A BirdMan Converted

So let me start and tell you about my plans.
as some know i have a bird and a vette.
The vette has always been GO FAST and the bird has been SOUND GOOD. well its time for change. i will post for my plans and i would like some replies with comments and experiences and ideas.

Going into a 96 CE Cp LT4:

Head Unit:
Alpine IVAD300 CD/MP3/DVD

Speakers:
Front Boston 746 4x6 plate
Rear Boston SX95 6x9's
Speaker Amp:
Alpine 200W 4CH
8 Gau. wiring

SUB:
JL 10w6v2 in custom box
SUB Amp:
JL 500/1
2 1/2 farad caps
4 Gau. wiring

Goodies:
XM radio
Mini input for Ipod and other MP3 players
Power inverter
Xbox with lightup controllers
with Capability to do PS2 and Gamecube

all covered by a 5 year warranty
Labor for inst. est. is $500-800

Whatcha guys think????
i betting with dynamat i could hit 143 clean Dbs

-Kevin

-=Jeff=-

I would ditch the rear speakers or put 8s in the rear location

fej

I like what Jeff suggested and I would look at maybe getting a 4" and tweet component set (or if a viable option a 5 1/4 or 6.5" set) for the front vs the 4x6 plate. If you added 2 8's and a component set you could really dial in some great sound IMO. An external crossover could make it even better if you were so inclined to control the range that the front stage played and what you wanted the 8's to do. I would think something in the area of 120 hz (with a 4/tweet lower as you get larger in woofer area down to about 90hz or so with a 6.5) and play the 8's from about 300hz down to 70hz or so and run the sub from 90hz and down. I guess you could say I am not nor have I ever been a fan of the "rear fill" effect from rear full range speakers. I don't recall ever facing away from a live concert to get that cool "surround" feel

G'luck
Fej

rcs128

This may be a dumb question, but what does the "bird" stuff refer to? Did you previously drive a Thunderbird?

A BirdMan Converted

a 2001 Firebird W68 with a trans am body conversion-
F&R bumpers, hatch wing, and WS6 hood, plus all emblems.. onlything missing is the Transam rocker panels/side skirts

what is a W68 you may ask,
its the V6 with monsoon sound and ground effects kit/dual exhaust

rcs128

Ahh... FIRE-Bird. Now it all makes sense...

Pardon my hasty leap to the dreaded Ford conclusion.

Oh, and Merry Christmas.

A BirdMan Converted

thanks for the suggestion
the only problem i ran into with that is im trying to cut my cost- i have everything except speakers and speaker amp and i feel i would be wasting money trying to overcome my straight pipe exhaust

Hifi- quoted 330 for speakers F&R and 200 for amp- i listened to it and liked the highs and mid highs, it should be loud and clean enough to ride with my 10W6v2, with my exhaust i cant get music only in my car so PERFECT clean sound is not my goal, just clean and LOUD

what about 5.25 in front inplace of 4x6 plate ???
in the front my main focus is highs and mid highs b/c the 6x9s should do well for mids in the back

i was thinking of a rear firing sub setup as this would help bring the rear speakers forward acoustically?

-kevin

A BirdMan Converted

Same to you

fej

With your current "stock" style and size replacements you will have a "hole" so to speak in your frequency range. If you need loud you need to manage what frequencies your speakers play. Asking a 4x6 plate to play anything below about 100hz (the upper range of bass) at a loud volume will resort in a fair amount of distortion. Most sub boxes unless ported and tuned to a higher than normal "peak" do not like to play the top end of the bass frequency spectrum as they tend to get "muddy" sounding generally due to the demand on speed that the bigger cone does not like to handle. If you are trying to manage your spending you are better served to get an upgraded component set of speakers that you like the "highs" of and dumping the rear speakers altogether IMO. Most of the cleanest (and you NEED clean to be loud) systems I have heard have 3 speakers on each door (midbass, mid, tweet) playing specific frequencies and a single sub. Asking a 2 or 3 way speaker to do the same is asking too much if you need volume. You could probably pick up some infinity perfect 5.25/tweet components for less than the 330 you are spending on the other 4 speakers. I personally would stay away from Kicker or Kenwood components. Alpine, JL Audio, Infinity, Boston Acoustics, some Polk stuff all are good usually for the money. MB Quart and Infinity specifically are known for very "bright" highs. Whatever you choose take some care to manage your frequencies that your speakers are playing utilizing your high pass and low pass crossovers on your amps at a minimum. A speaker rated for 100 watts will push 200 CLEAN watts usually without issue while a 1000 watt speaker can be damaged from 100 distorted watts.

Fej

bogus

you won't hit 143db with that setup. tops, 130.

leolufse

Better imaging and less cargo room lost.

knewblewkorvette

By what you wrote here sums up what you want. This set-up should work ok for you (not my tastes but it is not my car). I'm not too fimiliar with the C4 but can you get door speakers in there such as a 8" or your pre-mentioned 6X9"?? Using the speakers there (for your mid-bass) instead of in the rear locations will help the sound overall.
Mounting the sub facing the rear of the car is usally best. 9 of 10 times your SPL will be greater that way. The crossover frequency will determine how well you sub affects the front stage. I recommend 80Hz and below to the sub. If you use 4X6"s make sure they don't see anything below 100 Hz for best sound and longevity of the speaker.
I also think you install quote is fair (more on the cheap end ) but I too don't think you'll be seeing 143 db with one 12" in a C4. Sorry

BRICHC4

I think you'll be happy with what you are getting, I have alpine 4x6 and 6x9 run by a 240w amp, and they get loud and still really clear. They are run with a eclipse HU right now but that's taken a crap and being replaced with a kenwood I got for christmas so we'll see. Anyway how much does that jl amp pull? I have a MA audio that runs 600w rms with no draw (that I can tell) on the system, with out a capasitor. Now I'm running 2 12" compared to the one 10" you want, I don't have a deciblmeter but I don't think you're going to be pounding the car but you will have real good strong bass, I've been suprised with the two tens I put the 86 T/A with are sony with a 100w lightning audio amp and all other sony speakers with a cheap pioneer amp and I like the sound just as much as the system in the vette. Sorry about being long winded but where are you going to put the inverter, xbox, and amps unless you don't want a storage area?

A BirdMan Converted

dont underestimate JL sound systems, the 10w3 i had pushin a mere 250W hit 136.8 db

ive never heard this setup in a corvette before but with my 10w6v2 i was able to pull 138.6 dB in my firebird and that was when my sub was just broken in with the 500/1 about 1/2 way up!

i know im guaranteed to be able to pull 140.x- in the smaller confines of the vette. its just a matter of upgrading to a 10w7 and having my installer tune it right to push 142

but your right 143 is a bit optimistic. around 142 with a W7 would be more like it.


its all about the song you use to hit those levels though,
all of my songs that would be painful to my ears would be right around 136, but the one i found hit 138.6 and it wasnt painful to listen to at all