Speakers Choice...

[bugger]

Hey guys thinking of doing sound system.

however, i little headache on what splits to get.

few questions:

1) does the head unit determines the sound producing by your speakers? or i can run my speakers with my amp? so the head unit is just like a input for songs.

2) if i'm mainly listening to pop, trance, (no R&B), does the different speakers specs affect the quality?

3) what you guys think about these specs:

2 way component speakers with Crossovers

165 mm in diameter

Crossover: cutoff - 2700 Hz, Tweeters levels - 0, -2.5 & -5 db, Slope - 18 & 12 db/octave *

IMC: Integrated Magnet system for faster efficient cooling

Woofer: Extremely stiff & light carbon fiber glass cones, provides distortion free sound reproduction at high volumes

Tweeter: 28mm fine silk tweeter, for extremely smooth & true-to-life high frequencies

Basket: Massive die-cast basket. Non-magnetic & resonance free for optimal motor construction

Max Power: 2 X 360 Watts

RMS Power: 2 X 120 Watts

A sound pressure level of 92 dB

Frequency Response: 40 – 20,000 Hz

is it strong and powerful enough to produce good quality music?

How about this one:

2-Way Component System

Diameter 165 / 25mm

Max. Power 300 Watts

RMS Power 100 Watts

High sound pressure level 92 dB (2,83 V/1 m)

Frequency response 40 - 22000 Hz

Impedance 4 Ohm

Crossover network 12 / 18 dB

there is a slight difference. and the High sound pressure level & frequency response is higher than the top one. but what's the difference?

I have a kicker amp and JL 2 x 15" JL subwoofer. now is just thinking of splits.

any ideas anyone??

Edited April 9, 2008 by bugger

[33drifter]

i dont know much about the technical side of things but as for your 1st question, the head unit is not just a source, a bad quality head unit will send a bad quality signal to the amp. i learnt that the hard way. any head unit that has the multiple rca outputs you will require (that being, front, rear and sub) should be of acceptable quality

[bugger]

i dont know much about the technical side of things but as for your 1st question, the head unit is not just a source, a bad quality head unit will send a bad quality signal to the amp. i learnt that the hard way. any head unit that has the multiple rca outputs you will require (that being, front, rear and sub) should be of acceptable quality

Oh. thanks for posting.

do you think this one have?

Radio

UKW (FM)/MW/LW (band)

Codem Concept III+

Presets 25

FM frequency response (Hz) -3 dB 35 – 16.000

AM noise suppression > 30 dB

CD

CD-R/RW-compatible

Frequency response (Hz) -1 dB 15 – 20.000

CD Mix/CD-Text

DMS (Disk Management System)

MP3/WMA player

Playback of MP3 from CD-ROM/CD-RW

Playback of WMA from CD-ROM/CD-RW

Display of up to 127 directories/file names

Display of ID3 tags up to 30 characters

Bit rate 8 – 320 Kbit

Supports variable bit rates

Amplifier

Sound presets (music)

X-Bass

Preamp-Out 4-channel (2 V)

Aux-In 1

RMS power (DIN 45324) at 14.4 V 4 x 18 Watts

4 x 45 Watts Max. Power

Cheers.

[siddr20]

i dont know technical details either, but i can assure you a cheapish headunit is a lot different in terms of quality against a good head-unit.

By that i mean, the sound quality is noticable between the two.

Post the headunit you are wanting to purchase?

In terms of which splits is best suited to the music you like - BEST answer is for you to go in and ear it yourself. Only your ears will give you the correct answer.

However i recommened Hertz HSK 165 spilts. Only about 320 bucks!! A lot of bass from these spilts and quality is just incredible!!

In terms of technical stuff, i suggest you ask these questions on car audio australia forum.

http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums/

[-FIGJAM-]

Pretty easy question to answer. Yes the deck will make a difference. Better quality will produce better power, signals and reading strength, should also last longer.

The type of split will make a difference. Better quality will produce a better and louder sound. Splits are a good option for what u are listening too cause there isnt much base in it. Showing your max watt power isnt much of a help because the speaker will not produce that power. The rms is what it will produce. How loud do you want your system?

Running them off an amp is a good idea simply because u will get a louder and better sound like this.

My advice.. How every much u want to spend... take it all in one hit to a decent car audio shop and say this is how much i have, i listen to this type of music and i want it to be so loud that the whole public can hear what im listening too. They will be able to set u up with a decent deal and should set you up with gear that works well together.

If that isnt an option then stick with the bigger brands, read up on info (Hot4s believe it or not do a decent write up on audio gear each month) and go into the shop and talk. The more u know the better.

the technical info i cant really help you out with... ive always just gone with trial and error... hence y i am broke.

[mikel]

I agree with the posts above - a better head unit will provide better sound, as will better speakers, amps, crossovers etc

You'll hear better sound if you play normal CDs also rather than a CD filled with MP3s.

The specs you've provided on the different units don't provide any indication on quality (and they rarely do).

Typical quality specs include Total Harmonic Distortion (%), Signal to Noise Ratio (dB), Total Intermodulation Distortion (%) etc, but even these depend very greatly on the test methods the manufacturers use.

Ignore the 20kHZ vs 22kHz upper limit in the frequency response - if you've been listening to loud music for a few years you'll be unlikely to hear above about 15kHz anyway.

Audio (ie what you can hear) is typically regarded as 20 Hz to 20kHz. Your dog may get benefit from ultrasonic information at 22kHz but you won't.

Interesting that the crossovers are specced the same for each unit at 12 db and 18dB per octave. I assume this means that the woofer low pass rolls off at 12 db/octave (2nd order) and the tweeter hi pass at 18dB (3rd order) (ie a steeper rolloff).

Tweeters are more sensitive to being provided out of band information, so they need the steepest possible crossovers to avoid damage.

Personally I'd prefer matched crossovers (ie low pass and high pass are both 18dB/octave) to minimise phase issues and ensure that each woofer/tweeter pair adds together properly. This mis-match may be common in car audio to save on components and size in the passive crossovers.

Only look at rms power not peak.

As others have said go and listen.

[D3RV]

I recently bought some splits - and at the end of the day it wasn't the specs that was the indisputable factor. Different manufacturers test their speakers in different ways, and in different conditions. It really is the same when it comes down to all electronics.

Run around with a cd of the music you listen to. I ended up comparing some mb quartz', pioneers, and soundstreams' and ultimately went for the soundstreams'. The bass was more punchy and the sound just seemed 'deeper' than the pioneers, and since I don't listen to acoustic music the mb quartz didn't seem as appealing (as nice a speaker as they are).

End of they day, run around with a cd, don't rely on specs, and everyone's different.

And yep head units definitely change the quality of the sound as everyone's pointed out