Add a sub bazooka?

[sho305]

I might have found a deal. I have one of those kraco 8" amplified sub tubes. It was cheap and its small, but it works wonders on factory stereos. I used it in many a rental car;). You tap one set of speaker leads for input and hot and ground, thats it. Also used it in a car that had 6 speakers on a high power deck and this in back, it sounded better than you would think something without an amp could (without a real amp as the one in the tube aint much to look at but it works). You can dial the bass down on the deck so it can go louder, then use the tube to make up for it plus. It actually thumps a little for one 8". I also put a trailer plug on it so I can swap it out if I need the trunk room.

Anyhow, I was in the local wallmart and they had 8" Bazooka amplified tubes for $99. Thats cheap for a bazooka let alone an amped one...maybe its a china version or something. But it should be better than my $60 Kraco right? They work great in cars for low power systems, seems like they might do the same in a boat...and they are small and light, easy to install. Just an idea, and has anyone used one yet?

In fact you could wire your car and boat and take it with you. Yeah subs and amps are better, but if you don't have subs or an amp...and this one might even keep up with a smaller amp on the regular speakers.

http://www.sasbazooka.com/productAutoAmplifiedBTsOther.asp

I did find another one that looks about the same on the cicuit city website for $99 also, but some people said they got them for $80.

[alspaugh1]

i have 1400 watt clarion with 10" bazooka it rocks. boat is a lightning stv copy.

[pwerwagn]

I saw that 8" bazooka at wally world a while back also. Im not so sure its a normal bazooka. Reason I say this, If you look at pioneer stuff for example, most of their head units are a DEH-XXX 4 digit number for example. however, at wal mart, its like DEH-XX, only 2 digits. Ive heard they get the lower quality stuff, and in some cases its actually a different part/product number.

But for 99$, It may be worth the gamble.
I've had one system with 2 10" bazookas (the older RS, DVC) driven by an alpine T757 and it sounded clean. My buddy has a grand national with 4 BT10's driven by some PG amps and its nice and clean as well.

I think im gonna run the bazookas in my boat, probably spring for the non-amp'd marine version if I can find them in Dual 4 ohm voice coils.

Let me know how it sounds if you end up getting one.

--Jeff

[skydog]

I had one in my Ally it help a ton!

[sho305]

I think it is a special walmart version, in fact the bazooka site says as much. It lists various wattage for it, the circuit city ones appears the same with different specs....who knows, but I know what the kraco can do and figure it would be better.

Nomatter what you do an 8" is not going to thump you hard, but for a simple system if you want a little more than a high power deck, they really work nice just for that. They wake up a standard factory stereo in a car like something else. I bet if you had just a deck and speakers in a boat and added this, you'd be amazed.

I just put a 10" jensen in a (jensen factory) bandpass box (that someone gave me) in my car. Its on a sansui amp that is bridged mono into its 4 ohms and rated at 300 watts that way. The box sounds good at normal volumes, but when you crank it at a certain point it just stops making more sound. Its also tight, I can't run it over 70Hz on the x-over. I know its only one ten anyway, but its pretty loud at that point and I was not trying for a massive system or I would have put bigger stuff in there. However I think I can get much more with a different sub setup like two tens in the deck, because I have room in this car but would have to get another rear deck to carve up. You can't feel it is what I don't like, you can hear it....maybe its just because that box does not get below 50hz much? Well it works I'll fiddle with it more later. I need trunk room in that car, so the rear deck freeair sounds like the best way....and I know that will work fine on 300 watts.

I made a few bandpass boxes but I made them for home stereos to use with little bookshelf speakers...and so no crossovers needed. Those I made bigger and tuned lower than you might a car unit. They were not as efficient that way but they did sound pretty good. I used a 4ohm DVC 8 and a DVC 10 in another, tuned it to 50-60hz. 4 ohms helped it a little. I had better luck with ported boxes in cars. Thing I didn't like then and is the same problem in a boat; is those boxes are heavy. I was thinking of making a tube myself but no time now. I used to make my boxes out of ply because it was lighter, and they worked fine.

