Need some advice!

[mosshorn]

hey folks i was wondering about something i'm considering buying.
I've heard about 50 people say "don't buy from best buy, circuit city, etc." but i have also heard eclipse is a good brand. my question is,should i buy a pair of 12" eclipse subs with an enclosure for $800? Is that too much for those? Is that too much bass for my needs? ( i listen to mainly VERY heavy rock and country, but i do like to make an entrance)or does someone have a totally different set knowing my preferences? i've read a lot of these threads and know how knowledgable some of you guys on here are, so please, HELP!

 

[sketch1]

Well Eclipse is a great brand, one of the best in my opinion...however I don't know if 800 is too much or not, we need specifics, what model of subs are they? How about the box, what kind is it? Custom, prefab? bandpass, or sealed? Fiberglass, wood? There are many variables. .. however I will say if you mainly listen to rock and country I would go with 10 inch speakers, not 12. The response on 12's is slower than 10's so for quick short bass notes the 10's are going to sound better. 12's and 15's are better for rap or really drawn out bass notes, because of their slower recoil.

I have another word of advice, and it's just a suggestion. A buddy of mine who works at a car stereo shop told me an interesting fact the other day. I have 2 10's I am about to uninstall from my old car and I am thinking about putting them in my runner. I told him I did not want to lose a lot of cargo space and I wanted to make them easily removable for when I want more store space. He told me just to install one of them because I were to install 2 I would only be getting 3 decibals louder than I would with one, and that is if I am pushing them both to max capacity, meaning well over 1000 watts to each speaker (they are powerful subs). Since the amp I currently have is only putting 800 watts to each sub it would actually be louder to just run one than to run both.

So to sum all that up, if you are looking for bass, I would reccommend 10" subs for you, and one may be all you need.

Also I have always said not to go to bestbuy, but I say that because most brands they sell in car audio are just not that good, Sony, JVC, Fosgate, etc...they work, and are alright, but if you are looking for better quality a car audio store is a better place. But if bestbuy carries Eclipse now then sure buy it there.

 

[mosshorn]

thanks! sry I didn't post any specifics, but i like your idea for only one 10" due to my pretty low high school budget lol. I think I have finally decided on the infinity basslink due to its price,sound, and hideability (i'm sorry, but i don't want my ride getting broke into :gun: ) but before i buy that, i think i am going to upgrade my sound system in general. i'm kind of a music nut and know a lot about headphones and digital audio, but am still learning about car audio (haven't really needed to know until now)hopefully i can lay off wanting to buy the shure e3c's to buy some speakers. i've had good use out of pioneer so i think i'm going to get those for pretty much everything. but maybe i'm wrong. would anyone reccomend pioneer for a young audiophile on a budget?

 

[NViejeP]

Don't get the basslink. Get a small sealed box prefab will be okay, just make sure its a good quality prefab. And get a cheap 10" sub. Some good brands are Arc audio or RE Audio. Both of those subs ARE VERY cheap for a very nice bang.

You need a decent amplifer, pricewise, go with kicker or hifonics. Theres others too.

But before you do all that I would suggest getitng a new head unit. It'll be better to do that first.

 

[atomic punk]

Basslinks are nice, but at only 200-250w, I wouldn't put one in a 4Runner if you are looking to "make an entrance". Maybe I just posted too late though.

My suggestion is to get a name brand amp (maybe 600-100w rms), and get an IDMAX 10" sub. It will do everything you want. Read online about that sub, you won't find anything bad written about it. You never mentioned what your budget is $, by the way, but this setup would be about $500-600.

 

[mosshorn]

oh i thought that the basslink had a lil more power to it....that stinks. but then again, who needs powerful bass when the rest of your system is awesome? just trying to be an optimist!

 

[atomic punk]

Who? YOU will!!! hahahaha. You think you're DONE with your system? Naaah, you're just getting started. You'll love the SQ of the basslink though. I just think the 4R is too big of a space for only 250w, especially if you have a high powered 4 channel system too. Well, good luck, and keep that IDMAX in mind for later on!!!!

(I just downgraded from 2 Kicker L7's to 2 8" bazookas, but only decreased the power output from 1000w to 800w, and it's just right).

 

[Mike415]

I was just at Circuit City looking at installation for a friend and was suprised to see a bunch of Eclipse stuff in their show room. Apparently they are the first national retailer to carry Eclipse

 

[sketch1]

I agree with not getting the basslink as well. I hear it is a great sub, but I think it is not at all what you are looking for. What I would reccomend for you is a JL stealth box equipped with a 10w6. You might not want a stealth box due to their price, but you can find boxes that are much cheaper that are designed after the stealth box. Basically just a smaller sub woofer box built to fit specific cars... You can find them on ebay pretty easily.

 

[mosshorn]

yeah i looked at the stealthbox and i really liked it, but they don't have one for 2nd gen 4runners (i have a '94) hm, do you think that a 3rd gen steathbox would fit in my 2nd gen cargo area?

 

[sketch1]

I dont know if it would or not. I would email JL audio, although they are probably going to tell you it won't work since that is how they list it on the site. Also check out soundomain.com and do a search for 94 4runners and see what comes up...someone is bound to have something like that in their car...and then you can always email them to ask what they have. Lastly ask your local car audio place, they should definatly know, and they might even have one in stock. If they do ask them if you or they can dry fit it in the back just to see if it fits...any place looking to make a sale should be willing to do that for you.

 

[mit_peid]

I have an infinity basslink and am quite happy with it. It may not be the type of sub you need to make an entrance but for listening to music INSIDE the 4runner, this is more than sufficient.