KBlair

A few months ago I ordered 4 subwoofers for my 928. Well, I finally got around to building some boxes for them. They sound so good, I'll probsably only use 2 as 4 is overkill for this car.

Here is the link to the subs (where I bought them)
<a href="http://www.thezeb.com/caraudio/cdt_audio_subs.html" target="_blank">http://www.thezeb.com/caraudio/cdt_audio_subs.html</a>

CDT Audio makes high-end stuff, and at $70 each these are a steal.

They only need .25 cu^ft of airspace each and sound like a MUCH larger sub. I'd say that if you are just looking for bass reinforcement a single 8" MS-80 would do quite well.

I was running all 4 subs from a Rockford Fosgate 4.400 amp, which is 50watts x 4 channels RMS and a nakamichi CD head unit. Not a lot of power and the bass was tight, clear and loud without distortion. These aren't "boomer" subs, they are sound quality subs but they will get loud and are very efficient.

Just my 2 cents worth, Laterz

Barry Johnson

Being the young guy I am, I like a little kick in my back from bass, but not gangsta loud... I'm a real audiophile type myself and personally wouldn't buy anything from a store, unless it was like a JL w0 sub, or something of almost competion quality for SQ. I found THE sub. A friend of mine owns a speaker company that has for a while sold DIY kits and the like and made a name for himself for selling very nice subwoofers at low cost. His 12" Shiva driver will slap a Kicker solo-baric, at least the s12s, the round ones. That is a great sub, I've used it with a bias towards the solo baric and I really like it. Its something like $125 too. But, the mother of all subs is without a doubt, his Brahma 12... Dear Lord, it has the world's longest XMax (excursion) of something like 27mm one way!!!! If you know subs, you know that its crazy, like 2" of throw. The power handling is phenominal. It can RMS at 1600 watts, and peak at 4800. No joke. Its a 2ohm sub, dual voice coil of course. He has a 10" and 15" version as well, I have the 10 in my 928. Amazing sub. The real benefit of this sub, is the new technology it has. It has an almost perfectly flat BL curve. Which means it won't be peaky and sound the same throughout volume levels, and also has a really low distortion rating. The new technology is going to be sold to Kicker and other companies later. The 12" is (last time I checked) $330, and worth much more, especially if you ever do competition, which I don't. Don't think that this is all about breaking out windows and ear drums. I use it for sound quality, not volume. If you buy anything else for near the same price range, you just wasted your money, IMHO. I'm not a company mouth-piece either, I dont' work for him, just appreciate the work hes done and his advances in subwoofers. Any questions, ask me, or go to his website at adireaudio.com

BJ

Barry Johnson

Ooops, I meant the 10" brahma was 330 the last time I checked. Hehe, my post kinda sounded salesman-like.... Oh well, just putting in my $.02

BJ

KBlair

Barry, I've read discussion of the Shiva and Brahma on the sounddomain.com forum. Maybe, someday, when I win the lottery, but for now my concerns were 1)low cost and 2)small space. The CDT MS-80 fits both of those bills quite nicely. For less than $100 you can buy the 8" and all the MDF, carpeting, connectors, etc you need to build a very nice sub enclosure that won't eat up all your rear cargo space.

Currently they are in test boxes but I'm trying to decide whether to go with a "back seat replacement" type system or build a long, skinny box to go behind the rear seats (rear-firing).

AaronE

After temporarily toying with the idea of replacing all the factory speakers, I decided for now just to add a sub, and high-pass all the factory Blaus. (for those who are interested, the front 4x6" speakers have only about 1.2" of mounting depth at the center!!!)

I had one of two Pioneer 10" IMPP 400w subs left over from my wrecked Firebird, so that was what I used. (the other one got kinda mangled when they flew out of the car in the flip.)

With a collection of paper grocery bags cut flat and taped together, I made a pattern for the back decklid. It goes from just behind the rear seats to just in front of the tool kit, with curved rear corners and notches for the two tie down brackets.

It uses the spare tire well for enclosure space, and the amp hides in there as well. I plan on putting a metal grill flush with the surface (the sub is mounted to the underside of the panel.) Then I plan to carpet it in black to match the interior (haven't decided what to do with the hole for the sub; maybe I'll just cut slats or lots of 1/4" holes.) Finally, I need to aquire some heavy rubber surround material to go around the perimeter of the panel and some way to bolt it down. This should provide an airtight seal.

In any case, the moral of this story is that it's possible to get car-filling, quality (not "one-note thumper") bass from a single, relatively low-powered (200w) sub in a 928 without really altering the interior in any way. No unsightly boxes, no ripping out the rear seats, no loss in hatch space...

Once I get a digital camera, I'll post photos...

Ketchmi

You might want to check into Audiobahn. I have a 10" in a custom box that fits in my spare wheel well and it shakes the outside mirrors quite well with a Sony 220 watt amp. In my continuing quest, I have purchased a 12" Audiobahn Alum (1000 watt RMS, retails at $300, $150 on e-bay) and need to build another box for it. (Then I will need a new amp, and, and,!)

I am also installing the Audiobahn ABC6003 component system. It has 6.5" mid bass's, 4" mids and 25mm tweets with a crossover. I haven't installed them yet, but by their specs it looks like they'll fit in later S's and S4's. The set retails for just under $500 but can be found much cheaper. ($220 on e-bay)

I want to power it all with a Memphis Belle amp. (4x75 watts RMS@4 ohms, class AB and a single channel class D 1000 watt RMS) Then I'll be done.......for now.

Dave

KBlair

Good luck on finding a Belle at a reasonable price!

