Stereo & Electronics - Order's on its way, installing this weekend!

After many (probably annoying) questions in the other thread, I finally quit being indecisive and made all the final decisions and ordered this:

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/order.jpg

Crutchfield said it should arrive by Friday at the latest, and all I'll need is a box for the sub, which should arrive some time around the 10th. I'll install all but the sub this weekend I guess, and will install it when I get the box. When it's all installed I'll get some pics of it for all to see. I'll later wash my car and make it presentable and put up some pics of it as well. =p

All this leads to some new questions though. Installation questions! So far I only have one (surprisingly): Where does the amp go? I can't just let it slide around the back, so will I need some sort of mounting rack to screw/fasten somewhere? Maybe one of those stealth racks from subthump?

Nice. I'm gald you went the Pioneer route. I almost said to go with the Infinity Perfect 6.1's but I see this is pricy already. ($199 vs $399 I can see why)

I like your choices. I have not heard or Seen the MB quart Amp, but rest assured it will be a good one. R.F (Rockford Fosgate) owns MB quart and have probably lended it's technology for use in the Amplifier. I'm guessing you are going to use the front 2 ch for the Components and then Bridge the other 2 for the Sub. Nice looking Amp. I'm curious how it sounds.

Did you get the Sub enclosure through Crutchfield also or did you go through here?

http://www.subthump.com/acamaro.htm

After many (probably annoying) questions in the other thread, I finally quit being indecisive and made all the final decisions and ordered this:

Crutchfield said it should arrive by Friday at the latest, and all I'll need is a box for the sub, which should arrive some time around the 10th. I'll install all but the sub this weekend I guess, and will install it when I get the box. When it's all installed I'll get some pics of it for all to see. I'll later wash my car and make it presentable and put up some pics of it as well. =p

All this leads to some new questions though. Installation questions! So far I only have one (surprisingly): Where does the amp go? I can't just let it slide around the back, so will I need some sort of mounting rack to screw/fasten somewhere? Maybe one of those stealth racks from subthump?

I'll Hold you too the Pic Promise ;)

I'm glad you are going to install this stuff yourself. You will soon realize this is really not a Hard Hobby to get started in. Especially the Type of install you are going to be doing. Crutchfield is also a Great Beginners place to buy from because they give you everything PLUS info you might happen to need.

I'm beyond the Novice level, but I have always liked this about Crutchfield: They do their Homework so you don't have to. I still use their online Fit guides and also use the Spec pages for Reference material.

BUT, You will soon realize after this initial install, that Better Prices can be had elsewhere. Not to say you got ripped off by crutchfield, but If you come here from here on out, there are plenty of people to help direct you in the Better and Cheaper directions. Don't sweat though. It would take alot of Shopping around to do WAY better than The Above invoice. :offtopic:

Alright. For Install Tips: You need to mount the Amp and the Sub enclosure. Pull Door Panels, Wire up an Amp kit (run Power, GND, RCA's), Run new speaker Wire in each door, and Mount your Componets. Whew. Starting out Running are we!!?? lol

For starters, Have you done any install stuff before (like a radio), or are you mechanically inclined?

List your experience on your own vehicle and either myself or someone else will probably list stuff to help you along.

The install guides Crutchfield is sending you will show how to remove a door panel, How to properly mount a Fuse holder, Wire up a Harness to the Radio, Etc.... After you get the Folders and "How to's" I can see specific questions like; Where to put the Fuse holder, Where to run the Wire throught the Firewall,etc.. Stuff like that.

Awesome, thanks. I know Crutchfield wasn't the best pricing option, but I figured with their support, manuals, warranties, and little freebies here and, it was the best option for my first stereo endeavor.

For example the sub and receiver combined would be $548 + $15 shipping from Crutchfield. From CBR Stereo, I could have got the both of them for $$418 + $31 shipping. That's $114 cheaper, AND from CBR it would have been the P8MP, which is the Premier version. That would have been 6.5v preouts compared to the 4v ones on the P80MP from Crutchfield. However, Crutchfield throws in $45 worth of head unit installtion kits, so that narrows the price difference to $69. Crutchfield also has lifetime phone support, warranties, and instruction manuals. CBR stereo doesn't even have a phone number, listed no warranties on either item, and wouldn't have the instrcutions. For $69 more and 2.5v less on preouts, I think Crutchfield was the better option.

And no, I got a JL Vantage Stealthbox from the classifieds over at www.fbodyaudio.com for $95.