I might buy that bazooka for my other car, the kraco died but I got it to work again for now. The little gain adjuster keeps hassling me. I had to solder it back in once or twice and now it was falling apart. Its been pounding for about 7 years in many cars though so I can't complain. They had a larger amp'ed version but I could never find a place to buy it.

[VectorPat]

I put 2 of the 8" marine versions under the front deck of my boat. Sounds great!!!!

[Fast Fig]

A great combination I've had much success with holding up, & performing in marine applications, is a CLARION double din marine stereo driving four
6" PIONEER marine spkr. PUNCH amp.driving two 8" PIONEER spkr. PUNCH amp.driving two 8" marine bazooka tubes, CLARION round digital remote, & CLARION MP3/IPOD connector, two OPTIMA 1000 amp.batteries. This system
cranks!!!!!! Peace! FIG

[mystery dad]

Even though it's the Wal-Mart version, I'd be willing to bet that it'll way outperform the Kraco, just based on age. Not only based on the amount of use it sounds like the Kraco has gotten, but, most of the technology used years ago that was "State of the Art" is now being employed on even the most inexpensive sound equipment.

[sho305]

Good point but I'm not 100% sure...I'd guess the Bazooka would be better given their reputation. I did see a pic of it apart (maybe on walmart.com?) and the amp looks a lot like the kraco only maybe a little bigger. There is nothing to them, just a little board with some simple stuff mounted on the terminals going out. There is a piece of bent 1/8" aluminum for a heat sink, very plain. However I have read that amplifier tech is better and they can make class D sub amps very cheap and efficient now, so they are small and crank good since you don't need the quality there. The board is about 2" x 4" with no miniature stuff on it. Darn thing has been going forever. This last time the volume adjustment was freaking out again and I ended up taking it apart. I put it together tighter after finding nothing wrong except the tabs were not all the way bent...it works fine now. If I had the extra cash I'd get one for the car and run both but I have too much other crap to do right now, and since the old one is still working.

I put my homemade bandpass DV 10" (about twice the size) in the car parallel with the jensen single 10" BP box (this is not the kraco sub tube car) thats on an amp. My box is tuned lower at about 60hz. It is deeper but I still can't get near the hammer out of it I could with freeair 10" x 2. I am going to get my fosgate 10s back from a friend who has them and put them in the rear deck, no boxes. I'd make a ported box but I need trunk room in this little car badly. Its only a 150w amp so that should work, otherwise I have a better amp I can put in. Problem is I am not getting much midbass out of my four door speakers so I'm tempted to put a pair of 6x9s I have laying around in the rear deck too, oldschool for sure. But then have to run 6 speakers on high side and I ony have a little alpine in there....I know I'd endup with a healthy system in there and I don't want to go hogwild.:confused: The deck is a highpower alpine and something like 40w/ch but I don't think it could make 6x9s keep up even with the little amp I have on highs. I have fairly good 4" + tweets seperates in front with passive X-overs and cheap 5.25s for fill in back. Even with the X-over turned down I get no bass at all out of them in the say 200hz range where they should be starting to go...but they are kind of small. It sounds clean though, except for the bandpass that's kind of slow. It sounds ok but only gives so much....not enough I guess.

[rchevelle71]

I have the $99 walmart one in my truck, and my neighbor has the $199 "better????" Circuit city one, they look and sound identical!!!!

[Fast Fig]

I have the $99 walmart one in my truck, and my neighbor has the $199 "better????" Circuit city one, they look and sound identical!!!!
A Far better piece of equipment than the ones you find at those big stores, I've installed those in certain lower budget installations and sure they sound good for a while but don't have to longevety of the marine ones, if you could possibly afford to spend the extra/difference you won't be sorry in the end. Peace! FIG

[rchevelle71]

A Far better piece of equipment than the ones you find at those big stores, I've installed those in certain lower budget installations and sure they sound good for a while but don't have to longevety of the marine ones, if you could possibly afford to spend the extra/difference you won't be sorry in the end. Peace! FIG

I agree on the marine ones for a boat, and Doller Marine in Hollywood has them in stock, but for the truck, the wally mart ones are just fine.