SL8GT

Dave/KBlair/BJ,

How do the Audiobahn ABC6003Q Carbons compare with CDT, Dynaudio, Focal, MB Quart, Morel, Rainbow for sound quality?

Looking @ replacing my stock setup and one alternative includes:
- Audiobahn ABC4002Q (front)
- Audiobahn ABC6002Q (rear)
- Audiobahn 10" SoundQ (sub)

Have Eclipse 8652 CD/Tuner and Eclipse 36501 5-channel amp to use.

I'm after SQ not SPL.

Any thoughts/advice appreciated!

SL8GT

Also, anyone have any experience with US Amps TU600 or TU4360?

Thanks.....

Barry Johnson

In all honestly, you get what you pay for. There is a reason that Audiobahn, US Power, Jensen, and all those low price products flood ebay. They are just for cheap replacements. I'm sure Dave they sound fine to you, but for an SQ guy like me, they will never touch focal, MB Quart, my Peerless, or anything else of good quality. Also, I'd be afraid to put too much volume to them in fear of them ripping the cones out, hehe . I'd say Rick if you want SQ, and you want to just go into your local car audio place, check out the Boston Acoustics, MB Quart, and maybe some HiFonics, if yuo can find them and you like the tweeters. I'd stay away from brands that make decks and what not as they often times sound quite tinny and miss some of the fullness. Focal makes some good stuff too. Hope that helps! And no Dave, I'm not bashing on your setup, just Audiobarf <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> .

BJ

Barry Johnson

Oh, and with the amps, just because they say they are rated for a certain wattage, doesn't mean they will actually put out that much, and if they manage it, you'll need a good 14.4v and a new amp after a while as the cheap ones I've seen dont do well under stress. Same thing for the subs of the like, just because it says it will rms at something, doesn't mean it will. Take an amp that actually puts out what it says, like any fosgate and run its true rms to the subs rated rms and see how well it does... Especially its peak rating, you might be able to run the sub for a real short time at volume, and then you start cooking voice coils. Don't sound too good after that .

BJ

KBlair

Rick,

All of the brands you mentioned are at least two steps above Audiobahn, or one in the case of MB Quart. Good luck on finding the Rainbows but they do sound sweet. this is just my opinion though, use your ears.

I'd love to have a set of Dynaudio or Focal Utopias, but those prices are WAYYY out of my budget. The best advice I can give you is listen, listen, listen, listen. They are your ears and NO ONE knows what sounds best to you except you. If the Audiobahn setup sounds good, then go for it. Do what makes you happy and don't listen to all the marketing crap BS that some people will give you about this brand vs. that brand.

Currently in my Cherokee I have:

Soundstream Exact 1" silk dome tweeter
Soundstream Exact 4" midrange
Soundstream Exact 6.5" mid-bass
ONE Alpine Type s 10" DVC sub.

each speaker is being driven independantly with the frequency division being done by an AudioControl 4XS crossover. I'm giving the tweets and mids 35 watts RMS and the midbass about 70 RMS. Each coil on the woofer gets 100 w RMS for a total of 200w.

The amps i am using are made by Sherwood (yes, I said Sherwood) as is the head unit. It was the "12 Volt" line of Sherwood products and as solidly built as any well known amp brand. They run clean and have been in service for about 18 months with no problems. I catch hell from people when I tell them Sherwood, but when they hear the system they shut up quick. it's an SQ system but can get fairly loud, no distortion whatsoever.

Here's a link to my sounddomain.com page on the jeep system
<a href="http://www.sounddomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=142642&page=1" target="_blank">"El Cheapo"</a>

I've also had good luck the Orion's Cobalt line of amps. I have one of the original Cobalt 260 amps that's been in use for about 8 years now and it's rock solid.

Never used US Amps but US Acoustics make solid amps that aren't that expensive. no chrome though..

SL8GT

BJ - Too bad Adire doesn't have a Koda 4.1 (for our doors) to go along with the Koda 6.1 (to go in the rear). Their subs are impressive.

K - Niiccceeee setup in the Jeep! My problem is finding places that have some of this higher end stuff (Dynaudio, Focal Utopia or PolyKevlar, Morel, Rainbow) set up to listen to - you're absolutely right: best to HEAR 'em for myself.

So nobody's had any experience with any of the tube amps (US AMPS, Mark Antony, Butler)?

Thx.....

Ketchmi

Sorry BJ, but putting Audiobahn in the same catagory as US Power and Jensen is just wrong. I won't touch that crap. As an electronic engineer who bench tests his gear long before installation, maybe you need to get over your bias toward something you have never used.

Audiobahn has some low priced crap that may be classed with the before stated. The part #'s I posted are their upper range gear. It's not the best out but pretty damn good for the money. Their subs have won quite a few competitions, either the Alum (which I prefer for tighter, cleaner bass) or their Flame (which is a banger for the thump thump crowd). They still have levels above what I am getting including high excursion subs that may inflict damage on your ego. I would rate them close to, but not above MB Quart. And yes, I've heard both. I don't think Boston comes close to either one. Check them out before you start calling them names.

Almost everybody has a budget line out, maybe that's what you are basing your experience on? My Alum 12" has a 31 mm excursion (1.25") and will work down to 18 hz. Not too bad for $150!

BTW, I won't touch their amps, didn't like the way they acted on the bench and sent them back without even installing them. I'm on a big Memphis Audio kick right now.

(JOKE!) And Rick, really! Tube amps in a car? That's like driving a stroker on the street! Oh, sorry, forgot who I was talking to. (JOKE!)

Dave

SL8GT

Hey Dave!

But it's soooooooooooooooooooooo much fun!!

Got those Audiobahn Carbon's installed yet? What'd you compare 'em to listening wise?

L8R.....