Audio Too many speakers?

[napkinthief]

Ok let me list what I have in there now:

Pioneer DEH-1500 50x4 Cd Player/Tuner
Alpine 2-way 4.5" in the front
Pioneer 5-way 6x9 in the back
Sony Xplod 12" 300rms subs (2 of em)
Sony Xplod 1400 watt max amp wired with 2 gauge 150amp fuse

I was thinking of putting the stock speakers back into their locations and custom wiring a second 4 channel amp for the aftermarket speakers.

Questions are...

Would the 2 gauge power cable be enough for supporting the 1400 watt max sub amp and another amp, or would I need a thicker or secondary power cable.

Would the sound overall be louder hooking up more speakers? The stock speakers are one way low quality speakers. Would I be better off leaving them out, or running them off the headunit and running the aftermarket speakers off a new amp?

 

[delta448]

I used to have a pretty similar setup to yours. Then I joined this site. My car went on a bit of a diet, lost about 350-400lbs of equipment. Still have it all in storage somewhere.

Would the 2 gauge power cable be enough for supporting the 1400 watt max sub amp and another amp, or would I need a thicker or secondary power cable.

It would probably be enough depending on the size of the second amp. But a second power cable is better and will be easier on the smaller amp when the big amp is sucking a lot of power. A rather large capacitor located a short distance from the amps would be a good idea if you use only one power cable.

Would the sound overall be louder hooking up more speakers?

Yes, but it'd also draw more demand from the battery and charging system. Not good for performance or reliability at all.

The stock speakers are one way low quality speakers. Would I be better off leaving them out, or running them off the headunit and running the aftermarket speakers off a new amp?

Leave them out for sound quality. Add the second amp anyways if you want to improve sound quality or add more volume from the aftermarket speakers.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

you are going to be running subs, don't focus too much on those rear speakers then as they only serve for rear fill, and a tuned setup would have you hardly even hearing those to begin with, meaning a waste of money if you get nice rear speakers, and also a waste of money for a 4 chn. amp, which in turn leads to wasted amp power since you will have it tuned down for proper tune.

instead trash those 2-way 4.5s.. by the way why are you getting 4.5"s? get components up front, stock size, 6.5" with the tweeters included in the dash.

get any rear speakers, again since you are using subs, don't focus too much on this area..

instead of a 4ch amp to power all the speakers, get a 2 channel amp and power the components, have the rear being powered of deck power, and of course you have your sub and amp, should sound mighty fine

you'll be saving money, better sound field, and having more power to the front components which matter most

 

[shaggyslaser]

Sounds like someone works in the car audio industry, too! ^^^

For convenience, 2 amps can be run off from 4ga wire, but not as efficiently as 2ga. If you are looking for a sound system with clarity, Redturboeclipse said it best, the back are for fill. Components up front are going to give you the best in clarity because the crossovers will seperate the frequencies of the sound waves and keep the higher frequencies in the tweeters and the lower frequencies in the woofer. I would try to do a 4 channel amp for the speakers, but have the rear speakers tuned for the near impossible to get, midrange bass.

 

[Defiant]

Waitaminute. 2ga? Is this AWG 2ga? Holy crap, that's welding cable. A damned stereo has any use for this? WTF

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Waitaminute. 2ga? Is this AWG 2ga? Holy crap, that's welding cable. A damned stereo has any use for this? WTF

Indeed. They will even use 0ga.

To the OP, my suggestion is to concentrate on creating a nice front stage. You have amps and subs, that's great, but bass is only 3% of the sound you hear, where do you want your money spent?

Scrap the idea of piling in more speakers and get yourself a good 6.5" component system running ~110+watts RMS PER CHANNEL and you'll be blown away.

Elemental Designs makes wonderful amps and component sets at a good price - but CDT Audio takes the cake for great component speakers at a great price.

MB quart can suck it

 

[99gst_racer]

Waitaminute. 2ga? Is this AWG 2ga? Holy crap, that's welding cable. A damned stereo has any use for this? WTF

Big stereos need big power cable.

My current 2G is my first vehicle that didn't have zero gauge power cable. Back in the 90's that stuff was $7/ft.

 

[boostintsi]

they even hVW 3/0G wire now. believe me its frikken huge.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Indeed. They will even use 0ga.

To the OP, my suggestion is to concentrate on creating a nice front stage. You have amps and subs, that's great, but bass is only 3% of the sound you hear, where do you want your money spent?

Scrap the idea of piling in more speakers and get yourself a good 6.5" component system running ~110+watts RMS PER CHANNEL and you'll be blown away.

Elemental Designs makes wonderful amps and component sets at a good price - but CDT Audio takes the cake for great component speakers at a great price.

MB quart can suck it

similar to what i said but i doubt the OP is willing to pay the price of 6.5 components that ask for 110w RMS per channel! and the amp that will supply that,

he is looking for budget/mediocore, but even then it still holds true, even if going cheap, just apply the same rules and the system will still be a big improvement over stock