I know a little bit, (just enough to be dangerous)

and I already have my head unit and component speakers set (panasonic or kenwood head, and boston acoustic 6 1/2s for the speakers.

Its a 1999 Honda CRV.

How do the different boxes compare/stack up?

What are the benefits of sealed or ported or a not-ported box?

Do I want 10" or 12" ? Brands recommendations?

What about wattage?

I don't want a ghetto blaster soundsystem, but I want some more bass in my music (mostly reggea, some hip hop, and lots of random rock and country)

anyone help me? Car audio sites are all about the jargon, and I don't know if I even need a 1200 watt dual crossover polypropelene injected urethane 12 farad transducer. (bit of a joke, but it all starts to read like that)

My only advice would be to figure out how much space you are willing to part with.  From that answer, you will answer many other questions as to what size sub you can have, and how many.  From your music choices, you will likely be fine with 1 or 2 10" subs in the right box.  Feed them reliable power, and you will be fine.  

Most of the brand name companies make subs that will satisfy you without breaking the bank.  I always had a preference for JL audio, but know that many companies produce great products for around the same money.  You might want to keep with your midrange theme and get a pair of 10" Bostons.  A friend who was a professional installer had three of them in his Honda, and sounded great.  

Money is well spent on quality amplifiers for the sub.  Rockford Fosgate/ PMI/ Soundstream all make quality products which will likely do everything you need.

1.  Actually get dimensions of the space you will have to use
2.  Check the specs of the particular speaker(s) that you are looking at to make sure they will operate effetively in that range
3.  Have a professional build a box to those specs
4.  Don't forget to make sure it is covered by your auto insurance policy, as there is usally a small premium added for the increase in value to your vehicle

Depends on your music preference and how low you want to set the crossovers -- which is tied to your mids and the range you want there.

You can't just look at subs as a separate entity. It has to be balanced with the whole system -- unless you just want to fire up the spinners and pop in a Ludacris CD.

Post this in cars & bikes and I am sure you will get some Pro help.  

Quoted: Post this in cars & bikes and I am sure you will get some Pro help.

What you mean there are other places besides GD? j/k

Damn, there is a forum for everything here

Quoted: Depends on your music preference and how low you want to set the crossovers -- which is tied to your mids and the range you want there.

Well thats what I am trying to find out.

I have the Bostons and they are the two way, highs and mids, then the sub for the lows correct?

The crossover is the thing that limits the particualr frequencies so you don't get a bass response from high-hats correct?

No wonder I am confused.

You can't just look at subs as a separate entity. It has to be balanced with the whole system -- unless you just want to fire up the spinners and pop in a Ludacris CD.

And what if I do?

I could have my CRV sittin on some 22s, and rattling the license plate with every bass hit.



No worse then the damn mexicans next door that blare polka out of a system at 9:00 on a sunday.

/mexican hat dance.

Price a rear window with your subs.  When you rattle a few too many houses, someone will promptly shoot out your rear window.  Use the search feature for this...........

Quoted: I know a little bit, (just enough to be dangerous) and I already have my head unit and component speakers set (panasonic or kenwood head, and boston acoustic 6 1/2s for the speakers. Its a 1999 Honda CRV. How do the different boxes compare/stack up? What are the benefits of sealed or ported or a not-ported box? Do I want 10" or 12" ? Brands recommendations? What about wattage? I don't want a ghetto blaster soundsystem, but I want some more bass in my music (mostly reggea, some hip hop, and lots of random rock and country) anyone help me? Car audio sites are all about the jargon, and I don't know if I even need a 1200 watt dual crossover polypropelene injected urethane 12 farad transducer. (bit of a joke, but it all starts to read like that)

Here are the benefits to each enclosure design.

Sealed: The benefits of sealed enclosures are that they are almost always smaller than the recommended ported enclosure for any given woofer by about 50%. They provide very accurate bass, not boomy. Easy to build. A sealed box of a given size can work with many different subwoofers. In other words if you had a sealed .75 ft3 box and you blew a woofer or just wanted to use a different brand that box would be suitable for just about every 10" woofer on the market.

