New to Car Audio... need serious help!

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myownteam105

New member
I'm on a serious budget... and would like to add some bass to my 2003 4runner sport. I picked up these MTX Thunder 12" Subwoofers (2), buy one get one free, which seems to be a good buy. I have them in a dual bandpass enclosure. I have no idea what size amp I need. They are rated at 450 watt peak power or 250 RMS.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/MTX-...sem/rpsm/oid/147570/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I'm looking for good audio in a budget package... so I want the most bang for the buck with the amp. There's an 800 Watt Sony amp at Circuit City for $99 bucks that I had my eye on, but I'm not sure if i could get good sound with less amp (or money).

Also... would it be a total screw up to run a power distribution block off of the power wire going to the factory amp to run a new one? I was told at the store that you shouldn't do that, but in another thread I read that you could. I need some guidance. :bash:
 
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You might get more support if you tell us what system is in your SE. Regarding the power, you need a specific guage wire for the amp you are selecting. If the wire is to small you will overheat it melting the insolation and cause a short or even a fire.
 
Sorry... I have the JBL Synthesis system in there right now. The bass is just nonexistent... I have the harman/kardon drive and play ipod adapter in there and i have to put it on the bass reducer eq in order to use it with the system... I would hate to start a fire... or overheat the cable. I havent removed the back panel yet so I'm not sure what guage the wire that is hooked to the factory amp is... does anyone have an idea?

Would it be hard to wire the amp to the battery if I put it in the cargo area? Could the power outlet that is already in the cargo area be used for anything in wiring the amp? Sorry if these questions are ridiculous! I'm new!
 
those are 225W RMS subs

your best bet would be to find an amp that would run

either

225wRMS @ 4 ohms x 2 channel
or
a
440wRMS @ 2 ohms X 1 channel

that $99 sony wont be "correct" but it will work

save your money and get a correct amp, youll be much happier in the long run
 
Would the 800 watt sony be too much?
Here are the specs on it:
RMS Power Range : 170-340 Watts
Number Of Channels: 2
Maximum Power: 800 Watts
Built In Crossovers: Yes
Channel Separation: Yes

If I ran the subs parallel, would this work?

If I run the subs in series, that would be 2 ohms, correct?

Would this amp be more correct?
Visonik V108XT
Mono subwoofer amplifier
400 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PCX0UdhoWmu/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=120&I=028V108XT

The price on this one fits the budget like a charm, and I want to run the subs in series. I'm not using the bandpass enclosure, I have a dual vented enclosure instead.

Will this amp push my subs to their potential?

Im just kind of lost on which amp to go with. Does a sub with a 225 RMS need exactly that or is that the max that it can use?
 
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that Visonik would work yes, hoever, your spending like $89 on a 400w rms amp, its quality cant be great.

That sony will not be "too much" that 800W rating is max power, a rating not even worth looking at right now, those MTX can handle that and plenty more.

what model sony amplifier are you looking at? Im having a hard time finding the model you are refrencing
 
Since your on a budget, have you considered to just hook the speaker to the existing amp. before spending any more money.
 
The Sony amp is the sonxm1252gtr

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=16407

$99.00 at Circuit City

Here are all of the specs:

Technical Specification
RMS Power Range : 170-340 Watts
Number Of Channels: 2
Maximum Power: 800 Watts
Built In Crossovers: Yes
Channel Separation: Yes

Features
2-channel car amplifier
125 watts RMS x 2 at 4 ohms (170 watts RMS x 2 at 2 ohms)
340 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms (4-ohm stable in bridged mode)
Lw-pass crossover (50-300 Hz, 12 dB/octave)
Vriable bass boost (0-10 dB at 40 Hz)
MOSFET outputs and power supply
CEA-2006 compliant
Seaker-level inputs with signal sensing for automatic turn-on
Peamp inputs and outputs
Fse rating: 30A x 2
8-gauge power and ground leads recommended
 
yes it will WORK but it will only put out about half of the power that the MTX can handle.

Where your on a budget, i would just go with those, those sony amps have been ok. Especially for some thunder series subs.

You will need to get a 8GA power kit.

It has speaker level input, so you will have to get the (preferably) subs high-level wires and run them into the amp
(you can leave the factory sub in btw, if you wanted to you just go parrallel with the wiring.)

Ok then remote turn on, music sense may be your best bet (its thefeature described as Seaker-level inputs with signal sensing for automatic turn-on ) if you hook up your amps remote turn on to the ACC wiring in the car, you may get a quick loud THUMP or POP from the sub when it turns on, orr you could get remote turn on at the factory amplifier, but you may still get a noise at turn on, music sense is the easiest, least amount of wires, but can be quirky sometimes.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony...54756/catOid/-13095/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

If this is the amp, what circuit is selling for $99?
 
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If im not using the subs to their full power, how will the bass sound, will it be loud and booming? I dont want to buy the subs and then not use them as well as I could. What amp would do better?

That amp is the correct amp. Circuit City in Augusta, GA has it for $99.00

It's the same price as a Jensen amp in there that isn't as high of quality.

I'm just not really clear on which amp to get. Do I want to push the speakers at their highest RMS or just one in their range? If I go with a lower RMS, what will the effect be? I want booming bass, but not enough to shake the world around me, just my car : ) The factory sub just doesn't add any low end to my music.
I konw the MTX will add more than enough... I just want to get what it can give I guess.
 
In response to an earlier post... would hooking these up to the factory amp even have a result? It wont push the 8 that's already in there at all. I dont know if it would help to hook up larger speakers to the same connection, would it?
 
dont hook up the subs to a factory amp, it
A-doesnt have enough power
B- is probable made for a specific load ratin (2,4,6,8 ohms, etc) and unless you know which one, i wouldnt touch it.

What you might want to do as stated earlier by me, is to find the factory sub, cut off, or splice into the wires that are at THE SUB, not going into the amp, and extend that wire to the sony amp, which will be its signal, and how it knows to turn on.

Like i said, the sony amp will work.

You have 2 12" ported subs, so that total 250w rms wont sound bad at all..

just that getting a 400w rms amp will be appx twice as loud (and by that i dont mean that the $99 sony wont be loud) however, if your not looking to wake up the neighbors, the $99 sony will do just fine for what your looking into.
 
I was thinking about running the wires to the sub into the amp, but I was under the impression that I would need a line output converter. Is this necessary? Would it be bad to run the amplified signal out of the factory amp into the new amp?
 
myownteam105 said:
I was thinking about running the wires to the sub into the amp, but I was under the impression that I would need a line output converter. Is this necessary? Would it be bad to run the amplified signal out of the factory amp into the new amp?
Click to expand...

Nope, the sony amp has a high-level input hanress, you could use a line output converter, however, you would need to buy the converter and RCA's whereas the high-level would just be wires.

Some people say that high-level doesnt sound as good, but that is mostly the case for 4ch amplifiers.
 
it will come with a harness, all you need to do is get the signal at your sub to the amps high-level input harness.

That amp will work though
 
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