Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

[__iceman__]

When you watch a concert or go to a live performance of any kind, the band or the singer is always in front of you. What ever you hear from the back is just reflected sound.

Obviously the front speakers are so much more impt than the rear. That's why a lot of ppl tend to call it "rear fills", coz filling in some ambience sound is what it should do. at the most. They certainly should not be expected to sing.

 

[powertorque]

Re: Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

..............

Freeair is bit risky. Freeair application needs more power to control the unbaffled cone excursions, and you may be easily disappointed when you crank up the volume and the bass starts to distort. But then again, if you get a sub that is appropriately designed for freeair, you can get pretty decent bass too. Be prepared to cut the metal below your speaker board though. May affect export prices? I don't know.

Best control comes from sealed box. This is for best sound quality, with a flatter frequency response. Easiest to get right, and easy to modify the effect by stuffing polyfill inside the box to change its perceived volume. Best power handling too.

For max punch and efficiency, you may want to consider a ported box. If the ports are tuned properly.. OMG... we're talking about very very hard punches. But have to be careful with box design, coz its not easy to get the correct combo of box size vs port diameter vs port length. Some badly designed ported boxes can come across as boomy in bass...

I'm on a verge of making a decision of whether to go with 1) a Blaupunkt active sub that comes with a ported box or 2) a freeair sub+amp. I'm attracted to option 1 because it's lower cost (~$500); doesn't require cutting a centre console in the backseat; doesn't require a second amp (in my case since I've already got a 2-ch amp to drive the front speakers); and short installation time.

I was quoted about $2,000+ for option 2, which includes a 2-ch amp (75W) and a 10" passive sub. Granted that the components are probably v good quality stuff. In my case, this option requires building the sub into a centre console in my e46 cabrio's backseat, with three-quarters of the speaker sticking back into the boot area. A slit is also cut at the front of the console for the bass to be projected.

Can anyone please advise if the quality of the bass will be SIGNIFICANTLY better with option 2? After reading ICEMAN's thread, I'm not so certain about option 2.

Thanks!

 

[ace_singapore]

Re: Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

I'm on a verge of making a decision of whether to go with 1) a Blaupunkt active sub that comes with a ported box or 2) a freeair sub+amp. I'm attracted to option 1 because it's lower cost (~$500); doesn't require cutting a centre console in the backseat; doesn't require a second amp (in my case since I've already got a 2-ch amp to drive the front speakers); and short installation time.

I was quoted about $2,000+ for option 2, which includes a 2-ch amp (75W) and a 10" passive sub. Granted that the components are probably v good quality stuff. In my case, this option requires building the sub into a centre console in my e46 cabrio's backseat, with three-quarters of the speaker sticking back into the boot area. A slit is also cut at the front of the console for the bass to be projected.

Can anyone please advise if the quality of the bass will be SIGNIFICANTLY better with option 2? After reading ICEMAN's thread, I'm not so certain about option 2.

Thanks!

$500 vs. $2000+, you tell me bro.

 

[powertorque]

Re: Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

$500 vs. $2000+, you tell me bro.

I know lah. Looking at just the price, it's a no-brainer. Unless someone tells me there's such a thing as a $2,000 bass quality versus a $500 bass quality......pardon my ignorance but maybe all frequencies below 60Hz sound/feel pretty much the same, LOL!

 

[__iceman__]

Re: Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

Powertorque - sorry abt the late reply... hahahah

Anyway these all in one bass solutions (like blaupunkt) will give you some "low end extensions" that can be called "bass" (marginally). But in yr situation, you don't have an option like a normal coupe to have a rear spk board to pump the bass thru.

However, I'm VERY surprised at your $2000 quote for just a 10" sub and (WAT!!!) only a 75w amp. How can it ever be? If you have 2k to spend on bass, you will be able to buy a long throw SPL subwoofer (12" min) and power it with a respectable monoblock of 1000W RMS, and still cater a few hundred bucks for installation and cabling.

bass below 60hz sounds the same? Not really, especially if you throw in distortion, etc. I've not driven a E46 cabrio before, but I suspect that you would want powerful bass that can be pumped into the cabin correctly, you may have more road noise than a normal coupe - for the bass to fight against. If you place in a $500 all in one solution, and just isolate it in the boot, I think you will hardly hear (and definitely not feel) decent bass while your car is on the move. In that respect, and in the respect that your $2000 is well spent with a very good woofer and amp, your $2000 solution WILL sound 5x better than the plug and play $500 solution.

but it depends on yr expectations, and how well installed the $2k solution is, and whether you're willing to do that. I don't know how much boot space you can spare, but the best solution is a sealed box instead of free air. Absolute control over distortion at all levels, and you can bet your bass output will be very very good.

 

[powertorque]

Re: Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

Hi iceman,

No prob. Appreciate you taking the time to respond despite your busy schedule.

 

[oneHeadlight]

Re: Gettin some P.I.M.P. bass in my ride

i wouldnt take option 1. ACtive sub is limited in "tuning" flexibility... i believe the Gain and crossover cant really be adjusted, at least for those i have seen.

Option 2 .... u need to provide the brand and model of the sub and the amp he's recommending.
Like wat iceman said... everything comes at a price. Some amps alone cost a few thousands...
if u provide the details, maybe some of us here can help...
however, i do believe that u need at least 200rms to power a sub decently, so a 75 x 2... may not be adequate.