130hp

hey

i don't know anything about car audio, but i've been wanting to put in a sub(s) in my car. im on a VERY low budget, so i went shopping around and i saw two MTX RT1040 subs on sale for $75. (reg price $50 each) these subs are suspose to be 250 watts each but since i know nothing about car audio i'd like to get your opinions on these. i was reading the user reviews at the futureshop.ca site and people said they're great for the price.
future shop review



btw, my current system is totally stock (2001 protege ES).

your help is greatly appreciated.
thx

130hp

thx for the info...
yeah, it kind of seems a litte expensive now...i mean, i don't really like how the system sounds right now (stock). would you suggest i just by another set of speakers to put in the rear doors? what upgrade do you think would give me the most bang for the buck?

naki831

What kind of a budget are you on? Do you want 1 or 2 subs? And are you looking for more sq or more spl? IMO, the first thing you should get are the subs and the amp. Those are going to make the "difference". Later on you can upgrade speakers and HU but the HU we have has enough power as is for stock speakers.

hihoslva

I got two pair of Kenwood 6-1/2" speakers on eBay for $23 each. $46 for a decent speaker upgrade seems like a good deal to me.

I posted in another thread that my entire upgrade is going to cost around $300, and definitely under $350. That includes new speakers in all doors, a sub and amp, and component tweeters for the front.

This is no competition setup, but should sound MUCH better than stock. I'll post again once it is all installed - within the next few weeks - as soon as I get a whole day to do it all at once.

BTW- I had MTX equipment several years ago (amp and sub) and, while the sound quality was VERY good, I found that the MTX stuff was crossed-over too low for my taste. It thumped really nice, but some of the middle-low bass was missing. Seems like MTX is more of a hip-hop setup, where the lowest of the lows really matter. I'm not really into that music, so I was kinda disappointed. I did better with JBL and Kenwood - the bass was more well-rounded, and the bass drum and bass guitar punched through nicely.

130hp

ok, im willing to spend about $150-$200 canadian upgrading my system. what do you guys recommend i do with my money? i don't really wanna change the CD deck thingy (its called a head unit i think???) cause i don't want people to steal my stereo. what should i do?

naki831

Don't get rear speakers. If you do, then you're staging will be reversed. Any more than the front & kick panels is a waste, unless you're using rear fill that is time-aligned and bandpassed to not hurt the front stage; or you just don't care about imaging and want to be loud.

130hp

thx for the replies...
i dont know much about car audio so i still have a few questions...

1) this is gonna sound really dumb but...what does an amp really do and why do i need one?

2) will a sub take up alot of my trunk space? what about the spare tire in the trunk...will it interfere if i put a sub in my trunk?

3) what are the sizes of the speakers in the ES? i read many posts but they just kept on confusing me even more. i figured the speaker sizes are different from the P5. so im guessing the front doors and rear doors are 5x7s and the back deck are 6x9s? please correct me if im wrong.

4) how much did you guys spend on your audio upgrades and what did you get?


i was thinking about maybe just putting in two speakers in the rear doors and getting a budget amp and sub. how much do think this will cost? what do you guys think?

thx, i appreciate it.

130hp

so does the stock stereo system in our cars come with amps? if so, what and how much can it power? also, where do people usually put their amps anyways? the trunk?

130hp

just wanna make sure, the 6x9s your talking about the are rear doors not the deck right? i think the first thing im going to do is put in some speakers in my rear doors. do i have to buy any other equipment if i just wanna add speakers in my rear doors?

naki831

while you're at it why don't you get some tweets for the rear speakers too. The back seat passengers would love it.

conton

Check out this link
http://www.decware.com/secrets.htm

I don't believe everything he says. But its a great resource for car audio. Lots of relevant info.

I would also recommend looking on How Stuff Works.com and look up how an amplifier works, how audio works, etc...

Spend some time enlightening yourself before you make any audio decisions.

Good luck!!

mp4life

OK im confused... I thought that if you were gonna get speakers, you should get front ones? Cause you dont want the rear to overpower the front and mess up the staging (because you sit in the front of the car...)?

Im also looking into buying speakers and since were on the whole rear vs front thing... should i not get bigger speakers for the rear so i dont mess up the staging?

naki831

you're right mp4life. You want front speakers if YOU care about how your systems going to sound. He doesn't understand about how staging and imaging works. You want to stage to the front and getting rear speakers will only reverse the staging.

130hp

i was just wondering what company makes the HU for the 2001 ES....

TooLoPro

Door speaker's are 5x7's. Factory radio will need a set of High tto Low convertors to get signal to amp. If you're on a low budget, check out Fultron. Depth Charge 12's go for $70 at my shop. 200 watts peak. 400 watt DC amp goes for $220. Subs are pretty bullet proof for a cheap sub. I'd use 'em over RFZ's any day. My system: Eclipse CD8051 8 volt pre-amp deck, $699.99, front speaker's: Memphis Studio ST60's, $129.99, rear speaker's: Orion Cobalt 6.5's, $179.99, 4 channel amp: Memphis Studio st3004, $479.99, subs: 2 Kove Audio Armaggedon M's, $349.99 ea, sub amp: Memphis Studio st1000D, $699.99, custom box -w- amp rack:$650, wiring: Stinger 4 awg power, ground, stinger 12 awg speaker, stinger 16 awg speaker, Fosgate 1 farad cap, stinger rca:$400, video: Accele 5: monitor, $300, VCR: Emerson 4 head, $70 (on sale at Wal-Mart), Game system: Nintendo 64, $25 (bought when I worked @ Best Buy). Enjoyment: Priceless!!!!!