Im 17 and just put a deposit on an 1999 S80 a little less than an hr ago. beautiful car everything works find, ya know a few bumps and bruises nothing that cant be fixed. There are three things missing which I can't find anywhere do to I don't know the name. The Trim around the interior handel on the drivers side door as well as the rear door. Another thing thats missing is the knob that allows you to move the side veiw mirrors. They move you just don't have the pretty knob only the white stup and the two roatating pieces. Ok so those are the three things. My next question has to do with subs and an amp. Not really sure which ones I should get. I have about 300 to spend on that. I want it to be heard and if i need to I can use more. Which size subs would be best 10" or 12". And what power or name of amp. Thank you.

Im sorry its an S80 T6 not sure if that makes a difference

Dont know the names of the interior parts right off, but your basic description should be all you need to know to call any local Volvo dealer parts department to get them to tell you the item names and part numbers, which you can then use to find them at probably any salvage yard to save a fair bit of cash.

Subs and amps. Ok this gets tricky a just about anyone can suggest brands and specifications, but the probelm that comes up from this is...what is it you really want? When you are looking at higher end stereo equipment, most of the time you are going to get opions biased by what certain people really like, more than actual information that will help you decide what YOU really want.

A few things that matter here, one of which you have answered:

1. Budget...you say about $300. I will tell you now if you want to be "heard" and not just "heard and laughed at", $300 is going to be tight. Now, this is no insult to your desire or budget. Good stuff costs money, and with care stereo, good stuff can cost alot of money, and there are emense differences between good and mediaocre and many more benefits to the good stuff than just basic specifications you will find on the box, but I will get to that in a minute. A very good rule of thumb here is to know your budget and stick to it for now...the car stereo bug and make you broke in no time flat...stick to it as best you can and build from there. If you're total budget for final end product is as you state, I would consider a different approach (just my opinion here).

2. What music do you listen to. Most speakers are best designed for specific kinds of sound reproduction. Loud country is best suited to one type of design where loud rap is another. More specifically, the bass itelf is reproduced differently. Are you after the hard hitting "punchy" bass, or the longer "reverberating" bass? Speaker size, design and even brand make a difference here.

3. How much power are you looking to push? With a $300 budget I would not suggest over 300 true RMS amperage. More than that and you may need to start looking into abetter battery, stronger alternator, etc. All of which will take away from your budget and to be honest, decent ones of both with cost more than $300 in total (a good high output alternator can sot upwards of about $600).

4. Are you going to do the install yourself? If so, this will help your budget. However, in most cases, when someone wants to be heard, they are referring to the bass portion. To reproduce very loud bass is going to generally take more than just subwoofers. You need a well designed box, and a box designed for the speakers. Some subwoofers are intended for free air, some for sealed boxes, some for ported boxes, ome for isobaric boxes, etc. Know what you are buying and prepare accordingly. Most common, will be subs requiring a box mount of some kind, but know the requirements and the space you have to work with. If it needs a box, and you go with larger subs, you may very well need a custom made box, are you prepared to do make one properly? (material is important here, basic old plywood isnt going to cut it). Do you know the differences in box designs and how to properly build the box? (ie: do you want a mono sub or will two work with or against each other in the same box? Do you need filler or not? how large and how long should the port be?, etc). If you want to learn how to build boxes, there is a great book called "Bullock on Boxes" that will teach you much of this and give you the equations to design your own.

5. Speaker impedence. This is very important, epecially if you want you equipment choices to last any length of time, and many people fail to mention it. With subwoofers, you get an added equation to factor in when you begin getting the choices od single or dual voice coils, which can alter the impedence (or ohms) of the speakers, and thus the power draw and reproduction of the amplifier driving them. Get it wrong and it will be much weaker than expected or much louder and potentially destructive to the amplifier or speakers (which will almopst always be explicitly not covered in any warranty).Standard car stereo impedence is 4 ohms, however many speakers are available in 2 ohm or even 8 ohm versions. Just know what you are buying and know what the amplifier is capable of handling (look for the ohm rating stability...most will be 2 ohm stable and only more expensive ones will be 1 or possibly even 1/2 ohm stable).

