The Nissan Frontier Crewcab SubSolutions fits neatly behind the rear seat of this 2000 model. This customer had room left over to also mount his amp, CD Changer, and first aid kit!
You can see that after the Toyota Double Cab SubSolutions box is installed, the box does not interfere at all with the functioning of the center console or armrest.
One of our most popular SubSolutions is our Toyota Double Cab SubSolutions box. You can see from the image how the SubSolutions box is wired before it is set into place.
$249.99
TSCS
The same phenomenal performance from our special small, high output subwoofer, only in a low profile configuration!
Durable charcoal gray finish. Extremely high sound-to-size ratio exclusively from Acoustic Solutions’ IntraPortTM Technology. In-car sensitivity 102 db spl, 1 watt, 1 meter
Dimensions: 20″ x 6.5″ x 9.5″
Driver: One, SSCTM SubSolution driver, 220w.
$249.99
TSSS
The best sounding small subwoofer available (also the best looking) with efficient, flat response to 41hz. This small enclosure is perfect for SUVs and Crossover vehicles, as it takes up very little cargo area, and give you BIG sound.
Durable charcoal gray finish. Extremely high sound-to-size ratio exclusively from Acoustic Solutions’ IntraPortTM Technology.
Dimensions: 10.6″ x 10.6″ x 9.7″
Driver: One, SSCTM SubSolution driver, 220w.
Purpose
The purpose of this test is to accurately compare the differences in frequency response of four different automotive subwoofers in their proper enclosures:
Conditions
The Results
The graph accurately shows the frequency response of each speaker system in the same acoustic environment. The ACA W160 is a fourth order bandpass enclosure with a high “s” Ratio and high gain which provides more SPL, but results in a extremely narrow bandwidth. The SAS T80 is a bass reflex design with its acoustic power centered at 60 hz. and typical sharp roll-off. The JBL GTM80 is also a bass reflex enclosure with a 60 hz. center frequency. However, the vent on the JBL is located on the opposite end of the enclosure from the driver, whereas the driver and vent on the SAS unit are on the same plane. This explains the difference in the response curves in the 20 to 40 hz range. The Acoustic Solutions TSSS enclosure design is called an IntraportedTM Bandpass. Similar to a 4th order bandpass design but with an additional vent between the front and rear volumes. The acoustic center of the TSSS is 50hz and it exhibits an unusually broad bandwidth. Achieving this wide of a bandwidth with a 4th order design would use a “s” of .4 and would suffer the subsequent 2.7db dip in middle of the passband. As the graph shows, however, the TSSS not only avoids the center frequency dip, it actually goes up about 1.5db! The response curve of the Acoustic Solutions TSSS looks like the smooth, “s” ratio of .7 or higher, but without the narrow bandwidth limitations.
Yes, in most cases, if you are even considering the idea,….YOU SHOULD! With even moderate mechanical skills, and very basic tools, you can safely and properly install your entire, high-performance sound system in your vehicle. You’ll gain the satisfaction and confidence of understanding every aspect of the system, and you’ll save about $100!
We will be offering a particular selection of quality components (listed below) soon, that will make any vehicle sound terrific! But for now, you can source these items from any car audio store. These, and a proper-fitting SubSolution, are all that is needed to achieve superior sound, since all cars today come with CD decks and quite good speakers. What they are missing is an amp and a subwoofer, which properly installed, will vastly improve your vehicles’ sound! I guarantee that you will not feel that you wasted your time or money.
50watt x 4 Channel Discreet Amplifier……………..~$130.00
Line Output Converter…………………………….~$25.00
10 or 8 Gauge, amplifier wiring kit………………..~$30.00
Vehicle-specific radio interface harnesses………….~$15.00
So, with the above, assembled list of Amp/install parts (~$200), and a SubSolution ($249.99), you can have a really terrific sound system in your vehicle for just $449.99! –TOTAL! (if you supply a little sweat equity this weekend, under a shade tree)
Below are specific instructions and tips on installing the Amp, Line Output Converter, Speaker wiring, and, of course, your SubSolution.
