OKay, first off, this has nothing to do with me but my buddy, i need someone on here to give a great explanation as to why you do not run your RCA wires along side your POwer wire for your amp, instead you run them on opposite sides of the car. Thanks lol, hes stubborn.
Now for me, I have a question abot what i should do. Right now i have Jl audio fronts and sony 6x9 rears, (i know not the best) and i have a12in inifnity 12.1 sub running off a JBL gto 600.11 amp i think. I am thinking of a few different things. Should i get rid of my sub and run a 4 channel amp for all my speakers? should i buy a 5 channel amp and run it all? or maybe just run the front or rears off an amp along with my subwoofer. Personally I like the subwoofer but when i get my volume around 25/35 my lights start dimming.., its fairly loud but not good for the altnerator lol. I have done the big 3 with 1/0 wiring which did help a bit but still. just wondering the input of some people on here. obvisouly without a sub im not gonna have hard hitting bass.. but without it i could have decent speaker sound i think.... another option i guess would be to run a 4 channel amp as well... but i think that might really strain my cars system. any thoughts?
As for RCAs by the power wire...simple...interference....I dont know the technical explanation for it though..
Now onto the next....
If it were me, I would run a 4 channel for the speakers inside the car, BUT before I even bothered putting an amplifier on the speakers, I would change the rears....sony has to go..after that you may not even want an amplifier on your speakers...but if you do, still, then I would throw a 4 channel in there and a mono amplifier on the sub. Make sure you have good size power and ground to both amplifiers. If you are concerned about the electrical system,,,, only thing I know to tell you is upgrade it more, or look for an amplifier that is very efficient, and still may need to upgrade lol..
"Hondas are like tampons, every pussy has one!!!"
hmm okay ill change my sonys out cuz yea they do suck, I get no bass output at all... But should I put maybe a 5 channel amp for my subwoofer to? Or from the sounds I get with just my speaks will I be more pleased than even having my subwoofer? I only ask cuz I've never hooked up my speaks to an amp so I don't know the sound.
hmm okay ill change my sonys out cuz yea they do suck, I get no bass output at all... But should I put maybe a 5 channel amp for my subwoofer to? Or from the sounds I get with just my speaks will I be more pleased than even having my subwoofer? I only ask cuz I've never hooked up my speaks to an amp so I don't know the sound.
The power wire can induce an electromagnetic field around itself when current is passed through it. Its the same idea behind making an electromagnet. The shielding on the wire will knock most of it down but it can become an issue when youre pull a lot of power.
Rears are a waste. Chuck em. If you want you can run fronts from 2 channels and bridge the last two to run the sub.
why do you say rears are a waste?
Guys, I am a HUGE advocate for a proper front stage... but when people are just upgrading stock speakers and amping them to get cleaner, louder sound, without going nuts, I don't see the issue...
Some people just want to upgrade all the stockers, throw a bit of power to them and be happy. If he isn't spending his money on a good comp set and a good sub, then why bother tossing the rears? he clearly isn't in it for the perfect sound stage and imaging. All too often, I see people who upgrade their stock coaxials and toss a sub in, as he has. If that's the route he has gone already, I wouldn't say to toss the rears.
I also can't fathom how you are pulling enough power to dim your lights... I'm running one of the most power hungry amps out there(JL Audio 500/5), and I don't have voltage issues in my 1983 Zephyr with stock everything.... Something is up if you have done the big 3 and are still dimming lights with 600ish watts. The system I had in my Cavalier was right around 600 watts out of 2 A/B amps. I don't see how a single 600 watts Class D is dimming. Maybe that amp is way less efficient than I think it is, but who knows...
My personal suggestion, IF you plan to spend a few hundred(at least) on replacing everything, Either make, or have someone make(I know a few people who can for you at a low price), some 1/2" or 3/4" baffles to mount 6.5" speakers up front. Snag a nice 6.5" component set and a 4 channel amp. Bridge the rear channels to your sub(or another sub that you replace it with), and run the components off the front 2 channels. With that all done, either run your rears off the stock head unit power as they are now but fade about 2/3 to the front so that when you crank the volume, your amped speakers put out their nice, loud, clean sound, but you don't send too much of the decks low crap power to the rears and make them distort. OR just toss the rear speakers all together. If you are running the typical sub configuration with the box(and port, if ported) facing the rear of the car, completely removing the rear speakers and getting some dampening material on the rear deck sheet metal will help with keeping rattles down, and letting more of the bass into the car.
