noob audio Q's

[theycallmebruce]

i was looking into getting another head unit. not very familiar with audio stuff, but the stock head unit is pissing me off (problem reading CDs and radio reception that sucks ass).

what do i need? (besides the new unit itself)

is it straightforward unplug and plug in new one? do i need wiring harnesses? where can i get a storage bin for the 2nd DIN? Do I need a different faceplate?

Total noob at this. Any tidbits of info appreciated.

 

[DevilSperm]

you will need a wiring harness and an install kit....my kit for my 95 came with the 1 din opening with a eq half din at the bottom..i believe you can get different ones for the car..but that should be it

 

[theycallmebruce]

might i ask where u got the install kit that came with the different faceplate? Is the half din you have for the equalizer just an opening or can i get it with a storage compartment?

 

[98RedGs]

might i ask where u got the install kit that came with the different faceplate? Is the half din you have for the equalizer just an opening or can i get it with a storage compartment?

You can get the "cubby hole" with the install kit at almost any audio shop.
A wiring harness you will def need to pickup from an audio shop and they are easy to wireup. You can use "butt connectors" or you can "solder and heatshrink" them.

Mostly on the wiring harness it's connecting wires that are the same color together with the wires that are coming out of the radio. Then simply plugging it into the oem harness.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Moved to non-performance.

 

[Attack Eagle]

If you have the infinity system (and you probably do in a GST) you will lose your on dash tweeters b/c your factory amp will no longer be powered

the door mids and rears will run but the dash tweets wont.

no biggie if you are going to replace the door speakers with coaxials at the same time,
if not you will want to bypass the factory amp with some type of crossover. I used some I had left over from a previous install.
there supposedly is a 4 RCA to infinity amp adapter, but i have not personally used it.

The actual mounting of the radio etc is pretty easy as its Din. you dont need a kit, just the harness and pocket. They will both mount to the factory brackets

 

[theycallmebruce]

ok, i did some reading (audio in general is totally foreign to me).

this is the unit i was looking at:
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13726

i guess the spec that is related to what i need to do is:
4-Volt F/R/Sub Preamp output w/HPF & LPF

from what i read, and am trying to understand, a crossover with a high-pass filter will direct the higher frequency signals to the tweeters?

with this new unit, will i be using the factory amp at all?

 

[PaulPDX]

i guess the spec that is related to what i need to do is:
4-Volt F/R/Sub Preamp output w/HPF & LPF

from what i read, and am trying to understand, a crossover with a high-pass filter will direct the higher frequency signals to the tweeters?

Not really. It depends on the speakers. If you are running speakers without their own crossovers like most coaxial (woofer tweeter in one unit) or just plain jane speakers then what the head unit's HPF and LPF controls what frequency range gets sent to the speakers. For example, if you set the HPF at the h/u to 200 Hz then everything above 200Hz gets sent to the speakers.

If you are running speakers with their own crossovers like component separates (woofer and tweeter in separte units) then the crossovers that come with them does the job of splitting the signal coming from the h/u between the woofer and the tweeter. So, if the HPF is set at 200Hz, it goes to the crossover and then the lower frequencies are sent to the woofer and the higher frequencies are sent to the tweeter. The frequency cut off or the point of the split depends on the model and brand.

with this new unit, will i be using the factory amp at all?

It's possible... but why? why would you want to spend the extra $$ on a h/u with 3 sets of outputs to work with a lowly factory amp? I wouldn't recommend it.

You can usally find old stock (last year's model) amps for a good price. I recommend the Rockford Fosgates. Good quality, good prices on older models. Check mmxpress.com, thezeb.com, or sounddomain.com.

Hope that helped.

 

[Attack Eagle]

previous post has some good info:

the h/u xovers, low pass or high pass ar for easily using the factory speakers and integrating a sub... sounds great so far right? The crossover pretty low, most 250 or lower Hz.

Guess what though. you still either need an adapter to convert those rcas to work on the factory amp so you can still use the tweeters,

or

you need to physically bypass that amp and install a set of xovers ( which the factory amp had built in designed to split the signal up between tweeters and mids. (usually 2500 to 3500 Hz) You can then use H/u or external amplifier power.


in other words the head unit has only ONE of the 2 xover points you are going to need, and it is the same as the ones commonly available on any amplifier the hpf or LPF in the 50 - 250 hz range (bass not treble).