Installing an auto sound system is not too hard, and is actually kind of fun. It’s important to understand why you need a 4 channel amp: The stock deck and speakers are actually good, but to realize their potential to sound good, you have to have an amp, and to have a really great sounding system, you have to “bi-amp”, meaning a separate amp for the highs and lows, and a crossover to control that process (also, see “Biamping” below). The bottom line is that it will sound so much better – like night and day – clarity, power, and deep bass. You’ll wonder how you ever listened to it before. And you can see that it isn’t very expensive, you just have make sure you don’t buy any stuff you don’t really need (like upgrade door speakers or another CD player). If you totally understand why the little amp in the radio is making your good door speakers sound bad, skip this purple part ahead:
The Purple Part: Single-driver SubSolutions are very efficient. They sound great with 100-200 watts on them. So, a 50 watt/channel amp bridged mono is just right. However, there is another, very important aspect to making sure the sub sounds good, that I have to tell you about. If you add a sub and just an amp to run it, the sound system will sound better because you’ve added some capacity to play more low frequencies. However, you will still have a problem. You see, right now you have TWO main problems keeping you from really enjoying your music. Lack of bass, AND, lack of clarity. The deck is actually fine, and, so are the door speakers (surprised?-the stock door speakers are really capable of great sound). But they desperately need to have a “real” amp hooked up between them and the deck. The little “BTL IC chip” amp built into the radio is simply unable to produce a clear enough signal to make the stock speakers sound as terrific as they can. It is a (very low cost) low-power, high-distortion amp (12 watts @ 1% distortion, minimum.), when what you need is a high power, LOW distortion one (a typical amp is like, 50 watts@ .1% distortion, max…..that’s 10 times cleaner! Way, way better). And, all you have to do to fix it (and have really terrific sound, instead of just some added bass), is to get a “multichannel” amp, instead of just an amp for the sub only. It only costs a little bit more for a multichannel amp (like the one in our package), and then you’ll have very clear sound from your door speakers – low distortion, wider stereo separation, much better signal to noise ratio, and enough power to play those musical peaks without constantly going into heavy (er) distortion. And, the funny thing is, that it makes your bass seem clearer too. Now, you’re probably saying “shouldn’t I get better door speakers too?” Actually, they are almost the last thing you’d want to replace in terms of priority in building a better and better system. The speakers they put in cars today are very capable of sounding quite, amazingly good. It is only the cheap little amp they are hooked up to now that is making them sound ickey. For right now, keep them, and your stock deck – - by putting what is called a “line level converter” on the speaker output wires, in order to derive an “RCA” type, line level signal, to go into the amp(s). Then, if you want to improve the system further, the next step would be to get an “aftermarket” deck which has line level outputs and is inherently cleaner due to not having to convert the signal. Lastly, upgrading the mids/highs can give you an extra degree of improvement, if you ever feel the need to go that far, but I doubt you will. You’ll find that those stock speakers can play very loud and clear, and plenty high, when you hook them up to a powerful, low distortion amp. AND, especially when you understand that they will now be using a “crossover” to limit how low they play, thereby converting them into “satellite” high frequency units that don’t need to play bass because you have……….a subwoofer!
So the way this works is, you get a 4 channel amp with built-in two-way crossover (which they all have now) and select “High Pass” on channels 1 & 2 to your doors, and “Low Pass” on ch. 3 & 4 – “bridged mono” to your sub. (don’t bother worrying about brand names since almost all amps use the same designs now, and are all good nowadays), and while it will be playing 50 watts per channel to your mids, it will be actually be putting out 200 watts mono to your sub because “bridging it mono” into 4 ohms means that it will put out almost twice as much power on those channels. Also, a multi channel amp is neat because the other half of the big heatsink (that isn’t needed much for channels 1&2) is able to provide extra cooling for channels 3&4 (the harder-working, hotter sub channels!)
Doing the actual install: Step one: get a friend to help. Not that any of this requires two people. It’s just a good idea to get a friend to help, to do all the hard parts. Step two: find a shade tree. (easier said than done). Step three: Get an amp wiring kit (like the one in our package), and run the big, fat wire to the battery thru the big, fat rubber grommet that has wires going thru the firewall already. The easiest way to do this is get a wire coat hanger, straighten it out with pliers, poke it thru the soft grommet, and then look under the dash and find it (might need a flashlight). Once you’re sure it’s there, and you’ve pulled it a little with the pliers, go back under the hood and electrical tape-on the power wire, and then go back under the dash and pull the coat hanger thru, and viola! (or walla! If you don’t read French). Then pull most of it thru, except enough to reach the battery, put some split loom tubing and zip ties on it, be sure the fuse is not yet in the fuse holder, and bolt up the big ring terminal to the positive battery post, or, more likely in new cars, the place where the positive battery connects to a giant fuse/relay box (usually about 10 inches from the battery). Even though there is a fuse on the amp it’s self, be sure you have a 40 amp fuse holder in-line, near the battery (our kit comes with this pre-wired), to protect against any possible future shorting of the power wire to the frame. Then you pull the stock deck (look for a few screws under an edge somewhere, and then gently pry the center dash bezel out, and unscrew the deck), and run two pair of speaker wires, a single conductor “turn-on” wire, and a pair of RCA’s, from the radio cavity, to the place where you’ll mount the amp. This is usually done by routing the wires down thru the dash from the radio cavity, over to one side, meeting up with the power wire, then pull off the kick panel, run all 5 wires down the side wall of the kick panel, remove the door threshold strip, and tuck the wires under the carpet as they make their way back to wherever you’ve found to mount the amp. In many cars, under one of the front seats is best. Try sliding the amp under the seat (and leaving it there) before you unbolt and remove the seat. That way, you’ll not only know it fits, but you’ll know exactly where it fits, without being in the way of the seat brackets upon re-installation of the seat. If there’s not enough room under either front seat, it will have to go in the trunk or just in the back of a truck or SUV.