If you are sticking to just stock size replacements, I still suggest amping everything. Upgrade the rears to something a little nicer, but you don't have to go insane on price, keep your JL's up front, and get a 4 channel amp that puts out like 50 watts to each channel. Amps like that can be had from many reputable companies for reasonable prices. Then just keep the sub setup you have, or swap it out. If tuned correctly, a sub really does help. When you have everything tuned right, and each speaker is playing the frequency range it was optimized for, you will be surprised how much more of your music you hear at any volume. Just make sure either you take it somewhere reputable, or you research like hell on how to tune things right. So you get the best sound, and the least chance of damaging your equipment.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Some say he invented November.
I too am an advocate for a tasty front stage. Even with my goofy philosophies and rear stage, I love how the front sounds. The rear is there cause I can't get any more midbass up there lafff.
Your car may do 13 sec @ 103 mph, but my car does 146db @ 35 hz.
hmm, yea like I just want something better than stock pretty much, I can't afford a really nice system and I dunno why my lights dim.. Maybe bad ground? So ill prolly just get a 4 channel amp and run it all off of there and possibly keep the sub. Noone has given any advice on a 5 channel amp though? Any thoughts, sorry I am a huge noob with this.
How do you suspect they are weak? Were you expecting more output than what they could supply? Not many 5 channels put out huge numbers on their A/B channels. How do you figure "not as good as a 'REAL' mono/4 channel"?? Most of these amps basically are just that inside one larger case.... Ugh, whatever dude. you are starting to sound like Anton, just shortly after asking questions, now you know it all....
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Some say he invented November.
JLAudioCavalier wrote:How do you suspect they are weak? Were you expecting more output than what they could supply? Not many 5 channels put out huge numbers on their A/B channels. How do you figure "not as good as a 'REAL' mono/4 channel"?? Most of these amps basically are just that inside one larger case.... Ugh, whatever dude. you are starting to sound like Anton, just shortly after asking questions, now you know it all....
not trying to say i know it all, hell, i don't know anything really. all i was saying is that it seems the pairing of the 4-channel and mono in that amp was, well, proportioned wrong. with gains properly set ala the sticky, the speakers were overpowered a great deal by the sub. i liked it, but all i was saying was if you were to be looking for something well balanced, look elsewhere.
car audio noob since 1984.
It needed a little more power on the mono sub channel, that's for sure. 600@2 ohm would have been a lot better.
Your car may do 13 sec @ 103 mph, but my car does 146db @ 35 hz.
Rich Grayo Jr. wrote:JLAudioCavalier wrote:How do you suspect they are weak? Were you expecting more output than what they could supply? Not many 5 channels put out huge numbers on their A/B channels. How do you figure "not as good as a 'REAL' mono/4 channel"?? Most of these amps basically are just that inside one larger case.... Ugh, whatever dude. you are starting to sound like Anton, just shortly after asking questions, now you know it all....
not trying to say i know it all, hell, i don't know anything really. all i was saying is that it seems the pairing of the 4-channel and mono in that amp was, well, proportioned wrong. with gains properly set ala the sticky, the speakers were overpowered a great deal by the sub. i liked it, but all i was saying was if you were to be looking for something well balanced, look elsewhere.
but you are still wrong. No, don't look elsewhere if a 5 channel does what you want. YOU had a bad experience with your sub having A: A ported box you weren't used to, B: Far too much greater of a power amount than your speakers or C: Both of those combined... Sorry but just because you set the gains how the sticky said to, doesn't make you a pro at tuning. AND just because, after setting the gains per the sticky here, your sub was a noticeable amount more powerful than your speakers, doesn't mean the amp wasn't putting out it's rated clean power to the speakers, it means your speakers weren't getting enough power in relation to the amount you sent your damn sub.
You cannot sit there and say "5 channel amps aren't balanced" or that a mono and 4 channel is a better set up. If they are putting out the same power, you will get the same results. PERIOD. Again, most 5 channel amp designs are simply the board of a mono and the board of a 4 channel. For example, my JL 500/5 IS EXACTLY a 250/1 board and then the front channels are a RIPS regulated 100X2, similar to a 300/2 just slightly less power. SAME DESIGN, AND DOES PUT OUT RATED POWER, and then the rears are an unregulated 25X2.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Some say he invented November.
well thanks for the help everyone.. I'm gonna use an amp.. Now for a really dumb question but I've never done it so I don't know. How do you go about hooking up the speakers to the amp? Do I leave em connected to the deck too?
well thanks for the help everyone.. I'm gonna use an amp.. Now for a really dumb question but I've never done it so I don't know. How do you go about hooking up the speakers to the amp? Do I leave em connected to the deck too?
nope you sure don't!
here is a quick run down on hooking up an amp for a noob(and seriously consider reading a LOT about tuning it, so you don't hurt your speakers or amp):
1. Disconnect negative battery cable and get it completely secured out of the way from being bumped back into the battery post.