[WATERWINGS]

I got one of those, $99, from Curcuit City, and all it does for me is slightly fill in the mids...........there is NO THUMP at all.

If I turn the bass up on the EQ sub control, or turn the bass up on the tube, all it does is over travel the speaker, and no more bass, (or at least clean bass)

I don't have much room, but I will put a 10" sub, (speaker in box) up front and let it have 300 to 700 watts................that should do the trick.

Who wants the tube?

I think the diff in the two Bazooka tubes, is the $199 one has 100 watts, the $99 one has only 30 watts.

[Fast Fig]

Six months ago set-up a Fountain Open Fish with quite a baddass system with 4 marine bazooka dive/tanks with the fony regulators and everything, super sexxy looking set-up, and it cranked the tool bag across the deck...........lol....very crispy....used punch amps./ pioneer marine spk./ clarion double din marine stereo............crispy sounds............roughly $2,500.00 in equipment. rtl.
p.s. The bazooka tubes are rated at 200watts per coil x2
WW hope you don't rattle all your rubrail screws right off......................lmao
PEACE! FIG

[WATERWINGS]

On that note:

It does make enough bass to rattle the pop up cleats.............

.......which makes the tunes sound worse.

Anybody know any tricks to stop the pop up cleats from rattleing?

They are a LITTLE quiter with them popped up, but not much.

[Fast Fig]

On that note:

It does make enough bass to rattle the pop up cleats.............

.......which makes the tunes sound worse.

Anybody know any tricks to stop the pop up cleats from rattleing?

They are a LITTLE quiter with them popped up, but not much.
TURN THE VOLUME DOWN................JOHN..................LOL

[WATERWINGS]

What does "turn down" mean?

Is it anything like "SLOW DOWN" ?

I don't think I understand. ?????

[sho305]

Don't know about the cleats, but they are sensitive to placement. I would try moving it or pointing it the other way and see how it sounds. In cars it seems to work better with the port to the rear or side, but even how much air space is at one end or the other changes the response. In an suv it was better with the speaker pointing away from me, when it had no seat to go through.

I never said the cheap ones were a powerhouse but with a high power deck in a car they work great, great price, no hassle to install, and no amp/x-over /or even RCAs to fiddle with. Plus they are lightweight, and with a plug on the wires you can toss them out for more room if you need. There is no way they compare to a real system, even my cheap single 10" bandpass box has more. But it required a bunch of other junk to be installed too. I am curious what two of them would sound like though...but really a 10" unit would be much better. 8" never can get it on no matter what you do, I've put 6 of them in a car before and 2 10" still did better when it came to shaking your head a little.

I don't go for these small boxes anyway, some like them but I hate them. They have no thunder, and it you crank the x-over down nothing comes out. Can't feel it at all. Most of the premade boxes are on the small side, so that is to be expected. I did spot some concrete tube forms the other day that were 12"....would make a killer light box for a 10" sub, but I don't have time to play right now. I pulled the end off my little sub tube, its just the same hard paperboard with the plastic ends hot glued on. I simply slid it back on and put screws all the way around once I had it fixed.

[WATERWINGS]

Thats also gonna be the prob when I put the 10" with box against the bulkhead in between the tunnels, (in front of my feet).

The box will be to small for the 10, (volume wise, (area), but there is no more room.

I thought about cutting out the bulkhead for a 10, (or 12), but the bulkhead is not sealed to the deck, and I am afraid it will not have the bass I want unless it is air tight.

Same with my pickup truck, I have two 12's behind the seat, (single cab), and use up every bit of room back there, and the boxes are still to small for the 12's, but it still gives a pretty good back massage.

[sho305]

If you get the right sub you can get close to 1 cubic foot with a 10 in a sealed box. On the other hand I've had great luck with freeairs, you just can't put huge watts into them but usually don't need to. As long as there is a ways from the sub to where the board stops it will work ok, I think the size of the speaker? Can also damp them with something to slow them down a little. Or even pack the void with foam or something. Freeairs move tons of air, and you need an amp with good dampening or a subsonic filter...or just a good amp. I have a 120watt that worked better on freeair or a ported big box subs than two 300watt and a 150 watt amp I tried, on 2 and 4 10"s. You could actually hear that car over a mile away w/4 tens.:D I used to blow 30 amp fuses on the amps. But I like the thunder, I like it tuned low so I can feel it. Whatever your setup the amp, speaker type, and enclosure all make tons of difference and need to work together.

