Tha Original i30 Owners Club

GENERAL STUFF => GENERAL DISCUSSIONS => Random Chit Chat => Topic started by: i30 Roolz on May 05, 2009, 06:33:54

Title: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: i30 Roolz on May 05, 2009, 06:33:54
Even after changing the speakers and installing an amp, I find the bass response to be shite.

Today I was quoted between $850 and $1500 on doing a subwoofer instal. Holy sh!t!!

Am I the only one that is dissatisifed with the limp-wristed bass response?

BTW, I am not a member of the "doof doof" brigade and I dont wear a baseball cap facing backwards.

I'm just looking to improve the bass to a satisfactory level (and not blow out the windows), without wanting to remove the spare wheel or otherwise installing something that fills the bootspace.

I'd be interested in what others have done and whether I can achieve something similar for under five hundred bucks.

Thanks  :D
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Duckman on May 05, 2009, 07:38:45
I'm not sure about pricing, but make sure you check out the smaller, independent audio people, who concentrate on auto electronics etc. I would suggest for better bass response a 10" sub. It's not as big "impact" as with a 12", it's smaller, usually cheaper.

Just make sure you get the thing amplified! I recommend underneath the passenger's seat (like my old Getz had). That setup had a 250w Kenwood amp, 1000w subwoofer, and the head unit was a great Alpine unit. Given the shape and size of the i30 radio/CD player, I don't advise changing that.  All up, that cost me $850 installed, but the head unit itself was quite pricey, costing almost $350-400 itself.
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Waja on May 05, 2009, 09:23:09
hey! yeah, i had the same prob before where I thought that the mids and highs were *decent* but the bass was really...crap.. :P so i decided to throw in a sub.

I have a sub and amp install in my boot and I didn't want to compromise clarity and bass response for shoddy muddy bass for a cheaper price, so all I trust is JL Audio. Got a 12w1v2 with original ported box and a1400 (discontinued) but managed to get it cheap and it was awesome amp before the slash series was released...

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_i-1a7-EWmV4/Sebi5Y_BHSI/AAAAAAAABkA/1x-1l1NrZ4Y/s400/DSCF3259.jpg)

I kept the same stock headunit (where if i was to change it, i would change to a touch screen navigation) and I also got the wired bass remote installed (a twist knob at the front to independently control the bass volume) where the dash illumination dimmer is

all up came to $750 which included install and cabling. and I am happy in the end. its really powerful to be heard outside if you wanted to be the 'doof doof' person...but other than that, with normal driving, the bass is really clean and responsive :D

but mine does fill up a decent amount of boot space...what you could do is get a custom job fabricated to fit into the side of the boot where there seems to be an indent? but once that is sealed you would be compromising bass clarity and response

hope that helps!

ps what setup were u quoted for $850-1500??
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: i30 Roolz on May 05, 2009, 10:02:48
Holy Smoke!!

My two quotes were for a bass tube + amp installed in the boot.

The second (higher) quote was for a dedicated fibreglass and trimmed enclosure on the right side of the boot in the existing space.
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Waja on May 05, 2009, 10:22:53
oooh, which brand amp + bass tube?

also, i forgot to say >< i knew the owner's son of the audio store so I was able to get it cut down from about 1k -> 750 though..prices might be the same though? http://www.soundmaster.com.au/ (http://www.soundmaster.com.au/) they are pretty cheap and beat prices
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: i30 Roolz on May 05, 2009, 10:52:32
Couldn't tell you, as I threw it out - it wouldn't have mattered to me if it was a Kharma Grand Enigma (google it), at that price for just a sub!  :lol:
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Waja on May 05, 2009, 11:10:29
holy snap! thats quite some sound system! just a LITTLE excessive? lol..and woah! that price quote was JUST for a sub? it either must have been an excessively overpriced company or a really epic system
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: 2i30s on May 05, 2009, 11:21:09
did you realise you can set bass and treble on factory radio.
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Waja on May 05, 2009, 12:01:00
yeah, but the thing is that the bass response of the stock speakers (excluding the SR range which has better speakers) is pretty flat and sounds paper-y

and I threw in a bass remote as I listen to alot of rnb and trance so bass between the two varies alot so its easier having a twist knob than accessing the setup to adjust for songs with increased/decreased bass response
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Duckman on May 06, 2009, 02:20:10
I'd actually opt for newer speakers in the i30, before a sub. My mate installed 4 JL speakers (not sure on their size), and it increased high end through to low end response ten-fold!
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: i30 Roolz on May 06, 2009, 02:26:20
I already upgraded all 4 speakers and the bass response is crapp
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Waja on May 06, 2009, 02:55:12
what speakers did u put in i30 roolz? also, did he change the headunit and upgrade the speakers? sometimes its just the headunit that needs to be changed which makes a big difference in the end..
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: i30 Roolz on May 06, 2009, 03:16:59
Clarion Amp - Boston Acoustics (front) and kenwood (rear).

Bass response still crapp...  :evil:
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Duckman on May 06, 2009, 03:58:38
He stayed with the standard Ford Fiesta XR4/ST head unit.

i30 roolz, what RMS watts do they output? Not total, but RMS, if you can find it on the box or something!
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: sopel on May 13, 2009, 10:24:23
hey! yeah, i had the same prob before where I thought that the mids and highs were *decent* but the bass was really...crap.. :P so i decided to throw in a sub.




how did you connected the sub to the stock radio?
did you use rca adapter, or radio in i30 have the rca out ?
i'm thinking about throwing some sub, but something cheaper and not so powerful :)
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: Waja on May 13, 2009, 10:53:25
it was installed using a line to RCA convertor tapped off the rear right speaker since the stock headunit doesn't really offer much..

so what kind of sub do you have in mind sopel?
Title: Re: Subwoofers - what have you done?
Post by: sopel on May 13, 2009, 11:00:19
i have no freaking idea :)
i'm gonna ask friends from Poland, what quite good do we have here :)
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