2. I would run your main power wire here, in step 2. It's the biggest pain in the ass out of wiring an amp, so get it the hell out of the way!
-The easiest way through the firewall is through the big rubber grommet on the drivers side by your feet. You can poke a hole just big enough for the wire to be snug in there where it comes through.
-Also, once everything is situated, it wouldn't hurt to put a little silicone around the wire to make sure it's water tight. The "right" way of doing this, would be to go to an audio shop and buy a grommet just for the power wire. Drill the hole to the right size, put the grommet in the hole, then the wire through that.
-Next is removing the interior panels to run your power wire. Things to remove: Drivers side kick panel, door sill, rear seat bottom. All of these come out easily. If you don't want to take out the 1/4 interior trim, you don't have to. You should be able to manipulate an 8 or 4 gauge wire under it no problem.
- Run the power wire along the drivers side, either in the runner where the stock wiring is, or under the carpet. You should be able to, from here, figure out where you are mounting your amp and how to run the wire cleanly to that spot.
3. Run your RCA cables and remote turn on lead to the head unit(and the remote turn on lead at the same time!
-Honestly for this step, I would take out your center console, OR get long enough RCA's to go down the passenger side like you did the drivers side with the power wire. If you go down the center, you should be able to remove the center console, get the wire fed under the carpet as far as you can from the front, then literally push your arm from the rear of the car(rear seat bottom is out), towards the front and that should lift enough slack on the carpet to get the wires through.
4. Speaker wire....kind of a pain in the ass to be honest.
-Basically you will be running all new wire to each speaker. rears will be self explanatory for the most part. You should see how/where to run the speaker wire.
-Fronts are going to just be a pain. Take off door panels, feed the wire up each side of the car like the other wires, just obviously in the opposite direction lol. Then feed them through the rubber boot into the door. You should be golden from there. Make sure to have some spade connectors(female) for connecting the wire to each speaker.
That should basically be it for wiring. Tuning is another story.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Some say he invented November.
well thanks for the help everyone.. I'm gonna use an amp.. Now for a really dumb question but I've never done it so I don't know. How do you go about hooking up the speakers to the amp? Do I leave em connected to the deck too?
well thanks for the help everyone.. I'm gonna use an amp.. Now for a really dumb question but I've never done it so I don't know. How do you go about hooking up the speakers to the amp? Do I leave em connected to the deck too?
oops sorry for multiple posts, pc is gay... Thanks jl. Helps a lot
so basically all the speakers will connect only to the amp then and have no connection to the head unit itself, the headunit will be connected to the amp through rcas. so then from the headunit and the wiring harness i dont technically have to have those speakers wires all connected then? i should have mentioned that i do have an amp already. powering my sub,, i didnt know what to do about hooking up speakers, to the amp.
and on a side note, i have my sub disconnected atm, no dimming lights, but.. my deck dimms like crazy just running the 4 speakers when i put it up around like 28/35. and so on with the sub connected it starts around 25, could this be due to the fact that my speakers are trying to pull more power than it can provide them, minus the subwoofer? not that i have crazy speakers or anything, but the deck is 50x4, but the deck doesnt put out that all the time, so im guessing my speakers are overpowering the deck?
k im gonna get a 4ch amp and take out my sub for now and switch my rears to jlb's. i was looking ta amps, and one had a diagram that showed 2 sets of rcas going to the amp but it looked like it split from one rca off the deck? and also it showed I will have to wire the speaker wires from the deck to the 2 high input connectors for the amp? and then also run new wires from the speakers to the amp correct?
ok speaker wire will go from the amp to the speakers. the ONLY wires that will connect to the head unit will be RCA's and remote turn on for the amp. You go ahead and get your 4 channel and run the speakers off it. I don't know what kind of amp you are trying to run those speakers off, but if it's your mono, stop doing that! Once you get your 4 channel, you will need either 2 sets of RCA's, or a 4 channel set. Your head unit should have 2-3 sets of outputs hopefully, Front and Rear, or Front, Rear Sub. It will be self explanatory where each set goes at the amp
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Some say he invented November.
