Car Audio Central - Ultimate Car Audio Forum and Community

I just installed the SoundStream 800.5 myself, and I have mixed feelings. That thing gets hot, and I think it shut off today for a second because of it. When I touched the heatsink, I burned myself. Anyway, as far as wattage goes, I only have one sub (10inch TypeR) and to me, its barely enough to keep up with the speakers which are at 50w rms each. It depends on how loud you want your bass to be compared to the speakers.

yeah like when I did my mom's car alarm, it wasn't a matter of having a lot of high end gear in it, she just works night shift at a hospital as an RN, so ya get people drug seeking and such who try for easy cars to get money, and things like that.
I feel badly for people in that position, sure, but I'm not going to make my mother's car an easy mark because of any pity I may have. That being said, I spent about $65 on an Ungo/Clarion alarm for her SUV, and wired in a few other DEI sensors etc and made a very secure system of it. The problem I encountered was getting the installer's manual from Ungo. This is why most stores will not install alarms they don't sell. They eat any costs if there's a problem, and they can't get info from the companies who make the products because they aren't authorized dealers.

Needless to say for the Charger, I went with CompuStar's top end spread spectrum two-way alarm/remote starter with additional sensors. The alarm cost me around $600 and my own labor, but CS backs the alarm and supplies info even though I'm not a dealer for their products. They are a rare company in regards to alarms.
crimestopper, ungo, DEI/viper, clifford, alpine, and many other brands or companies are VERY tight lipped about install info, wire color codes etc for their alarms.

I'd be a compustar person if money weren't an issue. I'm not going to spend top dollar on an alarm for my Jeep Cherokee because i'll be getting rid of it in a little over a year when i go off to college. Then i'll spend the extra money. I also ordered a bright blinking led off ebay that is compatible with all alarms. It might be a good theft deterent. Rather than having your window broken into and then the alarm scaring them off..the light might make them a little uncomfortable to break in to begin with.Although its safe to say anyone who wants your stuff bad enough will get it no matter what kind of alarm you have. Someone told me your insurance lowers when you add an alarm. Is this true?

Im a Compustar person :sm29:

They get my votes!

crimestopper is good, I have used them before, but thae viper is the premier alarm. best warranty in the biz. plus if your ride gets jacked, they pay up to 2500 of your deductable!

If you're going to buy everything nib..you might be better off spending the extra money at the local shop. The 10" Titanium is a great sub from what i've heard. Although I think you could get somethin as good for cheaper. How bout a Shiva or two ported? I'm gettin a crimestopper w/ remote start from my local shop for $199 installed. Good basic alarm. Not sure if you have a dealer that sells them. Also they say their running a special on that alarm, but they've been sellin it for that cost for a while now. Like Ryan said, most shops wont install alarms unless you buy from them. I'm lucky enough to have a guy that will install anything. Your best bet is to just ask around.

When you buy off E Pay you take a chance!

When you buy off good online retailers such as thezeb.com your in good hands.

They may not even want to install gear not purchased from them!

With alarms most places will only install what they sell. If you buy an off brand alarm you may have a real tough time getting someone to install it for you!

absolutely

"A ported enclosure system consists of a driver mounted on one side of a box that has an open tunnel or port which allows the passage of air in and out of the box. At low frequencies, the vent contributes substantially to the output of the system.

The ported enclosure system is characterised by lower distortion and higher power handling in the system's operating range, and lower cutoff frequency than a sealed enclosure system using the same driver. Distortion rapidly increases below the cutoff frequency however as the driver becomes unloaded, and the transient response of a ported enclosure system is usually inferior to that of a sealed enclosure system using the same driver. However, the lower cutoff frequency and better power handling within the system's passband often makes ported systems the alignment of choice for many speaker builders."
- [url]http://www.diysubwoofers.org/prt/[/url]

key tricks:
tune the box low, near the Fs of the sub for best SQ. By doing this, you're usually within half an octave of the 20Hz hearing limit anyway and that's about where your subsonic filter will be. This means you really lose nothing to a sealed box by going ported in regards to how "low" it'll hit, and in fact with equal power, it'll hit harder being ported at that range. You'll also gain better power handling and better transient response, so in some ways the ported box is really offering you better detail to the music, having a faster driver response.

built properly, a vented enclosure can perform very well with minimal coloration or audible harmonics.

to Kiki- absolutely correct. everything works out when you compare apples to apples

as far as the gear goes, the viper is a great alarm. go with it.
the Kickpanels that is a really good deal, those things are awesome.
go ported, it will be louder and you don't have to have a huge amp to get more bass, unless you want SQ only, then sealed.
skip on the titanium sub, I had one in the past, sounds great, but a $175-200 sub will sound just as good and not cost 300.
let them install it if you have never done it before OR if you don't have a friend who actually knows what he is doing install it. I have seen more "my buddy installedededed it and now the magic smoke dun come out" installs than I can count. that's my 2 cents