sound quality for n00bs

[fried]

hey.

atm, wanting to get a new system.

i know what crap gear sounds like, compared to gear that is better. i also know that lotsa different gear sound different to eachother. but if im standing in front of those displays at the shops, all i can hear is the difference, but i cant hear "which is better".

in terms of quality of sound in a sub, where does the difference lie? i havent heard many subs. they all produce low notes. i havent heard many, so i cant say one is more clear than the other or however one would distinguish subs and the sound they produce.

so i guess my question is, what should i be looking at? a $500 boston pro 10" sub, a $400 10" jlw3v2? or a $150 clarion 10" sub? will i be able to tell the sound qaulity difference and appreciate it?

is it only in the tuning that the difference in quality can be properly heard?

worried that spending lots of money on good quality sound system will be negligable to my ears.

regards.

fried.

[wynode]

gOTO a place that has the brands that are in your budget and compare each of them to each other

[redliner]

thats hard to say really... basically just have to go to a store n listens all the ones on display... ask for a demo within your price range... im sure they are willing to help you out.. that how i got mine.. listen and compare... i end up gettin the top of the range pioneer sub 12"... it sounds great to me... LifeStyle are friendly enough :)

[SIKCVC]

Better yet go to a place thats way out of your budget get an idea of what it sounds like, then listen to the other crap and you'll have no choice but to buy the good gear :P haha nah seriously if your into sound quality and are on a budget most places are pretty good and top end brands like to offload their gear at the end of each year so its an oportunity to buy some $1200-$1500 amps etc for $600. Or $400 subs for $500 for a pair.

But the key to an amped set up is in the HU, dont scrimp on that you want good pre-out volts. Mines only 5V but its still a lot better sounding than most other set ups I've heard. My amp and subs arn't the greatest things but still pumping 250RMS through my subs (142db) and my splits are at 65ishRMS... more than enough for me considering i never listen to it full on.

[SIKCVC]

Oh yeah if you go to a pro stereo style place they usually have in car set ups around, some places will have several cars, not to mention their own cars which are usually middle of the road set ups.

[fried]

lol well pds in hornsby sucks.....

umm the other audio place in hornsby also sucks... stage co....

nothing much for me to listen to. dunno where else to go.

dont want pioneer, so straths and motoquip and autojoy, all those cheapies are out of the question.

guess lifestyle and jbs possibly?

[ludester]

SIKCVC is right...if you want your subs to sound good, you need a good HU and amps...also make sure you get a amp that can run the sub, and dont trust what they say on the boxes...cause most of the times boxes are off.

I know alpine and rockford amps say their ratings are below what they are..if they say they are a 1000W RMS amp, its probably a 1090W RMS.

A good sound sub, is one that wont destort when turned up, also one that is tuned right, and one that is running at the right Watts and Voltage...also with a decent headunit

[Javed]

I run focal splits, with a boston pro 12" sub with a RF amp and Cadence amp. Sounds pretty good, am giving the splits around 100 rms, and the sub around 500 rms. Im quite happy.

[nedgeworth]

More than anything you have to go around yourself and experience whatever you can. You will start to get an idea of what sounds good to you and what doesn't. Be sure to have your own cd to go around with.

One thing to be aware of is that each place is going to have a different amp and deck setup to demo the equipement so it's quite hard to get an accurate result between different shops. Then remember it's going to sound different again in your own car. If your lucky some places will even let you audition them in your ride. Also don't forget about what sort of box it's in as well. If you've got a poorly built box and not the correct size then your going to have a problem with poor performance.

It's all about your ears. And weather or not you like deep deep bass or nice punchy bass. Just remember your system will only be as strong as your weakest component as the guys have said above.

[wynode]

With car audio.......price is usually a good guide. Eric, i've told you everything I have to say on this.....good luck! :)

[fried]

With car audio.......price is usually a good guide. Eric, i've told you everything I have to say on this.....good luck! :)

yeah but as ive said above..... what is the difference... like will the quality be negligable in my case.

like a price difference of 300-400 vs the difference in sound quality

[Civic Si]

I know that this mayb not da best advice...

Check up Hot4's/audio mags and see da comparisons as a guide, as some may not want to go wit da tested size subs and enclosure volume and style(ported/sealed etc..)

spend good money on the amps ! Good quality can be heard through da money that u spend on amps!! :thumbsup:

good tuning can be done by tuning a ported enclosure aswell as option...

[wynode]

yeah but as ive said above..... what is the difference... like will the quality be negligable in my case.

like a price difference of 300-400 vs the difference in sound quality
That is what you have to see for yourself. If you listen to two sets of speakers that are $400 different in price, and you cannot notice the difference, then why get the expensive one?

It all depends on what your ears are capable of hearing and if you are picky when it comes to sound quality!

[na]

it is hard to give you advice if you don't know what you are after in your sound system. Are u after top quality SQ or bass heavy SPL? Mainly if u are considering use for big bass, cheapies would do (cheapies does not mean boss audio, avalanche and the like). mainly because at such high levels of bass, ur ears won't notice too much of a difference.

