[Mr.Aaron]

First off, if this is in the wrong section of the forums I apologize.

Hey Guy's

New to the forum, was researching audio components for my car and your website came up so I thought I'd register and become a member. So first off, hello everyone!

My name is Aaron and I am new to car audio, I have always used the factory stereo systems so I never really experienced a quality aftermarket system let along piece one together. So this is all a new experience for me not just piecing one together but learning about car audio in general.

Anyways, I have a bmw m roadster that I would like to upgrade. 2 of my buddies who have the same car (a little club) and have upgraded there system on a budget think I shouldn't really spend a lot on good components as it won't make too much difference. Me on the other hand I think otherwise, I always research whatever I invest money into to make sure I get the best bang for my buck where as they pretty much went off of what a shop told them.

I love listening to music, whenever I am in the car I listen to music so I think its definitely worth investing money into seeing as how much I use it.

12v over on the bmw forum was very helpful in recommending me some components for the doors (mids/tweeters) from hybrid audio that I will be going with.

As far as the head unit goes I am interested in the alpine IDA-X305 since it has the ipod control feature. That was my biggest requirement, my two buddies(in there upper 40's) still use Cd's where as I like to take my entire music collection with me and not have to haul around cases of Cd's. I try to explain to them why an mp3 player is much more efficient but it seems they are happy with there Cd's. But as for the HU, it looks nice and has all the feature that I need. If there are any others that you could recommend, I'd definitely take a look.

Now what I am really confused on is what subwoofer and amp to go with. I guess I will start off with the amp, I figure I will go with a mono amp and dedicate it to the sub. Then run the other amp that I plan to buy from 12v to run all of my other speakers. I found the Alpine MRP-M500 (500watt) mono class D amp on ebay for $180 shipped. Does alpine make a quality amplifier and is this a good deal?

As far as the subwoofer goes, I have not made the enclosure yet so I don't have exact measurements. The enclosure I will be building my buddy already has one in his car so tomorrow I will go take some measurements so that I can be exact. But I did take a tape measure to the area where it will be going and did some rough measurements, the cubic ft came out to .4/.5 I was looking at the 10" Kicker Compvt woofer with an enclosed box.

Again I am not 100% but will know for sure tomorrow, the enclosure will be small since its going in a two seater convertible.

One of my buddies is running an 8inch fosgate punch and the other a 10" JL audio. After listening to there systems I thought that they definitely sounded better than the factory but I wasn't really too impressed. Could this be because the subwoofers that they used were most likely made for a larger ported enclosure? He had it tuned by a shop but it really didn't make much difference. This is where I figure a shallow mount woofer will help even tho they think it won't make any difference.

So with the size of the enclosure in mind what sub would you recommend? I really would like to fit a 10" in there. I'm not really going for earth shattering bass because frankly its a small car and a convertible. But I am going for something that sounds clean and hits nice.

Sorry guy's for typing up so much, I really wanted to keep it short but as I started typing it just seemed to get long and longer.:laugh:

I would greatly appreciate any feedback/recommendations for my setup. I am sure you get a lot of new guy's asking the same stuff so I would be very grateful.

 

[ChopShop1]

Welcome Aaron. I am pretty new on this forum as well, but have some years of car audio under my belt. First thing first..We need to know your budget. The subwoofer. I jusy ordered a DIYMA 12 from npdang on the forum. Many knowledgable people on here speak very highly of this sub. I have not heard one yet(will install as soon as it gets here), but for $100 and recommendations by some respected members, It was an easy choice. It is designed to have superb sound quality, and while I am sure it will play loud, it is by no means for the guy who wants to shake the neighbors house.

Head Unit...I am a big Alpine fan, so I like your choice there, I f that unit by Alpine has the features that you need, I say go for it.

The front stage is a big decision and I am not sure of your budget, but there are many good components out there(depending on your taste in sound) What type of listener are you??? Do you enjoy brightness, warmth etc...