As for my experience with this sort of stuff, zero heh. It's not the wiring and hookups that worry me, it's the whole CAR part of it. I don't know how to get my door panels off, or grills off. I tried taking my front left speaker grill off and I think I broke a little plastic nub on the bottom that helped hold the grill on. I didn't see how to pull it off without breaking it. I don't think I've even seen a car firewall before. I don't know how Circuit City put my old Alpine in the dash, I don't see how they got it in there. I guess the dash comes off, but I certainly don't know how to do that either. I don't have a clue how to pull the carpet up, I figured it was glued down.

So that should give you an idea. =p

i have yet to pull out the stereo in my car either, so i'm not quite sure myself how to go about doing that exactly.....but i will be doing so very soon :)

as for how to pull up the carpet, the easiest way to do this is to take all the seats out, and pull up all the plastic trim panels along each side. this will allow you to pull back the carpet as far as you want, up to the middle area where the console is located, which makes it about 1000 times easier to keep your power/signal/speaker wires seperated from each other to avoid the dreaded "alternator whine" or other introduced noises.

personally, i will be running my 12v power for the amp down one side of the middle "hump", and my signal cables on the other side. then the speaker wires for the front door speakers will run along the right side (passenger side) of the car, to the glove box, where my passive crossovers will be mounted. then from there, they will split off to each door (2 wires to each door, one for the woofer and one for the tweeter).

the great thing about doing it right, is that you should never have to do it again. the only thing you may have to do at a later time is either run an extra 4ga power wire, or take it out and run a single 2ga or 1/0ga power wire, if the amp(s) you purchase require it. other than that, if you ever upgrade speakers, the wires are already ran, as well as the signal cables if you change amps or add an external crossover or some other signal processor, etc.

i've even taken the same approach when designing the speaker box that i'm in the process of building. right now, i can only afford a cheap subwoofer, but i selected a cheap one that has roughly the same airspace requirements as a JL Audio 10w3v2, so that when i do have the money for the JL, it will just drop right in. of course, this is a sealed box, as a ported enclosure would need to be rebuilt for the exact sub being used in it.

I see.

For the Doors Speakers: the Whole panel comes off. The grill doesn't "pop" off like you would think. There are Plastic tabs that hold the Grill in place. Just get some Super Glue or Plastic Glue and it's an easy fix.

For the Radio trim: the face piece does "Pop" off. get your finger nails back in the cracks and pull all the way around. It will come off easily.

For the Amp stuff it's a bit more involved. I have to get Going back to San Antonio again, but I'll fill in the Blanks as best I can.

You'll love the sub, I had two in my trunk and they were amazing, the cleanest bass you'll ever hear~

If you want to buy one more, I've got a modded subthump box that I'll sell ya for cheap.

Does anybody have one of those amp racks frmo subthump? I can't really figure out how they work from the limited info on their website. It says "effective mounting area is approx 12"x 36"." Does that mean it will mount anything smaller than that? Like my amp is 11.5" x 16.75." How does the amp attach to the rack? Screws? How does the rack attach to the car? Screws? Are there other amp mounting alternatives that would be cheaper/easier/better?


You'll love the sub, I had two in my trunk and they were amazing, the cleanest bass you'll ever hear~

If you want to buy one more, I've got a modded subthump box that I'll sell ya for cheap.
Heh, thanks for the offer. But I won't be planning on it any time soon that's for sure. My initial budget was roughly $1k, but with the box plus Crutchfield I'm already pushin $1300, and I think I need to order an amp rack from subthump or something and that'll break $1300 for sure.

you could probably just email subthump and ask them how it mounts to the car, just tell them you want to know before you buy it so you will know whether or not you have to drill into your car or not.

but yes, the amp(s) just mount to the amp rack using regular wood screws.

I purchased the amprack from subthump for the install i will be doing . they do give you a link on how to mount it. you can either hard mount it to the car or they show you how to mount it so you could remove it without putting holes in your car. i think it will work good and can't wait to put my system in. mario

I doubt the amp would fit under the passenger seat would it? Seems kinda cramped in a camaro. =p

I doubt the amp would fit under the passenger seat would it? Seems kinda cramped in a camaro. =p

yeah, there's zero chance for that to happen....i was thinking about doing that in mine, until i looked at the available space.....

Yeah there is almost no room under camaros/firebirds.
A subthump amp rack seems to be a real nice solution

I'm at work reading some of the manuals I can grab off Crutchfield from my order. Trying to be ready as I can come tomorrow heh. After replacing each thing it says to "test the operation" or whatever. Things will work with the negative battery cable disconnected? Or I'm supposed to reconnect that and test, then disconnect again?