In an sq situation, a sub's role in the overall sound is clearly defined. It must be able to reproduce the bass notes cleanly and accurately without adding or subtracting to it. sub response is also very important. but output isnt.. so the emphasis on this type of system is to get a sub that is able to reproduce the bass notes accurately.. making good sub important in this situation.

as always, HU signal is important, amplifier is even more important...

[Usual Suspect]

i hate clariona dn always stay away from them, except their high range HU's. Every speaker and sub ive ever heard from clarion with different setups sound poo and are ver slack imo.

[SiR JDM]

I was given all my shit
Head unit, amp, sub, 6"s ..
all from friends spares... so i couldn't complain at all

Currently running Sony head unit 45x 4 (dunno ne other specs)
BOSS 4 x 175 amp (no idea of RMS)
Pioneer 12 " (no idea again)
Sony 3 way 220 watt 6.5" speakers

Now im the type who cant really hear shit properly.. not that i cant hear.. i can hear fine, just i dont have the ear for quality...
between my mates setup in his lude, bout 3k, new panasonic HU, cadence amp and sub (decent ones), and JL front splits and JL 2 way rears
and
my mates lancer 7k setup, full cadence everything .. i cant tell the difference..

and even then my recycled shit and my mates lancer, i can tell there is a difference but
1 - I can hear the difference but to me its not much diff, and definatly not worth the 6k extra he spent on
2 - It doesn't matter when im driving cuz its still fine to me... im not comparing to anyone else so without comparison its fine

The point of it is its also upto you what you want... yea sure u can hear the difference between a 1k setup, 3k setup, 10k setup...
but once its in your car, will you really care that much? will the exta 2k? 9k? however much really be significant to you, will it be worth it..
Once you get that sorted (like me :D) then its an easy decision

My bass pumps hard enough for me, my speakers can go loud without distortion, and in the end, im the one who listens to it and puts up with it everyday and its seriously.. fine... others might think its too bassy or a lil distorted, not sharp pitch etc etc watever, but to me its fine..

I suggest to you the same =)

[ludester]

with u want sound quality, ive built my stereo for SQ compititions...

but from my experiance with most of the compititors in sq, they seem to use alpine, jl, focal or rockfordfosgate...most use alpine.

so if you want lots of quality, go towards them brands, but ill warn you...they are more expensive...i realised that when my stereo came to the price of double my car.

[GenV]

what everyone has said is quite true....unless you're a real sound enthusiast, you probably wont go towards the rockfords, focals etc...u can still get a relatively good system for relatively cheap with ur pioneers, kenwoods etc, (although personally id stay away from sony!)
You will need to spend a bit of money on the amp coz i think thats one of the most important things...no point having a mad ass sub with like an audioline amp! U will feel the pain!
I'm running an xtant on my focal splits....oh how i love thee.

[redliner]

you dont need super quality sound.. unless yours a show car... prob most of the time you wont be turning it up anywayz... you get fine for loud music now. :(

[ludester]

you dont need super quality sound.. unless yours a show car... prob most of the time you wont be turning it up anywayz... you get fine for loud music now. :(

very true...im glad i havent been done, but instead i have people messing with my multimedia manager, resetting it, and if i turned it up, i would of overloaded my speakers :thumbdwn: not good, done that before :(

[micka]

you dont need super quality sound.. unless yours a show car... prob most of the time you wont be turning it up anywayz... you get fine for loud music now. :(
High sound quality and going super loud are two totally different things.

[Javed]

the ultimate is to be able to go super loud whilst maintaining SQ.

[micka]

the ultimate is to be able to go super loud whilst maintaining SQ.
That would be the ultimate, but is it really achievable? i think you'd be hard pressed to make a system capable of winning sq comps at the highest level and also winning spl comps. if it were to be achievable you'd need very, very deep pockets. Most good sq systems are able to go loud enough to satisfy most people's everyday needs.

[ludester]

yeah well im trying to get to that point...im waiting for my new subs to arrive from the states and hopefully should be able to pull some high dbs...cause ive already setup my sq part

[Ironfist]

Dont forget ... just cos you might have all this really cool SQ gear, it doesn't mean jack if your listening to the radio or some really crappy recorded mp3/cd.

I can tell you that sometimes mp3's can sound really crap on my pioneer splits compared to listening to them on $50 computer speakers.

Like most ppl have said, get a good headunit with equaliser settings so that you can adjust the sound.

I think it all really depends on what type of music your listening to and what YOU think sounds right.

[R96P-EJ8]

Agrees with Ironfist :)

If you have a really good SQ system then listening to mp3's will sound crap. MP3's are crap quality compared to real CD's. If you listen to r and b, techno and etc you might not notice the SQ compared listening to instrumental type of music.

In then end it depends on what you listen to :D

[Javed]

If you want people to hear your bass from miles away, then i consider it far from SQ. (not targeted at anyone, just IMO). When people hear my stereo from outsidem y car, they ask me "is your sub in? You cant even hear it" I just smile :) Also the whole thign with listening to recorded MP3's etc is completrely true, your stereo is only as good as your source :)