Possibly the hardest part of the whole install, is wiring up the line level converter, if you are using the stock deck. If you’re using an after-market deck, you just wire power, ground, and “constant power”, and then just plug in the RCA’s! But the stock deck has no “pre-amp outs” and you need to convert the speaker outputs to pre-amp level, by using a line-level-converter. It hooks up to the speaker wires, but which ones? There are so many, and they aren’t labeled at all! HOWEVER, if you buy a Vehicle-Specific Radio Interface Harness kit for just your model car, (or, “plugs”, as we call ‘em) from a car stereo store (these come in our kits), then you won’t have any problem doing the whole install yourself, because it includes two plugs, one for the radio, and one for the vehicle, and everything is labeled so that you don’t have to diagnose which wire is which. What we’re going to do is hook up the front speaker outputs (4 wires) of the radio plug that fits into the back of the radio, to the Line Level Converter, (be sure to match up the pluses and minuses). That’s how we’ll get our clean signal to the amp (be sure to plug in the RCAs to the converter). Then connect the rest of the “power” (non-speaker) wires of that plug, straight to the corresponding (matching labeled) power wires on the other plug (referred to as the vehicle plug) that fits into the vehicle’s harness, and when you are connecting up the pair that read “ignition”, or “keyed hot”, add the “amp turn-on” wire that you ran thru the dash along with the two speaker pairs, and the RCA cables. That is how the amp will turn on and off automatically. Now, there are four wires left on the radio plug that don’t get hooked up to anything – they are the rear speaker output wires. Be sure to tape them up to make sure they don’t short out. Then, on the vehicle plug there are just 8 wires left to hook up. These are the 8 wires that go to the 4 speakers in the vehicle (if your car has 6 speakers, like tweeters or something, they are hooked up internally with another pair of speakers, so there are still just 8 wires), two wires to each speaker. So we have a right front pair, a right rear pair, a left front pair, and left rear pair (8 wires total), and each pair has a plus and a minus wire, all labeled by our handy plugs! So, what are we gonna do with all these wires??? Well, we have to get them hooked up to the two pairs of speaker wires that we ran to the amp location. So, strip down. The wires, I mean,… and hook up the left front plus, and the left rear plus, together with one of the positive conductors (depending on the style of wire, this will be either gold or red) of one of the speaker wire pairs that runs to the amp (it doesn’t matter which one at this point, but this will become the left channel amp output). Then take the left front minus wire of the vehicle harness, and the left rear minus, and connect them together with the other half of that speaker wire (again, it will be either silver or black, depending on the jacket-style of the speaker wire used). That’s it! The entire left channel of the sound system is wired up! Oh, I guess we’re gonna need a right channel as well, so hook it up the same way you did the left. And you’re done!… At least with the dash wiring. However, don’t close up the dash yet, we need to adjust the line level converter after the amp is wired up, so just let it all hang out, for now.
Wiring up the amp: Now we need to hook up a whole bunch a more wires! The hardest of these is the ground. Pull back the carpet a little, and find a good place to screw in the ground wire (try to avoid where two pieces of metal are overlapped. A single layer of metal is best). Use some course sand paper (included in our kit) to sand away the paint from a small (1″) spot. This part is important: Screw (like with a drill-driver) the ring terminal end of the ground wire in, using the self-tapping screw, and the “star” washer against the car metal, and make sure it is very strong and tight. A loose ground wire can cause various problems to an amp. Then strip the end of that wire (just ¼ “), and hook it up to the “gnd” or “-” terminal on the amp (all amps have “clamping plate” style terminal screws now, so you just insert the bare wire). Then do the same with the power wire you ran from the battery. Its terminal on the amp will be labeled “12v” or “+”. And then connect the “remote” or “turn-on” wire. Now all that’s left is the ins and outs! Ins are easiest so let’s save that for last. Take the two pair of speaker wires that come from the dash (that you hooked up to the stock speaker wires), strip them (1/4″), and wire them up to the channels 1 and 2 output terminals, and be sure to observe polarity (golds or reds to “+”). Again, we don’t have to worry about which is left or right yet (amazing, isn’t it?). Now we’re going to run the last wire for this system, and it goes to …..you guessed it,… the subwoofer. Decide where your sub is going to go (be sure it is where it won’t come at you in an accident), and run the single speaker pair wire there, hiding it under the carpet, etc. Now strip the ends and connect it to the “left +” (gold or red half), and the “right –” (silver or black half) of the channels 3 and 4 speaker output terminals of the amp, leaving the left – and right + terminals empty. You just “bridged your amp mono”. Congratulations! Oh, and hook up the other end to your SubSolution, of course. … almost done… Now just plug in the RCA’s, BUT, (there’s always a but, isn’t there?) but, since amp makers are too lazy to bother putting a jumper switch in, which would cost them about a quarter, and make our install $5 cheaper, and a whole lot neater, we have to use RCA “Y’ splitters. “Y”? I just told you why! So do that, and make sure you end up with one channel (one half of the RCA pair) going to the channel 1 and also to the channel 3 inputs. Then the other channel from the deck goes into channels 2 and 4 (pay no attention to the black and red stripes that may be around the ends of the splitters! Also, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!)
