Car Audio Noob... buying First system need help...

 

New member
Username: Bigjoe87865

Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA

Post Number: 1
Registered: Sep-05
Hey... Im somewhat a noob... but know maybe a thing or 2

Im looking for a system to go into a Jetta 2002...

i dont want anything insane... but i dont want anything puny either... *xplodes are no go*.. hated the way they sound...

my dad has 2 10s Kickers.. and they are like6-7 years old on 900w amp... not sure... what model.. i think they are decent to my knowledge...


anyways... so far... people have recommended JL-Audio w3 10" or 12"

and a smaller crowd recommended... any of the "square" kickers... of same size...

im kinda confused with which to go... like i said.. i dont want anything insane and expensive... im leaning more towards the JLs as of now...

what do u think?

what is SQ and SPL?..*srry im a noob*

and Amps... im thinking of a 1000w one... which do u recommend?... a guy told me to get some decent 100$ ones from the swap shop or something... and to build a case..

also... what do u guys recommend more... 10" or 12"... is there that big of a performance diff?... and is there that big of a space diff?.. in the trunk of a jetta

anyother things i should invest in?.. dyna mats?etc...


also... people told me... get the version1 w3 insted of Version2... cause it sounded better or osmething... what do u think
 

Gold Member
Username: Basshead86

Ocala, FL USA

Post Number: 1774
Registered: Aug-05
another one from FL!:-O
i will reply to all of your ?'s in a minute.
right now i am eating, and typing with one hand takes 4ever.lol

JL over Kicker square subs

Resonant engineering over JL.
 

Gold Member
Username: Basshead86

Ocala, FL USA

Post Number: 1775
Registered: Aug-05
okay,
JL's will sound wayyyyyy better than any square subs, and they will outlast any square subs.
secondly, the square subs have little SQ, ye they do get really loud, but they have reliability issues.

SQ = Sound Quality
SPL = Sound Pressure Level
SQL = Sound Quality Level. this one is subs that sound great,and can get very loud.

as far as amps go. the more you pay/watt, generally, the better quality the amp is.
for example, if you can buy a 1000w amp for $200, then it isn't likely to do 1000w, and it won't last very long at full output.

12's will get louder than 10's, b/c they can move more air due to bigger cone size.
there shouldn't be that big of a difference in airspace required for a 12", and you will notice the difference between a 10 and a 12.

Dynamat, or any other sound deadener is your friend. the more the better. your car's body panels(trunk in particular) will rattle, causing a loss of sound inside the car(that's why you hear it outside) if you can stop these things from rattling, then you gain more bass.

Resonant Engineering is just as good as JL for a fraction of the price.
anybody on this forum will tell you that.

hope this helps a little.:-)
 

Silver Member
Username: Ucfsaxman

Oviedo/orlando, Fl

Post Number: 162
Registered: May-05
yes another one from FLA muddy covered it very well one thing i will say is that i am a big fan of jl audio and will always recomend them i have 3 12w3v2's and from my personal experience the version 2 are better than the original i've have compared my current subs to a friend of mine who had the older 12's and the newer versions get deeper than his old ones i'm not sure if that is across the board for all sizes and models of subs but that is what i have experienced. 12's sound deeper than 10's also
 

Gold Member
Username: Basshead86

Ocala, FL USA

Post Number: 1793
Registered: Aug-05
anybody else have anything they would like to add?
 

Gold Member
Username: Basshead86

Ocala, FL USA

Post Number: 1794
Registered: Aug-05
oops, didn't see your post until after i posted :P
 

Bronze Member
Username: Thigpen

RVA, Va Usa

Post Number: 80
Registered: Sep-05
id like to ask a question thats relevent.. im building a box very soon and trying to choose between 2 W3v2s or 2 RE SE's... basically i know the SE is just as good as if not a tiny tiny bit better than the W3, but what about for durability and quality in time? i want something thats going to last me a long time not something i replace soon, and theres a audio one that sells them close, so if anything screwed up i can take it up there, whereas with RE you have to try to get in touch with them and their a pretty small company.. so if you could help me out between the two thatd be great
 

New member
Username: Bigjoe87865

Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA

Post Number: 2
Registered: Sep-05
damn... both u guys... u guys coverd it alot...

ok some more questions... my dad has his subs in his SUV... and since the trunk is open to the cabin... we can hear the sub pretty well...

how does it work in a sedan?...*jetta* and i would like to get 12s... the price diff aint a prblm for me... its just i hope it doesnt take up my whole trunk...

can u guys tell me more about ressonant engineering?.. iv herd nothing about them before... which model is equivilant to the w3?
do they have the same quality has JL *life*... i herd JLs last realy long... but realy whats the catch for them being a "fraction of the price"

