I have a few 10" laying about, but I am thinking I can do more with one 12". Here is the amp and speaker I am thinking of - please, opinions wanted!

Alpine MRP-M650 600 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms

Kicker Solo-Baric L5 06S12L54 12"

I am uncertian of the enclosure - I will be building it from scratch....this is 7" deep speaker with a .88 minimum cubic foot requirement for the enclosure. I am uncertain of ehat I would build for it -- I still need to get the dimensions for the boot of the convert --- I posted earlier and I am waiting for the reponse. thoghts are appreciated. thanks !!

 

I still don’t have the exact measurements of the boot. But from the pictures I can see that it drops down a handful of inches. I am thinking of building a box that will fit in the recess and perhaps raising it however many inches I need – the kicker I am looking at is a 12” with a depth of 7”. This would be a sealed box and kicker recommends a minimum of point 88 cubic feet in the enclosure - this should be easily attained.

Also, how do you think the sound will be with one 12” kicker firing up in a sealed enclosure in the boot. I could give it a 30 degree tilt facing forward – but I could do better with it being flat and still having some usable space above it. Anyway, take a look at the sub and amp I selected and let me know your thought. $300 speaker, $300 amp, $70 wiring, $30 wood/caulk/carpet/grills....ok, so maybe I might go over the $700 mark – but not by much. But the sound should be a whole lot better than putting a tube or the equivalent in the boot.

 

What are you going for? SPL or SQ? If you check out the various car audio forums, the Kickers are really popular for hitting high SPL marks (i.e. very loud), but not as popular for SQ (sound quality) setups... but I'm sure the setup will add some serious thump to your car.

I just (finally) got my install completely finished... They recommended a JL 13w1v2 (13.5" sub) in a sealed enclosure (custom box) as I really wanted something that would hit the low frequencies (20 Hz)... But anyway, the guys at the shop where I got all my stuff were definitely pro-JL vs. most other brands.

 

Don't get me wrong - Crutchfield is a great company, with a good staff, but they're not the best place to go for prices. You should be able to find the 12" L5 for about $150, shipped, and the M650 for right around $200 shipped.

I haven't used the L5 (I'm a JL Audio guy myself), but it should sound good regardless of the orientation in the boot. The only thing I'd recommend is going a little bigger on the box. .88 cubic feet is awfully small for a 12" sub. Kicker's recommended range is from 0.88 - 2.0 cubic feet, but that doesn't mean that any size in that range will work equally-well.

 

Lower prices are good - but it has to be from a reputable place. I'll search the net and see what I can find

 

I like bass, basically thats what I am going for. I don't need to thump my car apart - but I do like loud bass.....I suppose that's what I am going for. More often than not the rear seats will be up and this behind them, just not certain what it will sound like. Right now on the Crutchfield web site I am at $900 including wires, a Tsunami Lite WAve Capacitor -- a touch more than I was planning on spending, I think I got a little carried away when the Mrs. gavce me the go ahead nod last night. I'll place an order later today - I am 90% sure I have what I want.

 

Well, I would argue as to whether you need a capacitor at all, but you certainly don't need a $100-150 cap that lights up blue and has a digital readout. If it's for bling, that's fine - I have nothing against bling. But if you're thinking you've gotten "carried away" and want to drop the price of the system a little bit (perhaps to increase the Spousal Approval Factor of the project), you could lose that capacitor in an instant and not be any the worse off for it.

 

In My Typhoon I built a ban-pass box using two 12" kickers and with an Alpine amp delivering (going back a few years....guessing) 450 watts to each speaker. Sounded absolutely killer - but the power drain stunk on ice. Headlights dimming and power shortage on repetative big bass demands at high levels. I don't want to revisit that - so I decided to go with a capacitor fo rthe first time ever. The read out, in my opinion, is just BS -- but this is the cheapest version which is why I choose it.

 

especially true since your battery is located so close to your amp.

 

I had a similar problem with the big system in my Mustang, many years ago. Didn't need a capacitor to solve it, either. All I needed was a really good battery. Try putting in an Optima Yellow Top... it may be all you need.

 

Ok Guys - trust me, I have been through it already. Close to the battery and otherwise -- its no fun with a power draw. Your lights dim and the bass is shorted, and your altanator dies after 12 months and that sucks all the more. For $99 Its well worth it !!

 

The problem is, if you have so much current draw that the alternator can't keep up and is spending so much time in saturation that it dies an early death, then no battery or capacitor, no matter how big, is going to help you.

The reason is, there's only one source for electrical power in a car's electrical system - the alternator. The battery can store a lot of energy, and a capacitor can store a little bit of energy, but it all has to come from the alternator in the first place. If you're having problems with your alternator dying, the only options are to reduce the current drain (turn the volume down), or install a higher-capacity alternator.

 

.....buzz kill. ! I am sure your right, but this 12" kicker will be drawing a lot less juice than I have had in the past.

OK - so than capasitor is not going to do mae anything ? If this is case -- its history, just say the word.

 

Probably not. It certainly won't hurt anything but it may not help much if any at all. Try it without first. You can always add it in later.

 

Probably the way to go. I need to get the measurements of the boot now - I posted in the cabrio forum.....someone will give me the sizes I asked for today - once I have that confirmation I will place this order today without the Captacitor. thanks !!