Darth Fader: Cars have a funny thing, unique in the world of audio, called a fader. No one knows how or why it got started, but now people expect it to be there (even though they still don’t know what to do with it). Fact is, it has no real reason for existing. Rear speakers have a purpose in that when you are at a concert hall, jazz club, or even your living room, sound, (mostly just high frequency sound) bounces off of the wall behind you and comes back to your ears as sound cues for your brain to enjoy. In a car, there are so many absorptive surfaces (headliner, etc.) that these are canceled, and adding rear speakers to imitate those reflected sounds at the concert hall makes sense. However, the volume that they should put out is a fixed amount, and does not need to be adjusted for any reason. The ideal sound system has a “front sound stage” with a soft “rear fill”. Which, by the way, most vehicles do perfectly, by simply hooking up both the front and rear door speakers together, to the “high frequency” or “high Pass” outputs of the channels 1 & 2 of the 4 channel amp. (a few vehicles need some additional “passive” high pass crossovers in the form of a 2.2 microfarad capacitor inserted on the way to the rear speakers to reduce the amount of midrange they play, so that they don’t ruin the front sound stage) The only real need for a fader is that SOMETIMES (about .1% of the time that system will be on, in its life) some people are sitting in the back (kids, maybe) and will want the music on, while the people in the front want to talk, and then you can either add a whole ‘nuther 2 channel amp and a dual amp balancer (about $200), or just add a $2 toggle switch to interrupt the wires going to the front speakers.
“Yeah, yeah I get all that, now, when do we get to turn it on???” Well!.. Hmf!.. If you’re going to be impatient, then I’ll just have cut to the chase scene now, I guess. O.K., now where were we? Oh yeah, we’re done with the wiring, but now we have to “dial it in”. Doesn’t that sound cool? O.K., make sure the radio is plugged in, including the antenna. And now, it’s time to…put the fuse in! (by the battery) Turn the key on to accessory position…NO WAIT! Before you do that, let’s just take a stab at adjusting the amplifier settings to our best guess, before turning it on. Get a small flat blade screw driver, and look on the amp for the two dials that say “input gain” or “level” or “sensitivity”, or just “input” (they never can agree on what to call them). Anyway, there’ll be one labeled “channels 1&2″ and one labeled “channels 3&4″. Turn the chan. 1&2 one to just about all the way down. But not ALL the way down, but just about (that’s counter clock-wise). Then turn the chan. 3&4 one to about ¾ of the way up. So, that’s clockwise around about three quarters of the way to being all the way clockwise. Then look for the crossover switches, and set the channel 1&2 switch to “HP” or “high-pass”, and the channel 3&4 switch to “LP’ or “low-pass”. Next, look for the dials that select the crossover frequencies, and set the channels 1&2 one to about 80hz, and the channels 3&4 one to about 70hz. If there is a bass boost switch or dial(s) be sure to defeat them (turn them down or off). If there is a remote, wired, bass control knob, mount it up front, but just leave it turned up for the next steps (and for most of its life, except for an occasional need on some music where the bass is way too high).
NOW we can turn on the radio and get a really small flat blade screwdriver, and, with the radio about half the way up, turn the little adjustment settings on the Line Level Converter up a little, and then down a little (you have to keep doing both channels, so they match) until the music sounds the clearest. One setting, or the other, will sound the clearest, especially when you turn the radio up a little more. Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you, make sure the radios’ bass and treble controls are “defeated” or, set in the “middle”, and the “loudness” is off. Once that converter is “gain matched” like that, you can close up the dash. However, we still need to fine tune the gain settings on the amp. To do this, play a fully modulated song on a CD (not a quiet song) and turn it up (the radios reg. volume knob) until it distorts. If the volume knob went all the way up, and even if it was plenty loud, if it didn’t distort, you need to turn up the gains on the amp a little more. It should be so that you can just get it to distort, when the volume knob is almost all the way up. That is how you know you will be using the full potential of the amps’ power, and will be able to turn quiet music up enough to hear it well, etc. Next, try to determine, in your opinion, whether it has the right balance of low frequencies-to-high frequencies, and adjust the two gain controls slightly (chan 1&2 “mids”, and chan 3&4 “bass”), up or down, accordingly (be sure the tone controls are still defeated). Lastly, (really!) check the balance control on the radio and if you balance it left, and it goes to the right, just swap the two RCA jacks on the channels 1&2 inputs on the amp. Done. Good job. (now clean up, and return that tool you borrowed from your neighbor), Enjoy!
Signal / Head Units
Receivers (“deck”, “source”, “radio”, “tape deck”, “CD Tuner”, or whatever you want to call them), are simply the component that generates the signal that you are trying to hear. The “format” is always changing, and although the Compact Disc is currently dominant, in the future we may (soon) be playing decompressed digital audio files (such as the MP3 format) in our vehicles that we have downloaded from the Internet, or using some digital broadcasting system.
Of all the components in your sound system, the signal source component you choose has the least amount of affect on the acoustic performance of your sound system. You can build a fantastic sounding system around an entry-level CD deck. Of course it will sound a little bit better with a high dollar head unit, but, if, for example, you have an extra $100 to add to the budget for your system, and you want to have it help with the sound more than say, looks or ease of use, add it to your speakers or amplifier(s).
Factory Head Units
Many vehicles now feature CD players from the factory. These decks can be used as a source if a line level converter (about $25) is added since they only have speaker output leads and not “pre-amp outputs”. The performance can be satisfactory but never superb because the signal is still traveling through the IC chip amp inside the deck, which adds distortion and muddys-up the over all signal a little.