Ok, now for suggestions. Again, keep in mind that this is only an opinion, and I am biased towards certain brands for certain reasons. Second, third, etc opinions are always suggested but personally litening to any speaker is the best option.

I am not going to suggest price ranges, because they can very drastically depending on the source (especially if you are considering used equipment as well). Also of importance here, are you only looking at introducing subwoofers or are you looking to replace youe mids/tweeters as well? This makes a difference in amplifier/speaker suggestions. My suggestions below cover the full frequency range and not just subwoofer or low end reproduction (my suggestions might change slightly otherwise)

Amplifiers (in no particular order):
- Alpine
- Kenwood
- Soundstream

(I leave out Rockford, which you might wonder why I dont mention it. They used to be great equipment, but awhile back they were bought out and they are no longer made in the US, instead they are farming out many of the components to cheaper manufacturers and their quality has taken a major downturn. It is still decent, but in my opinion, no longer worth the price you pay for the name).

Subwoofers (in no particular order):
- Inifinity (these are somewhat sound prefernce specific, and not necessarily for every type of music)
- MB Quart
- JL
- MTX
- Kicker
- Possibly even Bazooka (depending on your desired application)

Size range?:
No clue at the moment, as I am lacking information on your situation. Do you have a wagon or sedan? DO you want 1 sub, 2 subs or more? Have you considered pairing a sub with a passive radiator, instead of using 2 or more subs?

Keep in mind my opinionated brand suggestions above are based upon a budget. They are not necessarily the best brands I would suggest, but the other brands I would rather suggest are already well out of your budget (just one item alone would cost over twice your budget), as such I will not bother mentioning them, as there is no need to even consider it. No worries though, most people wouldnt spend the money on them so it's not a matter of "it was just outside my budget", as you have to be after competition or just have money falling out of your pockets..haha.

Again, and t his cannot be stressed enough on any opinions offered to you...What specifically do you want to achieve?

A: Do you want excellent sound reprodcution at much louder than normal levels?
B: Do you want bass that will rattle the teeth of your neighbors before you are even on their street?
C: How important is the rest of the sound spectrum, beyond the bass? ie:do you want to leave your mids/tweeters as they are or do you want to match them to your bass levels?

There is alot to consider, and if you want to do it right, dont just buy what someone wants to sell you...know what you want and how to achieve it.

As a final note, I will mention where I come from with this, so you can bass any decisions on my opinions this way.

I have been an avid stereophile for the last 18-20 years. I used to work for and install high end home theatres and stereos for one of the most well respected (but not huge) high end audio stores on the East Coast. (it was not uncommon to go install $50,000+ systems for people in their homes), and we sold some equipment that less than 1% of the audio stores in the world had the priviledge to sell. I have been installing car stereos for the last 15 years (as a hobby only, not profesionally, as my expertise came in the home area). As such my picky status comes based on home reproduction which will always be far better than any car will produce, so keep in mind I am very picky and what I may notice in sound differences, many people probably wouldn't.

Now I could start spouting off all sorts of brands to look into, but that would be useless when a budget is set. I could give you details on my perfect system, however it would not be one I could ever afford. I could give you details on the systemI would have that I could afford, which would be entirely different, but still well outside your budget.

If you are struct by the car stereo bug, then I would make this suggestion to you; Set your budget in stages and put together your dream system over time, not all at once. However, with that being said, I would suggest doing so in a manner where you first understand what you are getting (and what it is going to produce) and do the actual install at one time.Piecing together a stereo system over time, while being left to listen to the stages over a period of time can be disheartening (ie; installing amps and subs only and then 3-4 months later installing comparable mids/tweeters). This can cause you to stop the process in the middle and end up with a system that fails to create what you ultimately want, and just sounds wierd to everyone else. Again that is only my opinion coming from an industry where people want complete perfect in complete sound reproduction,not with a specific intention in mind concerning one end or the other, not to mention the unavoidable hearing damage that comes from overly loud sound levels (no one is immune to it, but it wont come quickly...trust me if you over do it it will catch up to you several years down the road).

