12 inch sub installed

[black135]

Had an amp and sub installed today. The difference in sound is amazing. Instead of a hint of bass you can now feel it and hear it. It really does show how the underseat subs do very little.

Chose the Alpine PDX1000 digital amp for its size and "cool" running. Fits nicely next to the battery once we removed the little partition. Photos soon.

Trialled 3 subs:

Hertz HX300
Hertz Dieci DS300
Alpine Type S 12 inch

Before anyone says "why the low power subs for the high power amp", the reason for this is that the signal strength form the standard headunit is relatively low so we compensated by using a higher power amp, we also wanted the sub to be pushed to its limit. It also gives me more flexibility to change subs in the future as the amp is the most expensive part of the equation.

The HX300 could handle the most power and was the loudest but at low volume it didn't do much, plus it was muddy compared to the others. The Dieci was better, tighter at low volume and equally good at high volume. The Alpine was about the same as the Dieci in performance. In the end I chose the Alpine on the recommendation of the store manager and it also looks the best in the car. Box was just a cheapie prefab which is fine for now. I'll look at a custom moulded box later. As my sales rep told me, bigger isn't always better.

There is still some tuning to be done, tweeters to go in and a quick fix up next week to help with some EM interference on engine startup but apart from that this has made a huge difference to the sound already. By far the single best thing you can do to get a better sound from your car IMO.

[randomquickness]

I DEF wanna see some pics of this!

[stylish.]

Alpine PDX series of amps are an excellent choice! With the sub though, I would note that the Type R sub is worth taking a look at too! I bit more expensive than the Type S, but IMO its worth the extra dough.

[lindenberger]

[adrean8j]

Good choice on speakers. Hertz makes some real quality equipment. I would have went with an Audison amp instead of Alpine but that is just me.

[black135]

Pics!

Excuse the sub being mounted on an angle, it's a temporary until they get new stock as this one is off the showroom floor in a box that didn't have an alpine in it previously.

[ExMX5]

Looks cool! Who did you get to install it and what's the box in the third pic?

Is that a line level converter?

[adrean8j]

If it IS a line level converter it is awfully BIG...LOL

[black135]

Originally Posted by ExMX5

Looks cool! Who did you get to install it and what's the box in the third pic?

Is that a line level converter?

Westside morley, speak to Jan. (Yan phonetically)

It's a 4 channel amp that runs the 4 x 4 inch speakers. Alpine model MRPF300.

[DTNJNQ]

Originally Posted by black135

Westside morley, speak to Jan. (Yan phonetically)

It's a 4 channel amp that runs the 4 x 4 inch speakers. Alpine model MRPF300.

Is this amp running the standard 4" speakers? Do you have the tweeters?

[BBK]

How are the amps setup? Just with one line level converter and split, or with two? Did they choose to install the 4 channel upside down? Because that is a massive no-no, heat rises...

PDX amps are excellent, I have a PDX1.600 and a Type R 12" sitting at home after I took it out of my mini.

[black135]

Originally Posted by BBK

How are the amps setup? Just with one line level converter and split, or with two? Did they choose to install the 4 channel upside down? Because that is a massive no-no, heat rises...

PDX amps are excellent, I have a PDX1.600 and a Type R 12" sitting at home after I took it out of my mini.

The 4 channel has a line level converter built in. The PDX is then gets its signal from the 4 channel (full range signal). The PDX has crossover to then adjust from there.

The 4 channel amp is upside down but still runs just fine. The shop I had do the work says that they've put the same amp upside down and then covered it with trim and its still OK.