Next step...

[Jkm3141]

I am just looking for some general advise on what my car needs next. Right now I am running a single Fi BTL 18" off a Hifonics Brutus BXi 2010D at 1 ohm. As for power upgrades I am running the stock alternator, all Audiopipe zero gauge wire, and a Kinetik HC1800 battery. I have not done the big three (ran out of 0ga wire before I could do that). Voltages stay around 13V with the occasional drop into the 12's, as I assume my alternator is seriously holding me back (little Subaru 75A unit...). For my headunit I am running an Alpine MDA-W933J double din which does not have mid outputs, however I already asked a question in the HU section about what to do with that. My front speakers are 50$ junk pioneers I threw in the day I got the car as the stock ones were completely blown, and the rears are stock. I also have not done any sound deadening yet. I have a crazy amount of rattles throughout the car. Everything from the hatch rattling to weird unknown parts inside my dash. It got so bad that recently the rear view mirror fell off (as it is held together by a beefy version of a bent paper clip wrapped around a bracket on the head liner) however I got that fixed up.

I guess what I am asking is what should I start to work on next. I very much want more bass, as I am pretty much used to the bass level I have now and have the 'itch' for more. There is a really clean looking American Bass VLF-400.1 (4600W RMS) for sale that I could afford right now, however I really cannot support that kind of amp on my current electrical, and even if I could, id be losing so many db's from the car rattling that I doubt it would be worth it much. I also would love to upgrade mids, however i am hesitant because to upgrade to the level I would want I run into issues with not having preamp outs for mids on my deck and needing all the amps and back end support for a quality mids upgrade. I assume the smartest upgrades I could do right now while I have a good amount of cash on hand would be an alternator (ive been quoted around 400$ for a 200-250A unit that would more than satisfy my long term goals for the car), and some sound deadening. However how much would the listening quality of the system go up after doing those upgrades. Obviously the alternator will just ensure good voltage levels throughout the car, but the deadening would help greatly I bet. I am not made of money and would like to upgrade the component that would improve the overall quality the most.

However, with all these other problems, its just killing me to only be feeding 2000W to a 18" BTL. I love that speaker. Also, the box I have for that BTL is more like 5.5Cu/ft after port volume has been subtracted. Its tuned to about 31Hz. Is that a decent combination for a 18" BTL? I could probably fit about 6.5 cubic ft after port area if I devoted the entire trunk to the box, but that would put me in a tight spot for putting the battery/amps as I really need my backseat.

Thanks for any help, I havent gotten bad advise from anyone on this forum yet.

( Headunit topic I started earlier: http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/ind...showtopic=56284 )

- John

[thehoe92]

I would say do all the little things first.

sound deaden everything that rattles...

do the big 3...

find a good alternator...

you want to get a good base support for when you upgrade so you aren't limited when you do

[andym85]

i say take ur sweet ass time and save save save....get exactly what u want..no reason to skimp...all we have is time, so save that money and do it up real proper next time around...thats what im being forecd to do...

although its real hard to save when u have that itch....trust me...i know..

[Jkm3141]

I would say do all the little things first.

sound deaden everything that rattles...

do the big 3...

find a good alternator...

you want to get a good base support for when you upgrade so you aren't limited when you do

The only reason I hate doing those type of upgrades are you get less bang for your buck... haha. I dropped over 300$ on the battery and zero gauge upgrade and saw nearly zero performance increase in my ears, obviously my voltage levels were tons better though. Thanks for the advice tho

- John

[thehoe92]

sound deadening increases SPL.

it will also make your mids sound nicer so you can be a little happier until you want to upgrade them.

trust me get some SecondSkin and you'll notice a difference

[Boon]

sound deadening increases SPL.

Not always true

I hope your voltage is occasionally making it above 14v, if it's not then your Kinetik will never be getting a proper charge.

[raytard]

get yourself a ticket onto the "Save up for the best" boat

this stuff is expensive, and its something that if you're serious about you really have to budget for

the electrical upgrades do seem to give you the least bang for your buck, but honestly it ends up being worth it if for nothing else than you can upgrade down the line and not worry. I have 3 d3100 size batts and a hc1400 under the hood, and an alt, and 2 runs of 0g, and busbars...all for 4500rms. just incase I decide to try out a stetsom 14k and some lvl5's in the future (Which is also why my box is triple baffled and backed by 2x4's)

what are the chances of me dropping a few g's on all that stuff? slim to none honestly, but for now what i have doesnt break a sweat doing what i need it to do, and theres something to be said to have a system you can beat on all day and not have to worry about batts, overheating amps, or blowing speakers

[Jkm3141]

Yes, I know this stuff is expensive. Sadly, I am the first of my 'group' of car audio friends that realizes this and is throwing any kind of proper funding to the projects. I ordered some sound deadening off a guy on caco, and am about to order the head unit I really want, the Alpine MDA-W988J. That upgrade alone will solve a TON of SQ issues and allow me to run any kind of speaker setup I would ever want. Between a HU with the features I need, and the deadening, my SQ should go way up. Next after that will be an Alternator as I am really at the limits of my stock unit (I am at 14V 80% of the time, so my setup is charging, but I know what you guys mean).

I do appreciate the advice. Sometimes it just takes someone saying do it right, to actually do it right. It seems car audio is incredibly easy to waste a ton of money on stuff lacking in quality. I never thought i'd see something even close to performance parts for cars that fell in that category so badly.

- John

[Jkm3141]

Well I finally got to installing some more of the hushmat I picked up. About a week and a half ago I deadened the drivers door, however was forced to stop when it started pouring out. After a week it finally stopped raining, so I deadened the passenger door, and the front and backseat floors and wow, I will say that stuff is awesome. I don't know why I didn't do it earlier. Hopefully today I will get the roof and trunk done and then can fully enjoy it. The deadening I have done so far has only really helped with mids, as the entire trunk and roof (most rattle in the car) hasnt been touched yet.

Thank you for the recommendation to do this next, I am very happy with it.

- John