Someone Plz Explain car sound systems To Me

[Generation1JeY]

Alright i'm almost really noob with car sound systems, and right now i'm looking to get a decent system for my car, but i just i dont know what to look for and everything. I know i need an amp and sub and all that.

I just dont understand like the RMS on subs and amps and stuff like that, like rms is what it operates at normally right? so if u get 2 subs with 350 watts rms, would u have to get an amp with 700 watt rms?

I mean i'm just looking to do everything right and make it so that i dont blow anything up because they dont go good together. Someone who knows a lot about audio just help me out here and i'll be ur best friend. PM me or email me or AIM me.

Email: [email protected]
AIM: JeYness

Thx

 

[nutshot]

Alright i'm almost really noob with car sound systems, and right now i'm looking to get a decent system for my car, but i just i dont know what to look for and everything. I know i need an amp and sub and all that.

I just dont understand like the RMS on subs and amps and stuff like that, like rms is what it operates at normally right? so if u get 2 subs with 350 watts rms, would u have to get an amp with 700 watt rms?

Buy, read and memorize The Car Stereo Cookbook. It is your friend, and will explain everything you need to know much better than I can.

 

[Generation1JeY]

and where do i get this book?

 

[nutshot]

and where do i get this book?

Well, this will most likely shock you, I bought my copy of this book in a book store. Pretty wild stuff, I know. Of course, if you are 'lite enough, you may want to attempt using the Intarweb to find your own copy.

 

[Generation1JeY]

nice sarcasm buddy, appreciated

 

[IceDragon]

if you have 2 subs who have an rms of 350 you want an amp that says 700 watts (350watts x 2 channels)

 

[nutshot]

nice sarcasm buddy, appreciated

Hey, that also was sarcastic. Cool.

Anytime you need more help, just let me know.

Icedragon, would you suggest an amp that is rated at RMS, peak, 12.5 VDC, 14.4 VDC, 1ohm, 2ohm or 4ohms?

 

[f4st]

only look at rms watts on your speakers and on you amps. dont pay attention to "peak power" ratings. if you had 2 subs rated at 350 rms watts a piece then an amp anywhere between 500-800 rms watts will be fine. pm if you have any q's

 

[f4st]

make sure you get your subs/speakers at the ohm to were it can be wired to your amp with the most power without frying your amp also.

 

[SnoopySLR]

just answer the man! RMS is all you want to pay attention too, just like f4st said.
RMS is how much power the amp will put out on average
Peak is how much power the amp will put out on a high note of the song (a hit)
Make sure you NEVER mix a sub that has a peak close to the amps RMS, not good.
Be sure to not underpower the sub either.

 

[Generation1JeY]

ok so if i got 2 subs rated at 500 watts rms, then it would be best to get an amp that has 1000 watt rsm right?

And then also what about the number of ohms and all that good stuff i dont understand what all that is for.

Dont a lot of people power their speakers with the amp? cause normally u plug ur speakers into ur head unit right and it power it? but if u have aftermarket bigger ones or something that need more power than ur head unit can give out u just hook it up to ur amp? how do u arrange it so the speakers are hooked up to the amp, like do they use watts just like the subs do? but if u have 2 500 watt subs hooked up to an amp can u just plug in ur speakers to the amp and they get the right ammount of power? or does it split evenly, but then if it splits evenly it wont work cause u'll either be overpowering the subs or underpowering them with the split?

 

[Perch - Tsi]

ok, dunno where to start...

Pick the speakers you want, DO NOT skimp on quality, a 700 watt sub from some shit brand will NOT perform better than a 400 watt sub from a quality brand like JL or Sony.
The amp: Get the biggest one your willing to spend money on, again , do not skimp on quality, saving a $100 here wont pay off, quality in audio components is key more than with any other piece of kit.
an oversized amp is good, start with the gain down, power up the system and slowly turn the gain up until youve got good loud clean hits, and amp thats running under its limit will run cooler and distort less, youll get better more robust sound.
BANDPASS: amps have a switch and a couple of dials on them for lowpass, highpass or full operation, they are electronic filters that determine what sound frequencies the amp will put out and wich it will supress
lowpass lets bass through, and is for subs
highpass lets high treble through and is for tweeters
full lets it all through and is for mids, like 6" and 6"X9"'s *note, you dont want as much gain (volume) when running it on full, youve got more sound notes coming out, so they dont need to be that loud individually, this is what blows speakers.
Ohms: the unit that measures electrical resistance
4 ohms is typical for speakers, you get two ohms when you "bridge" two speakers, you get more power, because theres less resistance to the current, but the amp is working harder to push more power through the now more open circuit.
resistance (ohms) doesnt have much to do with speakers, (except for dual voice coil subs, speakers are 4 ohms), it matters to the amp, some arent stable at two ohms, and very few are stable (wont overheat) at 1 ohm.
Yes, you can hook the rest of the speakers up to an amp, it sounds fabulous, you need a deck that has front, rear, and subwoffer RCA jacks, most good new ones do.
run the RCA's from the deck to the second amp just like for the sub
Dont use the same amp for the subs and the regular speakers, the one running the subs will have its hands full and should be left to do its thing uninterrupted.
this amp should be a 4-channel (front left and right, rear left and right)
specifically so you can set the bandpass correctly for the tweets in the dash and the 6x9's in back
Setting the bandpass: Do this with one set of speakers at a time (unhook the other two pairs, if you doing the tweets, unhook the 6x9's and the subs so you can hear the tweets and only the tweets clearly)
you want to start with the bandpass at its lowest level then turn it up slowly until the sound becomes full, itll start out with nothing and then the progressivley higher notes will start to come through, when you stop hearing the sound develop, thats where the knob should stay.
you dont need to do this for the 6x9's, they should be set to fullpass, wich will let everything through not matter what you do with the knobs
Ignore VDC 12.5, 14.4 or whatever the hell it says, your alternator puts out whatever it puts out and thats what you got
Divide the total wattage of the amps (amplifiers) by 12 and thats the size of the fuse you need on the power line, in amps (amperes).

