Printer Friendly Forum Posts - system recomendations

i'm pretty sure i'm going with mb quart components up front and 6x9 in the back. i'll probably amp those (any suggestions?)

but my big problem is with the sub. i have 2 12" inifinity subs and built a model box for one of them. the box in huge and my dad recommended getting a smaller one maybe. i started looking at 10" ones and like the adire brahma II. i don't know much about these though. all i've heard is that they can hit, hard. what kind of amp would i need to puch it and is it worth the money and stuff to go with a brahma as opposed to something like a JL audio sub?
any suggestions about anything are more than appreciated

If you want a sub that uses a tiny enclosure, then the Brahma 10 is a great choice. JL makes several different subs in several price ranges. Which one were you looking at?

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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just a good point, steven how would you honestly rate the adire brahma aginst the w6v2 jl line or the w7 line.... just interested thinking about picking up some new names next year and I know no one has adire up here

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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

i was either thinking about the jl audio 10w6v2 https://www.jlaudio.com/subwoofers/10w6v2.html

or the adire brahma mark II https://www.acoustic-visions.com/~acoustic/products/subwoofer_drivers/adire_brahma/

i'm not quite sure as to go with a 10 or 12. any suggestions? i'm also wondering what kind of amp would be able to push these pretty well? considering how loud people say they have gotten i'm pretty sure i won't need 2 will i? i was thinking about this amp, but am not sure jbl gt601.1 https://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=GTO601.1&ser=GTS&cat=AMP

i was sort of leaning towards the brahma just because i heard it can get really loud and is also a great speaker. but i'm wide open for suggestions.

For the front and rear speakers use an amp that has a rms rating of 50w x 4 @ 12 volts. Any more than this is going to be gravy. If you want more that's fine but most systems thrive with this much power. I swear that Stephen can literally smell the forums and when the word Adire or Bramha is mentioned he's all over it. I too am considering the line for next year. (Stephen - send me some CDN dealer info dude). If space is a concern for you consider also the MB Quart Ref series of subs. I was highly surprised by the output of a single dvc 10" in a 1.25 cu.ft. slot loaded enclosure. Played deep, sounded good and played to a great volume level. It would need a mono 2 ohm sub amp that has between 300 - 500w rms. Concept has a couple of great amplifiers in this realm, the CA604 and the CA525M. www.mbquart.com www.conceptconcept.com

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

jeffchilcott wrote:

just a good point, steven how would you honestly rate the adire brahma aginst the w6v2 jl line or the w7 line.... just interested thinking about picking up some new names next year and I know no one has adire up here

Well I'm not too familiar with the W6v2. I know that the old W6's parameters matched up perfectly with our Shiva, so they would perform the same. But the v2 from what I understand has gone through some changes.

As for the Brahma and W7, they are very close. Both use different motor technologies that both lower distortion, which put them at the very top in SQ IMO and many others. Both also have very similar displacement capabilities, so output should be very similar. The differences are that the Brahma is designed for a smaller enclosure, but is a little more inefficient. The W7 has a great deal more suspension travel, meaning it will be harder to break. The motor design in the W7 is somewhat flux inefficient which is why it has a higher Qts. for such a large motor. This effects it's frequency response a little. And finally, the inductance is a little higher on the W7 which will effect it's high frequency extention and transient response a little bit.

So what can we see from the above? Well if you need a small box driver, then the Brahma might be a better choice. But if you have a bit more room to spare, but don't have as much power, or like to abuse the driver a little bit without fear of breaking something, then the W7 might be a better choice. But other than that, I truely think that they are the best performing subs on the market.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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hightek wrote:

i'm not quite sure as to go with a 10 or 12. any suggestions?

That depends. The 12 offers you 40% more cone area for a very small price jump, so I usually recomend going for it. The 10 is best for people who want a lot of bass, great SQ, but need a very small enclosure (.5 cubic feet and down). So if you can stand a 1 cubic foot enclosure, then go for the 12, but if you want the enclosure smaller then that, then the 10 would be a better choice.

hightek wrote:

i'm also wondering what kind of amp would be able to push these pretty well? considering how loud people say they have gotten i'm pretty sure i won't need 2 will i? i was thinking about this amp, but am not sure jbl gt601.1 https://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=GTO601.1&ser=GTS&cat=AMP

The power you need will be determined by the enclosure used. I ran for a long tome only 500 watts to my B10 and it got impressively loud. In fact when I jumped up to 1200 watts, the output didn't jump up as high as I was expecting. You can get very good results with that amp. Around how loud do you want to get, 120dB, 130dB, 140dB plus? To get a Brahma 10 to full excursion in a .5 cubic foot enclosure, you would need over a kilowatt. But you don't need to get the driver to full excursion. After all, then you are just taking the risk of breaking it.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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forbidden wrote:

I swear that Stephen can literally smell the forums and when the word Adire or Bramha is mentioned he's all over it. I too am considering the line for next year. (Stephen - send me some CDN dealer info dude).