 

[theycallmebruce]

thanks for all the great info thus far.
so i'm looking at some amps.
what kind of wattage should i get and it should be 4 channel right?
i'm not looking for mind-blowing, super loud audio, but something good quality for people INSIDE the car (not for the people 3 blocks down). but yet something still good if i want to turn the volume up a few notches =P

i got the tip on Rockford Fosgates. i've never shopped for amps so i have no idea what to look for. what should i be paying for amps?

 

[98RedGs]

Depends on the size of the amp.
Wattage?
1-ohm Stable?
Name of the company that makes it?

 

[PaulPDX]

Most of the questions you asked can't really be answered by anyone but yourself...

How much should you be paying? well, how much do you want to spend?

Spend some time on Crutchfield.com. Their prices are pretty much standard retail price. Find what you like then search the web for the best prices if you want to save. If you don't mind Crutchfield's prices and would rather have great customer service, then it's probably best to stick with them. Or, if you don't want to deal with installation, and some local shops actually don't install stuff you bring in on your own... then spend some time at local shops.

How many channels and what type of H/U... it all really depends on how you want your system to be set up. Here are some typical configurations:

1) H/U with 3 pre-outs. 1 x 4ch amp for front & rear speakers. 1 x mono sub amp or bridged 2 ch. amp for sub. Or, 1 x 5 ch. amp. Most ideal... most costly.

2) H/U with 2 pre-outs. 1 pair of spears (no rear speakerss), 1 x 4 ch. amp. Run speakers off of 2 of the channels, bridge other two for sub. Fader control on the H/U wouldn't work right with this set up because it'd juggle volume between speakers and sub... and you can't really control the sub volume independantly of the speakers (a handy thing to have... some songs have too little bass, some have too much).

3) H/U with 2 pre-outs. 1 x 4 ch. amp. No sub.

Higher voltage of the pre-outs, cleaner sound... but for you... the standard / lower voltage is probably good enough.

Another thing on amps is that more power doesn't necessarily mean better amp. There are lots of "cheap" amps out there that claim too-good-to-be-true watts per dollar ratios. Some of the ratings are bogus ( tested at higher than 12v, obviously more power in... more power out). Some of these amps sacrifice reliability for power (Audiobahn, MA Audio etc.)

Anyway, there is really too much to explain... do spend some time on Crutchfield or talking to local shops. The more you familiarize yourself with the subject the better you will be prepared to make decisions based on your needs. It's hard for us to answer these questions because we don't know your musical tastes, how uptight you are about sound quality (some people are very picky), whether you care to spend thousands on audiophile quality stuff (Xtant etc.), or that you'd be satisfied with the K-mart special type stuff.

 

[theycallmebruce]

thanks.
i'll definitely do some more research before purchasing anything.

 

[PaulPDX]

If you want quality at a budget recommendations...

Rockford and Phoenix Gold Tantrums at Sounddomain.com.

Rockford recently revamped their entire product line so a lot of the older style amps are going at closeout prices. PG is revamping their lines as well. The tantrums are selling at a really good discount. The line used to be PG's middle line, very nice stuff.

Another place to get info (though mostly outdated) carreview.com. There is a car audio review section.

 

[theycallmebruce]

how's this amp?
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13431

do i have to match the amp to speakers?
i don't plan on upgrading the stock speakers yet and i was wondering if this would work or if they'll blow them out.
will a 4 channel allow me to use all 6 speakers in the car?

sorry for the noobish questions, but for the record, i originally posted in the noob section!

 

[PaulPDX]

Generally, 50 x 4 is plenty. So I think, for you, it'd be overkill to spend nearly $400 for that when you can get a 50 x 4 or 75 x 4 plus a 350 w mono sub amp for that much.

Not really necessary to match the speakers. Just about any speaker will work... all depends on how much you want to spend. Stock speakers will be fine for now... as long as you don't play them so loud that they distort... and when they do distort, you will know. It's like a flutter... much like putting your lips together and try to force air through.

Contrary to most beliefs, it is possible to not spend a lot to get good quality sound. Entry level speakers from the major brands can sound pretty decent. Look for the speakers' freq. response range while you shop. Generally over 20 KHz isn't audible to the human ear so it's kind of pointless to spend boku bucks for speakers that can go over that. Below 20 Hz isn't very audible either. Go to crutchfield.com and sounddomain.com to pick out what you like (both sites have good info, crutchfield is more detailed) and then search the web for the best prices on the ones you like.

