I have JBL GTO components in the front and GTO 3-ways in the back. Powered by a 4-channel 250watt Directed amp. If I got a more powerful amp will it sound better? Any suggestions?

 

To be honest, if you want a little more bass to your system, get some 8" subs or 1 10" sub. Getting a higher lvl amp would only put more wear onto your interior speakers. And make controling the sound alot of fun. Because if you add a higher rated amp, it takes less turns of the volume **** to make the system louder. And easier to distort faster for those rear speakers.

Get some 8"s, (walmart has cheap sets), and play those at a high lvl till they blow. Cheaper to get another set of 8"s from walmart, than it is to replace those JBLs'.

 

get a solid 10 or 12 with 300 watts and you will be more than pleased.

 

I know about the subwoofers, I had a pair of 10's before I blew one. But I ran across some high-end MB Quart components that sounded really nice, but paying $1000 dollars for some component speakers is ridiculous!!!

Well I don't want my sound to be distorted at loud volumes. So if I upgraded my interior speakers to a higher wattage than I'll be able to get a little bit more mid-bass inside the car?

 

Interesting, never heard of that option (the 8" I mean). How much does it cost? Does it need an amp? How long do they last and how good (or bad) is the bass?
Sry for all the ? but I'm looking for greater bass but cant afford the $500 or so...

 

Did I actually read that someone is suggesting purchasing an 8" sub from WalMart? We have reached an all-new low if thats the advice we are giving people in here.

esc92 - if you want to add some more low-end to your system, I would suggest maybe adding a sub, but pick up something decent. You can find good deals on equipment on this site in the classified section and it wouldn't break your bank. I'd stick with your existing equipment and just think about the sub option. Will be a more full-range sound and you won't have to "push" your components as hard.

 

He wants to add a higher wattage amp to his interior. Big Mistake, wears them out faster. But If he wants to go out and start blowing speakers, get cheap 8"s, cost less to replace than those interior. Me and my friends go out every once in awhile and get those cheap 8" box set from walmarts, and hookup a 1000 watt just to watch the stupid things rip apart. LOL.

NO DON't GET 8"s, pointless speakers you can ever get. Apparently a few people on this forum can't take a joke.

No offense against you esc92, but come on people. More bass from 5 1/2? If you want to go that cheap. Minus well get 8"s. LOL

But seriously, if you want some bass that won't break $500. 1 10" or 12" in a vented box, and a amp to run it will do it. Single vented boxes run anywhere from $45-140, depending upon quality. Get a descent sub for around $100-150.

Now all you need is a amp. New is out of the question unless you want a cheap brand version. Some car audio places sale used equipment. Usualy if you get the box and sub from them, they'll give you a deal on the amp.

You'll just have to check around on prices and what's available. (Don't get anything from walmart)

 

You may want to re-think that statement. Check my site

 

Might want to check out mine too before you start calling that out. I've been installing for over 7 years now.

 

What do you mean it wears them out faster? More CLEAN power is always better than lower cheaper power. I have a pair of 6.5" compontents fed 150 watts each played at high volumes for the past 5 1\2 years. Still sound great, no signs of wear.......

And I checked your site out. I still stand by my opinion........

 

Well, since you started installing when you were 14, you should consider yourself informed enough to make a blanket statement like 8" speakers are pointless

 

Hmmm, if you check out esc92 response about having a 10" sub once before and blew it. Well geez, doesn't take too much a genious to figure out how. He probably did like over half the morons up here do. And ran it so hard that it was distorting.

Those 2 12" RF you see in the pics, are coming up on 3 years old. With no damage.

My point is, and I've stated a few times already. I'd hate to see him have to replace those interior. Just because he turned it up to get some more bass. And pushed them beyond their best limit. Which the distortion will come faster if he puts a higher amp in there. Get a sub, keep the interior the same, and he'll have a sweet sounding system, if he takes care of it.

 

8"s are still pointless in my eyes, I can get 1 10" and have it sound the same, if not better.

 

yeah I have heard that too much power can cause the bearings to wear out and make the bulb floater gap rub. That causes the speaker to heat up and explode.

And if you guys knew something, ALL high end audio competition specialists shop at Walmart for speakers. The chinese know how to do **** right

 

All he was asking about was if feeding more power would improve the sound, and maybe boost the Midbass. The GTO's can do quite well with midbass, and if done right, since thats what he was after, yes, adding more power will do just that. Adding a 10" sub wont improve your sound if you're trying to get midbass........

 

As long as an clean quality amp is matched to speakers (rms and peak ratings), a speaker shouldn't blow. A speaker is an electromagnet and an amp is electricity. When they are matched, the speaker has more control which reduces the distortion. The problems come in when people get lower grade amps with high thd or a head unit with high distortion. Clean head unit, quality, low thd amp, and speakers matched to the amp and you should be able to play as loud as you want without blowing. Change any of those variables and that's when you hear about blown speakers.

 

Please say you are joking, Walmart for speakers

 

There's more than just one reply. That's where the biggest problem comes from with threads. People come in, read the first Post, and the first reply. And that's it.

Look a few replies up there Cutlr7. And you'll get the answer. I guess some people need a sign saying "A JOKE". Because apparently there's some that don't have an imagination, and take everything seriously.



And Whitemax brings up a good question. Exactly which kind of bass are you looking to increase. Mid or Low?

Then we can stop this pointless bickering (some people just can't see a joke). And get down to what you can get.

 

I've seen matched systems blow subs too. The problem occurs less, but still can occur.