ow my fingers


IM: perchlights if you need anything else

 

[Generation1JeY]

alright that helped a lot and that confused a lot, so i'll defanitely be talking to u online, because i just found a really good system and deck for 600$, that is new alpine deck, 2 12" subs in an enclosure, and the amp.

I'm not sure what kind they are because when i saw them and heard them it was dark outside, but i'll find out what company they are and the specs on them next time i see them.

All i know is i was sitting in the back seat of the rsx with the system in it and when i got out my ears were ringing and my stomach felt upside down .

 

[nutshot]

ok, dunno where to start...

I will try to make this as simple as possible. The Car Stereo Cookbook says everything you need to know correctly. Perch-TSI, Sony is not a good car audio brand. Their head units do not sound as clear or as accurate when compared to brands such as Alpine, Pioneer Premier or Eclipse; I happen to have first hand experience here. Sony's amp's are overrated and rarely hit the numbers listed on the box; when thinking Sony amplifier, think white noise. Sony's subs and speakers are innacurate, especially when compared with brands such a MB Quartz, Polk Audio and Infinity.

Instead of Bandpass, use the term Crossover. Bandpass also is a term for sub-boxes, which gets confusing.

I would suggest that you cross the highs and subs over at the head unit, not the amps, this will probably be more accurate.

I agree with everything else. Good job.

Hey, Generation1JeY, if you can't afford/find The Car Stereo Cookbook, you probably shouldn't attempt putting a system together yet.

 

[Generation1JeY]

its not that i cant afford it, i cant wait long enough for it to get shipped here, i'm about to buy a complete system right now.

Anyways i got almost all the bugs worked out in my analysis of this guys system i'm about to buy, i have someone whos really helping me out, i thank all you guys for replying though i really appreciate it.

-Jordan

 

[Ryans99OZ]

dont listen to that dude ravin bout that stupid car stereo cookbook..its not godam rocket science

if your really that confused just type it in google and there are millions of tips and tutorials on how to set up a badass system...basically what you got goin on seems fine... 2 x 500 watt RMS subs, 1x 1000 watt rms amp , quality cd deck w/ pre outs...assuming all of these are at least respectable name brands your not gonna notice a difference unless u crucially inspect two cars systems right next to each other which i doubt your gonna be doing..you want a good system and you want it now...ssoooo.....just buy the shit and hook it up..if u blow somethin send it back..oh well..have fun

 

[nutshot]

dont listen to that dude ravin bout that stupid car stereo cookbook..its not godam rocket science

Look, I have sold and installed Car Stereo's. I have built boxes from scratch, had them professionally covered, then sold them for profit. I would argue that I know my stuff when it comes to Car Stereo's.

If you want a system, do your homework. If you buy pieces because they match certain variable measurements, you can lose sound, clarity and the pieces themselves. I just want every serious Car Stereo consumer to spend a week and $20 learning about the products they are about to purchase. It could save them much more than that small investment.

Or, you could guess blindly and luck out.

 

[chris_kuk]

Ignore VDC 12.5, 14.4 or whatever the hell it says, your alternator puts out whatever it puts out and thats what you got

you actually should ignore that because that is what the rms power is based off of. the average amp only puts out about 84% of what it is quoted because they are tested on a 14.4 volt power input. the average sony will only put out about 73% of what it is quoted :thumbdown because they are tested on a 17 volt power input and your car will never put that much power into an amp. thats why sony sucks at car audio. you should check your cars electrical system and find what the rms power in YOUR car will be and match that to your subs.