Oh boy! It came in! The only problem is that UPS says it's been signed by "Alley" in the "Office." Sadly I don't know an Alley and I don't work in an office. Great job UPS. UPS said I have to wait a couple of hours for the address to populate on the website so I can find out where it went. Amazing that they don't even know where they delivered it to. :bomb:

man, you don't EVEN know how much i despise UPS..... :mad: :mad:

they're a bunch of freakin retards that destroy/lose packages, then go on strike when they feel they don't make enough money, when a lot of them are getting paid >$20/hr for driving a fookin truck around..... :eyes:

i much prefer FedEx, they usually get my stuff here earlier in the day, and i have yet to have any of my packages delivered to the wrong place.

If you live in an appartment they drop it off at the main office.
They do this to my freind all the time if hes not at home when they try to deliver.

When I've ordered from UPS before they sent it to the mailroom downstairs. Maybe it went to the main CAMPUS mailroom or something, but I don't know if that even exists. I'll find out Monday I guess.

In the mean time, I decided to try and polish up my head lights since they were foggy looking, and while under the hood I became pretty intimidated at the prospect of running a power cable from my battery to an amp through the firewall. Because I couldn't really see how I could get to the firewall. Any suggestions? I don't have to drill a hole do I?

nope, no drilling should be needed, i just got done yesterday installing my system, and there is a grommet on the passenger's side, right underneath/behind the PCM. you only need to remove the two bolts that hold the plastic housing to the metal, then move the PCM out of the way in order to get to it. i took some photos during my installation:

this photo shows the location that you should look (this is after i had already moved the PCM out of the way):

http://members.cox.net/xunil76/011.jpg

and this one shows a close-up of the grommet itself, behind where the PCM was:

http://members.cox.net/xunil76/012.jpg

umm, so did you find out who Alley was?

Yeah, I found out today. It turned out to be the main campus mailroom or whatever. I don't know why it didn't go to MY apt. mailroom, but whatever. Sure had me worried. =\

But now it's all here and I'm debating skipping work tomorrow to install it all heh. I'm about to go see if I can gut my car right now.

haha, that's not totally unheard of! I called in sick to work when I did my last system install, but it was well worth it! Let us know how everything turns out...

Killin some time til this weekend when I will have all the necessary tools. I've gutted most of my car in the mean time, and have looked over all the items I've got. As I believe I stated earlier, amps are what I know the least about. Perhaps you can help me with the necessary settings.

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/amp.jpg

Three questions:

1) The button I've drawn an arrow to seems to get stuck in the depressed (LPF) position. A few nudges/presses and it will pop back up. Obviously not intended, but does anybody think it's enough reason for concern and to send it back?

2) How do all these buttons and dials need to be set? I read the manual to see what they do, but I don't know where they should be set.

Gain obviously adjusts the gain, but is that just personal pref?
The range button effects the whether the freq dial changes from 50-500 or 500-5k.
Freq changes the freq based on the range button, but where does this need to be set?
HPF for the front and LPF for the rear, correct?
Filter just turns all those crossover effects on or off.
Front end defeat seems to bypass the crossover AND the gain, so if it was on I guess I'd be getting a "flat" signal or something (if i used that word right).

3) There's a little diagram for bridged on the side of the amp that looks about like this (already put the digitcal camera away, forgive my MS paint):
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/bridged.jpg

That means I run a wire from the L- to the - on the sub, and a wire from R+ to the + on the sub, and leave the L+ and R- unwired? Right?

Killin some time til this weekend when I will have all the necessary tools. I've gutted most of my car in the mean time, and have looked over all the items I've got. As I believe I stated earlier, amps are what I know the least about. Perhaps you can help me with the necessary settings.

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/amp.jpg

Three questions:

1) The button I've drawn an arrow to seems to get stuck in the depressed (LPF) position. A few nudges/presses and it will pop back up. Obviously not intended, but does anybody think it's enough reason for concern and to send it back?

2) How do all these buttons and dials need to be set? I read the manual to see what they do, but I don't know where they should be set.

Gain obviously adjusts the gain, but is that just personal pref?
The range button effects the whether the freq dial changes from 50-500 or 500-5k.
Freq changes the freq based on the range button, but where does this need to be set?
HPF for the front and LPF for the rear, correct?
Filter just turns all those crossover effects on or off.
Front end defeat seems to bypass the crossover AND the gain, so if it was on I guess I'd be getting a "flat" signal or something (if i used that word right).

3) There's a little diagram for bridged on the side of the amp that looks about like this (already put the digitcal camera away, forgive my MS paint):
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/bridged.jpg

That means I run a wire from the L- to the - on the sub, and a wire from R+ to the + on the sub, and leave the L+ and R- unwired? Right?