[WATERWINGS]

Since I was waiting for my motor to get here, I had time to build the 10" speaker box for the sub.

I went with a bridged 600 watt amp for the 10, and boy do my pop-up cleats rattle now........:eek:

I have 720 watts going to the two Polk 6 x 9's, and they usually stay in the sponsons unless I stop at the beach or along the way for a cold one, then I pull them out and set them on the rear hatch, or in the floor like they are in the pic, (if I am sitting in the back seat)

Carpet is next.....after seeing how ugly the floor is in the pic.

[sho305]

That looks good, how does it sound? Do you have a mount or something for the 6x9 boxes to hold them in the sides while driving?

LOL, looks like that is the only thing in the boat.:cool:

[WATERWINGS]

They fit tightly in the sponsons, and stay there the whole time.

I had the seat out to add the sub.

[WATERWINGS]

OH, Sho,

It has tons of bass, even have alot of it cut back, and still rattles the pop up cleats.

Wish I could have built a bigger box, but it still kicks pretty good.

If you sit in the drivers seat, it vibrates your shoes, pant legs, and ...........well you get the idea.

[sho305]

FYI, I spied the Bazooka at WMT marked down from $99, I think it was marked down $20.

[WATERWINGS]

My 720 watt amp kept losing one channel, so I took the 600 watt off of the 10, and hooked it up to the 6 x 9 Polks........

Then bought a 1000 watt, (I know, not REALLY 1000 watts, but that is what they advertise it at), and put that to the 10" sub...........

TONS of bass now, even still with the levels turned down.

1600 watts tends to kill the batt, so I had to buy a jump box , (just in case),
It was hard to start the motor with the pull rope and a light weight flywheel. (but I did it)

[imq707s]

I have one of the 10" Bazooka Tube's with the built in amp, and it sounds awesome in my Vegas. I have it in the back, behind the rear bench seat. I think it pretty much uses that whole back space as a box. I got it off of ebay for around $75 I think. It doens't use much power either....I can run it all day and still fire up the motor to get home :D

For the money, you can't beat one of those Bazooka tubes.

[M-Dog]

I had those things and they sucked, get a MTX sub kit ! Comes with a 10" sub, box, amp and wiring kit for 250 bucks or go big! I have around 4500 bucks in stereo equipment in a extended cab chevy :eek: .

[merccoop]

If you guys are looking for high quality (and LOUD) bass, with minimal space, I would suggest you check out Elemental Designs' subs. I have owned just one, but their newer designs are amazing in small boxes. As soon as I get a boat, I'm putting an order in for a sub, and a few of their component speakers. Their 13Ov.2 (their highend 12inch) works best in just a 1 cubic foot sealed box. Although alittle pricey (around $200), they are amazing! Even their Kv.2 (cheaper) sound excellent. Their 9Kv.2 (midpriced 8 inch) is only 95 dollars and can be used in a .3 cubic foot box!!! Hows that for size??

http://www.edesignaudio.com/

Not many people have heard of them but I assure you everyone that has is more than impressed with their product and customer service. I actually went to highschool with the guy who owns it and he knows his stuff. Read some of the reviews on their site!

Oh yeah, and they have some pretty good excusion videos on their higher end stuff.
http://edesignaudio.com/edv2/19ov2_video.php

[sho305]

I have a set of fosgate 10s I am going to put in my car when I get a minute, but I have to make a plate to fit in the car...freeair:cool: Only have a little amp on sub but.......

