Nikon02

Picked up the car last saturday and love it. my dad calls it a sleeper, but anyways.

I am wanting to put in an amp and sub in my new 07 imp, but i do not know if there are any rca ports in the 6 disc changer head unit or if maybe one coming into or out of the bose amp in the trunk. any healp would be awsome guys.

Area47

no rca outputs on the factory HU.
poke around PAC's website. it's on there somewhere

maintainin

I want to add an amp and Sub myself. Try checking out the Trunk-Loc made by PAC and see if thats something you might want to try. I just ordered one this week but I havent installed it yet and probably wont for a while, so I myself dont even know how good it will work yet, but I'm not looking for competition quality bass. Just something cheap and easy with decent sound. I really dont want to have to go thru the pain of trying to pull the head unit, adding the RCA adapter and running an RCA cable all the way to the trunk.

Here's the install sheet on it:

http://www.pac-audio.com/instructions/TRUNK-LOC.pdf

Here's the description on it as well as other adapters you can buy if you want to go a different route. I'm not sure if thats waht you're looking at, but the trunk-loc looks like the easiest and cheapest:

http://www.pac-audio.com/pac/7_PAC_b...ing_Amp_Q5.pdf

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

Careful. . . .i heard the stock Imp radios, especially the BOSE, have a lot of noise in the lines.

Richiec77

iTrader: (3)

I still don't understand WTF "Competiton Bass" is.

maintainin

Neither do I, but I know I dont need it or want and there is LOTS of money out there to be spent on supposedly top of the line subs, amps, etc...to give you just that.

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

Competition Bass is loud SPL style bass. Usually it is very uncontrolled, loud, with a very limited range. It is designed to play one note, within a 20 hz range. . . .so anyone that talks about quality competition bass for their car is clueless when it comes to car audio and should probably leave it to the professionals before they screw something up.

Usually what people mean is street style bass. This usually involves a ported enclosure, loud uneffecient subs, and a better range. This is meant for street shaking bass that gives a loud thump into the trunk, but provides little sound quality appeal to audiophiles. If I wanted a sub that would fit this boat a Kicker Solobaric would be a good common man example. When I used to build cars like this I would use Treo Engineering SS subwoofers. For the price I think they are the best on the market. See pics here:



The next range I would call is Performance Bass. I would define this as good sound quality woofers (Alpine Type R, Infinity Kappa Perfect, Diamond, etc) combined with a powerful amp (600 rms plus per woofer). This provides a good loud snap, with excellent range and bass response. This is what I put in all my cars in sealed enclosures. It gives good tight bass, not sloppy like Street or Comp styles, but still provides a nice boom when you turn it up. Expect to spend $400 + on an amp and $150+ on each woofer.

The lowest range is what I would call econonmical bass. This provides just a little bottom end to your music. It is what is found in most factory subwoofer setups. This is also most of the brands you will find in Best Buy/Circuit City type places. Rockford, Fusion, Kenwood, etcetera all fall into this category. Even some of the lower end of quality places pieces Alpine Type E or S, Infinity Reference, JBL GTO series, etcetera would fall into this category. THis is where you buy a cheaper amp (150-300 rms per woofer) This is for adding a little bottom end to your music while maintaining a cheap budget. Usuaully people doing this don't know how to tune their amps properly and end up clipping their amps, blowing woofers, and so on as they are trying to make it louder any means neccesary.

The bottom feeder category is for those of you who buy car audio from Sony, JC Whitney, Lanzar, California, and the like. These items are crap, the amp ratings are inflated, you aren't buying what you think you are.

If anyone wants suggestions on a good setup for your musical taste and volume taste, drop me a line, I can help you out.

maintainin

Well, I guess the next question should be how much do you want to spend. Because otherwise you could go on with this stuff all day long.

I was looking at adding maybe a 12 in a sealed enclosure. I like the tighter bass and I think one owuld be enough for my tastes. I'm not trying to wake up the neighborhood, I could care less how it sounds outside the car. I'm just lloking to add a little oomph on the low end. As for cost, I dont know, I guess somewhere between the performance and economical.

BuffaloSS

iTrader: (3)

Here's one of the PAC modules on eBay: Item #170055896113 - $58 shipped.

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

In a big car. . . liek the impala you need a big setup, there is just a lot of volume to fill up. For a good mix I would suggest:
Sub:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PsT0iQh...0&I=500SWR1242
Amp:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PsT0iQh...0&I=500MRDM605
-note- do not do a cheap amp you will be dissapointed.

Then go down to your local stereo shop and buy a nice sealed box to go with it. Get a 3/4 inch MDF box that has about 1 cubic foot of airspace. It won't take up a ton of room in your trunk, but will provide the bump you are looking for. This is a very economical combination for some excellent full bodied bass.

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

Or if you want two of those 12s. . .go with this amp:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PsT0iQh...0MRDM105&wm=su

Area47

all bass is controlled.
hence processors and blah blah blah.

it becomes uncontrolled when distortion sets in

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

You are right, in theory all bass is controlled. That is how it works, however in practice I rarely see anyone, but professionals have it tuned correctly.

It becomes uncontrolled when morons take over the tuning, crossover, and gain settings to try and make it sound "better" or "louder"

Area47

and that is why i got out of car audio. i build my cars up. i don't do other peoples.

because the simple fact. you create something so beautiful when you're done with it. two weeks later it comes back a complete mess.

the worlds best speakers can sound worse then stock in the hands of a novice.

eddiemoney

iTrader: (2)

So true, so true. . .I can't tell you how many times I hear the words: "well if i turn this gain button up it gets waaay louder". . . makes me cry. . . .on the inside of course

Nikon02

Well i have the amp and subs already. I had them in my truck before the trade in. I matched all the specs for the subs and amp, ohms and etc. It sounded great in the truck i just want more bass in the car. I dont want super loud but good sound and keeping the factory HU. I was looking at those as well to creat the RCA off of the already ran speaker wires for the back, but how would removing bass from the HU controls affect the bass goign to the amp? do they clean up the sound at all? has anyone done this yet?

Area47

"why'd you turn the loud off?"
"because i like speakers, i don't like distortion"

ah hell

kids will never learn.

"i know more about care audio then you"

"when you build cars that place at world finals better then 1st 2nd and 3rd at one show, call me, till then just listen"

i can't even think of how many times i have had people say that they knew something about something, then come back and say "you were right"


on a side note. if you want better sound, ditch the stock head unit. its not worth the battle

jabronie78

iTrader: (1)

All I did was run some speaker wire from the back speakers to a line output converter to my amp. I thought it might not sound that good since it is already going through the factory amp but it sounds great. It's an old kicker amp and 2 infinty kappa 10 inch subs. Haven't had any problems hooked up this way just my headlights dim when the bass hits hard.

maintainin

The trunk-loc(line output converter) from PAC I was talking about above is the same thing. I'm gonna give it a shot as soon as I figure out what amp and sub I want. If I dont like it, i'll go with the other adapter.

BuffaloSS

iTrader: (3)

I had a pair of those stolen out of the back of my Explorer I miss them!