1) as long as it doesn't keep dropping into the depressed position on its own, i wouldn't worry about it. once installed and set properly, you should not have to touch those controls again.

2) "Gain" should be set to match the Pioneer head unit's output, which is 4v.

You've got it on the "Range" button.

The "Freq" knob needs to be set depending on what you are using the pair of channels for. For instance, if you are connecting your Polk speakers on the front channels, you would set the "Type" button to "HPF" (High Pass Filter), which will only allow frequencies above the selected "Freq" setting to be passed on to the speakers. I personally would set this to something between 80Hz - 100Hz.

For the sub on the rear channels, the "Type" knob should be set to "LPF" (Low Pass Filter), which will only allow frequencies below the selected "Freq" setting to be passed on to the sub. Again, I would set this somewhere between 80Hz - 100Hz.

This setup will cause all frequencies above 80 - 100Hz to go to the Polk speakers, and everything below 80 - 100Hz to go to the subwoofer.

If you don't want the amp's built-in crossover to be enabled (such as if you have an external crossover, or a crossover built in to your head unit), then set the "Filter" button to "Off". The Pioneer P80MP head unit does have a built-in crossover, but it is only selectable at 50Hz, 80Hz, or 125Hz, so I would use the amp's built-in filter, as it is infinitely adjustable between 50Hz - 5000Hz. Just don't use the filter on both the amp & head unit at the same time....unless you know exactly what you're doing, this will usually hurt sound quality.

As for the "Front End Bypass" button, I've never seen anything like that before, and I'm not sure why you would want to use it. Personally, I would just leave that off, set the gain to the right input voltage, and if desired, just turn the crossover filter to "Off" if you don't want to use the amp's crossover.

3) that's exactly how you would need to wire the sub to the amp in order to bridge channels 3 & 4....keep in mind that this is how to do it for this particular amp only, it may be different for another make/model of amp.

:werd:

Everything 02Z28LS1 said is correct, great advice. If you want to create deeper bass to your sub, decrease the frequency for that channel(s) to 50Hz, then it will only get the really deep, low bass. If you want a little more punchy bass, set it like stated before, about 80-100Hz.

I prefer deep bass out of my subs, but the best advice is to start where 02Z28LS1 said, and then tweek the frequencies to what sounds best to YOUR ears (this is where a friend really comes in handy, otherwise you have to keep getting in and out of the car).

Happy Listening! :thumb:

02Z28LS1. You explained it pretty good.

DO NOT USE BOTH HU and AMP CROSSOVERS AT THE SAME TIME. I don't care who is tuning, it always leads to problems.

I think you are going to have to use the Pioneers internal Crossover to control the Sub output level. I haven't messed with that model or any of the Latest models to know if it will do that or not. Mine you have to have the Sub crossover on to control the Level from the Radio.

You are just going to have to hook it up and see if you can control the Volume with the Sub Crossover OFF or ON.

If you can, I'd go with the Quarts Crossover.

For starts, 80Hz for the Polks HPF, and then do 80Hz LPF for the Sub and work from there. It's going to be a rough guess because they are knobs and not Clicked indents AFAIK. Guesstimation is about as good as it gets.

Make sure the input button is out. 4ch input (2 sets of RCA's going into the Amp Correct?)

You are correct on the Range, Filter HPF/LPF (HighPassFilter, LowPassFilter). Filter ON/OFF is just that.

The Front end defeat is meant for Large Systems or True "Compitition" systems where Line Divers are being used along with external Crossover Networks. It does bypass the Gains and the Crossover. It there for does not amplify the input signal or tailor the signal. The Amp just Amplifies without add system noise. Not need here. Leave it on.

This is the Online Specs. Go to the Bottom and Click on the Q-Line Amp Similator. Won't be what you have but can explain some of the Functions a little better.

http://www.mbquart.com/2003/en_US/products/prod_detail_amplifiers.asp?isArchive=&cat=auto&series=reference%20series%20amplifiers&strt=1&model=RAA4200

Make sure the input button is out. 4ch input (2 sets of RCA's going into the Amp Correct?)
That's a good question. My HU has three sets of RCA outputs. I believe a front, rear, and a non-fading sub. But what would be the difference in the two setup methods that I've circled here?

Here are all the available setups in the manual:
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/2ch.jpg
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/4ch.jpg
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/2chs.jpg

If I'm not even going to be running rear speakers, would I need rear RCAs? I'm only going to have the polk components up front and the sub in the back. I'm disconnecting the stock back seat speakers and the stock hatch speakers, and leaving them disconnected.