I am so tired of that single 10 bandpass box, it sucks. Is that normal? The thing sounds good at low and normal volumes but when you hammer it up it just stops; it will not get any louder. It does not distort. I have an ancient alpine 3518, I think that means 35w max and 18/ch (obviously underrated)....it is big and heavy, weighs twice what the 300 bridged so-so sansui does I have on the sub, is near the same size and gets hot. Anyway, the high side ends up louder than the sub when I crank it. The sub amp never gets hot, got a fan on them both though. I am sure a twin 10 box would do more but thats too big for the car, going to mount a plate to the back deck and see how old school works. It does not have to go super loud but come on, and the response is not good it has no midbass. If you turn the x-over up the bandpass sounds crappy/boomy. High side has pair of 5.25s in back and seperates 4"/tweets in front (no bass there). I do have some old 8 subs I could run with the 10s too, but I don't think they are good for free air and I'd have to choke them down or something...or run on high side somehow. They are boston acustics or something. But, point of this was to use the junk I had laying around.

That cheap bazooka is $85 at wmt right now. They had some big 12" carbon fiber sub for $50, last one but I think I need the good old two tens.

Someone else was talking about a sub they bought and made a box for, it was less than 200 though. I never liked 12s that well, the sound was not right unless you ran them with other stuff. Could just be me. I'd rather not have a box at all if I can in this car, I carry stuff in there and fill the trunk right up sometimes....just a little car. Might have been this one: http://www.ascendantaudio.com/assassin10specs.html#enclosure
In the old days I bought 4 of these for $15ea and ran a 300w amp at 2 ohms all free air in a small trunk (late 70s comaro/trans am), it would shake the car nicely: http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=pyrwx10&store=&catid=368

[merccoop]

Maybe its just me, but I haven't heard any speakers bought from walmart that didn't sound sub-par. No offense to those of you that have good success with them, I guess I'm just scared of anything they sell and have such low expecations for anything in that department of wally world. I would have to say, there is a reason they carry it so cheap. I had an old roommate that got their whole stereo from the walmart electronics department; a cheap sony deck, cheapo pioneer speakers, and a jolt something or other sub/amp package... worst sounding system I'd ever heard. oh well.

[sho305]

I don't doubt that, however IMO if your power is limited you can run cheap subs just fine...but they might have to be retuned some. In my systems I try to run a high quality head and x-over, and quality front high side speakers. To a lesser extent the high side amp should be good, the sub amp whatever works and the subs depend on power and how you use them. One of my best sounding systems ran 4 $15 pyramid paper subs. It was loud enough for me anyway since I just listened to it driving, it would stand up your neck hair. I imagine if I would have had it wfo all the time I would not be able to hear much these days.

Of course in a boat you have an open area so it is not as loud as in a car. Personally I have never used anything stereo from wallyworld excepting wiring or the like in a pinch.

Another problem is certain things work for certain apps...and you can't go buy everything and swap the stuff until you find what works. I used to get these soft dome tweeters pretty cheap from radio shack and use them in cars all the time. They worked exactly like more expensive ones such as bostons, philips, etc. It was harder to find the right caps to choke them the same way.

[M-Dog]

WallMart is ****, save the money and buy good stuff. My last system was stolen out of my truck, I thought it was okay...someone really liked it , more than me though :D Alpine deck, Clarion Amp and IMPP Pioneer Subs .

[sho305]

I have an Alpine deck I am using right now. It sounds/works nice, but the tuner might not have the best quality at times. It even has a remote to play with, but this little car does not need it. I'm not so sure why kids rip that stuff off anymore, they do it here and they catch them within a coupe months and for what....you can buy used/refurb equipment all over the place. Even a new 1000w amp can be had for ~$100. It used to cost a lot more for equipment.

So you think that cool carbon fiber looking 12" sub for $50 at wallyworld is not going to pound? :D:D:D lol I always want to try them but I know better, I could never make a 12" sound good in a car (or the way I liked anyway) unless there were other sizes running with it in a large system. I don't bother with that much stuff in my car when 10s get the job done for me. Wish I had a pa2 though, awesome preamp linear used to make. Could plug one into about any system and it helped a lot.

[M-Dog]

I have an Alpine deck I am using right now. It sounds/works nice, but the tuner might not have the best quality at times. It even has a remote to play with, but this little car does not need it. I'm not so sure why kids rip that stuff off anymore, they do it here and they catch them within a coupe months and for what....you can buy used/refurb equipment all over the place. Even a new 1000w amp can be had for ~$100. It used to cost a lot more for equipment.

