help me with suggestions for a lightweight "race car" stereo

[bobafett]

i dont want huge heavy subs in huge heavy boxes. and i dont want huge heavy amps...

my car is going to be gutted completely from the front seats back, so i am not going to have the conventional speaker mounts in the back. i am thinking of this as an oportunity, rather than a delimna...

my idea is to buy a 2 channel amp to power 2 6x9's that i will fiberglass in for the back speakers, and buy some nicer 6.5's for the front. i am assuming my 50.4w headunit could power these ok, because if not i have to buy another amp, which i am not necessarily wanting to do (for $$$ and weight reasons)

now keep in mind that i know almost nothing about car audio... and all i have now are 4 pioneer 3way 6.5"s and a nice headunit. my stereo got JACKED..

and this doesnt need to be the best of the best, but i would like a nice bass sound, i like lows and mids way more than highs. now i am not completely ruling out subs, but i would much rather go with 6x9....

let me know what u guys have in mind.

[shepherd79]

if you want to save on space and weight, look into 5 channel amps. check out Hifonics brand. they have nice 5 channel amp.
http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=Z8000

[87DXHatch]

Considering you're going for weight advantages, might as well get better sound too.

What do I mean? Don't run any rear speakers

Rear speakers ruin imaging, unless you have time correction, and even then they can be more harmful to imaging than good.

This is what I would do if I were you:

Buy a 4-channel amp that puts out between 75 x 4 and 100 x 4 @ 4 ohms. Buy a nice set of component speakers from www.sounddomain.com (check out the CDT's, there's a MASSIVE sale on some that had bad paint). Buy an e8a.22 from www.edesignaudio.com (it's an 8" sub with almost 20mm of xmax, it's a MONSTER, but it's only an 8", so it won't weigh as much as a bigger sub). Build a 1 cubic foot ported box out of Baltic Birch Veneer Plywood (71% of the weight of MDF).

Feed ~75 watts to each front speaker, and 250 watts (75 watts X 2 bridged) to the sub from the rear channels of the 4 channel amp.

You'd have an overall kick ASS system, and it wouldn't weigh more than 30-40 lbs total.

[bobafett]

hmm... whats the total cost of a setup like that? can i get out for less than say $500???

[bobafett]

eek i see 185 for the sub... is there any way that my cd players amp is good enough to power nice speakers up front? i know 2 amps would be better of course... i guess there is only 1 way to find out.

[87DXHatch]

Yeah, the e8a is kind of expensive... but you do have other options too.

Like I said, for your amp you should just get 1 higher powered 4 channel. If you get a set of components, mount the woofers in the door, and the tweeters on the dash, I think you will be very pleased with the sound. That's the set up I have now and it's the best system I've ever heard...

I can give you some more suggestions in the morning, for now, bed time.

[87DXHatch]

Ok, here's some equipment:
Tsunami 4440 - http://www.edesignaudio.com/ep/amps.htm $165 + shipping, 4 X 75 watts, 2 x 220 bridged. I have this amp right now and it puts out a lot of very clean power. Very nice amp at a ridiculous price... I paid around $230 shipped for mine. (It says $215 on there, but it's cheaper when you actually get to the store)

Speakers:
http://www.thezeb.com/caraudio/CDT_A...omponents.html about halfway down, the CL 61a components. It's an absolute STEAL, I have heard nothing but rave reviews about these speakers.

Sub:
http://www.edesignaudio.com/ep/oseries.htm Elemental Designs O series sub, if you want to keep it simple and sealed.
http://www.edesignaudio.com/ep/kseries.htm Elemental Designs K series if you want to port it, or seal it... porting = a lot louder and more low end at the price of a little bit more weight.
http://www.edesignaudio.com/ep/aseries.htm Elemental Designs A series, if you want to splurge... get the e8a, the others are too heavy and expensive for your application.

So let's see, we've got:
Tsunami 4440 - ~$180 shipped
CDT 61a's ~ (free shipping?) $160 shipped
Elemental Designs e8a ~ $200 shipped
Box building supplies ~ $60
Total: ~$600 for a kickass, audiophile grade, but lightweight, system

Other option:
Tsunami 4440 ~ $180 shipped
CDT 61a's ~ $160 shipped
Elemental e10k $ 140 shipped
Box building supplies $60
Total $540 for an audiophile grade, light system, with a bit less low end than the above.

