Car audio systems?

Question

Okay so i just bought my car and i need help with hooking up my audio system... i dont know much about systems but i love loud music and my friends want to help me out but i dont feel they know what their doing because their speakers are always blowing!!! i want to know if there any good sites i can go to for just audio systems nothin more. i want my system to really bump!!! money is not an option for me because i know quality is number one. a lil help please?

Answer 1

If you don't want your speaker to blow, just make sure that your speaker is rated higher WATT than the amp.

So if the amp is rated at 400 watts (as an example), it would NOT be safe to get speakers rated at the same 400 watts.  Instead get something that is rated at 500 watt or even 600 watt.

Good Luck..

Answer 2

www.rockfordfosgate.com

Answer 3

i will post a few links of very informative sites so that you can learn more about car audio (and you could teach your friends)

you need to always have the correct gauge (size) wire and a good ground (in-line fuse no further than 12inches from the battery)

you need to properly match your amp and subs, a lot goes into this not just wattage- you need to pay attention to RMS wattage {not peak/max}, you need to look into the subs setup {DVC or SVC, dual or single voice coils}, and the subs impedance {ohms}- not paying attention to all three things will guarantee a blown amp and/or sub

you need to stick with companies that are CEA-compliant which means that the amps have been tested and produce or exceed the advertised RMS wattage with minimum distortion (the main cause of sub damage), and that their subs can handle their advertised/rated RMS wattage also

its almost impossible to PROPERLY match your amp and sub if you don't have CEA-compliant products because you have no idea of the "real" wattage so you run a very high risk of over or under powering your subs

here are the CEA-compliant brands

Alpine (highly recommend)

Bazooka (don't like their subs)

Blaupunkt (don't like their subs)

Clarion

Eclipse

Infinity (highly recommend)

JBL

JL Audio (very good but over priced)

JVC

Kenwood (don't like their subs)

Kicker (the best in my opinion)

MTX (highly recommend)

Pioneer

Polk Audio (highly recommend)

PPI

Rockford Fosgate (highly recommend)

Sony (don't like their subs)

here are some terms you need to know and understand

impedance (ohms)

Frequency Response

Maximum RMS Power Handling

Sensitivity

Voice coil

Resistance

RMS Power at 2 ohms

(these two links will show you)

http://www.crutchfield.com/learningcente...

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/S-uA1v...

this is why matching you amp and sub is important

Matching up wattage ratings

If you send too much power to your sub, you risk damaging it. The cone of the speaker and the mechanical parts that make it move may break under the stress. Surprisingly, too little power can also damage your subwoofer — in fact, it's actually more common than damage caused by overpowering.  

When the volume is turned up and the amp doesn't have enough power, the signal becomes distorted, or "clipped." This distorted signal can cause parts of the speaker to overheat, warp and melt. Not good!

You don't have to match speaker and amp wattages exactly. An amp with a higher output than the speaker's rating won't necessarily damage the speaker — just turn the amp down a bit if you hear distortion from the sub and don't run the speaker at extremely loud volumes for lengthy periods. Likewise, you'll be OK with a lower powered amp if you keep the volume down and don't feed a distorted signal to the sub.

this will help with your sub wiring http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer...

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/S-uA1v...

whenever you get a better idea of what you are looking for and your cost restrants (two 12s, one 15 etc...., RMS wattage range, and so on) shoot me an email