The MRP is only about $225 new, so be carefull with ebay.(i am paranoid about not buying from an auth dealer) I would also evaluate some other choices, again based on your desired result. If you just want it to boom, then a kicker and that amp would be fine. If you are into the SQ, you should check out some others.

Above all, do plenty of research, keep asking questions, and try to hear everything you possible can in person. Take your time. G luck

 

[Mr.Aaron]

Welcome Aaron. I am pretty new on this forum as well, but have some years of car audio under my belt. First thing first..We need to know your budget. The subwoofer. I jusy ordered a DIYMA 12 from npdang on the forum. Many knowledgable people on here speak very highly of this sub. I have not heard one yet(will install as soon as it gets here), but for $100 and recommendations by some respected members, It was an easy choice. It is designed to have superb sound quality, and while I am sure it will play loud, it is by no means for the guy who wants to shake the neighbors house.

Head Unit...I am a big Alpine fan, so I like your choice there, I f that unit by Alpine has the features that you need, I say go for it.

The front stage is a big decision and I am not sure of your budget, but there are many good components out there(depending on your taste in sound) What type of listener are you??? Do you enjoy brightness, warmth etc...

The MRP is only about $225 new, so be carefull with ebay.(i am paranoid about not buying from an auth dealer) I would also evaluate some other choices, again based on your desired result. If you just want it to boom, then a kicker and that amp would be fine. If you are into the SQ, you should check out some others.

Above all, do plenty of research, keep asking questions, and try to hear everything you possible can in person. Take your time. G luck

Hey Chop,

Thank you for taking the time to read through my post and chime in on it. I will answer everything you have asked the best I can.

I wanted to keep the budget around $1000 or so but I can go a little higher if its worth the extra.

I have read a few posts on here about the DIYMA, actually I have been searching the forums for the last couple hours reading up on shallow subs...amps..etc There really is a TON of info on here, I asked some questions on a BMW specific forum and they were very helpful but realistically I should of went on an audio specific forum so here I am.

I would love to do a 12" but a 10" is the max size I can go for my car. Here is a picture of pretty much what I am going for.

As you can see in that picture he utilized the oem sub enclosure, I pretty much will be gutting that area out and building my own box.

Yeah I have read nothing but good things about alpine head units, really all I was looking for was something that is ipod ready but seen that alpine model and liked its features.

12v recommended me the hybrid audio components for my doors and searched them up on here and it seems everyone has nothing but good things to say about em. Then I heard they will fit in the oem locations behind the stock grilles so that I won't have to do any modification and that pretty much was the icing on the cake.

I hear ya on wanting to buy from an auth dealer, I usually do buy any electronics from a dealer so that I get warranty. But I noticed the shop selling them on ebay come with a warranty so it gives me peace of mind.

I'm not sure what you mean by brightness..warmth...etc please do elaborate as I am new to all of this.

I'm not really into loud bass and going for SQ but also want something that will thump nice. So if I had to say which one I guess it would be a little of both? but more on the SQ side.

Been reading up as much as I can on here, I just want to be sure I get the right components and the best bang for my buck. That's generally how I am with any large purchase, I try to do as much research as I can and ask questions which is fun because you learn about what you are investing in.

Thanks again chop, your input is greatly appreciated

 

[ChopShop1]

No problem,

The Hybrids are a great speaker. By brightness and warmth, I mean the sound of the music...do you like rock that screams at you up hight, and high frequencies that really pierce your ears or do you like a full inviting sound. It sounds like you will be happy with the HAT components. I would spend the bulk of your budget on those and the amp to drive them, thats where the SQ difference will come in. You might go over budget by a couple hundred, but in the end it will be worth it. I have an ARC KS300.4, it can be had for about $400 (retail, I am not selling mine)and would run those Hybrids great. Great sound quality combo. You could also make this and active setup once you feel comfortable enough.

As far as the sub and amp go, I had all kind of kicker stuff way back when, old style comps, and they were great, I imagine the vt would be fine too. I might also like to see you spend a little more on amp for the sub. Not that the MRP won't be ok, but I think you can get more SQ with something different. I am a big ARC fan and you can grab their 125.2 mini that will put out 250w to your sub and keep the front and sub powered similarly. I like the ARCs because they are very "clean" sounding and do their job, amplify the sound.

