I'm just wondring, but if you had to choose one main part of a sound system that you would invest more money into to create clear, loud, and powerful sound...what would it be out of these choices:

speakers/subwoofers/amps?

 

Not really one piece. IT's the proper choice of the amp/ speaker setup and placement that matters more than anything. Big power handling subs do nothing with out a good amp to match it. Same for big amps without a sub to handle it it goes out quick.

 

actually the biggest part of a loud system is the correct design and sub enclosure/placement.

after that, you need a BIG amp and subs that can move tons of air.

 

I would have to say that I would invest most of my money in a good amp.. Without a good amp you have no foundation to build a good, strong system..

 

if i had to choose one thing.....it would most probably be the speakers......get real good speakers with a decent amp and a decent head unit.......but in reality.....every last thing matters......if u have a kickass setup and like 30 guage wire......your system is worthless.......so get a little bit of everything......you dont have to go nuts though......an investment of maybe 500-600 should be ample.......but if u want a real nice system spend like 1000

 

what size gage wire is recommended for best and safest sound system?

 

what do you mean about the 30 gauge wire? How does the wire affect your sound-I dont think its a lot of a difference. Also, I doubt 500-600 investment is 'nuf. All I did is replaced the HU, and put in amp and 2x10"MTX..everything+install cost me about $700. I figure w/o anything major, I need another 500 to replace speakers.

 

I would put the speakers & subs into one category and say they're the most important. This is assuming that the other categories are at least "decent" quality. But I also agree with most everyone else that everything's important and not just one thing.

Maybe you should have 4 categories:
Speakers
Head Unit
Amps
Install

NOW try and decide which one is most important!!

Tony

 

You don't think 30 guage wire would make a difference?

 

30 gauge wire?? if your serious you need 4 or zero gauge power wire to have a good system

 

He was refering to speaker wire.


Matt please stop this post from getting worse...I Beg you. Please

 

uhhh, 30awg wire is about the size of a strand of hair. maybe a tad bigger but not much.. now you tell me if you're comfortable dumping 2-3-4-500 watts down a wire that small. think you can? okay.. wrap it around your hand a few times and crank up the volume. when it burns through your hand, then catches fire and melts into a tiny ball, you'll agree with us here.

for anything over 50-60W you need at least 16awg wire. personally, the smallest I use is 8 awg on my subs, and 15awg on the mids/tweeters. (then again, I'm running 250w/channel on highs and 1200w on my subs.)

when you start to look at speaker wire size, you can pretty much just calculate it as you would power wire size.. find out the current and the length, and look it up in the same charts.

power = I ^2 * R
so just say you're running a 1200w amp to a 4 ohm sub. that gives you about 17A of current running through that wire.
on a 50W midrange speaker, that's 3.5 amps..
now tell me you're going to run 3.5 amps of current through a 30awg wire and it will survive.

 

whats the key to having a loud stereo. i have a one word answer for you.. its very simple.. M-O-N-E-Y !

 

ok,

let's leave the money and the wire size out for a sec...
So far i got 4 3-way Sony Xplod speakers (6 1/2") with 130w max input power (not sure if that's good, bad, or decent?)

And I have 2 subwoofers currently on order:
-12" Xplod Sony's [Dual 4-ohm Voice Coil Component Subwoofer]
-peak power handling 800 watts (400 watts per coil)
-power range 50-200 watts RMS (each coil handles 100 watts)

so 4 speakers : $170.00
2 12" subwoofers: $220.00

total so far: $390.00

So now i need couple of amps....not sure how many watts/channel but i know i don't want anything expensive.

So if i get two decent, non-expensive amps..... how will my sound system sound from let's say 1-5 (with 1 being the stock non-bose system)

thanks guys!!

 

optima battery, 4 gauge power and groud wire, fosgate speaker wire, mtx cap, jvc double din head unit, 2 sets of diamond audio 6 1/2" componets, 4 10" pheonix gold xmax's, fosgate 600a4, fosgate 1100a2..
(everything is soon to be replaced).. hehe

 

I am not going to brag about something I don't know. I don't know what 30-gauge wire or a 0-gauge wire is, it is all wire to me. A wire is a wire, nothing ot it.

 

xploid is garbage. I am willing to bet you will not be happy.

 

really?
The specifications for them sound pretty nice, and crutchfield.com carries them. They aren't cheap either.

but i can't say too much cause i never really heard them.

So can anyone else back his comment that Xplod is bad?

thanks.

 

If i told you I could hook battery cables to your D*C*...cuz it can handle it would you do it? You belive every thing you hear? I think they did handle 800watts for .2 sec... Then it really stank.

 

well obviously that's why im asking this on this forum, because i don't know how they would handle sound and if they really do ouput 800watts.

 

Im just telling you bluntly. Dont' get upset..it's my nature. I figure if i make it a really big point you will understand my distaste for the sh**.

 

nope is wire is not just wire. Just remember this: the thinner and longer the wire-the higher the resistance. The thicker and shorter-the lesser the resistance. Less resistance= cleaner sound.
30awg wire= thin, 12awg is thicker.

 

WIRE IS NOT "JUST WIRE" -- but 14 guage wire is 14 guage wire.....i dont believe in purchasing monster calber wire for like 20 times the price of regular branded wire. If you want to make a nice system.....you really shouldnt use anything less than 16guage wire (BTW...18 guage wire is less than 16 guage wire for example) If your a big tymer when it comes to audio....use 4 guage wire. If you want to keep it simple, purchase a "street wires" kit. This will include everything that you need to install a stereo, the amplifier cables, patch cables, power-on leads, speaker cable, power cables.