 

[Attack Eagle]

RMS means root mean square...

by itself it is just another stinking number... like "I ran a 14.5"

what in the quarter? in the 1/8? around the yard? a silvia s14 conversion car?


you need

the ohms the rms and the voltage to get an accurate representation of the actual power of the amp.

and if you played your cards right you could run 2 or 3 350 w rms subs on a "350w" rms amp

or a 500 w rms amp on a 200w rms amp...

generally speaking most amps are or should be rated at 14.4 (max possible output ever) and 12v (key off power) when running most cars run about 13.2 so you split the difference between the #s to get a real working figure.

most amps are rated at 4 ohms in the packaging, but monoblocks (sub only amps wiht just one channel) and kicker and phonix gold are well known for naming their amps based on the 2ohm impedence which is approximately double. so a kicker 300.4w is only 150w rms at 4 ohms divided by 4 channels for a total of 32w per channel on regular speakers...

if you are combining two channels of the amp to get more watts from the amp like a 75x2 rms amp bridged can give 300 wattsx1@4 you must run a 4 ohm load... only a single channel amp can use a 2 ohm load. 150x1 @4 =300x1@2

also keep in mind that some subs have 2 voice coils and some have one, and you can get subs in 2 ohm 4 ohm 6 ohm 8 ohm 3 ohm etc... so you have to pick them together.


and you have to figure out how to get the right subs to wind up with the right impedence to provide max power for the amp with out blowing it up or not maximizing power.

don't try to run stereo bass... it justs costs more in amp and in subs and box construction...


RECOMMENDATION:
go to your local stereo shop... find a good brand and level of amp and sub. tell the person excatly howmuch you have to spend... don't bs them... if you are jsut pricing things ask for their recommendations at 2 different price points and let them pick the amp and sub that will work best together...

kicker is good all around for bass, jbl is good but more musical than "hitty", sony is for people who don't know any better. (exploding speakers and amps are correctly named... this is not ES stuff anymore its walmart grade). octane amps aren't bad but stay away from the speakers, subs are ok. Alpine amps are good, but type r's are the only ones worht anything. MTX amps are good but the subs are foe shoot. fosgates have always been and always will be cheater amps... they are only for pounding out hte bass at low impedence... and they are too expensive for what you get... cause you have to buy the power series and up tp get anything good from them.
pioneer premier 1500 and 200 3000 subs are good but not the regular ones. the amps are good and cheep but not top end stuff...
jbl gto series amps are a steal for what you get, and the same with comp vrs... and yes you can over power the subs a little RMS wise with the jbls and kickers (10-15%) IF you are using a sealed box and it is right on the small side of the acceptable sizes and is absolutely airtight..

if you can afford class D amps get them. they pull less current and waste less current as heat, and are generally smaller that their older a/b cousins like the pioneers and some of the alpines.
less current means more electricity is available to things like fuel pumps, ignitions, and lights... and much less likely to need a bandaid like a cap.

these are just my experiences based on my actual experiences with the aforementioned brands, both myself and my friends and customers.

 

[f4st]

look around before you buy that system. dont be impatient. for $600 you can get a new pretty bad ass system. find out what kind of subs/amp they are then let us know.

 

[Redmachine]

To add to what all the guys said.
The Headunit makes a world of difference also. Pay attention to the voltage of the preouts, the higher the better. The voltage regulates how low or high you need to adjust the gain on your amps. The higher the worse this is where you run into amp clipping and overheating. So Get a HU with preouts that are rated at no less than 4 volt, your amps will be louder with less power.

 

[LaserDad91]

This may have already been stated, but the major spec I look for is THD, or Total Harmonic Distortion, maybe not stated exactly correct, but the key is “distortion”. I know with todays music, distortion at low end, is all part of the deal!!

What you want to know, is at what RMS Power, the distortion value is rated at. It does no good to have a ……..say………300 amp, that the “less than 1% THD” actually occurs at say, 30 amps, before the amp starts to clip……ie, distortion goes up enormously with volume increase, 5, 10, 20 percent, etc. This used to be the key, and, I know my experience is dated, but that is the main spec I look at. You want “clean” power, and typically, in car stereos, clean is 1% or less.

As far as brands, I really like my Pioneers. I recently bought a Sony Explode for the boat and it works pretty nice. A good place to learn and compare specs/features is Crutchfield. Usually you can beat their prices somewhere else. Stereo stores are OK, as long as they let me play with the systems!! Lol.

If you go to a stereo store, another tip, is to take a tape (or CD) that you KNOW how it should sound. Make them play your music! When comparing speakers, use one head unit, one amp, etc, and keep sound settings constant, and compare different speakers that way. Your ear and what you like is the most important criteria, along with, being “clean sound”!!

If comparing head units, set sound settings “flat” or standard, and compare only using one set of speakers………(I did similar to this with my home surround sound system, to see which put out a more solid sound. I made the sales guy stop adjusting, and keep settings constant or base settings between the two, then I could tell on a base setting, which one sounded more “solid”).

A good sales guy will “jiffy” up the settings on whatever he thinks he can sell you, to make it sound good, and it never sounds the same in the car, as it does in the store.

I don’t get into all the extra “bass” speakers etc, and the extra amps, so I am pretty basic on this stuff. (I like having a trunk!! Lol) I won’t buy any head unit without it having at least a 3 band EQ that you can adjust!

Yes, I do understand loud music, when I was young, had the Cuda, and in college, people walking ahead of me, used to “turn around” to see where the music was coming from, but that was in the day, when all this stereo stuff was really “starting”!! . I had a Clarion head unit that suk'd, but the Clarion 6 band external EQ w/amp kicked ass. I think it was like 50-60 amps/channel, at less than 1%THD. Oh well.........showing my age again... .....Have fun!!

 

[Mack]

http://www.bcae1.com/ That'll cover the basics