Sub-woofer help wanted by ICE numpty

[macaroni]

Having sorted my front speakers and headunit out, I want more, clear bass.

Can anyone give me any advice in installing the hardware I have:

Alpine T220 amp - 140W bridged output
Either Bumper 300W 8" sub or Jensen 150W 10"

I have been given both subs and don't know which is best. The smaller Bumper weighs a ton, but seems to have cheap connectors. The bigger Jensen weighs less, but has nice gold screw connectors.

Where is the best place to mount a sub? Do I need a ported box? Which way should it face?

Told you I was a numpty! Any help gratefully received.

Antony

[Dan the 480 Man]

There's never going to be a right place to mount the sub in a car, imo. The only fitting place unless you want to start custom building is the boot.

With regards to the equipment you have, i'd start by looking through the instructions and looking at what the actual wattage is. Many may say for example, 1000w, but thats at it's peak performance, in it's optimum condition. Unless you're going to have a custom build and and having it running all the time, it'll never do that. You need to lookm at the RMS rating. The RMS would probably be something closer to 300w on a 1000w advertised sub...

Find the Sub which has similar RMS to the Amp. If RMS of the sub is a little more than the amp, thats not a problem-if it was sufficiently under, you're more likely to get distortion. Don't worry about connectors-i've had decent make Sub's with shit connectors, and crap Sub's with gold plated connectors!

The boot is the obvious place for the Sub/Amp. The amp needs to be able to keep cool to stop it over-heating, and the 480 boot is quite good i think, as it only has a bit of flimsy material to seperate it from the cabin.

Sub boxes...if you want something that gives tight punchy bass, then a sealed enclosure is the best-it stops the air being forced out. It will give you nice tight and accurate punchy bass. If you have a ported box, the bass line will be punchy, but alot more smooth. Bass lines will have more 'length' to them, they won't sound as hard as a sealed enclosure. My other half has a ported enclosure in her car, and the bass lines are very smooth and not over-powering. With just a set of 13cm Pioneers upfront and a Sub/Amp, the sub doesn't sound overpowering-it just sounds like she has a big pair of speakers in the back, and it is a nice daily drive sound. My system has a sealed sub and the bass can be very hard. I have an in-car controller so i can turn the bass up & down to suit my mood-otherwise it would be too overpowering all the time. But it depends on how you like your music. My personal fave is how i have it: a sealed 12", because if i want to thrash the stereo, the selaed will deliver the 'gut punch' i want lol, but a ported will just tend to get louder, if that makes sense.

Both types give a good sound, but as i say, it's personal preference. In the missus Clio, the Sub box is facing backwards, but in mine it's facing upwards. Mines facing up purely because it's the only way it'll fit under the load cover, but it does give a good sound. I couldn't really notice the difference between my GF's Sub facing backwards in her car or when i tested it upwards in mine.

Kev built a good install, his thread can be found in this section: he had his facing between the rear seats. Just get all the main wiring in, and just put the amp and Sub in the boot, move the sub about until you get it sounding how you like-then work around how you're going to build it in.

God i ramble!

Oh, and an 8" will be more punchy than a 10".

[macaroni]

Thanks for that comprehensive answer. The pics are really helpful too.
I generally listen to thrash metal, so really need a tight, punchy bass driver that can keep up with fast double bass drums, so I guess a sealed enclosure is what I want.

So I'll get it all wired up, get a box sorted and experiment.

The subs I have are very 2nd hand, but apparerently worked well when they were installed.

Have you heard of the makes Jensen or Bumper?

[Dan the 480 Man]

Hi.

I have heard of Jensen. as far as car audio is concerned, i was always lead to believe the Jensen was a very good make. Not heard of bumper though! Got any pictures of the subs?

And listening to that sort of music i would agree that sealed is the best option.

[JohnTurbo]

I've heard of/owned Jensen components. Its a half decent (I think American) brand.

Even RMS wattages are missleading and often hugely exaggerated. A pioneer amp 2x40W will throw out a lot more power than a 2x40W of an unknown brand.

I agree, for thrash a sealed box will be best - the box pressure acts like a spring which returns the diaphram to the neutral position faster.

[Red]

each subwoofer has its own parameters (they are called TSP - thielle small parameters)
Using a calculation software and this parameters you can calculate the best box design for this sub. also the decision for sealed/ported box depends not only on the music you want listen to, but also on these parameters.
i would recommend you to buy a good amp and a good sub, jensen isn't very good and i never heard of bumper (a quick google search tells me thats a mchammer brand - throw it away )

the alpine amp should be ok, but 140w rms are a bit too small for a good subwoofer.

my favorites are the audison amps and herz speakers/subs, theyre not very expensive and they sound great

[macaroni]

The Jensen sub says made in China and the Bumper says made in USA.

I will invest in better quality gear later, but as my first install, I thought I would go with stuff I could get for free/cheap, as I am bound to damage it somehow.

[Red]

then try to find the TSP for the subs, download the tool WinISD from: http://www.linearteam.dk

then try different designs out, for metal music the group delay value should be as small as possible at the desired frequency (around 50-60Hz). also make sure that the gain curve is flat and above the -3dB line at 50Hz