hey guys,
i have been constantly upgrading the system on my 84 vette since I got it. there was none of that sucky bose stuff to gut thank god.

up front I have a sony cd/mp3 player
specs from the manual on that are,
- power output and total harmonic distortion
23.2 watts per channel minimum continuous average power into 4 ohms
4channels driven from 20hz to 20khz with no more than 5% total harmonic distortion.
( what ever that means )

and I also have a kicker amp that is a 350watt by 4 channels.
2 channels are linked and I have a set of ajustments for gain, bass boost, and something else wierd, from 60 - to 200. ( ill find my book in a bit and report back exactly what features it does )


up front I have the head unit alone powering the pioneer 3by5 units under the dash i put up there. they sound good, and cover all the high's nicely.

in the rear I have some kicker 6by9's ( 3 way's ) in the stock enclosures. they also cover the high's nicely and some good mid sounds too.
the amp is hooked to the rear 6by9's on one channel each for right and left operation. I think the amp is giving them something like 80 or so watts each. - they sound good.

and I have a sub - ( been switching around with diffrent ones )
the amp is feeding the sub with 2 channels bridged and my amp book is telling me that the sub is getting some where around 160 watts.
im thinking that's not quite enough power? yes? no?

about my subs,
I have just made a 4th order band pass box with a 10" sony xplode sub.
it sounds good at lower volumes, but when its cranked up it distorts a bit. im thinking that if I gave the sub more power ( watts ) that it would sound better at higher volume levels.



( the bottom is covered and sealed up now )

and I was using a 12" alpine vr sub in a rather large and bulky bass tube. - and it sounded real good. all the way thru my volume range.
it did not break up near as bad as my new box does in the upper volume range.


so I have another amp im curious about hooking up.
its a cheap o rockwood high end comp. series 600 watt (bridged) 2channel. - I do not how ever want to un hook my current amp. I was thinking that I could use the other spare 2 channels on my first amp to power my 6.5" speakers Im putting in my doors ( have not done that yet - but plan to soon ) and then use the 600w amp alone to power what ever sub I end up using.

the MAIN QUESTION: is how do I go about hooking up both amps.

when I had my old car, I used jumper wires off my imput from the head unit and ran them to both amps. - here they are in a pic,

now I figure that if the signal from the head unit is split, the power driving the signal is also split. - how will this affect both of the amps, since they will now be seeing a lower signal from the source?
will it be enough to matter?
and do you think I can give it a try like that to see how my subs react to the increase of watts ( and if they sound better like that? )

and if this is not the right way to hook it up permanently like so,
than what is?
getting a cross over? or a equalizer?

and on a final note, here is a design I came up with from this website,
http://www.decware.com/newsite/mainm...udio.htm&intro
its a smaller version of their wicked one, so it will fit in the rear of my c4 and I should still have use of my storage compartments, and be able to fit the top back there at the same time.
this box uses two 8" subs and measures 32" wide by 17" long.

what do you think of this box design?

and a big thanks for the long read.
and also for any imput you guys can share my way.

 

i see that first port being very noisy. You may want to give us the dimensions of that port.

 

wich box? the one in my drawling or the one on my 4th order bandpass box?

on the box I built the port is 1/2 circle shaped, and measures 2.5 radius. -I was thinking I should round the edges of it a bit. most people who built that box say that it helps reduce port noise. - also it faces the rear of the car, about 5" away from the back of the rear hatch.
dont hear much noise from it. or at least I cant realley tell, the bass is too loud to notice any thing else.


- im also actively looking for a pair of 8" subs for the box in my design.
any one have any good recomendations for the pair ranging $80-140$ ?
what do you think of this pair?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-Roc...QQcmdZViewItem

 

The calculations for both bandpass and horn-loaded designs you're messing with are lengthy. You can't just throw any driver you please in there and hope it will work. There are very specific requirements depending on the driver and box size. Try starting a little more simply... like 2nd or 3rd order.

DECWARE's been around for a long time. Let's just say Deckert is a little...... different.

 

ill be the first to admit that im a car stereo "newb"

so im going to ask where to find designs of 2nd and 3rd order boxes.
ive only found examples of 4th and 6th order boxes so far.
and I would love to see what else is out there that works well.
maby something else will fit my needs better.

I have tons of nice wood to build boxes with, and all the tools and materials are in my bro's shop. so the only cost will be the speakers them selves.

and for speakers, I am looking for a pair of 8"s to go in a box.
would I want ones that have voice coils in them? or not if they are going in a sealed box? I have no idea.

also if you can point me in the right direction of a good pair of 8"s id be apreciative, and also "better" box designs are always welcome.
thank you verry much !

 

I was referring to the drawing.

As far as the 8" subs, I have 4 of them here:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1888591

 

You won't find designs for 2nd and 3rd order designs because they're quite simple. 2nd order is a closed box. 3rd order is a closed box with a port tube venting it. You choose the box size and port tube size that will work for a particular sub through a few small calculations. These sizes will change from one sub to another. Sometimes quite a lot. IMO, it's always better to start by choosing box size and find the sub that is designed to work in that space.

See if you can't get your hands on a copy of this book. It covers the basics of sub box design quite well and is easy for beginners to understand. It can save you a lot of aggravation trying to figure out why something isn't working correctly.

Car Stereo Cookbook

 

http://www.mtx.com/caraudio/educatio...sureDesign.cfm