Amplifiers
“Factory” or “stock” sound systems that come with vehicles today sound a little better than they used to. Many people, after buying a car, can be heard saying that they sound “not too bad”. That’s great that they don’t sound too bad, but shouldn’t the goal be to get it to sound GOOD? Your listening to music in your car MUCH more than at home, not that you’re in your car more, but when your home there’s TV, phone, conversation, sleeping, etc. and we just don’t get around to really listening all that carefully even if the stereo is on. Your car is the place to listen to what you want when you want, as loud as you want, singing along if you want, and it can actually be a great “room” to listen in. Although the road noise can detract somewhat from appreciating the quiet parts of the music, the small dimensions of the room and the fixed listening position are actually ideal for creating a superb acoustic demo chamber. So, ironically, at home we have a quiet noise floor (10 to 20 db) and 100 watts per channel and in our vehicles we have a loud noise floor ( 50 to 80 db) and yet people try to get away with listening to just 12 watts per channel !? The 12 watts refers to the little amp built in to your deck. All radios now a days have the same little amp in them (no matter what they claim to have for power – “40 x 4″ is just a marketing trick – read lie) There are really just two types of amp designs found in 12 volt environments.
The first type of amp is found inside radios and is commonly referred to as a “chip amp,” or “IC amplifier.” These are extremely low cost “amps” that use the 12 volts DC that is present in the car to produce a maximum of about 12 watts of usable power. This is the most they can make due to the Laws of Physics: power (watts) = current (amps) X voltage (volts). Some additional drawbacks to this type of amp design are: high distortion (typically 1% THD-”Total Harmonic Distortion”), low signal to noise ratio (slight hiss always in your speakers), and crummy stereo separation. The advantage is that it is a small integrated circuit chip and does not give off much heat and so they are included “free” inside all radios. The confusing part is that the manufacturers, who are not regulated regarding this, put numbers like “30 or even 45 watts per channel” on these units, which sounds as if it might have enough power. They do produce micro-second long spikes up to 40 watts, (if turned way up), but it is then accompanied by about 20% distortion–and when you turn it down until it sounds okay, it is then at about 12 watts again. Remember that number – 12 watts at 1% distortion.
Amplifiers that use the second type of design are called “transformered” or “discreet” since they have separate power transistors and true power supplies. These amps take the 12 volts DC and convert it to AC. Only after you have AC, can you make higher voltage. This lets you produce more than 12 watts, and at much less distortion (typically .1% distortion [a tenth of one percent]- that’s ten times cleaner than IC chip amps, and a lot more power). The disadvantages to these amps is that they are expensive (starting at $100 for a 50 w. / chan.), big and heavy (need to be mounted under seat), and they need a big, fat, wire hooked up to the battery to run them. However, it is all well worth it once you hear the difference!
Most speakers will handle more power than you think. What they can’t handle is distortion. Distortion is what an amplifier puts out when it isn’t big enough to play as loud as you would like it to. It’s that extra, fuzzy sound over the top of your music when you reach the limit. All amplifiers distort when you turn them up past their maximum output limit. Your amp tries to amplify the small signal from your deck without altering its smooth shape. Your amp has a “voltage rail” limit of how big it can do that before it chops off the top and bottom of the sine wave, causing distortion-which will damage your speakers.
To summarize, if your stereo is not loud enough, or if you’ve blown a speaker from distortion (which isn’t covered under any warranty) and had to get another one, buy a bigger amp. Almost every time a speaker “blows” it is due to distortion. It is very rare indeed that a manufacturing defect doesn’t show up in the first few hours or minutes of play. For best performance use an amplifier that puts out as much power as the rating of the speaker. The only other way a speaker can blow (even with clean power) is from over-excursion. However, you need to play it at over-excursion levels for a while in order to break it, and it sounds so terrible and obvious, that anyone would turn it down long before that would happen.
Bigger the Better? Yes. That is, the more power an amp can produce, the better the sound quality will be, all other things being equal. The physical size of an amp, however, will not tell you much about how much usable power it can produce. In fact it is quite common for cheaper, lower quality amps to feature a huge, over-sized heatsink to try to look big and powerful.
Power ratings. Since there are no regulations to ensure truthful, comparable power ratings of car amps, the best way to determine the output of a particular model is to look in the owners manual, and under specifications, read what is usually the SECOND line (the first is just Maximum power with any amount of distortion) that should state the “RMS” (average) continuous power at a certain distortion rate (.1% or less), per channel, at 4 ohms, while playing a full-frequency signal (20-20khz). Only then can you know how much “usable” power is available, and even then there are other aspects of a amps’ design that can make one sound better than another with the same power specs.
Speakers
Factory vs Aftermarket
A discussion of speakers must always refer to the amplifier that will drive the speaker. This is very important to understanding speakers, so be sure you’ve read the discussion on “Amplifiers”. “Stock” or “factory” speakers that come with your car are often good enough to be part of a great sounding system IF you power them with a clean, discreet amp. As an additional measure of building a really great sound system, you could upgrade the door speakers and lastly the rear speakers.