Budget system:
Tsunami 4440 (you really can't do better than this for the price) $180 shipped
Infinity Reference 6.5" components ~$95 shipped http://www.ikesound.com/category-category_id/119
Pioneer Premier sub $85 shipped http://www.thezeb.com/caraudio/pioneer_subwoofers.html
Box building supplies $60
TOTAL: $420 for a really nice all around system.

Tell me what you think... I decided I'd do this before going to bed

[mykwikcoupe]

wel what i am doing is a pioneer deh-p8400 up front with 2 phoenix gold xs4600 amps. As far as sounds go Ill be using infinty 62.5i in the front doors and a set of 9602i in the back. With the subs I have 2 JLW6V2 12's in a box with quick disconnect bannana clips so it only takes a few seconds to remove the heavy subs and box. The amps are mounted indefinately. I am going for a street racer type car but am not willing to part with the tunes.

[bobafett]

cool thanks for the suggestions...

i think i understand you when you say that rear speakers mess things up, is that just because its out of phase?
since i can accept that, and that i dont need rear speakers, the idea of just fronts and subs are fine with me.

your saying to buy a 4 channel amp for the sub, or for the speakers, and the sub. i guess that part is confusing me a bit. i know that the components are prolly gonna sound 100x better if they are amplified well... but i dont want to have to buy 2 amps... how can i run the speakers AND the sub.. is that easy to wire up? (sorry. audio newb here)

i really liked the 3 "grades" of a system... yeah i really want tunes, but i dont want them to weigh 100lbs. my last setup (RIP stolen) must have weighed 120 i bet...

i am really leaning towards the top two options... but i think i would rather go with the $600 setup, because i do like my bass, and it would be cool to actually have some good equipment for a change.
but it really sounds like the infinities would sound great as well. for the sub, i think i would rather just splurge and get the e8a, and the amp really makes sense. so now u just have to convince me that the 200 cl61a's are better than the infinities...

but the fact that u say these systems will sound really good is cool. i would like to actually have a good setup for a change!

now

[turfnnsurf]

I say get a SONY WALKMAN and slap the headphones on, you'll save lots of weight.. AND the big plus is that no one else will be subject to your personal taste in music...LOL Just yankin' your chain man.... but it sure would save weight!!!

[POS carb]

get 2 freeair 8's from pioneer, they'll bump great with an amp and save weight/space

[dXsquared]

i second the walkman thing.. go buy the best damn MD or MP3/CD player that you can find... then find the best headphones ever and use that... then its only like 1 lb of shit...

Travis

[87DXHatch]

If you really really want insanely good music, get a walkman and a nice set of Sennheiser or Grado headphones... it won't weigh much at all, and it'll be really awesome sounding.

What I meant about the 4-channel amp was this:

You use the front two channels to run your front speakers, but you bridge the rear-channels into a sub. This was how I had my first system (with a whole bunch of really nice equipment I got from a friend who worked in high-end audio) and it sounded really really nice.

[AccordEpicenter]

hey i have the perfect amp for you.... Phoenix Gold (if you know about them, they are top of the line) Tantrum 600.4. It does 75wx4 and 300x2 i believe, and has great sound quality. It weighs (im guessing) like 8-10 lbs

[87DXHatch]

How much are you looking to get for the PG?

[AccordEpicenter]

Im looking to get about $200 (thats what they go for on ebay). I hooked up those alumapro 10s in the bandpass boxes and that MTX 2300 amp in my car (test it) and i was very surprise, it wasnt as loud as my old system but it was louder than ive ever heard a 600wrms amp play 2 10s... and the sq was pretty good too.

[Sabz5150]

My system is this:

Jensen MP3310 headunit
Sherwood XDTS-80 processor
Pioneer 35x4 amp for fronts and rears
Pyle 120x2 for center and subwoofer
Crunch Drive coaxials in the front
Pyle 6.5 components in the rear
6.5" subwoofer in a bass tube

Not a lot of power but OH MY GOD THE CLARITY. It's very lightweight, weighing in at about 20 pounds for the ENTIRE setup.

[NXRacer]

DUDE. get a set of STOCK 4th gen EX 6x9's and a good head unit and some decent fronts. My g/f has those 6x9's in the back of her 4g and they BUMP for stocks. If you're looking for some good sound get those. Maybe add a couple of tweeters up front to help with the highs. My Panasonic deck is pushing her stock speakers with no amp and i'm always suprized by how well they sound (and bump).