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Home Sub-woofer help

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Old May 22, 2014 | 01:32 PM
  #1  
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Default Home Sub-woofer help

Hey; just wanting to know if im doing this right? I had one of those gaming chairs with subs, long story short it went in the trash and I kept the sub. I didn't knew what to do with and hook it up to the dashboard tweeters and hide it in the glove box.

Is it going to blow? and or cause damage to the truck? Could i hook a bigger sub?

I dont know if relevant?

1-96 blazer LS with tweeters on the dashboard
2- 3'' subwoofer
3- the tweeters are stock.
4- i just solder two wires to the terminals of tweeter then to the terminals of the sub.
 
Old May 23, 2014 | 08:20 AM
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Don't, it's not going to do anything useful at all and I do mean NOTHING.

Speakers in general, especially subwoofers, need enclosures in order to work properly. Just setting it in the glove box does not an enclosure make. Also, it's only 3" in diameter and will never make enough output to hear over any other speaker in the truck even if it was mounted in an enclosure. Just one of the door speakers in the truck has about 6 to 8x the cone area of that 3" speaker. Consider the fact there are four of them that's about 24 to 32x as much cone area, they'll always be able to give more output at the same frequencies so you'll never even know the 3" is even playing.

If you're wanting some extra kick you're going to have to look at getting a real subwoofer and some sort of amplifier to power it with. A head unit, be it the factory or an aftermarket one, simply doesn't have the power needed to properly drive a subwoofer well enough to be useful in the first place. Whatever sub you end up using will need an enclosure that is designed specifically for it. The cheapo prefabricated enclosures rarely ever fall into what is necessary for a given sub to work optimally.

Save your time, effort and money and do it right the first time and it will make your investment of those three precious items that much more rewarding and fulfilling.
 
Old May 23, 2014 | 08:31 AM
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Originally Posted by altoncustomtech
Don't, it's not going to do anything useful at all and I do mean NOTHING.

Speakers in general, especially subwoofers, need enclosures in order to work properly. Just setting it in the glove box does not an enclosure make. Also, it's only 3" in diameter and will never make enough output to hear over any other speaker in the truck even if it was mounted in an enclosure. Just one of the door speakers in the truck has about 6 to 8x the cone area of that 3" speaker. Consider the fact there are four of them that's about 24 to 32x as much cone area, they'll always be able to give more output at the same frequencies so you'll never even know the 3" is even playing.

If you're wanting some extra kick you're going to have to look at getting a real subwoofer and some sort of amplifier to power it with. A head unit, be it the factory or an aftermarket one, simply doesn't have the power needed to properly drive a subwoofer well enough to be useful in the first place. Whatever sub you end up using will need an enclosure that is designed specifically for it. The cheapo prefabricated enclosures rarely ever fall into what is necessary for a given sub to work optimally.

Save your time, effort and money and do it right the first time and it will make your investment of those three precious items that much more rewarding and fulfilling.

Ohh Ok, Thank you. I guess i will start saving for a real subwoofer
 
Old May 23, 2014 | 11:24 AM
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The hardest thing at this point is figuring out exactly what you NEED. In a couple of the more recent threads on the subject people have recommended going to walmart and picking up equipment there. While I would NEVER recommend doing that, if that's all the ambition, budget, or whatever would allow then fine, to each his own. Personally I don't try to recommend going that minimalist as the results usually don't meet the goals/expectations and something gets torn up trying to force it out of equipment that simply can't deliver.

Try to determine how much output, how much more kick you're needing to get out of the subwoofer(s). Probably spending time in other peoples rides with systems in them will help the most here. The more you can listen to the better off you'll be figuring out exactly what/how much you're looking for. It will also give you an idea on what it takes to achieve the output you're wanting as well.

Once you have that figured out you'll need to determine your budget. This is definitely a part that most people are simply unrealistic about. By the time you figure in the cost of the sub, the amp, the wiring, the enclosure and any other necessary equipment or accessories most people have easily exceeded the budget they had in mind. Even more so if they took it to a shop to have it done. The point is to just be realistic about the money you're likely going to spend. You're probably not going to end up spending thousands or anything, but there's a good chance that $150 at walmart isn't going to cut it either.
 
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