car subwoofers

downnout · 10-23-2009, 09:15 PM

i am completely retarded when it comes to cars/audio equipment. anyways, i am looking to install a subwoofer in my car. first off, i have no idea what kind of subwoofer to even buy. and second i have read a bunch of stuff online saying you need an amplifier too? and that installation is a bitch? is there any way around all of this? can i just take it to like a best buy and ask them?

yellowfever13 · 10-23-2009, 09:26 PM

FGCUCody · 10-23-2009, 09:30 PM

Yeah, you can. But you do need an amp with subs, and a box, and cables. So if you've never done it, you should let someone else.

spasticnecro · 10-23-2009, 09:33 PM

I did my own system over the summer and it honestly wasn't that bad.
You could definitely go to best buy or a car audio shop near you and they could do it for you, but its gonna cost you a couple hundred to have them do it.
As for a sub, I'm almost sure you would need an amp. For my car I put a sub box in the trunk and mounted the amp right on the back of the sub box (My car's battery is in the trunk, so this was a lot easier for me than putting the amp elsewhere). I'd say, if you're gonna buy an amp, go ahead a replace all your speakers, I know I'll always replace the speakers in my cars.

P.S. Do you know what size sub you want (I.E. what kind of sound do you want)? And what kind of car do you drive?

RedBull1 · 10-23-2009, 09:33 PM

yeah you can go to best buy. and get ripped off.

Beatnik5 · 10-23-2009, 09:43 PM

What kind of car do you drive and what is your budget, and doing it yourself isn't as hard as they make it out to be.

mister jogger · 10-23-2009, 09:45 PM

if you dont know what youre doing you dont need one

dumac · 10-23-2009, 11:09 PM

If you want a sub your gonna need an amp as well. If you still have your factory head unit, you'll probably want to replace that because factory head units tend to block out the lowest frequencies to protect crappy factory speakers.

Go to crutchfield.com it has a lot of info for making the right selection etc. but if its your first time you should have it professionally done or at least have a friend who has experience help you

BBmisc420196 · 10-23-2009, 11:15 PM

OP 1st you need an aftermarket deck. Factory decks dont have a high enough preamp and you need at least 3-4Volts. Then you cant have crappy ass factory mids so you need new mids for sure. IF you get a SUB with factory mids your a complete douchbag. To power a sub you will need an amplifier. I also recommend powering your mids with one as most decks only put out about 20-25 watts RMS.

Make sure you look at ALL power as RMS not peak. If you buy something that says its 1000watts and think thats what it actually if, then you deserve the crappy sh!t you just bought.