Do I really need “midbass” drivers? “Midbass” drivers in a car audio system are ones that only play a narrow band of frequencies typically between 70 and 2or300hz. They usually are in the form of a pair of 6″drivers shoe-horned into the front doors. There needs to be a midrange speaker to play above 300 hz. and advanced crossovers and/or a dedicated amp for the midbass drivers as well. In other words, midbass drivers are usually only found in very elaborate systems and provide only minor enhancement to a sound system when compared with other options available with that much time, energy, and money (like a trunk e.q., for example).
Subwoofers
In order to make the right decision on which type, size, and model of subwoofer you may need, you should ask yourself a few key questions: “What type of vehicle do I have” (if sedan, see “Cars with Trunks”) “What level of sound performance do I need?” “How much space am I willing to give up?” “What other items do I sometimes need to have in my car?” (recreational gear, etc.) “What is the approximate budget for the system or components being added at this time?”(sub, amp, etc.)
Placement
In optimizing placement of subwoofers in vehicles, one must be aware of the “transfer function” of the interior space of the vehicle, commonly referred to as “corner loading”. Bass is resonating air, and it’s easier to do that in the semi-trapped air of a corner. Therefore, the best place to locate your sub for maximum output is in and toward a corner. Unfortunately, this is not always where you would like it for aesthetics or ease of use, however, it will be loudest there and may allow you to have a smaller box and/or amp. Also, if you use a “bandpass box” (which is the best type for use in vehicles, which need small size and high output over a narrow band), it will also minimize the slight port noise inherent in all ported boxes. In home stereos, this corner loading is undesirable, producing an unnatural peak of sound energy at a low frequency, however in a car, or especially a truck, it is very welcome to do battle with the road rumble trying to mask your music’s rhythm.
Sedans (cars with trunks)
Bass is the resonating of air. In order to hear (or feel) bass, you need to resonate the air near you. If you put a subwoofer inside a closed trunk only a small portion of the bass can be heard or felt in the cab of the vehicle. However, in sedans, there is no other place for a sub, and so one theory (not a very good one), is to put in a huge sub and huge amp and hope it can be heard up front. This idea of wasting ¾ of the bass is not only very expensive, it leads to many blown subs since you can’t hear the amplifier’s distortion limit or the driver’s excursion limit. Some cars have seats that fold down but the opening is smaller than the trunk causing a destructive “loading” effect. In addition, there is the inevitability that you will close the seats up one day, causing the problems previously mentioned.
A simple and very effective solution for sedans is to use a “band-pass” type of subwoofer enclosure since all of the energy is focused into a small tube that can be “ported” into the cab through the rear deck of the car. This way the box can still be in the trunk, but the bass can be in the cab. Two SubSolution models are made specifically for installation in these vehicles. The Thru Deck Port Kit adapts The Sports Car SubSolution with the use of a 3″ port tube. And for audiophiles, The Low Bass Trunk Solution provides twice as much bass energy through its 4″ port (the four driver model can be modified for trunks as well). It’s simply a matter of feeding the energy into the passenger area-where you want the sound!
What is a “Driver”?
“Driver” is the term used to describe the actual woofer that is in the box. The “basket”, (the stamped or cast metal frame), the “motor”, (magnet and voice coil part), the “cone”, (the big curved paper-like part), and the “surround”, (the foam or rubber edge that attaches the cone to the basket), are all parts of the driver.
A “Speaker” is made up of two main parts – the driver and the enclosure. These two must be made with each other in mind in order to perform well.
Size – is bigger always better?
No. In fact most all people agree that smaller drivers sound better since they can react to the changes in the music faster. Larger cones have significantly more mass and it is very hard to get them to stop moving at one speed and start moving at another speed, which is what they need to do. This aspect is measured and referred to as “transient response”.
“Efficiency” or “Sensitivity” refers to how loud a speaker will play with a specified amount of power on it. The standard for measuring it is to play 1 watt of power into it, and measure the sound pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter away, measured in decibels. For example, 89 db, @1 watt, @1 meter. In general, drivers with larger cones will be more efficient than smaller cones, all else being equal.
Frequency Response
One of the most important things to understand in car audio is the phenomenon of road noise and how it can cover up the bass energy that your stereo is trying to play. Human hearing goes down to 20 hertz and that is how low you want your home stereo to play, however, in a car it is much wiser not to play frequencies below 40 hertz in order to help the amp and woofer play the frequencies you do need (40 and above), much louder and with less distortion.
How low a woofer can play at full volume before “rolling off”, or starting to be less loud, is a critical design criteria and is called the “F3″ or “3 db down”. It is important to understand that although ultra-low frequencies sound (or feel) interesting while parked, you cannot hear them while driving and they demand massive amounts of power from your amplifier — power that could better serve you by providing distortion-free sound at the frequencies you do need to hear. A sub that plays linear down to 27 hz isn’t all that smart, unless you have 1000 watts and like to listen in your driveway most of the time. In designing subwoofers, the laws of physics require us to sacrifice efficiency for low frequency. In other words, to make it play lower, it can’t play as loud.