Hehe. I still want you to come down sometime and take a listen for yourself. We have some pretty cool stuff to look at, including a very impressive home theater setup. Just bring your favorite CD's.

As for the dealer part, I suggest waiting till the beginning of next year. We are doing some major changes and won't have everything ready till then. But I can have our sales guy contact you with more info if you would like.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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hey steven, does Adire has a dealer in Albuquerque, NM???

as far as how loud i want to go i have no clue. i'm not wanting like competition sound, even though some say that the system i am putting together could almost be there. i just want something that hits when i want it to. every once and a while i like to turn it up and just thump. i built a 1.25 cubic foot box and it's alright in my trunk, but it's a little big for my liking. one reason i was attracted to the brahma was because of the box specs, they seem super small. by no means do i always want to be pushing the driver to the limit because i know how much harm it can put on the driver and it just stresses it. i want something that will have a little bump with the bass but doesn't over power the highs and stuff so people inside the car can't hear anything but bass, like i said though, every now and then i get the itch to crank it and thump down the street.

hightek wrote:

hey steven, does Adire has a dealer in Albuquerque, NM???

It doesn't look like it. But here's a link to our dealers page: https://www.adireaudio.com/TextPages/DealerListFrameText.htm

hightek wrote:

as far as how loud i want to go i have no clue. i'm not wanting like competition sound, even though some say that the system i am putting together could almost be there. i just want something that hits when i want it to. every once and a while i like to turn it up and just thump. i built a 1.25 cubic foot box and it's alright in my trunk, but it's a little big for my liking. one reason i was attracted to the brahma was because of the box specs, they seem super small. by no means do i always want to be pushing the driver to the limit because i know how much harm it can put on the driver and it just stresses it. i want something that will have a little bump with the bass but doesn't over power the highs and stuff so people inside the car can't hear anything but bass, like i said though, every now and then i get the itch to crank it and thump down the street.

Then as far as our products go, a B10 in a .5 cubic foot sealed enclosure and about 600 watts should do you just fine. It will take you into the mid 130's fairly easily, and will have a tiny footprint. Good luck with your decision.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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would that jbl gt601.1 work or should i look at other ones too?
i've been doing some research on www.automotiveforums.com also and people have been talking about matching up a brahma with a hifonics brutus 1500. is this a good match?
i'm also concerned about my electrical system. will this draw too much power, do i need to consider a red or yellow top, or a new alternator? i don't want my lights to dim or anything like that. i'll also be using a 4 channel amp, probably something like an alpine that's pushing 50x4 for my components and 6x9's.

hey steven, since it seems like you work or Adire or have some sort of relationship to them can you check out this other post i have https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=38928&tpn=2
some guy said the wattage on a brahma was like 1600 rms.

I'll check it out.

I actually got a job at Adire in March of this year. So I work for them.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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Might want to look into the ImageDynamics IDMAX, it's also now available in a 10. It performs along the same lines as the W7, Brahmah, etc. Also, the W6v2 is basically a more budgeted version of the W7 line. It's very similar, in fact, almost identical, to the W7 in every aspect. It shares a lot of the same characteristics of the W7, including design.

well so basically my system is going to come down to what i want to do first. i would like to have it all done at once, but i'm a little bit of a budget. i just got to figure my priorities.

in your opinions what should i do first, inside speakers (mb quart more than likely), or should i go with a sub and wait on the speaks?

Depends on how decent your stock sh*t is and what is more important to you. Personally, I'd rather fill out the sound with bass if my stock stuff was livable. If you can't handle the stock sound for mids and highs work on your front stage first.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

well one of my front speakers is blown and that annoys the hell outta me. i'm sort of a bass person though.

i'm pretty sure i'll go with a brahma either 10 or twelve. but i'm wondering on what amp. i'm thinking either this JBL https://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=GTO601.1&ser=GTS&cat=AMP or this Hifonics https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&category=18797&item=5719148524&rd=1

which one do you all think would be a better match for the sub? are there others that i should consider??

i'd definitely get the incar sound fixed or upgraded first. what is a sub worth for a daily driver when the audio inside the car wont be reproduced loud enough to stay with the sub. you may not get your bass right off the bat, but as you said your on a tight budget, and like myself im on a tight budget as well, and i really bought too many things all at once, and i've got bills to pay out the yahoo ;o

i'd say fix the car speakers, get them amp'd and then get your sub & amp

i'm probably going to do the inside first. i'll probably go with mb quart reference series. my only question is the rms wattage for them is around 60. the map i'm looking at says it's 40 watts rms per channel (https://www.techronics.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=175), i've read that you really only need 50 watts to push speakers pretty cleanly. would this amp work for these speakers or is it underpowering them?

