[chinkyx90]

was looking for a good budget system. I have 400-450 to spend.
I already have 2x jl audio 12w3v2-d4 sub woofers.
Looking for a good amp, and front comp speakers, and a whole wire kit(including big 3) to go along with it, any suggestions? thanks in advance!

 

[Hillbilly SQ]

Have you deadened your doors?

Otherwise your best bet will be to go to the local shops and listen to as many sets as possible. For an amp check out Welcome to Cadence Sound! For wiring you can pick up a kicker or stinger kit off ebay for pretty cheap. Only thing you need to upgrade is your battery negative to frame. If you don't have a good charging system the big 3 isn't going to do any good.

 

[Lanson]

A good portion of your budget will be eaten up by deadening, but you should absolutely not skip that step. A 1/2 roll of RAAMmat and a few yards of Ensolite would be the minimal I'd recommend, but a whole roll and 3-4 yards would be a lot better overall.

I'd recommend surfing the classifieds for a pair of amps that suit you, or possibly a 5 ch. amp that works for you.

Ebay, darvex, or knukonceptz for wiring, should be less than ~$60 for 4 gauge, w/ RCA's and everything.

Front components...well Phoenix Gold RSd comps run around $60, and Pioneer PRS 1720's run about $112, check out the "hot deals" section and you'll catch on to a few good choices.

I recommend you run a WinISD Pro (that's a free program) to find the optimal box size for the W3's. JL's recommended box size is too small, and the difference in sound quality by going to a .707 optimal size is pretty impressive. I did this with my W3's and really enjoyed the difference.

 

[Lanson]

A quick surf on eBay yielded these options:

Phoenix Gold Xenon-600.1 Car Amp - eBay (item 160321696777 end time Mar-21-09 16:21:01 PDT)

PLANET AUDIO VX2004 400watt RMS 4 CHANNEL CAR AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 350167296601 end time Mar-18-09 11:57:39 PDT)

eBay Motors: MTX Thunder 3404 Amp (item 180335865104 end time Mar-17-09 21:09:18 PDT)

NIB JBL GTO 75.4II Old School rare Amplifier NEW IN BOX - eBay (item 400036645434 end time Mar-22-09 20:04:00 PDT)

MEMPHIS AUDIO 16-PR100.4 400 WATT 4 CHAN CAR AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 350178424235 end time Apr-13-09 19:46:35 PDT)

I own an amp exactly like this one below...just take the silly metal things off it and you have a perfect basic amp
Used PPI DCX 500.1 mono sub amplifier for sale! - eBay (item 120390755913 end time Mar-18-09 17:35:25 PDT)

MTX Terminator TN400/4 - Amplifier - 4-channel - eBay (item 330300895587 end time Mar-16-09 01:29:30 PDT)

NEW JL AUDIO T320.4 T/M/A CAR SUB AMP AMPLIFIER 4 CH - eBay (item 110355929829 end time Mar-25-09 23:51:24 PDT)

PLANET AUDIO 950 WATT CLASS D MONOBLOCK AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 200318526636 end time Apr-08-09 15:10:03 PDT)

http://cgi.ebay.com/PLANET-AUDIO-4-...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318

http://cgi.ebay.com/PLANET-AUDIO-12...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318

Well about an hour worth of digging, but there's some gems in there as you can see.

 

[chinkyx90]

I already have a box to go on with it, if I already have it i dont really want to upgrade on it, i'd rather put the money on an amp, or speaker instead. or maybe even deadener.

I drive a civic 2000 sedan. and is the ensolite necessary if I would already be getting the RAAMmat?
still looking for suggestions and advice on what actual amp to get.
I was thinking about the cadence ia4(500watts), i heard that it's underrated and puts out overrated power. but can it can power my subs(600w) + 200RMS power, is this true?
any people have this setup or know whats up with the ia4?? thanks in advance.

 

[chinkyx90]

A quick surf on eBay yielded these options:

Phoenix Gold Xenon-600.1 Car Amp - eBay (item 160321696777 end time Mar-21-09 16:21:01 PDT)

PLANET AUDIO VX2004 400watt RMS 4 CHANNEL CAR AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 350167296601 end time Mar-18-09 11:57:39 PDT)

eBay Motors: MTX Thunder 3404 Amp (item 180335865104 end time Mar-17-09 21:09:18 PDT)

NIB JBL GTO 75.4II Old School rare Amplifier NEW IN BOX - eBay (item 400036645434 end time Mar-22-09 20:04:00 PDT)

MEMPHIS AUDIO 16-PR100.4 400 WATT 4 CHAN CAR AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 350178424235 end time Apr-13-09 19:46:35 PDT)

I own an amp exactly like this one below...just take the silly metal things off it and you have a perfect basic amp
Used PPI DCX 500.1 mono sub amplifier for sale! - eBay (item 120390755913 end time Mar-18-09 17:35:25 PDT)

MTX Terminator TN400/4 - Amplifier - 4-channel - eBay (item 330300895587 end time Mar-16-09 01:29:30 PDT)

NEW JL AUDIO T320.4 T/M/A CAR SUB AMP AMPLIFIER 4 CH - eBay (item 110355929829 end time Mar-25-09 23:51:24 PDT)

PLANET AUDIO 950 WATT CLASS D MONOBLOCK AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 200318526636 end time Apr-08-09 15:10:03 PDT)

PLANET AUDIO 4 CHANNEL 1400 WATT MOSFET AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 190292657320 end time Apr-09-09 10:34:46 PDT)

PLANET AUDIO 1250 WATT CLASS D MONOBLOCK AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 190293755491 end time Apr-13-09 17:38:10 PDT)

Well about an hour worth of digging, but there's some gems in there as you can see.