A little side note fact to keep in mind. If you ever watch or wish someday you could have a system to compete in some of these national sound off competitions, please forget trying to accomplish this. Not because the cost is outrageous, but because those national champions have cars that cannot be driven. You wont accomplish it in an average car no matter what you do. Many are laden with concrete and require being plugged into a 110v or even 220Vpower source to power the systems they have. They look cool, but cannot do a darn thing on the road, they are simply hauled everywhere and pushed into place. Haha, just a little less known info on the car stereo loudness world.

My apologies for making this so ridiculously long. Just inerstand what you are really looking at getting into. Don't let it discourage you, but understand for most normal people, such systems are not something you put together overnight. They take time and patience, knowledge and research for every type of vehicle, assuming you want it to be good and not just loud. Anyone can do loud (although usually it sounds like crap or you hear the car rattling more than they sound), but to do it good, takes time and work.

Good luck, and if you have any specific questions you would like me to respond to just ask.I am sure others here will have their opinions as well and I suggest you take all opinions into consideration. Above all else, know what you want and try not to compromise on it...even if you have to do it in stages, otherwise unwanted cheaper decision will most likely come back to haunt you later and possibly just cost you more money. High end car stereos can be a very unforgiving hobby, if you compromise.

Almost forgot..

Sounds like this is your first real car that is yours. Congrats on that and even more so on buying a Volvo.

You gotta have some class if your choice was a Volvo :P Not just anyone would take a Volvo over other choices, but for those that do...I salute you :)

I just got my bank statement back and it seems to be that i have 1000 not the measly 300 i said before. thanks, I was looking into Audio Que and Maxxsonics Crunch, now that I relized I have the money. From what I hear Audio Que's have a long rattle to them, and I havn't hear much about Crunch's. Any suggestions? Also I was thinking about a kicker amp. Im also looking for that partially in between rattle and poping sound.

Kicker is still nice equipment. They started out somewhat in a niche market, but were quite good. My personal experience with Kicker was years ago, when they were basically just making speaker boxes. They have certainly expanded since then and do have a nice series of amplifiers.

Audio Que I have no experience with and as such cannont really comment on it.

I have seen a few Cunch' in use but have little personal knowledge in them.

It sounds like you are looking for a good all around sub, although to me, your statement of "looking for that partially in between rattle and poping sound" is a little confusing to me. Generally, to me, rattling and popping are two things you don't want your subwoofer doing. However I think I know what you mean.

Be careful on your budget. This kind of hobby can become a bug or personal fixation quickly and can drain funds fast with no real end in sight. Personally, it took me awhile to get control of it. Now when I work on a system, I determine my budget and then determine the parts I want and make sure that doesnt exceed more than 75-80% of my budget, as there is almost always extra little things I fail to add in that the remaining portion of my budget will then take care of. Otherwie, you can very easily find yourself going beyond your budget and spedning more money than you epect or want to afford. Wiring and cabling can get somewhat expensive and many people will forget all about this. Good cabling can make a difference (moreso than people think) IF you are working with good components and not cheap stuff.

I guess my main quetions to you would be:

1. Are you just looking at installing subs and an amplifier(s) with your budget?
2. Do you want a complete speaker system upgrade with your budget?
3. Is your Volvo a wagon or sedan?
4. Do you already have a subwoofer size you would like to use?
5. Do you already have an idea of the amount of power you want have? (ie total amplifier wattage)

6. Are you prepared to go beyond your budget? Bascially, is your current budget where you want to try to complete your system with or is this just the initial budget to get started with ad you plan to eventually do more later on?

Maybe thats alot of quetions to go through, maybe not.I know when I first started working with my car stereos I was more interested in getting the sytem put in than actually designing what I should do. I made alot of mistakes back then and ended up with systems that were nothing like what I wanted. Much of it was due to knowing what I wanted, but my budget not allowing for it, yet I attempted it anyways (and always straining my finances beyond an acceptible limit).

