Sterio Confusion

[69halfton]

I bought all New system from Canadian Tire...
im not really into alot of sound (my favorite sound is a 383 stroker wide open, but thats another topic in its self..)
i dont know much about placement or anything else...
my truck is a radio delete truck, and i dont want to do any hacking if i can help it. I have somewhat of a plan, and that is to build a center console in shop class, out of wood, and stain it to match the wood in my bed. this would give me the 1 cu. ft i need for the sub.

now the qestions:

is mounting the Deck (head unit ) as part of that subwoofer console a bad idea?

also, all i have is two 4"x4" pioneer tweets/mids, will the woofer drown those out?

the sub is a 500 watt max, and the 4x4s are 160 watt max,
how much amp should i buy?

any comments would be appreciated.

[AceX]

Mounting the headunit with the sub is fine. The sub needs to be in it's own sealed section of the console (if that's where you plan to place it) but I have to argue with your choice in materials.

MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) is the most common material used for building sub boxes. Depending on the properties of the wood you plan to use, you could end up having crap sound.

What I would do is build the center consol out of MDF and then wrap it in a material or carpet that matches the rest of the interior. I would then recess the top of the box a little so the top sits down inside of the two side panels, almost like forming an 'H' with the assembly. Then, take some stained wood that matches your bed and place it ontop of the MDF and make it flush, then mount the woofer to that.




As for an amp, a simple 250w RMS monoblock amplifier for the sub is going to do well. I would run the speakers off of the head unit. If you don't want to go that route, a stout 4ch amp is the way to go.

[69halfton]

i got what your saying...
i've herd that you need vent holes in the sub box? true or false, and if so, how big? does it matter where i place it?

also, a medium density fiberboard? thats like a styrofoam board yes?

[AceX]

No, you do not need to vent holes into the sub box, infact, the opposite is more true. I can go into a long explanation about porting and what not, but let's stay on target for now.

MDF is available at your local Home Depot. It's a composite board that's fairly sturdy and resists vibration, making it perfect for sub box construction.

[69halfton]

thanks for the tips,
keep eyes open, ill probably need more help. lol

[AceX]

No worries. You can always PM me if you need also.

[72 cheyenne pdx]

Nice Job AceX

[Pyrotechnic]

Personally I would avoid attaching the head unit to the sub box IF you are planning on using the CD player, since everytime there's a big bass hit, the CD will skip.

[lowrollin70gmc]

You can also make a box that attaches using the heater contol bolts to the underside of the dash to hold your deck and two speakers. I had this exact setup make out of 1/4" plywood to mount my stuff and it worked great. Then a separate box for your sub out of MDF and a beauty layer of wood you can stain and you'll be happy.

I would toss up pictures but a certain older member of my family (dad) deleted all my truck pictures from 2003 back.

[AceX]

Originally Posted by Pyrotechnic

Personally I would avoid attaching the head unit to the sub box IF you are planning on using the CD player, since everytime there's a big bass hit, the CD will skip.

Alot of modern head units have unbelieveable anti-skip protection on them. The vibration of a good 10" sub shouldn't be enough to rattle it assuming that the box is built right.

You do make a good point though. Making it out of two seperate boxes will eliminate this problem.

[72 cheyenne pdx]

If you double up the wall between the head unit area and the sub box, you will not have any issues with a new head unit. The only difference is that I would have the sub facing the back of the cab instead of the top.

[69halfton]

well, i finally made a choice,
im building a box, that has the sub facing me, on about a 60 degree angle up, in the console. the 4x4 speakers are going to face strait up, right infront of the sub, still on the console.
the dash is gunna get hacked, becasue life is just easyer that way.
however i have bit the bullet, and decided to buy two pioneer 6x9s at 250 watts each...
so to recap:

I have a 10 inch pioneer sub (500 watt max)
4x4 pioneer 2 way (160 watt max)
6x9 pioneer 3 way (250 watt max)
and a pioneer deck (50 watts x4 channels)

i belive that the deck will run all speakers but the base...
is this true?
what sort of power and # of channels should i get in an amp?
thanks,

[MonteSS454]

Anywhere from 250-400w and 1 channel if you're just gonna run the subwoofer on it.

[69halfton]

k so,
in all the confusion, turns out i have 6 1/2 inch pioneers instead of 4x4s, but i was right about the power rating(160 watts max).
while taking apart the old system, i found the old amp, its a two channel amp, 30watts each. which conviently happens to be the running power on these 6 1/2s.
If i go and buy my 6x9s, and buy a four channel amp,
could I: make then new four channel amp "bridged" (is that what you call it?) into three, with the bridged channel running the amp, and then run the other old amp so that it only powers the 6 1/2 inch 2 ways?

question 2: is there any way to test to see if this old amp is any good?

question three: if i were to buy an amp, bridge is, run the sub, and both 6 1/2 speakers...would the 6 1/2 speakers be drowned out do you think?

[MonteSS454]

I would say the old amp won't do you any good.....it probably still works but if it's old its no good to you.

Try running the 6x9s and 6 1/2s off your deck,
Left Front - Rear
Right Front - Rear.
6 1/2s on the Front Left/Right wires.
6x9s on the Rear Left/Right wires.

Then go find yourself a good 250-400w Monoblock (1 channel) amplifier to run your subs and it should run just fine.

But, if you're worried about drowning out your speakers, turn down the gains on your amp and through the deck so you don't drown out your vocals.

How much are you willing to spend for a good single channel amp?

[69halfton]

not much, found one that is bridgeable at canadian tire.
i have a buddy heading to the barrie flea market this weekend, usually some good stuff there for like 50 bucks.

[MonteSS454]

Well at flea markets you don't get warranties to replace it if it goes down on you.

Give me a rough estimate of what you want to spend and I'll see what I can find monoblock wise.