small amp and subwoofers

scrapper · Mar 29, 2015

I do not know a lot about car stereos. I have 6.5 speakers upfront and 6x9 speakers in the back. I would like a little more bass.I was thinking about 5.25 or 6.5 subwoofers in the back and keep the 6.5 upfront. I had to use spacers to fit the 6x9 and the seat back hits them and has caused damage to them. I was thinking about 5.25 or 6.5 depends on what I can fit without spacers. I am poor/cheap. I was thinking about just some cheap pyle type speakers. Would I have to hook up anything else to them? I seem to remember something like a crossover or something that cut out all the other music but the bass. I have a sony explode cd player and sony 6.5 door speakers and the back ones are pioneer. I am just looking for cheap ideas. I do not want the rattle the truck or anyone else. I thought about just a cheap amp and 5.25 speakers. I dont need expensive. They sell 3 and 4 channel amps on ebay and cheap speakers also. I could use some ideas of what I need to do to try this? Thanks for any help.

RonD · Mar 29, 2015

You need to get a Powered subwoofer.
Your stereo won't have a subwoofer output, so yes you need a crossover which will come with the powered subwoofer.
Powered subwoofer will also allow you to hook up a wire(pair) to the subwoofer from the closest speaker.
You will need to run 12volt power and ground to subwoofer, fused of course.

A crossover in this application removes the higher frequencies from the signal, it will have an adjustable setting so you are not duplicating the sound from your 6" speakers on the sub, the sub only outputs the long wave sounds the 6" speakers can not.
Like frequencies cancel each other out, so if sub was outputting the same lower frequencies as the 6" speakers that crossover range would sound "muddy", not as loud, a flat spot in the sound.

A little physics:
Low frequencies are long waves, the bigger the speaker cone the longer the waves it can generate.
Tweeters are small speakers for short waves, i.e. high frequencies
4" to 6" are mid-range
8" is OK for mid-range and getting close to sub-range
10" and up are sub-range, you can hear it's higher notes but most of what it outputs is "sub hearing" range, so you feel it.

There are tricks speaker makers can used to get 6" speakers to generate longer waves, this has to do with using two speakers in the same box(out of phase), or using the boxes shape to bounce and double wave lengths.

But in general you want a minimum of 10" for a sub, an 8" won't give the thump you may want, but will work in a pinch

scrapper · Mar 29, 2015

I was only wanting a little better bass.I will have to replace the rear speakers and 6.5 will fit if they are not to deep.
I was thinking of something like 2 of these in the back.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Woofer-6-5-Mid-Bass-Pro-Plus-200-Watts-Pyramid-W64-Woofer-/321433210370?hash=item4ad6e98e02&vxp=mtr
I just want a little bit better bass dont want to thump at all or very little. I have a sub out but I dont think it is powered? I have great sound in the front but just wanted something cheap that the seat will not hit. I think it would be nice with a bit more bass. What your talking about will not fit and will cost more than what I want to spend. Do you think the speakers would give some better bass without anything or would I need anything extra. I'm not interested in super loud or thumping. This is just an old work truck.

bizarro302 · Mar 29, 2015

Is your truck standard or ex cab? If it's standard cab you were probably experiencing cancellation from using 6x9s in the 6x8 hole. I can't imagine that would seal well.

Before I ran a sub I was running some $29 hifonics 6x8s in the factory rear location. My head unit allowed me to low pass crossover them 120hz and down. Produced pretty impressive bass output for being coaxials off head unit power.

You can buy little inline crossovers on eBay that will achieve this. They just plug inline with your speaker wire.

You might be able to get better bass response out of your door speakers as well by making sure there are no gaps around where they are mounted. The door speakers are also a factory 6x8 hole so I'm curious how you mounted them?

Did you use adapter plates?

I'm curious why you didn't just get 6x8s all around honestly.

Those Pyle's are exactly that......piles of crap. I wouldn't reccomend going that route. I recall seeing some cheap 6.5 subs with enclosures on eBay that were designed for Harley saddlebags. They were 50w RMS so you could power them with a cheap small 2 channel amp.

I will try to find them and post a link.

bizarro302 · Mar 29, 2015

Search patriot audio saddlebag subs on eBay. They are $69. The speakers I have are hifonics atlas 6x8. They are still available on eBay but are $32.95 now. I'd wager they will put out more bass than those Pyle's...even off the Sony head unit. I'm running mine off a Sony mex-n5000bt.

One of those powered subs that are basically using an amp case as an enclosure are pretty much your only other option if you don't want to lose any leg room.

Those are a bit overpriced though if you ask me.

I would just try the hifonics since they are cheap and put out decent bass. You could just run them full range as well. They don't sound too bad.....I just prefer my soundstage up front.

scrapper · Mar 30, 2015

Okay Thanks. I understand what your saying. I will see about the crossovers. I am wanting to do just that run them off the head unit. The speakers I had setting on a shelve in my garage so they were free. I had a couple of more 6.5's but put them in my daughters car. The door speakers are just screwed in to the opening. I was planing on making a plate to cover the opening on the door kinda like an adapter.I just haven't gotten around to it yet. The back ones were screwed into an adapter that was a spacer also. They stick out about 3". It is a regular cab truck. I have really long legs and the seat has to set all the way back and even then it is tight. I thought I would have to stick with round speakers to get better bass. I will try to find some 6x8 speakers. I have also looked into getting some insulation to soundproof it a bit. It is overwhelming with the amount of stuff that is out there. I was looking on YouTube and they were saying you can put just a small square of thick padding behind the speaker and it is supposed to do wonders. Seems kinda strange that you dont have to put it all over, but there was 2 or 3 different kinds of stuff that was made for going all around the whole vehicle.It was all kinda pricey. I will see what crossovers there are and try to pick some out. Thanks for both of your help.

rjppunk · Apr 2, 2015

Do you have a budget? Also how much car electrical experience do you have? I'm assuming we're talking about the truck in your member stats. is it reg or extended?

scrapper · Apr 2, 2015

regular cab. I can install a car stereo, I have only installed older amps and equalizers, like under dash. I am not putting much money in it. I dont have a problem with the stuff in there just was thinking a bit more bass would be nice dont need it to thump. I was just going to get a couple of 6.5 woofers and a really cheap amp. Cheap like on ebay cheap. I may just try baffles behind the speakers. The speakers that are in there are 6x9 with an adaptor spacers so they will fit dept wise.

Reddy351 · Jan 28, 2016

Why not just mount an inexpensive 6.5" speaker in the stock rear location and power it with your head unit. The Sony should put out ~17wrms/50w max. You don't need speakers with tweeters. Just the woofer. (You'll never hear tweeters firing into the back seat, anyway.)

You can buy individual drivers (speakers) from www.partsexpress.com. They offer quite a selection of inexpensive drivers and a phone number to call for technical specs/recommendations.

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small amp and subwoofers

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