Just wondering if there is anyone here with an aim/msn that would be willing to teach me a little bit about car audio. I'd like to learn some of the basics that have to do with upgrading from stock to aftermarket equipment. IE ohms, channels, watts, & RMS. As in the future, I'd like to upgrade my set-up to a new head-unit, door speakers, a subwoofer, and an amplifier.

 

No aim/msn won't school you but i will answer some questions for you. I have recently done some upgrades and quite a bit of studying on this subject. this is a good place to ask. instead of a single persons answers that very well could be wrong you also have many others who will fact check for you. that way you dont get bad info and blow your sh' up.

 

I appreciate you taking your time to reply, and any assistance would be great.

 

So to start this off plain and simple, would you mind defining the terms i listed in layman's? I've tried to look them up on the internet but they still are kinda out of my concept range.

 

well

ohms is restriction or resistance. how much restriction is between point a to point b. this only applies to electrical circuits.

channels is a division of sound or audio in to separate speakers or sets of speakers...

watts is a measurement of power feeding a speaker or device.

RMS is "root means squared"... typically you want to match the rms rating of the speaker to the rms rating of the amp or exceed it with the amps power. these are the most important numbers to look at when choosing a set of speakers and an amplifier.

a great place to find all of this rudimentary audio info is at crutchfield.com

I was kind of thinking you had an idea of what you wanted to accomplish with your system..

 

I mean i have a basic concept of how an audio system works, i was just wanted to go into it with a little more depth. So if I had say, a 600 rms amplifier, would that mean two 300 subwoofers would work?

 

600 watt RMS at 4 Ohms would work for a 600 watt RMS at 4 ohm or less subwoofer. when you run two 4 ohm subs off of one channel In parallel you cut the resistance in half. you then present a 2 ohm load to the amp. this in most cases will double your output of your amp because it is less restrictive to the amp. so if your amp doubles its power and is split between two 4 ohm subs you will end up with 600w per sub at a 2 ohm resistence on your amp.

If you wire the 4 ohm subs in series then you are doubling the impedance to 8 ohms this is more restrictive and will halve your power output of the amp. In the end you would end up with 300w divided into the two 4 ohm subs which would be 150w per sub.

when you are looking at the specs always look for RMS wattage and Impedence (or Ohms).

 

I'd like to achieve good quality sound, good bass, and increased volume.

I just took measurements in my ranger, in the cold. And I came up with the following measurements, keep in mind these are if you're looking from the front.
Considering the seats are not level, we have two different heights. If you want to have your seats to sit level, you must follow the angle, or go with the smaller number.
*Jump seats in extended cabs are in a crown shape, ie /\, therefore the smaller number is always on the outside.

• Height: 6 1/4in; 7 3/4
• Width: 14in
• Depth: 8in

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Now if I do a single sub set-up, I'm going to remove the jack box, and have a custom box put in it's place.

• Height: 21in
• Width: 15 3/4in
• Depth: 5in (Now this number is if you do not go off the edge)

 

In many cases it is better to have one 4ohm sub running on a 4ohm amp then to have 2 subs running at a 2 ohm load because it will be more accurate. unless of course you are going for loudness over sound quality

 

Well speakers are for vocals and what not, and sub woofer's produce the added bass. Correct?
And the head unit starts it all by receiving the audio by a cd/mp3 player/radio, sends it to the amplifier, which then increases the "signal" we'll call it, and then transfers it over to the speakers/subs that are hooked up to it.. right?

 

Now this is a parallel circuit that you were talking about... right?

 

yep.

 

yes

 

I corrected myself.

 

Well, I would like increased base overall, but volume and clarity are also a big one. So switching out door speakers, followed with a single, or possibly dual set up (run in a parallel circuit) would more than likely come close to, if not exceed my requirements?

 

Sub 1&2's positive to the amps positive terminal
Sub 1&2's Negative to the amps negative terminal

is parallel.

I would say you will get a little more bass sound with two subs but they wont "hit" as hard.

 

The sub is the most important upgrade you can make. headunit next, the speakers should be last on the list.

 

Now, do the terminal sets create a so-called "channel"?

 

And on ohm's for subwoofer's, do I go with a 2 or a 4?

 

If your talking about a mono amp then that would be only one channel.

a stereo amp would be a 2 channel

4 channel amps are front and back stereo channels or what ever you would like to use them for

 

typically a subs are 4 ohms. if you need to pull a 2 ohm load to pull more power from a amp because you can't afford a better one and don't mine losing a bit of acuracy in the process then look for a 2 ohm.

there is also dual voice coil (DVC) subs too. two separate coils usually two 2 ohm or two 4ohm coils for flexibility in wiring it to your amp.

but I would go with a 4 Ohm sub and a strong amp.

if you are interested in a certain sub/amp combo i can tell you if they will work good together or not.

 

Okay, my ideal set up:
Let's say the brand of choice is Kicker.

One 12" Kicker Solo-Baric L5 Series 08S12L54
20-100Hz frequency response
50-600w RMS power range
Dual 4 ohm voice coils

So what requirements would i need for an amp to push this and 4 door speakers?

 

Thats a DVC sub with two 4 ohm coils ... you would need a amp that puts out 600w RMS at 2 ohms (or a bit more). or a two channel (stereo) amp that puts out 300w RMS per channel

 

if you make a custom box for where the jack is you will be running dangerously close to the minimum box volume that that sub requires. according to the meausurments you gave you ended up with .95 cu.ft not encluding the thickness of the meterial its made from or the displacement of the sub itself.

the 10" version would be a better fit. those subs need lots of space to work good.

 

So this?:

Kicker 08ZX750.1
mono subwoofer amplifier
750 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms