get 1000 watts rms on a 300 dollar budget. Or at least, not new. If you can't afford a decent amp to push that wattage then you will be better off getting one sub and a decent amp. If you want clean bass then look for a damping factor of 200 or better for that kind of wattage. The larger the number the more control the amp has over the woofers resonance factors. When looking at the rms, compare the rated voltage. A amp rated 50 watts rms at 13 volts will give a more power than one rated 50 at 14 volts. And trust me. A smaller (decent) amp will
The eclipse e-iserve has a couple of functions. They are all deependant on what head unit you have. The full capabilities of e-iserve concist of downloading graphics for the displays. Downloading weather and directions for navigation (can be used with or without satellite navigation). And uploading a sonic snapshot of your car to tweak crossover, time alignment, and eq settings.

[jamcllw]

Originally posted by BLK03GXS@Apr 25 2005, 09:00 PM
yea.. but is your box 3 loaded or unloaded? and its not baffled either is it?

6 cubes will be right to the back of the trunk... using 90% of it...

Quoted post

It's a 3 cube common chamber box after sub displacement.

Well its on how your much cash your willing to spend. Every major named company has good products. But depends on what u want out of your system. I run audiobahn amps and subs in my car and they sound nice and loud try not to under power your subs. try to push the rms voltage to your subs and your mids and highs Here is my setup.


Audiobahn true digital 100x4 at 4 ohms stereo for highs and mids.
Audiobahn class d mono sub amp 1800x1 at 1 ohm mono/
2 10" audiobahn flame q subs in 1.25 cubic box
infinity kappa 4x6 2 way 80 watts rms
infinity kappa 6x9 3 way 110 watts rms
Audiobahn 4540 cd/wma/mp3 player
running 0 gauge power wire
4 gauge to the amps
4 gauge to ground then to 0 gauge ground
2 farad cap ran inline with sub amp

[violentrapture]

Man, thanks everybody for all the input. Quick update on what's going on - I'm taking the day off work tomorrow and taking the car into car toys here locally to have a head unit, 5 1/4" components and 6x9's installed, along with an upgraded alarm (the one I have on there is a cheapy thing I had installed to get me by.) I've narrowed the parts down to:
Eclipse head unit (either the CD5444 or CD5425 - From the pictures I've seen on the web, they look different but cost about the same - so I'm going to make the final decision when I get there and look and listen to them).
Focal 130A 5 1/4" components for the front.
Eclipse SE8493 6x9's for the rear - cheaper than the Focals, and from what I read, "rear fill" isn't as important as "front fill", so I figured I'd get the better speakers for up front.
I also sold off the S15L7s I bought from xsavyor1 and ordered two of the RE SE 12s - called RE and boy were they helpful. They should be in in the next week or so - still trying to decide which amp to use - kinda leaning towards the Phoenix Gold X1200.1 since it's 1200W RMS at 1-4 ohms - rather like the JL 1000/1 with the regulated power supply I believe... and almost half the price. The guy at RE said the subs needed 600W RMS at either 1 or 4 ohms since they're 4 ohm DVC subs, so I figured it'd be a good match.
Also, if Jeff over at GB Customs would get back with me, those 18" Konigs would be on there way to me. I'm going to be eating ramen for the next month, but hopefully it'll all be worth it once it's done.
I'll get some pics up tomorrow after the audio stuff is installed.
Thanks again,
Collin

[jamcllw]

That should sound pretty sweet. Let me know how you like them REs. As for the amp I've never used the Phoenix Gold but have heard that they tend to break after a couple of months. Could have just been a bad batch from the factory also.

[violentrapture]

Well, here I am stuck at Car Toys. It's about a half hour drive from where I live, and I called yesterday and made sure they knew I was coming. I got here and started looking at all the different things, and playing around with all their stuff. I decided on the CD5425 - they both sounded the same, but the CD5425 was a heckuva lot nicer looking than the CD5444. I had to go with Infinity 4x6 and 6x9 instead of my original plan for Focal components and Eclipse 6x9 because of the cost. As I have it now it was just over $1k for the new alarm/keyless, CD5425, Infinity 96121, Infinity 6412CF and install. Now I'm going to be here for 4 hours while they install everything - someone entertain me!
Cheers,
Collin

[violentrapture]

Well, this thread is kinda dead I guess - thought I'd reopen it with a couple of videos and some pictures of the sub - I didn't care too much for the RE subs, so I sold them and bought one of the S15L7s back - It's not as tight as the REs, but a whole heckuva lot louder - apparently the whole SPL vs. SQ is meaningless to me - as long as it's low I can't tell a whole heckuva lot of difference between them unfortunately. So, without further ado:
Pictures of the box being built (this is a sealed mofo right here): http://www.collind.com/pikshures/sub_box/
Videos of the sub in action: http://www.collind.com/l7/
Cheers,
Collin
(and thanks everyone for all their help on this thread - there are pics of my headunit/custom trim piece on my showcase thread)

I have a pair of the Kenwood KFC-6903IE 6x9. They sound great with my Alpine CDE-9845. Love the Image enhancment on the Kenwood 6x9, plus have great bass for a 6x9. But JL audio subs are by far the best subs that I have ever heard! Probably the most expensive but well worth the money