If you are going to be playing the system at a sustained level for any period of time then I would find a larger amp. We have used far more power into the MB Quart speakers with no problems. If you have a big fat sub hanging out in the back, more power up front is a good idea anyways. 40w or 50w x2, there is little to no difference here. Safety wise though, it is better to have too much than not enough. Personally I would go a little bigger, say the 75w rms per channel range.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

You'll be fine with 40 watts. 40 is actually quite a bit of power. I don't think that is a good price for that amplifier though. Better amps can be had for cheaper on ebay: https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&category=18796&item=5720924869&tc=photo

https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&category=18796&item=5721380197&tc=photo

https://cgi.ebay.com/dll?ViewItem&category=39735&item=5721153306&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

I got some infinity reference component speakers for a really nice price from a friend. They put out a nice sound and have lasted so far. I'm now lookin at some new 6 x 9 for my rear deck. Probably will go with JL or Polk MOMO. For subs I would either go w/ 2 JL 10w6v2 (makes a whole 1 cu ft for both) or the Infinity Kappa Perfect VQ 10" (that runs about .3 cu ft for each I think). Both run in the same average price range I believe. JBL has a sub amp (Power Series) that runs like...650 x 2, and 334 x 2, and another that runs 237 x 2. The look really nice and I've heard them at a shop here in town that has some really nice gear (they were hooked up to 3 JL 10w3v2, that may have something to do with it also). I'm sellin my Kenwood amp and probably upgrading to one of these.

kfr01 is right bout 40 being big power. Especially for component speakers w/ high effeciency. Good luck on everything.

should i be looking more at 4 channel or 2 channel amps for the inside speakers?

This might depend on the # of preout channels on the cd player, if you have rear preouts, then go for it. While most people will say why are you putting in rear speakers and just use deck power, I happen to like rear fill and I like it to sound good. So it is up to you, not us. I would use a 4 channel amp and amplify all the speakers. This will afford much greater protection to the speakers by using the built in crossovers. Proper gain setting to all speakers is also going to much easier to adjust relative to the sub. Like I said earlier, if your sub is fairly bass heavy, a little more power up front will never hurt anything.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

I'll agree w/ forbidden. When you take the bass off of your component speakers it sounds much better. Let the sub do the dirty work. And an aftermarket amp will provide a really nice crossover and "clean" the signal up. (btw forbidden that wasn't a joke. posted_image )

well i still have more questions. i'm looking at amps and am totally confused. people have said to go with a hifonics brutus, others talk about cadence, i've been looking at eclipse and other too. the main thing that confuses me is wiring the sub. i've wired svc subs before but never a dvc. what's the difference in wiring it in series vs. parrallel?? which one do you all recomend? as far as amps go i'm wide open to advice or suggestions. i'm also a little confused on how much power i need to push the brahma?

ive also read about tuning boxes and stuff as well. i was wondering if i need to worry about tuning my box. i'm not quite sure if this only applies to ported boxes or sealed as well. mine is going to be a sealed box. i was also wondering if i have to use a thicker wood. for right now i'm thinking 3/4 mdf. i just don't want it to break or anything if the sub really hits. any suggestions???

Elipse is the best brand outta those IMHO when it comes to amps... Tuning boxes is only for when youre porting the box... 3/4 is standard for building a box but you have to remeber if you want to build the best box possible youre going to prolly want to double thicken the front baffle and throw some bracing in ... and if you do that remember to account that into youre box vol.

