First, great forum, very helpful. Second, I am redoing most of the system in my car for SQ and i need a little help. I just bought a set of CDT CL61 components for the frontstage. Recommended rms is 120w for them. I Have an old kenwood kac-843 rated at 75x4 by kenwood. I don't have specs on the amp so i don't know the rms in 2 channel at 12v (kenwood's rating i believe is at 14.4v). Will this amp put out good power for the comps. Also any input on a good sounding, inexpensive SQ 10 to run off a JBL BP300.1 150w rms @ 4 ohm, 300w rms @ 2 ohm (both listed at 14.4v). I'm leaning towards a CDT ms-100 (SVC rms 300w?) i could buy for $80 or a CDT CL-1015 (DVC 400rms) for about $100. Thanks for any help, and sorry about the long post.
As far as the front components, try bridging that Kenwood amp for them. That will give them optimal power, maybe a little more, overpowering doesn't hurt as long as you're careful. About the sub, that CDT is a good sub for the money, also look into Infinity Kappa Perfects for your budget. The Image Dynamics IDQ 10" has excellent sound quality and will work well with the power you're giving them, if you can afford it (around $150 or lower, usually).
i just looked up the image dynamics sub, it seems ok but the site refers to spl and displacement a great deal, how is their clarity. Are they mostly boomy or will they be punchy like i want. I plan on using a sealed box not ported, would they work well in one. Also, when you say to bridge the kenwood amp do you mean i should use the A speaker level outs (bridged) for one side and the B level bridged for the other side? If so, is there any advantage to this over switching the amp to 2 channel and wiring stereo.
also is $80 good for the CDT microsub, i need to pay soon if I want it. Would it do well with the power the JBL amp could give it or would it be underpowered. Anyone know the actual specs on it because i can't find any.
In terms of the sub go with the perfect VQ, it won't be boomy and you can adjust the magnet structure for a sealed box. You can set it up to be extremely hard punchy bass or medium punchy with a bit of smoothness and lower end extension. Really high SQ. You should definately try giving your components over 100rms, up to about 150rms and adjust the gains down. Remember the higher the gains the more distortion and that sounds rubbish and is bad for high fidelity speakers. Be careful when bridging and powering components unless it is a four channel amp and it's only going to power the front.
The IDQ is an excellent SQ driver. IASCA competitors use it very often as a SQ subwoofer. They mention SPL of a driver because it gives a good balance of both, but it's not boomy by any means. It is a very tight, SQ oriented driver and was designed for small sealed boxes. Check reviews on them if you want, nearly all you find will praise their sound quality.
thank you both for the help. i'm going to keep saving and try out the idq, probably a 10 with dual 4 ohm coils run parallel (roughly 250-300 rms by my estimate depending on how my alternator is). any input on location. i thought about building a custom enclosure close behind the center of the front seats(roughly .3-.5 cubic foot). Will this sound good and if i do this where should i aim the cone. Thank you again for the help.