questions about adding a subwoofer to my RX-8
 

Ok I realize that all of this information is probably out there on the site but I don't have a ton of time to search through old threads as I work 72 hours a week leaving me with little free time when im not sleeping. So flame away if you must, I'll also note that I have little knowledge of installing audio compenents so I will be having my system professionally installed but I wan't to know just what I need to buy in order to do this.

Ok so I would like to put a subwoofer in the trunk of my car...ok I realize I need to buy a subwoofer and an amp with sufficient power, im looking at alpine type x subs what would you guys recomend between one 12" or 2 10"? My other question is having the bose system in my car I heard since the head units are a pain to replace in these cars I have to get another box that allows you to hook the sub and amp into the stock system. So in short what do I need to buy to make a sub work and if I need that extra converter box does anyone have any suggestions on decent ones that will last and do a good job?

thanks for any possible help.

Line output converter, amp, sub and an enclosure is all you need.

I've never listened to alpine subs, but having a single 10" sub in my car and upgraded cabin speakers, I don't think there is any reason to have anything more then a single 10". You're just going to overpower your mids and highs.

Then again I don't think the "music" people listen to these days has anything other then bass and perhaps some guy talking about whores over it. So you could be fine.

You don't need an LOC if you get an amp with speaker level inputs.

A pair of 10's will give you a bit more cone area, giving you a bit more output. They'll also probably take a bit of a larger box, require a bigger amp and cost a little more in the end.
The 12 will be a little tighter fit in the trunk unless you angle the front of the box and probably won't be as loud as the pair of 10's. Sound quality will be the same between the two options as long as you're comparing the same brand subs and you build your box properly.


As for the install, you'll need a good wire kit with the following:
--8-4 awg power wire. 8 should do you, but 4 will give you room to expand and it'll be necessary if you get a big ass amp
--2 distribution blocks (power and ground) to step from 4awg wire to 8awg wire, if you use 4awg power wire. I use un-fused on the power and ground sides. You amp may have 4awg inputs. if it does, disregard these parts
--fuse block or circuit breaker. match this with your amp(s) fuse ratings as close as possible. This goes in-line, w/in 18" of your battery
-- grommet to go in your firewall to keep your power wire from rubbing and cutting the insulation
-- metal tapping screw to hold your ground wire down (be sure to COMPLETELY strip the paint off this area
--terminal ends: 1 battery, 2 for the fuse block, one ground. they're not different from each other, I just mentioned location so let you know why you need 4

You'll also need a line out converter unless you amp has high level inputs, as noted above


I buy all my wiring stuff from www.knukonceptz.com. Their prices are great, they ship fast and they have quality parts. I blew $100 on on a basic streetwires kit years back when I was new to car audio. Never again. My stuff from knu konceptz is every bit as good, if not better. That goes for their RCA cables too.

I have a 10 sub and ap with a custom box like the one on ebay . my buddy build the box and install the sub on the left side of the box and the amp on the right side behind the seats. for the instal question you dont need a another box just wire cuters and connectors for the the cables on the back seat.

if you have the bose system, is it possible to simply upgrade the speakers and tweeters without having to buy anything other than the speakers?

Tweeters and rear deck speakers can be replaced easily, they run on standard impedance's (check the audio sticky for what impedance speakers to use) The main door speakers of the Bose system run at 0.5 ohm's making them impossible to replace and keep the stock amp. That said, the door speakers are the most redeeming portion of the Bose System, They may be muddy, but they have quite a bit of range in the low end.

from what I read I guess 1 of the alpine type x 10's hits as hard as 2 of alpine type R 12's so I guess one is the way to go as it should have plenty of bass. Im glad someone asked about the cabin speakers as iv'e been thinking about replacing the 6x9's I would think simply replacing them with decent speakers would improve the cabin sound greatly without having to mess with any of the other speakers. Being new to this stuff I was wondering if anyone could tell me if Alpine's PDX-1.1000 amp has speaker level inputs and if I needed to get a LOC Where should I look to find a decent one? Thanks for being so helpful everyone.

Also it says the 6x9's run at 2 ohms I have to find a set that runs at that right like I couldn't put a 4 ohm 6x9 in there, I have this right in my head?

At this point, I'd begin looking for a reputable car stereo shop to install your system. If you go in with an idea of what you want out of the system, they should be able to recommend components for you, then you can do some research on what they recommend and decide if you want to make changes to it. A good stereo shop will be more then happy to answer your questions and work with you to get the system you want.

ya theres a couple around I was planning on having them do the install anyway, hopefully they are more helpfull than the one I went to in upstate NY with my truck lol they were like the only one around and got all pissy with me because I wanted to talk to them about what I wanted in my truck rather than simply hand them all I could spend and let them go to work with what they had in stock.

According to Crutchfield's site it looks like that particular amp doesn't have speaker level inputs. Crutchfield has a pretty good customer service dept., you can try calling them up and asking them your questions.

Speaker level inputs.......OMFG..... the day that a manufacturer of an amp puts a quality signal interface into an amp is the day that I will start to recommend that route. If you want to do this properly and want to expand the system and keep the stock head unit, you need a proper interface adaptor. It is the difference between a system and a great system. Bose, look to the Audio Control 6XS, while it is advertised as a crossover, it is also a ideal advanced input adaptor, line driver, subwoofer level controller and multi signal output device for full system expansion.

The type X as good as they are, are also very inefficent. This means that you need to throw a god awful amount of power at them to get them to come alive vs. other subs. Know your goal for bass response as it is all about the box. Screw up on the box and the best sub in the world is going to sound like a wet fart. SQ based sub, I would look at Morel or Eclipse and some others. Want loud, stupid loud, Digital Designs.

A good system is one that is built from the ground up for a purpose and everyones purpose is going to be different. Know the different avenues to take to get to the goal to prevent unhappiness in the end. Do it right and you will be guaranteed a highly predictable outcome. Do it wrong and you can bet that the system will only work to a portion of what it is truly capable of. That said, what is your goal?

my goal is to have a system that sounds good obviously, I want enough base to feel it bump when I want it too but I don't need something ungodly that is literally going to shake my car apart or make my rear view mirror fall off i mean when I turn it up I want to feel it kicking but I don't need outrageous base like for competitions. I'm digging deeper now and may just get a metra kit to replace the stock head unit with a nice alpine one. Thanks for all of the help everyone.