Ported: Ported boxes are more efficient that sealed boxes, meaning you'll get a little more output from a ported box with the same amplifier than you would from a sealed box. On the down side, ported box design must be dead on to perform correctly(internal volume, port diameter and length)

For the vehicle you have a single 10 in a sealed box with at least 150 watts would give you some nice bottom end. You'll need a crossover, either built into the headunit, the amp or a seperate one set at about 80hZ to keep the high frequecies out of the subwoofer. Are you going to be running an amp to the front speakers or running them straight off the head unit? I recommend a seperate power amp for the front speakers as well since most head units only produce about 15 watts of power and you'll want a crossover on them to to keep low frequencies from the mid bass speakers. Most modren amps have built in crossovers. I have an Alpine head unit that has a nice crossover built in. I'm a big fan of Alpine's.

As far as brand, any decent subwoofer will give decent results. I like JL Audio, Image Dynamics, and Boston Acoustics, but there are many good brands out there.

Quoted: the louder the stereo the smaller the penis

Quoted: the louder the stereo the smaller the penis

+

There is always an inverse correlation between the size of one's member and the number/size of their toys.

How many .50's do you own, The_Beer_Slayer?

Quoted: the louder the pipes the smaller the penis

Fixed it.

The main thing to look for is your budget. Be sure to save enough money for the hearing aid you will need before you are thirty.  Buy a 44 mag and go to the range without earplugs if you have any questions.

Quoted: Quoted: Post this in cars & bikes and I am sure you will get some Pro help.   What you mean there are other places besides GD? j/k Damn, there is a forum for everything here

Yup, and if you're very impressed with the product you buy you can head over to the Business & Investing forum and ask about buying stock in that company.

No worse then the damn mexicans next door that blare polka out of a system at 9:00 on a sunday.

Ahhhhh, the infamous Oaxaca Polka. I know it well.

Quoted: Here are the benefits to each enclosure design. Sealed: The benefits of sealed enclosures are that they are almost always smaller than the recommended ported enclosure for any given woofer by about 50%. They provide very accurate bass, not boomy. Easy to build. A sealed box of a given size can work with many different subwoofers. In other words if you had a sealed .75 ft3 box and you blew a woofer or just wanted to use a different brand that box would be suitable for just about every 10" woofer on the market. Ported: Ported boxes are more efficient that sealed boxes, meaning you'll get a little more output from a ported box with the same amplifier than you would from a sealed box. On the down side, ported box design must be dead on to perform correctly(internal volume, port diameter and length) For the vehicle you have a single 10 in a sealed box with at least 150 watts would give you some nice bottom end. You'll need a crossover, either built into the headunit, the amp or a seperate one set at about 80hZ to keep the high frequecies out of the subwoofer. Are you going to be running an amp to the front speakers or running them straight off the head unit? I recommend a seperate power amp for the front speakers as well since most head units only produce about 15 watts of power and you'll want a crossover on them to to keep low frequencies from the mid bass speakers. Most modren amps have built in crossovers. I have an Alpine head unit that has a nice crossover built in. I'm a big fan of Alpine's. As far as brand, any decent subwoofer will give decent results. I like JL Audio, Image Dynamics, and Boston Acoustics, but there are many good brands out there.

Thanks man, thats what I was wondering.

The amp I am looking at has a crossover built-in, and I believe the head unit does as well.

I haven't decided on whether or not to amp the 6 1/2s yet.

Quoted: The main thing to look for is your budget. Be sure to save enough money for the hearing aid you will need before you are thirty.  Buy a 44 mag and go to the range without earplugs if you have any questions.

I'm not talking that loud.

I like it to sound clean, not loud. If there is a trade off I will go with quality every time.

You know - I did a nice-sounding setup in my truck for under $100.

$30 for a 10" sub from Best Buy ("Dual" brand)
$40 for a 200W RMS (bridged) amp from Fry's on sale, built in LPF

I used some spare MDF plywood to build a sub enclosure (sealed) which slides under the reat seat. Add some wires and personal time, and it's a decent setup. In a small space like you Civic, that may be more than enough. If you end up needing more, you've already got the wiring in place.

Now, I'm not the biggest audiophile, and some may scoff, but will the average listener be able to tell I'm running a $30 sub and not a $300? Some may, but honestly - I'm VERY happy with the setup. It does shake the windows, and it fills in the lack of bass from the factory speakers (even after I upgraded those to Pioneers). You just don't get much bass out of a 6.5" speaker.

Most subs list what size box they work best with. A 10" sub usually requires about 0.75 to 1.25 cubic feet.