Matt

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everything stolen :(
Workin on a new system :)
posted_image

Peace in the middle east

Go w/ a fg enclosure. Well, if you have any experience w/ it. It's great and provides an awsome setup. As far as amps. Pickin an amp is like picking a car. There are millions of choices. Narrow it down. How much power do the subs need? How many subs do you have? What is the impedance? DVC and single are simmilar. It's like having the wiring for two subs in one. You can run it many different ways. I'm not good at explaining that so this is where someone else comes in and picks up. But then you can listen to different amps to hear how each one sounds in sql (and there will be MAJOR differences in some amps). And one of the major decisions is price. The word that we all hate to hear. But a good amp runs high in the price range. The it's down to personal choice. "Do I get the shiny one or do I get the one I can paint flowers and unicorns on?" The options can be endless. Good luck!

i would like to go with fiberglass but i have ZERO experience. and with the weather getting cold i don't want to start learning right now. I'm thinking about a hifonics brutus amp for the sub. it will probably be the adire brahma 12". dvc i'm pretty sure 4 ohm (someone please correct me if i'm wrong). i'm a little unsure as to how to wire it though. should i go series or parrallel? what are the pros/cons?

also, which way should i face the sub. i can fold down the rear seat but sometimes people sit back there.

what about buying on a site like ebay. i noticed that i can get a lot of my stuff for significantly cheaper, but i realize that i am sacrificing the warranty. what your opinions suggestions about buying off ebay or something like that as opposed going through a dealer? how much does the warranty play into the products? one problem that i am facing is that some dealers where i live do not offer hifonics or adire or certain parts that i would like for my system.

is it true that with the brahma the smaller the box the more power you have to feed it? someone told me that and i was just wondering if it is true or not?

That is true of any subwoofer. Efficiency is a function of the enclosure.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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hightek wrote:

dvc i'm pretty sure 4 ohm (someone please correct me if i'm wrong). i'm a little unsure as to how to wire it though. should i go series or parrallel? what are the pros/cons?

The Brahma uses dual 2 ohm voice coils. The wiring choice will depend on the amplifier you choose.

hightek wrote:

one problem that i am facing is that some dealers where i live do not offer hifonics or adire or certain parts that i would like for my system.

Where do you live? We have an extensive world-wide dealer network. Check our dealers page to see if there is one in your town.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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with amps and the size of the enclosure, i'm guessin the smaller the enclosure the less power you have to give the driver, or is more power for a smaller enclosure?

i've checked and there aren't any dealers near me. i think the closest one is in arizona or texas.

one question i do have is about sub zero boxes. i was looking at their website and it said that their boxes are perfect the brahma subs. what would be the difference if i were to build my own box as opposed to buying a sub zero one? does the brahma require a stronger box or anything like that? i would much rather build my own box than rather spend the 300 for the subzero box.

hightek wrote:

with amps and the size of the enclosure, i'm guessin the smaller the enclosure the less power you have to give the driver, or is more power for a smaller enclosure?

As the box size decreases, the efficiency of the system decreases as well. This means you will need more power to reach a given output level for a smaller enclosure. But power handling also increases as you decrease the enclosure size. So the driver can handle more power in a smaller enclosure. But also keep in mind that frequency response and "ringing" changes for different sized enclosures. I'd recomend figuring out the best alignment for you first, then build the enclosure to suit that. After that, worry about the power. I ran my Brahma 10 in a super tiny enclosure for a long time off only 500 watts (Soundstream Reference 500) and it was very loud. In fact upgrading to a kilowatt amplifier didn't give me that much gain in output.

hightek wrote:

one question i do have is about sub zero boxes. i was looking at their website and it said that their boxes are perfect the brahma subs. what would be the difference if i were to build my own box as opposed to buying a sub zero one?

Personally I'm not a fan of pre-fab enclosures. But that sub zero enclosure is a very big exception. They are extremely well built, and well worth the money. In fact I have never seen a custom enclosure as well built as theirs are. The only advantage from building the enclosure yourself performance wise is that you can build yours to fit your vehicle better. Especially if you decide to use fiberglass. But theirs provides excelent support and is very rigid. I highly recomend them.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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this is the subwoofer i'll get

https://www.thezeb.com/p-Audiobahn-AWT34X-34-inch-Subwoofer-100492.htm

NOT posted_image

do you think it's any good? i mean 34 inches come on

Yeah, im sure its real loud.... and thats about all.

are cdt speakers any good? i was pretty sure i was going to get some mb quart components, but then i started looking at CDT. any suggestions?

how does memphis amps compare to hifonics? is the power output true to what they say so on the hifonics?

when looking for a sub for the brahma do i want to look at the rating in 1 ohm or 2?

i'm guessing it all depends on how i wire it. if i wire it in parrallel then it puts it into a 1 ohm right? and if i go series then it's a 4 ohm load correct?

which way is better, in terms of power handling as well life of sub/amp?

how do memphis amps compare with hifonics. originally i was looking at a hifonics then saw memphis. i'm also considering orion. any suggestions?