Nice setup in that pic!!!

 

[SublimeZ]

Welcome Aaron.

I highly reccomend listening to the HAT comps before purchase. Drver sound is very subjective, and can be a big difference in how your system sounds. Check em out before dropping half your budget.

 

[Steak]

is that a 10 inch IDMAX in the picture???


If so, GREAT choice.

 

[OSN]

Mr.Aaron, to get the most from what you invest in, I recommend moving away from the compressed mp3/m4a/m4p/aac/wma music and look for a uncompressed or lossless format, i.e. cd/wav/flac. Wav is actually uncompressed, so I chose that format as standard and am converting all my cd's to wav- even though they're all in mp3 now because I hate switching CDs and dealing with scratches, etc.

Also, 2 areas often overlooked when achieving SQ are sound processing and sound deadening. These are areas I'm focusing much more on then whey I was a wily teenager. One keep-it-simple-stupid approach that I moved towards was to get amplifier(s) that have all sound processing you need built in, and Zapco DC Reference are about as good as they come. May not fit your budget, so you may want your head unit to handle your crossover/eq/time alignment for you.

Good luck, and as you're finding there is a WEALTH of information to read up on, so give it a little time, engineer your system based on your findings and don't rush the install or tuning.

 

[OSN]

Mr.Aaron, to get the most from what you invest in, I recommend moving away from the compressed mp3/m4a/m4p/aac/wma music and look for an uncompressed or lossless format, i.e. cd/wav/flac. Wav is actually uncompressed, so I chose that format as standard and am converting all my cd's to wav- even though they're all in mp3 now because I hate switching CDs and dealing with scratches, etc.

Also, 2 areas often overlooked when achieving SQ are sound processing and sound deadening. These are areas I'm focusing much more on then the days when I was a wily teenager. One keep-it-simple-stupid approach that I moved towards was to get amplifier(s) that have all sound processing you need built in, and Zapco DC Reference are about as good as they come. May not fit your budget, so you may want your head unit to handle your crossover/eq/time alignment for you.

Good luck, and as you're finding there is a WEALTH of information to read up on, so give it a little time, engineer your system based on your findings and don't rush the install or tuning.

 

[12v Electronics]

Aaron,

Sounds like you are on the right track. The Z3 sub pic you show is a great idea. If you read that thread, he tried a few subs before faling in love with that ID8. I believe he is running it off of a Alpine PDX.

BTW- that car is also changing over to Hybrid Audio speakers as we speak.

The Clarus speaker set I recommended was based on being able to fit behind your speaker grilles little to no modification and use a single amp to power them. They do sound very good in your roadster.

There are also many other options available. I would be glad to talk about them if you like.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Tom

 

[Mr.Aaron]

Hey 12v, thank you for chiming in on my post as I wanted to pick your brain a little on my setup. I have read your posts on the Bmw forum and your wealth of knowledge in mobil audio so I have faith in ya.

I hope I didn't come off as someone who doesn't use the search button and do his own research. Out of everyone I know I think I am the only one who enjoys reading up on things and asking questions, esp when it comes to large purchases.

But I am new and enjoy reading and picking some brains

I have no doubt those clarus speakers are quality, every review I have read was good besides that one guy who gave his opinion which was a little ridiculous but when I hear that many people happy about them I know I'm making the right choice.

My two buddies with the same car seem to think I'm wasting money and time researching but there older and don't really keep up with technology. The expression on there faces after they hear mine will be enough satisfaction for me.

But I definately would like to hear some of your other ideas as well my friend. As for my sub do 8s have nice bass? My buddies punch seemed kinda weak, then again it was a cheap speaker. I have to keep in mine those mids will give bass as well. I guess I should really be looking for a sub with the least required cubic ft.

As always your knowledge is always appreciated and this goes to everyone who posted on my questions. It's a nice feeling passing on your knowledge onto others and helping someone out I'm sure