The reason this happens, is when you increase the signal too much from the signal to the amp. Especially when it's a AB style amp, and the signal that is sent is a fast changing signal.

The amp sends the first pulse to the subs. And then receives the signal for the next pulse frequency, and sends it out. The problem of distortion occurs when the first pulse is still being played by the subs, and the second reaches the sub, causing to rapidly change the frequency it's putting out.

I agree, that a matched system is better. But will not eliminate the chances of distortion. If you don't believe, try this out if you have a AB style amp.

Turn the volume all the way down, and turn the bass on your deck all the way up. Now increase your gain on your amp all the way. Play a good bass song, then slowly keep turning your volume up. Eventually you'll notice that subs will distort. Some systems don't show it enough, but I bet you open the trunk, and listen to the subs. You'll hear the off the pitch bass and snap of the sub changing frequencies.

Alot of people around here loose their subs to this, and can't figure out what happened. I hear alot of people around here say "I don't know why, they sounded perfect in the car." Well the trunk and the good bass signals drowned out that distortion sound. They kept playing those subs with that distortion, until it wore out the sub so much, that something gave. Usually the surrounding foam/rubber.

Now the newer digital series amps have reduced this alot. They put out a cleaner, cisper signal to the subs.

I decided to see how much, I hooked up 1 of my subs to the new Memphis 500D. And the other to my Logic 620. I used a song that I knew had sharp beats, that had some time between each other.

I noticed that even at high lvls, (stereo volume 22, amp gain 1/2, and bass setting -1) that the sub with the 500D amp would stop playing it's note sooner. And even had a sharp hit to it. The Logic 620 amp would continue to play that note for 2 seconds after the 500D stopped, and had more of a boom to it.

 

wouldnt putting the bass up on the h/u create clipping and distortion.. so obviously it will make speakers blow if you have the bass up. mind you im not talking about a sub out, just the basic bass setting and if you boost all the way up on an eq. isnt distortion harder to hear the lower the note is? i think thats also why people blow their subs because they cant hear it due to the low notes being played. i would imagine subs blow due to overexcursion at low hz's which would mean distortion is hard to hear from inside a car. now thermal power handling is a different story.

 

It depends upon the degree of distortion. If you ever get a chance, listen to a truck with the subs right behind the seats, like how mine are. You hear alot of different distortion noises that come up. Each frequency that a sub hits, will have a different sound for distortion.

This is also where a cheap set of subs came in handy. I've used many pairs of cheap subs to get my point across to some people up here. And if you get a chance, watch a pair of subs come apart. It gives some nice insight on what exactly goes on. Kept me from pushing to the point of distortion.

And yes, the lower the note is. The harder it can be to hear the distortion.

And the bass setting is where I see a lot of newbies mess up. They hook up the system in their car, and forget to turn down the main bass on their deck. And have their gain at the lowest setting. They just expect the system to be setup perfect when they install it.

 

Wow, what all happened in this thread? Ok to set the record straight, if you want more bass out of a 5.25" speaker pull it out and get some 6.5s. Just kidding. You can try and seal up your doors better with a sound deadener like Dynamat. But chances are that won't really satisfy you either. Bass response is all about moving air and unless you can figure out a way to do a ported or transmission line enclosure in your doors, you are only ever going to get so much out of the 5.25s. If your amp is pushing them to their limits, that's about all they got.

You can improve them by making sure that there are no air leaks immediately around the speaker. If there is you might be getting some cancellation there.

And whatever you do, please don't buy audio gear from Walmart.

 

This whole thread is BS. kcidmil you have got a lot of learning to do. Tuning the system through the headunit? Any audio components from Walmart? All that **** about pulses? Jeez....

It is better to invest in just a few high quality components for the long term than to continue buying low quality pieces that sound like azz, perform poorly, but fit the immediate need of a "system".

 

couldnt agree more on everything you said.

 

Hmm lets see, another one who doesn't read all. The **** about low quality walmart **** is a JOKE!. Get that all through you tiny brains.

And as for learning, I spent 3 years in vo-tech during high school in electronics. With a 96 avereage. The length of the of the power sent from the amp to the sub is known as pulse width. Hook up a oscilloscope to the wires running from the amp to the sub. From the time that the signal starts, to the time it ends, is known as a pusle width. And the signal itself is known as a pulse.

And for someone who "supposedly" doesn't know what they were doing. I got 147.6db spl with a system that was setup for SQ. The subs were still connected 1 per channel on a 2 channel amp. Dividing the power between them. That's less than 250 watts per sub. And the subs were in sealed boxes.

I took 3rd in that competition. The first and second places had 150db, and 148.3db. Both using the same amp I was, and using JL 12"s in a vented box. Had I had the box I have now, i could have taken 2nd place easily. And I'm using RF Punch Z 12"s that were 2 1/2 years old at the time of the competition. Almost the bottom end of RF's line. And I beat out a set of kickers, Xplods, and some off brand sub.

I'd have to say, that for someone who doesn't know his ****. I sure can hook up a system. And you don't just adjust a system through the head unit. DUH. You also adjust your amp, and a equalizer if you have one.

And if I didn't know what I was doing. Do you think that Mobile FX (who host all the sound competions in town) would let me into their shop, and help them out.

And of course I'll admit that I do learn something new everyday. But what I have posted I have learned through trial and error. Setup is key in any system, wether SPL or SQ.

Quality components are the best. But not everyone is filthy rich. And my RF punch Zs show that with care and good setup. Mid quality components can still turn heads.

oh and lumbee1