So you think that cool carbon fiber looking 12" sub for $50 at wallyworld is not going to pound? :D:D:D lol I always want to try them but I know better, I could never make a 12" sound good in a car (or the way I liked anyway) unless there were other sizes running with it in a large system. I don't bother with that much stuff in my car when 10s get the job done for me. Wish I had a pa2 though, awesome preamp linear used to make. Could plug one into about any system and it helped a lot.

I love Alpine decks and buying amps through ebay store is the way to fly :cool: I just got a 2700watt 4 channel for 140 bucks. I bet some thief is just waiting to rip off my truck again :(

Wally world crap, looks greattttt in other peoples cars and trucks :D It's like those 4 12" hear them from a block away on ebay that go for 14 bucks, shipping is 4 times what they want for them :p I think they mean the dogs howling :D :D

[Skatin]

[QUOTE=M-Dog]I love Alpine decks and buying amps through ebay store is the way to fly :cool: I just got a 2700watt 4 channel for 140 bucks. I bet some thief is just waiting to rip off my truck again :(

2700watt for $140 bucks????? What kind of Amp?

[M-Dog]

[quote=M-Dog]I love Alpine decks and buying amps through ebay store is the way to fly :cool: I just got a 2700watt 4 channel for 140 bucks. I bet some thief is just waiting to rip off my truck again :(

2700watt for $140 bucks????? What kind of Amp?

It's a Pyramid PB2700, I know my Clarion 1500RMS Mono amp cost me 600 bucks. If it sucks, put it in something I will be selling soon..bye-bye :D :D

[Skatin]

[quote=Skatin]

It's a Pyramid PB2700, I know my Clarion 1500RMS Mono amp cost me 600 bucks. If it sucks, put it in something I will be selling soon..bye-bye :D :D


I prefer US AMPS. Very expensive but they are handmade in the US and awesome..

[M-Dog]

[quote=M-Dog]


I prefer US AMPS. Very expensive but they are handmade in the US and awesome..

I will check it out :cool:

[sho305]

You can try to find one of these, http://www.linearpower.com/lpforsale.html
I installed some of the 5002s, they had big warning stickers on the leads not to electrocute yourself:). Big oldschool power. Ran some 15" (or 18" maybe) fosgates with one in a truck, they were mounted in a big sealed box under a half topper deal with a mesh grill over them. I could put all my weight on one woofer cone and it would hold me, they had braking coils. It went so loud you had to have ear plugs just to get next to the truck. Except for competing it was pointless. We tried to tune it in better and the sales people a couple hundred feet away in a concrete building came running outside yelling at us:D. We said hey, you sold it to him. That is when we proved to them that kenwood crossovers sucked because it sounded really bad, it also had 4 or 6 8"s, 4 5"s, and 6 tweeters. We put those XO-2 linears in and it was much better. That guy was really nuts, I wonder if he is still alive. He raced modified quads and stuff like that.

[sho305]

I did find a pyle amplified tube in 10" and 12" on etronics.com. There was one review that was not that good, but they are also pretty cheap at well under $100 and the guy compared it to a $200 bazooka. Pyle also makes what looks like a better one that I did not look for price on, but is on their site. The cheap one is round and blue, the better ones are round but flat on the bottom.

LOL! Here is a good sub: http://www.ubid.com/Crossfire_CF210_CF2_Series_10%22_250W_Car_Subwoofer/a10893337.html

[baja200merk]

On that note:

It does make enough bass to rattle the pop up cleats.............

.......which makes the tunes sound worse.

Anybody know any tricks to stop the pop up cleats from rattleing?

They are a LITTLE quiter with them popped up, but not much.

glue a small rubber washer or 2 under the center of the cleat in the mount, make it thick enough so you have to push it down for it to lock down. My friends armstrong tunnel has an infinity system in it the cleats dont rattle ant more :D . Oh this prolly only works on the pop ups with the little button that releases them :o (like his)