lol you people have alot to learn... I did
IASCA (
International Auto Sound Challenge Association) copetition back in the day... I'm not REAL famaliar with an alpine head unit... but I can guarantee you that a REAL bass freq. is anywhere from 20-80 hertz... anything MORE than that is MID-range.. PERIOD.... if you "centered" your DBFB (Dynamic Bass Frequency Boost) around 100 or 200 hertz... you will only make the stereo noizy... not bass boosted..
I can almost guarantee you that the hertz listed is the crossover frequency for the UPPER limit of the Bass Frequency Boost...
and the wider the boost the greater the boost...
and on your comment on "do I need subs?" well.. unless you have some SERIOUS and I do mean SERIOUS component speakers you won't even hear a bass frequency worth a flip....
yes the lil factory speakers will play a 40 hertz waveform... but its gonna sound terrible and not have any kick...
most factory speakers have a sound to noise ratio of about 80dB's at max volume within the 80-12,000 Hertz range... and under 80 it drops DRASTICALLY to around 40-30dB's..
Just for some kick and idea.. a good rule of thumb: every 7dB's is TWICE a loud as the number b4 it.. say 87dB's is TWICE as loud as 80, and 94 is TWICE that of 87 and 4 TIMES that of 80... etc... its exponential..
anyways... my advice.... find a friend that can do install, most car stereo shops will FUCK you on install, then find some subwoofer on the net that has some credibility to it... buy one from that company that has a GIGANTIC magnet on it >80oz (ideaolgically 100oz for a 10, 120 for a 12 etc.)... (easiest way to explain what a good sub is to ppl who are clueless)
then get an amplifier that has the BEST wattage output for your $, watts, are watts, are watts... no REAL need to find an Alpine amp or Boston Acoustics or whatever unless you are hooking a computer to test the waveform... a Pyramid amp or whatever cheap one you find will work wonders.. get like a 500 watt amp or better.. (check the wattage handling of the subwoofer)
wire that up, put some cheap lil highpass in-line sound filters on the speaker wire for your high's (the factory speakers) and then blow your eardrums out....
you'll thank me later
oh and all your connecting cable... radio shack works fine.. don't bother with the 120$ RCA cables.. get the 10$ one from radio shack, just don't place the signal cable (RCA) next to your power cable...
