Car audio, again...

[gamarada717]

Ok, so my car (92 camaro) has absolutly no sound system in it at all. The guy who had it before me (it's repo'd) ripped everything out, so I'm starting from scratch. I don't know much about car audio, but some friends have showed me a few things and helped me layout my setup. None of the stuff that I have is installed.

I got this headunit brand new at half off. (Kenwood EZ-500)


I planned on these for my dash. (4x6 3 way pioneer)


I don't know what 6x9s for my rear.

I'm building a box for my rear hatch for a 12 inch sub. (probably ten...depends on price)

Money is not too bad of a problem here...I want to keep it as low as possible, but I have about 900 dollars right now. The lower I can keep this and still have a quality system, the better, because my interior needs some work.

So, here's what I need to know. Should I power my 6x9s off my deck? Should I buy a cheaper 2 channel amp and run them off that, and then a mono for my sub? Or should I get a multi channel amp and run my subs and 6x9s off of that? I don't know what's a good brand for any of this stuff, amps, subs, wiring, or anything, because I've never dealt with car stereo before. I listen to heavy metal to acoustical, and music is a big part of my life, so I want this to sound great. I don't know whether I need a capacitator, or a crossover. I will be using an ipod in this car also, so should I get cables for the RCA jacks and a converter for the 1/8th input?

I'm open to all ideas...waiting to hear from Miscue, especially. Also, feel free to call me stupid and ignorant, because I know no better than what I've gotten from friends and the internet.

[Miscue]

This is what I would personally do with that car, although you might not want to hear it. Get a basic deck, basic speakers - wait until you get a new car to go all out. Otherwise...

Preferrably, you should use 6.5" (or larger ) components up front - reserve the 6x9s or whatever for the back. If this isn't an option, then do what you have to do!

Use a 2-channel amp for your fronts, power rears off your deck unless you have the $ to run everything off an external amp and get 4-channel or something. Get a great 2-channel before you get a mediocre 4-channel.

A D-Class mono amp is good for your sub, otherwise get a regular amp with sufficient, clean wattage, and bridge it. The amp should have at least enough wattage to meet the sub's RMS rating. General rule of thumb is .5 Farad cap per 500W. You don't 'have' to use a cap necessarily, but you get better response with one. The purpose of a cap is for instantaneous discharge of power (not to keep headlights from dimming). When a sub wants a big draw of power right at that moment, your car's electrical system alone cannot do it well - it takes time to provide that power. You get better bass response.

You'll have to consider your power distribution, and how you're going to cable everything.

If you're building a box yourself for your sub... don't. You will not be able to do it correctly unless you do a lot of research on how to do it right. A lot of "pro shops" don't do it right. It's deceptively simple - but actually can get complicated. You have to get the right materials, use the right tools, get the dimensions right for the particular sub you are using, do the joints correctly, get it leak and rattle-proof... even this description is deceptively simple.

Edit:

Crossover is built-into the amp -> and components typically come with their own passive crossover, so you don't have to buy any. You have to be really hardcore to start being selective about what crossover you use.

You can plug your iPod or whatever into the Aux port of your deck, using whatever adaptor you need.

Unless you have a small sub (like 6", maybe 8" - and even still I don't like the idea), it's generally a bad idea to share an amp with your sub.

As far as brands go - it's a matter of taste. I generally ignore anything that you can buy from Circuit City... not that they're bad... usually they are just not high-end or medium high-end which is what I usually shoot for. But there are exceptions. It's a good idea not to be brand-biased, because sometimes a company that's so-so will put out something great at a good price - and sometimes a high-rep company will put out crap. I'd be more interested in particular models, or a line of models, moreso than brands. And some companies are a LOT of hype - don't listen to your friends. Ignore the hype!

There are good decks to be had from Clarion, Alpine, Pioneer Premiere, Kenwood, and some others. Unless you start getting the VERY expensive stuff, they're all in about the same league in my opinion.

If you look at something like XTant amps, Focal speakers, Alpine receivers, etc. - you're generally getting the good stuff... expensive though! Speakers, you just need to audition - run them through a variety of music - spend time listening to them. If you're looking at $100-200 speakers, I wouldn't bother with this. When they're about $300+, give them a good listen to see if you like them. Listen to the difference between titanium and silk tweeters and stuff too. Several component speakers come with your choice of Ti or silk - they might have like the same model except one with a T or S... or whatever.

If you can't audition stuff, a lot of time reviews on the net are pretty good - and accurate. If you have something with several reviews, and the descriptions are consistent - hopefully the manufacturer is not flooding the place - otherwise usually what the reviewers have to say is accurate. http://www.audioreview.com is a good review site. There are a few good caraudio forums to google as well - use them to ask questions.

Oh, and I forgot to even mention sound dampening. You don't need to go all out on it - although it's ideal for a competition system. But if you get some shakes/rattles - you might want to use some of it. Drives me nuts when people have vibrating license plates.

Also, don't forget your alarm system... and hide stuff as well as you can. It's a funny thing how your car gets broken into all of a sudden when you got stereo stuff.

[Madfraga]

man, that was pretty informative. nice job.


I have Focal coaxial speakers, and they sound great....when they play. The problem is that my right one doesn't want to work all the time. Half the time there is no sound coming out. What I usually have to do is crank the volume up REALLY LOUD (like 50+ on Pioneer's max 60) and then the speaker will start playing. If you turn it down sometimes it will continue to play and sound fine, other times it will start to crackle and almost sound like its blown, and other times it will just fade out completely. It's incredibly annoying and I don't know whats wrong. Don't think it's the speaker cuz I hooked up a different one and it did the same thing. Any clue whats wrong?

[teufelhunden]

Well, if it's not the speaker and it works sometimes, it's probably the amp.