I know i'm asking for advice, and i'm sorry for putting it down, but out of all the things you showed me the last one seems that it can be the only one to handle my subs... other amps you showed me only go to like 300-400 RMS max.. lol,
Theres a cadence txa-3002 thats 600 watts for 129.99, and can pull out more power than those

 

[Lanson]

You could try flipping your subs inside out to increase the apparent box size (the displacement of the sub would be what you get back), and that would likely sound better.

RAAMmat is the mass loader, Ensolite is what you use to create a barrier, example in your door you'd use a layer of it to separate your door panel from your door skin, to reduce resonance and rattling.

 

[chinkyx90]

but wouldn't that only be useful when i get new speakers? instead of my stock ones? I mean, stock speakers won't produce some crazy bass for it to make aynthing rattle on my door panel, i'd assume it'd be when i get some good comp speakers with a beefy midbass.

And i was planning to only deaden my trunk for now. i'm very of things to be rattling in there, and making it sound like a cheap ass system from swap meet.

 

[Lanson]

There's more to it than watts, bucko.

The PPI DCX 500.1 you see there is exactly like the one I have, and it will destroy a set of W3's in seconds if you actually pushed it. The PG Xenon that you saw is a 600W (and heavily underrated), at any ohms from 1 - 4. Most of those amps I chose simply because of the mediocre price range you have set, but they should do the trick.

Cadence isn't bad by any means, but some are OVERrated, so be careful. I recommended a 5ch for a friend's build, and it wasn't exactly the ideal amp to use despite the ratings.

The Phoenix Gold, PPI, Planet Audio (especially the black edition..), all of these would be killers.

Again, dig through the classifieds and see what you like. DIYMA's classified section is world-class for SQ.

 

[chinkyx90]

what about the cadence ia4, heard anything about that?, and yea sorry i shoulda known its more to it than watts, but as for a person like me who looks at watts to make sure it can hold up to my subs, thats what i look at =[

 

[Lanson]

You can ask Jason who sells Cadence here on the forum. Just hunt down his vendor thread.

 

[Hillbilly SQ]

what about the cadence ia4, heard anything about that?, and yea sorry i shoulda known its more to it than watts, but as for a person like me who looks at watts to make sure it can hold up to my subs, thats what i look at =[

A watt is useless if it's a distorted wattI'll take an amp that puts out 50 watts cleanly over an amp that puts out 100 dirty watts.

 

[Lanson]

A watt is useless if it's a distorted wattI'll take an amp that puts out 50 watts cleanly over an amp that puts out 100 dirty watts.

Yeah, square waves are no fun if your amp is making them without your intention.

 

[tyroneshoes]

Ill spoon feed

comps

PHOENIX GOLD RSd 6cs 6" CAR COMPONENT SYSTEM RSd6cs new - eBay (item 360133979532 end time Mar-24-09 15:03:44 PDT)

amp for comps and subs

PLANET AUDIO 4 CHANNEL 1400 WATT MOSFET AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 190292657320 end time Apr-09-09 10:34:46 PDT)

wiring

KnuKonceptz KLM 4 Gauge Amp Kit for JL Audio 500/1 - eBay (item 220373320727 end time Mar-15-09 23:15:21 PDT)

and another rca

NEW KnuKonceptz Shielded eKo 2 Channel RCA Cable 17ft - eBay (item 380106800762 end time Mar-27-09 08:16:19 PDT)

kthanx

 

[kinchu007]

To me Alipne PDX is cheap bang for buck, but is that too expensive for this setup?

 

[sqshoestring]

Kenwood 9103D Mono Amp 1800W 500RMS - eBay (item 140306703637 end time Mar-16-09 18:27:49 PDT)
Should be able to find one used for close to 100 if you shop. I read a test and they benched at over 650rms, remember a lot of cheaper (most) amp makers are optimistic with ratings. More optimistic the cheaper you go. The 9102 is an older model of the same amp IIRC the last number is 'age' or model.

Kenwood are pretty good for the money IMO, just a suggestion. If you don't want to spend then get used, you can find a fairly good brand 2x100+rms easily for <$50 to run highs or a 4ch.

You could run something like my kicker 700.5, it is 420rms at 2 ohm on subs and that part is class D, is 70/85rms x4 on highs or can be bridged for a 3ch. It has plenty of power for my quad 12s IB, but I don't know what you really need for those subs. The regular alpine amps are not bad either and on epay all the time.

 

[Lanson]

He has dual 4 ohm subs, 2 of them. That means he needs 4 ohms or 1 ohm loaded up

 

[sqshoestring]

Then the KW would not give you the most at 1 or 4 ohm. Some say you can run the KW at 1 but I don't if its not in the manual...the ones I had it did not say maybe new ones can.

I'm not into 1 ohm amps, I do have one of these and it will do [email protected] ohm. Lightning Audio S2.1000.1D 1-Channel Amp Retail 499.99 - eBay (item 170309961482 end time Mar-16-09 20:45:36 PDT) These were not sold at walmart btw, it is a tank. I forget but thinking I sold one for 125 a couple years ago.

Have one of those cheap insignia 400rms/1ohm class d things too but not run it yet. It did test nice but that was by ear.

Make sure you can get that plug for the LA amp, they are owned by RF now.