A side note to keep in mind also, and this also can enter into your budget as well. Protecting your investment. Aside from considering a car alarm (thats up to you and car alarms are only moderately effective as people tend to ignore them anyways, and quite often you may have no clue its going off during the time that is important). Many insurance companies will not cover custom stereo systems. If you use good equipment, then more people will want to take it (and during the high school years, if you have a system you want to impress your peers with, word will spread to those who have no problem in trying to take it). If you are serious about it,check with your insurance company to see what they will cover and what is required for it to be covered. I most cases they will only cover such pieces that are actually mounted to the car (a speaker box just set in the back will almost always not be covered...it has to be mounted in a permanent fashion). Some may require proof of professional installation, which will eat up a budget fast. This can alo raise your insurance rates, but if you want it protected keep this in mind (not to mention all the damage such thieves do to get the stuff). I had a $6000 system stolen, I had only minimal insurance (to cover the other guy, not me), so not only was the system lost, but the thieves also did about $4500 in damage to the vehicle while taking the stuff. Along with all the modifications I had done to the truck I had about $22,000 in the vehicle. After the thieves got ahold of it, and I had no extra cah at the time to fork out the expenses to fix it, it took me 2 months to eventually sell the vehicle and I only got $800 for it, whereas before I could have easily gotten at least $12,000 for it. The costs of protecting your initial investment may seem ridiculous, but when you end up comparing the money you could lose by not doing so, it doesnt seem like much.

If you want a loud noticable system, then you will be attracting the wrong people to it if you us it that way alot. You will mostly annoy most drivers, you will attract the attention of some who admire what you have and you will attract some who not only admire what you have but willalso consider taking it.

Almost every high school is going to have some kid who seems to deal with car stereo stuff alot. Get to know him and he will generally be able to come up with good deals on some nice used equipment. Quite often this equipment is stolen and you will have your introduction to the high school "black market" of stolen stereo equipment. They have the connections to those who do the dirty work, which will tell you right there that some form of protection is warranted. Basically you get two choices; one, stay away from them and have nothing to do with them at all, or two, get to know them and hang out with them some. #1 is probably your best bet if you want to do your best to stay out of trouble. I went with #2 during high school, which is a form of protection in itself. Although such people have very little care of what they do, they do retain a sense of loyalty to friends and the small network of thieves they deal withwill generally leave you alone once they know who your are (although quite often you will not know who they are). I was well known enough, with the proper other friends that they knew to leave my stuff alone, although I never bought anything from thoe people.Even after high school I stayed in contact enough to keep them away from my stuff. It took about 2 years of no contact for my stuff to then be stolen.

Oh well, just a little story info for ya. Just dont forget the protection aspect or your money and work could be thrown away overnight.

1. Mainly yes
2. No, I already have a seperate amp and speakers from my parents car which my father put in.
3. It is an S80 T6 Sedan
4. Im looking into 10 and 12 inch mainly, I believe the 15's are just too big for the trunk.?
5. Well im not really sure. Im trying to get over 400rms but thats looking difficult.
6. Yes I am able to go over my budget. this is just a ball park.

Also, I am freinds with (those kinds of kids). I'm freinds with prety much everyone because not to say anything but Im large and everyone looks to me for protection( 6'7 and 300lbs does help(and football scholorships)) but I have those connections, it's only i'm not completely sure what Im doing and my parents won't let me get it from them. I went to the store the other day and the guy turned me onto a few kenwood 12", and also some JBL's. I listened to them but the JBL's seemed to have the same punch even though they are 10", and if I were to get them I may go 12". There were also some MTX and Alpine's but I didnt get a chance to look at them because I was short on time. But I'm really open to any brand. Also by rattle I mean drag on for a period of time rather than bummp multiple times. It's kind of hard to explain. But thankyou for all of you help so far.

This is just my suggestion here, and others might bring up other alternatives to consider.

