[GSXRJJordan]

I did a pretty professional write-up on getting good audio out of a S13/S14... let me find it...

Edit: here we go.

I just read most of this, thinking "oh shit this is going to be another blind-leading-the-blind 240sx audio thread", until BustedS13 came in and said everything I'd say (well, most of it).

I hate 4x6's. They're fucking useless, unless you free-air mount an 8" somewhere to fill in.

Let me start by saying I used to be very interested in IASCA SQ, and built a great VW Golf to compete with under the direction of a guy named Devin Oliver that builds some of the best car amplifiers money can buy... www.trutechnology.com. I have a very decent system in my S13. Total $ is around $1200. That's NOTHING as far as SQ systems are concerned. I built this system to be small, inexpensive, and efficient.





In the first shot you can see the fiberglass door panel for my CDT 6.5" woofers, part of a custom set I put together - basically I got a mid-range component set (HD-series), and upgraded to their top-of-the-line crossover (CDT EX-560i) and their top-of-the-line silk 1" tweeter (CDT TW-25). I've got Dynamat lining the inside of the pod all the way into the door to reduce vibration and let the 6.5"s play all the way down to 250hz or so.

The second shot shows the tweeter mounted in the A pillar, pointed to play off the windshield. This takes care of the front soundstage VERY well. I run a potentiometer to dial in tweeter gain for windows up/down.

With my hookup, I can get this same component setup for you guys for <$400/set. Possibly much less.

My head unit's a mid-range Alpine - if you're serious about audio and don't want to run a line driver, don't get an Alpine. Pre-outs are kind of weak (although they claim to be 5v). I recommend Kenwood. Don't believe published pre-outs - ask around on caraudioforums/etc about which head units have the cleanest output, and buy accordingly.

I don't have any pictures of the back, but it's a 1.75 ft^3 vented box I built out of 3/4" MDF that's 12.5" tall (so it fits under my rear deck) and has about 5" of clearance on both sides between the strut towers (bass needs space to travel through to the cabin), and houses my Image Dynamics IDMax 10" and Arc Audio Foose Designs 4150 (conservatively rated at 80W RMSx4 @ 4ohms, so about 200W bridged into my 4ohm IDMax). I'll have to get some pics up. My first setup was a super cheap Soundstream SQ10" and Soundstream Rubicon 40w RMSx4, and sounded really good. As long as you go with clean power and a SQ-oriented (and therefore efficient) woofer, your bass will be very clean and sound good ALL THE TIME.

Long story short, you need:
- 6.5" drivers up front, and a door pod that points them at the opposing seat's head is ideal (and easy to make). If you're interested, I'll tell ya how to do it. Notice I don't have any rear speakers - don't need em.
- 10" sub for SQ, 12" sub for SPL. Good subs w/good power sound good, bad subs or good subs with bad power sound like ass. If you don't know what you're doing, contact me for build specs and I'll help you make a sealed box for your sub. Point it straight back, sitting against your strut tower bar.
- Decent 4ch amp. I can help you find something. Like BustedS13 said, Hifonics and Phoenix Gold make good sounding (and decently efficient) amps at GREAT prices.

I "bolded" all the equipment for skimmers. Anyone in the LA area can come hear my system if you're interested in great sound. If you like big boom in the trunk, mine'll do that too, but I don't let it PM me for any tips/tricks, I'd love to improve the 240sx community's audio setups.