So my older brother has apparently settled down to start behaving himself and raise a family, which is fine by me, because he let me have his old stereo equipment.
Since I have
zero car audio experience, it took me most of an afternoon to "install" the stuff, which is to say I ran some wires and left everything loose in the trunk.
The equipment:
- Pioneer GM-544X Amp (480W peak, 4-channel, bridgeable)
- Pioneer TS TRX-800 Truck Boxes (200W Peak each)
- Generic Amplifier wiring kit w/ 50amp fused positive line to battery
The amplifier is spliced directly into the stock rear speakers, which are still powered the stock deck. I've the the amplifier set to provide low-pass filtering, basically giving me a pair of ported 8" subs in the trunk. I'm impressed by how well they blend into the sound of the existing speakers, while still providing the power give a nice "kick" to the kidneys, and make the rear-view mirror bounce around.
My next step will be deciding how to secure this stuff in the trunk. I guess these boxes originally came with straps and mounts, but my brother thinks those have been trashed. Thoughts on configurations and mounting points would be appreciated.
Also, once I get everything tied down -- I'll probably start thinking about how to make it louder. What would be a good set of "next steps" after a setup like this? New deck? Better door or rear speakers? Bigger subs? Upgraded power?
And if nothing else, I thought some of you audiophiles would enjoy laughing at my feeble startup system.
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
everyone has to strt some where!
regardless it is still an improvement over what you had from factory. you could always get a few small piece of angle iron and fashion yourself up a bracket to hold them in. enjoy the new upgrade.
1997 RedR - ZedR
its a start, easiest thing i thought of was to secure the 2 boxes together side by side so the subs are facing the rear of the trunk and mount the amp to the rear of the box, and up against the back of the seat, it'll be cleaner.
99fireSE wrote:its a start, easiest thing i thought of was to secure the 2 boxes together side by side so the subs are facing the rear of the trunk and mount the amp to the rear of the box, and up against the back of the seat, it'll be cleaner.
Dont ever gift wrap equiptment no matter what it is.
put the amp on the back sea in the middle then put a box on each side next to the seat and bend yourself a bracket...Also please clean up that birds nest you call wiring
Its a start....get a hu next..a good one so you dont have to buy one again
I never realized how awkward the shape of the Cavalier trunk is until I started trying to work out how to fit these two rectangular boxes in there. I guess I'll work something out.
I'm a tad confused about the "giftwrapping" comment. I'm going to try and avoid driving any screws into the boxes themselves, at any rate.
In the meantime, I'm probably going to be keeping an eye open for a good set of replacement door speakers.
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
Gift wrap..... I think he meant, putting it all in one package so when it is stolen, you made it easy for the thief.
I did a little bit of clean up, and found a satisfactory way to arrange everything. The boxes rest snugly this way.
I'm fairly pleased with the way things sound. I think my next upgrade will be the door speakers. Any thoughts on what does or doesn't work in door speakers choices, assuming I'll be powering them with the factory stereo for a while? I read the FAQs and know I can stick lots of sizes in there, assuming I use adapters. I suppose I could do some extra wiring and use the extra channels on the amplifier if needed, but I'd lose some bass wattage that way.
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
That looks pretty good, a good place to start.
Only thing Id suggest, is trying to route the wires under the carpet, if you can do it without it bulging up on you.
wished my trunk looked that clean...good job
That looks great man. The only thing is I would have put the amp on either side of the spare tire compartment just for easier access but it looks great either way.
John W(Ranger1316) wrote:The only thing is I would have put the amp on either side of the spare tire compartment just for easier access but it looks great either way.
Good point. To be honest, I was just paranoid about driving screws anywhere else when I at least knew what was under the tire cover. Having the amp centered seemed like a nice touch anyways. As it is, it's true that I'll need a robby screwdriver to move it before I can get at the spare. Worst case, the four screws would be pretty easy to rip up in a pinch.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, August 25, 2007 7:33 PM
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
So I got tired of the 8" drivers a little bit quickly.
I picked up a dual-12" sub box from a coworker, and bought a couple of 12" Alpine Type-S subs from a local shop.
I'm not sure who makes this box, but it certainly seems to have an odd layout. The fronts of the subs are sealed and opposed (and behind plexi, for viewing), and the backs are each ported. I'm not an expert, but it sort of seems like a combination of bandpass and isobaric approaches. I get the best response from this box with one of the subs in reverse phase, which is understandable, whether it is the intended hookup method or not.
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
Looks a little more car-ish lol. I've never seen a box like that but it looks pretty good. Only thing I see is you could run the wiring to the amp under the carpet to clean it up a bit. But either way, that's a huge improvement.
prefab bandpass yuk
.
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
So that's a bandpass, eh? Well in any case, I only paid $50 for the box so I'm not too worried. It certainly seems like a large box -- is there any chance it might be approaching the dimensions for a proper bandpass? Also, I'm still wondering whether I'm supposed to be running the subs isobarically, or in sync (against each other). I have the right one reversed at the moment.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, September 04, 2007 10:20 AM
Shop Manuals, Brochures:
www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com