1. For a Sedan you have a couple of options for subwoofers, although the installation/mounting for a sedan can range from simple to complicated depending on the style of sub you want to use. Basically, you need to decide if you want to put in a speaker box or if you want a free air installation (thus no speaker box, instead unsing the entire trunk as the box). Given the amount of power you want, I am assuming you are looking into a semi-serious system and as such you will loose a fair amount of your trunk space, which may or may not matter for what you want.
Are you looking at a pair of subwoofers or just one? If just one then the free-air design may not quite be what you want. If you want 2 or more then a free air design would work well, however, extra work will be required along with possible rear deck modifications and extra protection for any speakers mounted in the rear deck (I would suggest the protection anyways even is using a speaker box). As such I would enclose the back side of any speakers in your rear deck, but take into account the volume required for those speakers and dont make the enclosures too small. Not doing so could cause the pressure changes from the subwoofers to greatly effect the sound quality of any rear deck speakers as most are open to the trunk (maybe yours isnt, i'm not sure). If you go free-air and space allows then 15s would be possible, but in a speaker box I would not exceed 12s. Personally I would stick with your choice of 10s or 12s anyways.

2. For 400 watts RMS, you are looking as a fair amount of power. Is 400 the system total or what you want for the subs only? If subs only then you are probably borderline on the car's OEM electrical system (since you already have an amp now). 400 watts total may still be borderline if you don't use a good efficient/clean amp (using a cheap brand will drain more power and produce less wattage). From here you need to know how the subs will be installed and if you plan to wire them individually or pair them together in mono (if using more than 1). You can easily exceed your 400 watt desire if you use the proper ohm rated speakers or parallel wire them in mono and drop the ohm rating to 2 ohms (making a 400 watt amp push 800 instead).

3. I would go with an amplifier designed for subwoofers, that already has the low bandpass built in (it can simplify getting things setup once all is installed), especially since your headunit does not have a separate subwoofer output (if I recall correctly).

As for subwoofer style, the main choices I recall right off would be:

Free-Air: no speaker box, and quite often the subs get mounted against the back side of the rear seats (cone facing the interior of the vehicle). For this you want subs designed for free-air use. They can be more expensive and will usually have larger magnets and stronger mounting cages. They are also generally designed to be used with larger amounts of air space. Function ok at low volume, can begin to clip if overpowered or mounted in an oversixed air space.

Sealed Box: Standard speaker box with no vents. These are designed to operate under pressure and generally require the smallest amount of air space in the enclosure. Get the air space correct and they will operate well, but will loose some bass reproduction at low volume.

Ported Box: Standard box that is ported. Air space volume, port size and depth are important. You can tune a ported box the easiest by altering the port dimensions. Ported enclosures will vary in size depending on the air volume a particular sub requires and by the port dimensions. This is probably the most common box style used. Works well at low volume, but can clip at high volume if not ported properly.

Isobaric Box: These are quite popular over the last several years. Generally you have 2 subs facing each other in a ported enclosure. However the space between the subs is sealed (combination of the two boxes above). Isobaric boxes are usually fairly small due to the sealed portion causing less space required for the ported part. It is very important to power the subs equally and use identical subs. For box design, this is probably the most complicated. Works well with lower volume and high volume, but tends to be at its best at higher volume.

Sealed box with passive radiator: Passive radiators are probably something you havent looked into much as most general stereo shops dont carry them in stock and they take some design work to make them work properly. They can create alot more punch than the standard subwoofer, but will generally require a little more power to drive well, and do not function as well at lower volume, but better than a basic sealed box.

There is certainly an art to designing speaker boxes. Shape is important too, with square being the least optimal design. Some designs will work better with filler in the box (generally sealed units) and some do better without it (ported). If you use a box, build it properly, and dont use plywood (it will begin to come apart over time and sound like crud). Use high density fiber board. If you mono a pair of subs then the box is easier to build. If you power them separately then deciding whether you need to create a box with separate enclosures for each or using one large open space in the box will be the next choice. All of these things will basically be determined by the intended design of the subwoofer, and will change by brand and model.

My personal opinions on subwoofers. I love Kenwood head units, but never use kenwood speakers. I personally have never found much I liked about JBL and never use them (not even on my computer...haha). They aren't what they once were in my opinion. My preference (and not really in any order here) are Infinity, JL, Boston, and even some of the top end MTX (they have a different sound to me but suited for certain systems). I used to love Fosgate, but they are no longer what they used to be either (they have been sacrificing quality for quantity since they were bought out). If I had no budget, I would seek out some of the Velodyne car subs, but they are hard to find and I dont think are being made anymore, not to mention they are extremely expensive.