Crossover Settings
In vehicles, we only need subwoofers to play from 40hz to 90 hertz, but we need them to be very loud in order to hear the rhythm part of the music over the vehicle’s road rumble. A separate amp for just the subwoofer is a must for a high performance audio system. It also must have an electronic crossover, either built-in or external, to block both the higher frequencies from going to the woofer (low pass) and the lower frequencies from going to the mids and highs (high pass). Set the “low pass” at about 90 hz — or slightly lower (80 or 70 hz) if you have a larger amp. The setting for the “high pass” output to the amp that runs the mids and highs should be as low as your door speakers can handle without breaking up at high volumes. Many two-way crossovers have only one adjustment which determines a “center frequency” point; the sub amp must play from that point and below, and the high-pass from that frequency and above. If so, set it at 90 hz.
That is, the more power an amp can produce, the better the sound quality will be, all other things being equal. The physical size of an amp, however, will not tell you much about how much usable power it can produce. In fact it is quite common for cheaper, lower quality amps to feature a huge, over-sized heatsink to try to look big and powerful.
Power ratings. Since there are no regulations to ensure truthful, comparable power ratings of car amps, the best way to determine the output of a particular model is to look in the owners manual, and under specifications, read what is usually the SECOND line (the first is just Maximum power with any amount of distortion) that should state the “RMS” (average) continuous power at a certain distortion rate (.1% or less), per channel, at 4 ohms, while playing a full-frequency signal (20-20khz). Only then can you know how much “usable” power is available, and even then there are other aspects of a amps’ design that can make one sound better than another with the same power specs.
No. In fact most all people agree that smaller drivers sound better since they can react to the changes in the music faster. Larger cones have significantly more mass and it is very hard to get them to stop moving at one speed and start moving at another speed, which is what they need to do. This aspect is measured and referred to as “transient response”.
“Efficiency” or “Sensitivity” refers to how loud a speaker will play with a specified amount of power on it. The standard for measuring it is to play 1 watt of power into it, and measure the sound pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter away, measured in decibels. For example, 89 db, @1 watt, @1 meter. In general, drivers with larger cones will be more efficient than smaller cones, all else being equal.
“Midbass” drivers in a car audio system are ones that only play a narrow band of frequencies typically between 70 and 2or300hz. They usually are in the form of a pair of 6″drivers shoe-horned into the front doors. There needs to be a midrange speaker to play above 300 hz. and advanced crossovers and/or a dedicated amp for the midbass drivers as well. In other words, midbass drivers are usually only found in very elaborate systems and provide only minor enhancement to a sound system when compared with other options available with that much time, energy, and money (like a trunk e.q., for example).
Amps are designed to “see” or “be hooked up to” a specific electrical resistive load called “impedance”. This impedance rating of speakers is measured in ohms, and will always be written on the speaker. And so, amps are rated as being able to produce a certain amount of power AT a certain load impedance. And then it will list an even higher output power rating at a lower impedance.
For example, 50 watts per channel at 4 ohms, AND 100 watts per channel at 2 ohms. This is the same exact amp, mind you. And so, if you buy this amp, and hook up a 4 ohm speaker to each channel, you’ll have 50 watts/chan. But if you just hook up 2 ohm speakers to each channel (or two, 4 ohm speakers in parallel), you’ll have 100 watts per channel!!?!? Wow, something for nothing? No, remember, that doesn’t exist in physics. And here too, when we drop the impedance, although the wattage does increase, so does the distortion (muddier sound), the current draw (potential damage to the alternator and regulator), and the uncontrollability of the speaker (“damping factor” and “slew rate” decrease, causing less accurate sound and potential speaker failure). It is always better (sound quality-wise), to run an amp in a higher impedance configuration. BRIDGING refers to when you gang both channels together (adding their wattages together), into a single channel for use with one woofer. When you Bridge two channels of an amp that would normally put out 50 watts per channel into 4 ohms stereo, you need to provide a single 8 ohm load in order to get the same impedance configuration (“4 ohm mode” = 4 ohm per chan. stereo, OR, 8 ohm bridged mono), and, the same total wattage from the amp (100 watts total). Likewise, if you provide a single (bridged) 4 ohm load to that amp, it will be in a “2 ohm load configuration”, and will put out up to 200 watts (mono/total). It is a worth-while compromise to run a subwoofer at the lower impedance (bridged into 4 ohms), since we don’t notice the increased distortion as we do in the mids, and, even the decrease in damping factor is acceptable, in order to get the increase in power (we need lots ‘o bass in cars to play over the road rumble).
If you are doing 4 high-pass channels, in order to use the “pre-amp fader” in your deck, just repeat the line level converter install procedure above, on the back of the radio, then run the four speaker wire pairs down to the amp, and set both the “channels 1&2″, and the “channels 3&4″ to high-pass. Also, for the input signal, run the two RCA’s from the deck and then use the RCA “Y” splitters on the front channels, and split off to the low-pass amp using RCA barrels and a 3′ RCA cable.
Recently, some audio engineers working on noise cancellation technology, made a major breakthrough in small enclosure/speaker designs. This technology represents the most dramatic development in small-sized subwoofer engineering since the emergence of band pass enclosures in the 1980s and is fully implemented for the first time in the form of SubSolutions™.
