Car Stereos: AMP, infinity kappa, inch subs

Question
QUESTION: hey, ok i have an eclipse and i just got a  Kenwood 50W x 4 MOSFET Satellite
Radio and i costum built my box and i am think in gettin type R alpine 10 inch
subs but i dont know what amp i should get with that. i am most concerned baut
sound quality more than the bass, altho i want some bass i like the sound
quality to be as close as perfect, can you please tell me if i should get those type
R, or maybe some other brand and what amp, thanks

ANSWER: Hey Abel

What's your budget?  What year is the eclipse?  Let me know, I'll help you out.

Dave

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QUESTION: hey i have a 91 eclipse, and my budget is flexiblee i can get quality stuff is high
but not too high so kind of reasonable
ANSWER: Your eclipse is a hatchback, right?

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QUESTION: yes it is is a hatchback
ANSWER: Hey Abe, here you go:

If you want the best sound quality, I hope you built a sealed box.  Porting your box give you better frequency response for certain frequencies, basically it lets you "bump" harder.  But, if you want true, accurate, beautiful sound, you need a well build and perfectly sealed box for a hatchback.  Ported boxes are better for trunks since the sound quality is lost anyhow.

A really good speaker for sound quality in a sealed box is the Infinity Kappa Perfect VQ (variable Q).  The speaker sounds amazing and it has adjustments on the speaker itself (the manual tells you how to do it).  This means you can adjust the speaker for any box.  

Getting really really good sound quality is an art, it goes a lot deeper than just buying an expensive speaker and sticking it in a box.  It all depends on how deep into the project you want to get.  If you want to get crazy, then you actually need to know the exact inside volume of your box.

I guess before I keep rambling on, I should know what kind of box you had build.  What are the dimensions and is it ported?  Bandpass? Sealed?  Plexiglass?   Let me know.

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QUESTION: i built a box with the best, and thickest wood i could find i forget what is
called, my friend who builds boxes helped me and we sealed it really good, it
takes up my whole trunk so is a pretty good size, is heavy, solid, and theres a
board in the middle of it sealed up just because we were only going to put
two Type R alpines, and we didnt need the whole box just half of it to put the
speakers in and the half that has the wholes to put the speakers in are about
18.5 inches going left to right, 12.5 inches going frint to back, and 7.5 inches
tall.
ANSWER: Ok, so your box is sealed.  The alpine speakers are good, but I would still go with the infinity kappa perfect because of the variable Q adjustment.  your box is about 12 cubic feet of volume.  You probably would want a smaller box but it's ok, before you install your speakers, fill half the box with lightly packed pillow stuffing or fiber.  This helps "trick" the speaker into thinking it has a smaller box.  

If you want to put two speakers into the box, you need to decide if you want each speaker to run independently.  This would let the 2 channel stereo control each speaker.  This would need a box that keeps the speakers in seperate chambers and also a very powerful 2 channel amp.  This is if you want maximum clarity.

If you want good sound without going overboard on price, get a solid mono amp that can push at least 600 watts RMS into 4 ohms.  Split the signal into two speakers and you have 1200 watts at 2 ohms.  If you connect the speakers a certain way (i believe those type R speakers are dual voice coils) you can bring it back up to 300 watts per speaker at 4 ohms.  

If you want help installing the actual speakers let me know, I'll tell you how.

Alpine, Kenwood, Phoenix Gold, Pioneer, Sony, MTX..  all the big brands make pretty good amps, you just need to watch the RMS rating.  Don't look at the peak rating, only RMS.  

Hope that helps, let me know if you need more help.

Thanks!

Dave

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QUESTION: okay i was looking at a boss amp and this is the features it has, sorry so
many questions... but anyways here they are

Class D Monoblock power amplifier
Max Power 2500 watts
1,500 watts rms at 2 ohms
900 watts rms at 4 ohms
signal to Noise 100db
Variable Low Pass Crossover (50hz-150Hz)
Subsonic filter 15Hz-40Hz
Phase Shift
frequency Response up to 150Hz
Input Sensitivity up to 8 volts
Fuse Rating 3x25 Amps
Dimensions 9 5/16" x 2 3/16" 12.5" long
RCA line output for hooking up multiple amps
Phase Selector
Remote (Wired) subwoofer Level Control
what do u think of that amp, and also is that all i need dont i need like
capacitors and al lthat

Answer
Hey

That Boss amp is ok for straight power, but if you notice, a signal to noice ratio of 100db is pretty high.  That amp has a lot of dirty power, it will take away from the clarity of the alpine speakers.  I'd try and go for something with a signal to noise ratio under 80db.  Boss is known for a lot of power for the money, but they're not too clean.

If you want to put a capacitor in your car you can, it'll help save your alternator, you don't need bigger than a 1/2 farad, don't waste your money on a full farad cap.  Not worth it.

Hope that helps.

Dave