At this point I would say you have 2 ways to go.

1. Find the sub(s) you want, then determine the way you want them installed. You need to know the installation method to best choose the amplifier power you will want.

2. Find the amplifier you want and choose the sub(s) to best suit it. This is actually the harder way to go, but sometimes people really want a certain amp or their budget requires them to go this route. This will generally be you best way to stay within a budget, whereas #1 can cause you to go way beyond your budget if you are not careful.

Hope this helps, and doesnt make things worse or more confusing. Feel free to ask for any clarifications (I will try), as well I hope some others might chime in with their ideas/suggestions too. It all boils down to what sounds good to you, so dont go out and buy brands just cause someone suggests it. You're going to spend a fair amount of money so it should match what you want, not what someone else likes. Listen to what you are interested in first, and better yet try to find someone already using it and listen to it in a car.

Good luck.

Damn dude...mass props for all the time it must have taken to answer a basic question. No offense to anybody intended, but something as generic as 'i want a sub, what should i get' generally doesn't get the kind of response you gave. Thats sorta like 'i need tires...whats kind is good', know what I mean?

Gold star for you. Damn, this site rocks.....


:clap:

Well, I try :). I also like to write.

Deciding on car stereo components isn't one of those things that should be done just on a compulsive buy, especially when one is looking to do a system in the higher wattage catagory. If you do, you can quickly end up with a crappy system, damaged components, and alot of lost money. (I've been through all those steps before...haha).

For about 10-12 years it was a hobby of mine, although keep in mind I never did this stuff professionally...just a personal hobby. The only professional work I have done was in the high end, hi-fi, home theatre/stereo sales and installation, which is somewhat of a different world, but shares a few things in common with car systems (only the basics really). Besides for optimal sound reproduction, a car is one of the worst places to ever attempt this. I wanted to get into competition at one time, but the costs involved to even consider this were well beyond any means I had (never really had the car for it either).

Anyways, it's an expensive hobby that can get its hooks into you quick and drain your bank account consistently for years. I don't intend on try to make things more confusing, but the amount of choices you can go with are broad, and the sound one really wants can be determined or frustrated by the route you go. No need to jump in ill-informed and potentially end up with a system that you dont like.

It is also a hard to subject to ask for higher end advice on as so many who do so (and know what they are doing) can be very biased on brands which can skew their suggestions and lead one away from what they really want. I too have my biases but I try to keep them at a minimum. True, the question was simple, but also broad, which can also lead to people trying to point you in a direction you don't want to go. Alot of what I have written may not really pertain to your actual desire, but is kind of a part of the thought process behind where such suggestions come from. So, if nothing else you can determine what information suits your needs the best and know where it comes from.

I am also picky about sound/speakers. Moreso than the average person, so keep that in mind. I like loud music and such, but only when the fulls pecturm is equally reproduced and done so properly, but with that comes a higher cost. That may not really be what you are after, but it can help you determine which way YOU want to go. Nothing said will ever compare to actually listening to systems and being able to decide yourself. Since there are so many choices to look at, hopefully with a little information you can greatly narrow down what interests you, and in the long run, get what you want on the first try (it took me alot of time and money to learn that one).

If you want a solid all-around sound system, that takes time, preparation and design work to properly pair up all the components well. If you just want alot of bass, that is easy and can be accomplished any number of ways.

Good luck.

100% on that. Systems that are loud just for the sake of being loud are useless to me personally. It's gotta sound clear.

It's funny to me how many people around my area drive around in a POS car (bad paint, body damage, etc) and put a $2500 set of tires and wheels on it and then drop in a pair of ridiculous subwoofers so that their trunk or rear gate rattles like crazy, yet they never replaced any of the other stock speakers. So it's all bassand nothing else and looks like crud.

Sure they get attention, but it's usually people laughing at them.

Put together a good system and the attention is usually good attention (if that's what you are after). Personally, I couldn't care any less about attention, I just like my music fairly loud and clear with good bass.

However, my real stereo expense is in my home theatre and no longer in the car.