 

[theycallmebruce]

ok, i spent a ton of time drawing a ghetto diagram with limited tools (MS Paint and MS Word), but I am having trouble getting it posted.

i think i've finally got it, but just want some confirmation before i go spend some bucks.

head unit i'm looking at:
RMS power output 23.2 watts, 52 x 4 max? (wtf does this mean)
4-volt HP/LP/sub pre-amp outputs
frequency response: 10-20000 Hz

my understanding is that, of the 3 pre-amp outs:
sub out->mono amp->subwoofer
lp out->2 channels of an amp->rear speakers
hp out->2 channels of an amp->EITHER coaxial speakers or X-OVER splitting signal between the mids and tweets

does this sound right?

i'm confused about the power rating on the h/u. can someone explain?
a suggestion was made that 50 x 4 should be plenty for what i need, so if the h/u provides 52 x 4 max, do i even need an amp or can i just go directly to speakers or a x-over?

learning as i go!
thanks for all the EXTREMELY helpful guidance thus far.

 

[theycallmebruce]

wow, the image posted. would be helpful if it appeared in the preview =P

anyway, it's a little blurry but that would be a theoretical setup without an amp...

 

[WSU99GSX]

Is there a wire harness that would be able to use the dash speakers and stock amp with an aftermarket head unit?

 

[PaulPDX]

wow, the image posted. would be helpful if it appeared in the preview =P

anyway, it's a little blurry but that would be a theoretical setup without an amp...

Umm... I don't think that will work. You need an amp to power the sub and the rears shouldn't be on LP.

On an amp or a H/U with crossover capabilities you put all of your speakers (front and rear) on full range or on HP to filter out the lows. LP is for subs which filters out the highs which subs can't produce.

So the most basic set up with a sub is to power your front and rear speakers with the H/U's internal amp... but wire up an external amp (via RCA pre-outs in the back of the H/U) for the sub.

300 w bridged mono is pretty healthy for a 10" sub.

 

[theycallmebruce]

i don't have a sub yet, but the h/u i was looking at has 3 sets of pre-amp outs (H/L/S)
getting a sub will be later...

1) H/U with 3 pre-outs. 1 x 4ch amp for front & rear speakers. 1 x mono sub amp or bridged 2 ch. amp for sub. Or, 1 x 5 ch. amp. Most ideal... most costly.

i guess those are my options.
so i should run full range on the h/u internal amp to the 4 speakers.
if i want my tweeters to work, i should get a crossover for the 2 channels going to the door speakers and direct the highs at the tweeters?


car audio 101?
well, maybe 102 now...

 

[PaulPDX]

If you buy separates for the front, they come with matched crossovers. Nothing extra to buy.

Just get H/U and speakers for now. The amp can wait if you want to save. The H/U should be decent enough to power the speakers with it's own internal amp. Perhaps underpowered and won't sound great, some purists might say... but I say it's good enough to hear music with. Get the amps when you're ready to do the sub.

There will always be better amps and better deals down the road, so it's not like you're missing out by not getting the amp now.

 

[theycallmebruce]

thanks for all the help paulpdx.
i got my Sony CDX-7705X h/u today and installed it. Sound is nice, but my driver side door speaker sounds busted (this happened before the new h/u).

With any decent level of volume, the speaker 'buzzes/vibrates' noticably.

Is the speaker busted? I've tried putting pressure on the grill and the plastic around the speaker area, but it doesn't help. I don't think it's a rattly plastic door panel.

What's a decent quality pair of 6.5 speakers to replace the stock door speakers in a 2g?
I don't want to spend a fortune, but the busted speaker is annoying as hell.

Fit and ease of installation is important.

Thanks.

 

[theycallmebruce]

btw, i read 6.5" on the forums here, but on crutchfield.com, when i put in my car, it lists the doors speakers as 6.75"???

 

[Attack Eagle]

btw, i read 6.5" on the forums here, but on crutchfield.com, when i put in my car, it lists the doors speakers as 6.75"???

That would be a 6.5 S
I've got kicker 6.5 midbasses in mine right now and they fit fine, had to do a little surgery to the original mounting brackets because the magnets and speakers were deeper, but no biggie.


I've got Kicker Impulse amps, not even last years they are from 2001 I think.
A local shop was closing one of its locations and they had one stilll in stock. impulse 405id I think it is. 4 channels at 40 - 60 watts and 1 sub at 290.
Probably way overkill for factory speakers.

As far a a nice sub goes I have really enjoyed my infinity basslink. Got it the first year they came out before they had remote gain controls, but it really does the job in a talon. Not going to will any spl contests but it does feel and sound very good. Sounds like you would probably be happiest with a small 35 x 4 amp and some separates for now. get the infinity basslink and 6x9s later and you will have a stealthy great sounding system, that WONT get you any noise tickets as the basslink sounds great in the car but doesn't carry with the windows up.