Utilizing a specially constructed driver in a unique, multi-ported enclosure, this new subwoofer system produces extremely high Sound Pressure Levels at low frequencies. So far, this has only been possible from drivers and enclosures three times the size!Although everyone agrees that smaller drivers sound better because they react to the music faster (transient response), smaller cones have also meant lower efficiency – until now!
The SubSolution™ design utilizes an extremely long excursion driver, controlled by the IntraPortTM enclosure technology, which produces tile accurate sound of a small woofer and the high output of a large one!The result of this new design is clearly audible upon first audition. Critics are saying the sound is “tight” and much more musical than that of a 5th order band-pass. Sam Zamora of Xtant called it “excellent sound quality” and said it sounds “amazingly bigger than it is.”
The SubSolution™ is not only the smallest and loudest subwoofer available, it is just possibly the best sounding subwoofer of any size – anywhere!
“What the heck is Bi-amping?”
It’s very important to understand the need to “bi-amp” your vehicles’ sound system. That is, to make sure you have a power amp for your door speakers as well as one for your subwoofer. If you don’t, and you use the little, “BTL, IC chip” amp that is in your radio (“deck”, or “head unit”), you will be missing out on an awful lot of sound quality.
ALL IC chip amps (despite what they say), put out just 12 watts, at 1% (or more!) distortion, rotten signal to noise ratio, crummy stereo separation, and absolutely no headroom. ALL of them. All decks. Even expensive aftermarket decks. However, when you use a real, “discreet” amp, your door speakers will receive a wonderfully clean, powerful signal, with high power, low distortion, Suddenly the music will sound so clear and detailed, that you will wonder how you ever listened to it the other way (with just the high distortion, IC chip amp in the radio). Real amps don’t put up with the limit of 12 volts DC. They have “switching power supplies” that make AC, and they raise the voltage way above12 volts. Then they use “discreet” transistors just like your home amp. The reason it will sound ten times better, is that the power will go from 10 watts to 50, the distortion will go from 5% to .01%, the signal to noise ratio will go from 40 to 95, the stereo separation will go from 45 to 90, and, instead of trying to play full frequencies into your mids, you will have a crossover that will block the deep bass, allowing the door speakers to play just the midrange and highs, tracking the music perfectly! You will hear subtle parts of your music you’ve never heard before, and find that you can listen for hours on end, as opposed to the way it is now, when sometimes you just turn it off for a while, to give yourself a “rest” from the music (the “distortion”). Get an amp on your high frequency speakers, and it will completely change your life! (at least as far as your car stereo is concerned) Your door speakers will play a whole new tune. Your ears will hear an incredible difference. Your brain will think it’s the best idea it ever had!
10. Having a sub box that takes up all of my cargo room means that my wife can’t ask me to run errands.
9. I don’t need to hear full, deep, linear bass. Just “one-note” bass is fine for me.
8. My gas mileage is too good, so, having an extremely heavy sub box helps me waste gas.
7. Having subs that show, gives my young kids something to poke holes in while I drive.
6. Even though I have a beautiful new vehicle, I want to clutter it up with a big ugly sub box.
5. I like the idea of an in-efficient sub, so that I can buy a huge, gigantic amp to run it.
4. I enjoy hearing the slop and delay of large drivers. It makes the notes blur together nicely.
3. If I’m in an accident, my huge box can kill me, so I won’t have to pay the deductible.
2. I like having a standard, ordinary, big box, like everyone else. I’m unique like everyone else.
AND, …the number one reason not to get a SubSolutions subwoofer…..
1. If my subs show, it’ll attract thieves, and get my system and CD’s stolen, so I can get new ones!
Subject: 1980 Porsche 911sc
I have a 1980 911sc that is in need of more bass. I saw the install on the 1974 I’m not sure if I need that much of a system. I was wondering if there was a low cost and simpler install for my car ? thanks, don j.
Dear Don, The Porsche SubSolution is the only subwoofer I know of, short of sitting a box in your back seat. We do offer several, small, great sounding, good looking models to consider doing that with, including The Sports Car SubSolution. The main reason to use the Porsche SubSolution, aside from the fact that a box in the back would flop around, look stupid, and take up precious cargo space, is the sound. The sound of the bass playing in front of you instead of behind is so terrific that if you ever have the opportunity to do it (which you do with a 911), you definitely should. The bass couples with the door speakers and sounds so natural and realistic, that you start to think there is no “subwoofer” at all, and yet, all the deep bass you could ever need. A sub in the back of a car always tells your brain “I’m in the back, I’m sorry, I know I should be up front with the rest of the front sound stage, but I can’t fit up there”. As far as the install goes, it really isn’t very hard to install, and does not require any cutting or drilling, so, even if you sold the car one day, (and were getting another 911/912, and wanted to keep your SubSolution), it unbolts with no sign of having been there! The important thing to make sure you understand is the need for the four channel amp. Your deck only has a tiny amp in it and can’t even give your door spks the power they need to sound good, and can’t run a sub at all. A small 4 chan amp is all you need for good sound in that car. A 50 wattx4 amp (with built-in crossover) can be purchased for as little as $199 nowadays, and will provide you with true, high performance sound. A classic car like yours deserves a great sound system.
Be sure to let me know if I can answer any other questions.
Sincerely,
\/\/\.Dr. Sub