Amps... so 200$ 1000w... is a no go?... what amp should i get then?... i dont want to go realy expensive on it.. i dont want insane sound but above decent/average. does RE make amps?... that are good and cheap?

now another thing i forgot to mention are... the mids *the door speakers*.... i realy clueless... on what i should get... i need to know the basics of it... size/power/amps/ etc... same with tweeters...

and headunit... people told me not to worry too much about this... just stay with the stock one for now....*Volkswagon premuim Monsoon Audio* and later on.. just switch to a diff one... they said... as long as the Wattage is decent.. u wont hear THAT big of a diff... monsoon offers i think 190 or 200watts



a friend is offering USED JL w3v1 for 180 * two 12s* it seems like a good buy... but how can i tell if they are good...is there anything in particular i should look out for?
 

New member
Username: Bigjoe87865

Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA

Post Number: 3
Registered: Sep-05
some more questions ... thought of on the fly..


ok... JL w3 have a 250-300w RMS... but why are people putting in 500w to one of those?...explain that... should it get blown.. etc

Ohms... the lower the better? i thought it was the other way around... i remember my dad saying on door speakers.. that 2 is better than 4... but it seems that the higher ends have 2 not 4


so in that case.... which is better?
JL w3 2ohm 300w
RE SE 4ohm 600w?

a lil confused here... =(
 

New member
Username: Bigjoe87865

Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA

Post Number: 4
Registered: Sep-05
thought id add in here... my budget is around 700$... and mayB a lil later i can get it to a grand.. but still THATS A MAYBE

next... i read in another post... for hooking up 1200w amp... *if i were to get 2 RE SE* id need to upgrade the alternater???? ... wow... tell me more
 

Silver Member
Username: Ucfsaxman

Oviedo/orlando, Fl

Post Number: 163
Registered: May-05
Matt from what i've heard the RE's are very durable and last long just like JL

Joel subs work very well in sedans my previous car was a lancer i had multiple sub setups in there. Now i have a galant w/ the 3 12's it sounds great one nice thing about sedans is that you can fold down the backseat pass through or the whole thing. If you're going w/ 2 jl w3's then you will only need a 500 or 600 watt amp the RE's take a little more power. however Jl underrates their power for subs so a w3 acan easil take 500 watts also b/c of quality construction. As far as mids and highs go i just bought some JL XR components they are pricey. some other good companies for midrange speakers are ifnity you get a lot for your money ther are a very nice soft sounding speaker. With the ohms the lower the ohm the more power but they are less stable so the higher the ohms the less powere but it is more stable and could have better sound quality.
hope that helps anymore ?'s let me know
 

New member
Username: Bigjoe87865

Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA

Post Number: 5
Registered: Sep-05
ok.. thnx ... bout the alternator and budget?

and im a lil confused still on the ohms...

JL w3 2ohm 300w
RE SE 4ohm 600w

u say ... lower ohms = higher power... but less quality and higher ohms =less power and higher quality

so that would mean the RE SE is better cause its got higher ohms and its got an extra 300w to take care of the power loss ... = over all better?

and my used sub question...

and if i was going with RE SE which sub is nice n not that expensive... and if i was going with w3 which one?
 

Silver Member
Username: Ucfsaxman

Oviedo/orlando, Fl

Post Number: 164
Registered: May-05
well not nesscarily w/ the ohms i'm assuming that the w3 is a dual 2 ohm sub which you wire in 1 or 4 ohm. i'm not familiar w/ the re whether or not it is a dual voice coil sub i think it is in that case i dual 4 ohm sub would wired to a 2 ohm load. i would guess that the RE woudl be a little bit louder than the w3 but not my much. 180 for the used w3's isn't too bad especially if it includes an enclosure. what you wnat to look for are scratches and scuff on the suround of the subwoofer if they are too deep or badlt scraped then the surround my be pealing off other than that there isn't much more you can tell just by looking at the subs. i'm not sure about models of the RE SE but i've heard they are affordable so a 12 or 2 shouldn't be too expensive. as far as the w3 goes 12's are excellent 12's are a few dollars more than 10's but not a huge price gap. you could go w/ the used pair or you could buy a pair of the v2's. like i said it's been my experience that the v2's are better than the original.

ok and the alternator thing i do not have a high output alternator and i'm running almost 1100 watts rms. I have an optima red top battery under the hood and a 1.2 farad cap w/ the digital readout that tells me the voltage my voltage never drops below 13 my head lights also do not dim. if you are having serious voltage loss issues than that is when a HO alt comes into play. if i were you i would not worry about it if you run about 600-800 watts and you have a cap to help the spikes in the current flow and an optima battery you should be ok. so basically my advise if you don't have voltage problems then do not worry about an alternator.
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