Audio Question

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
08/15/2015 at 10:18 • Filed to: None

I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to this stuff, so I was wondering whether you guys knew any better. I currently have a decent Pioneer head unit and 4 13cm Pioneer speakers, plus some tweeters on order. Would I need an amp to get good sound out of a smaller subwoofer? I don’t tend to play my music super loud, I just want a bit more bass and was looking to add a small sub in the boot.

DISCUSSION (12)

Money Hustard > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 10:23

Even if you don’t play your music loud, an amp will likely improve the sound of this system at any volume level. You don’t absolutely have to have on with most head units, but it’s just not going to sound great.

misfitmascots > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 10:23

Yeah, you’regoing to need an amp to power it properly.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Money Hustard
08/15/2015 at 10:24

Fair enough, I’ll have to dig one out on my next junkyard trip then.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > misfitmascots
08/15/2015 at 10:25

Thanks.

Lekker > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 10:25

Indeed, otherwise you’ll be exceeding the golden rule: Using more than 75% of the power/output, which creates distortion. Even a small 200w cheap one should do the trick, but ideally I’d suggest a 400w multi-channel. If you want help looking for some I’d be happy to help. Also consider an Equalizer, they’re a cheap investment that HUGELY increases the quality, if you’re willing the spend some minutes calibrating it. :) Enjoy the sound system

Money Hustard > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 10:28

I would caution I’ve done the same thing and ended up replacing it with a brand new unit. Amps come in an extremely wide range of quality and durability. OEM amps cost so much for a reason, if you want one that’s going to work more than a couple of years you have have to pay dearly.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Lekker
08/15/2015 at 10:31

Thanks for the offer but my budget is small so I’ll be hunting around in the junk yard for one haha. The current set up was a gift so I only paid for the wire. I’ll look for an EQ, I spent about 40 minutes faffing with the one on my head unit to get it right, so I like having proper calibration.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Money Hustard
08/15/2015 at 10:33

I was thinking of digging an OEM one out of a high end BMW or the like. The junkyard I go to charges almost nothing for stuff like that.

itranthelasttimeiparkedit > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 10:49

The factory amps often have goofy oem-specific stuff that will make them hard to integrate. Do a little research on any of them that you pull. I know on the bmw e39s you could not (easily) get that amp working in a non-bmw

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > itranthelasttimeiparkedit
08/15/2015 at 11:01

Thanks, I’ll make sure I look up any one I try to use. I might just go the easy route and pull an aftermarket amp from one of the many written off boy racer cars.

Money Hustard > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 11:34

Yeah, itran is correct, and I didn’t mean to suggest you use an OEM amp, that’s another bag of worms all together. I just mean to say you get what you pay for in that market. Few if any OEM amps will work with you aftermarket head unit.

Lekker > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
08/15/2015 at 14:22

Nice, that’s a great start. Some cars come with amps built in you can repurpose