The only difference in the two situations you circled, is that for the 2-channel you simply run one set of RCA's and it uses that signal for BOTH front and rear. 4-Channel mode allows you to adjust the front and rear independently of each other (at least from the head unit, the ability to fade rear/front).

I would use the 4-Channel setup and run one set from front output of deck to front input of amp for your polks, and the sub output from deck to rear input of amp for your sub. This way, you can still fade your sub, or boost it via the head unit. This basically allows you more "tuneability" of the system, why limit that? Make sense?

Cool, cool. As for wiring, this look good? Amps goin in the back right of the t-top storage area on an amp rack, sub in the driver side "nook".

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/hookup.jpg

Yup, looks good to me. I for one, have always tried to keep the remote wire away from the RCA's as well (especially if you're using sub-par cables). Some will say it doesn't matter, just my personal preference. Ensure you get GOOD grounds (sand down the paint!), and make the connections tight. Keep all cables away from ANYTHING that could possibly cause chaffing/rubbing which will be BAD over time. Think that's about it, but you're definitely on the right track!

Cool, cool. As for wiring, this look good? Amps goin in the back right of the t-top storage area on an amp rack, sub in the driver side "nook".

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/hookup.jpg


heh, how about like this? :P :P :

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2825986&postcount=15

anyway, yeah, that should work. and like it was mentioned, you don't have to use the Pioneer unit's crossover on the sub channel to control the level, you can always use the set of RCA outputs labeled "Rear" instead of "Sub" or "Non-Fading", and just use the front/rear fader to control the sub's output level. but yes, regardless, you will want to run a pair of RCA's for the fronts, and another pair for the sub. it just makes it so much more flexible of a system than running a single pair of RCA's.

and as for my suggestion of 80 - 100 Hz on the crossover points before, i take it back. i have pretty much the same setup, one set of components up front and a single 10" sub in the back, and so far i have had the best sound (at least, what sounds best to me) by setting the fronts at 60Hz high pass and the sub at 50Hz low pass. it dramatically pulls the soundstage up front (where it should be), and will do so even more when i replace my crippled 5 1/4" components with a brand new 6 1/2" or 6 3/4" component set that can handle a little more bass.

but again, that gives you a couple starting points, play with the crossover points to get the sound the way you like it....after all, you bought the system for yourself, who cares how other people think it sounds, right? :judge:

...I for one, have always tried to keep the remote wire away from the RCA's as well (especially if you're using sub-par cables). Some will say it doesn't matter, just my personal preference...


his amplifier wiring kit has a set of RCA's that has the remote turn-on wire built-in, so unless he pulls it off the RCA cable (may or may not be possible, depending on if it's ran down the middle, or one of the sides of the RCA cable shielding), that's not an option.

his amplifier wiring kit has a set of RCA's that has the remote turn-on wire built-in, so unless he pulls it off the RCA cable (may or may not be possible, depending on if it's ran down the middle, or one of the sides of the RCA cable shielding), that's not an option.

Correct, but I still like running ALL power on opposite side of signals, regardless. It's a good concept in my mind, to include the remote turn on with the RCAs to make it easy to install. But I'd venture out and guess that it is a major problem with noise in the system, even though it barely carriers current, fact remains though, that it does.

Awesome. Yeah 02Z28LS1 lol, I based my diagram off yours. But my amp has the inputs and outputs on the same side, as opposed to your drawing. So I figured I could make a few adjustments to your diagram. Not to mention now my preamps and power wires are as far apart as possible.

And I can seperate the remote lead I believe. The RCAs that came with my wiring kit have the lead in the middle, but the second RCA that I bought seperately has the lead on the outside so I should be able to seperate it without much effort.

As for the amp ground, it says to fasten it to the chassis using a non-adonized screw and star washer. Will any of the bolts in the hatch area work? There seem to be plenty of them, especially behind the carpet on the back wall where I'll be mounting my amp anyway. But are those non-adonized? I think they are black, meaning they might be painted... And there certainly aren't star washers, but what does that matter?

Awesome. Yeah 02Z28LS1 lol, I based my diagram off yours. But my amp has the inputs and outputs on the same side, as opposed to your drawing. So I figured I could make a few adjustments to your diagram. Not to mention now my preamps and power wires are as far apart as possible.

And I can seperate the remote lead I believe. The RCAs that came with my wiring kit have the lead in the middle, but the second RCA that I bought seperately has the lead on the outside so I should be able to seperate it without much effort.

As for the amp ground, it says to fasten it to the chassis using a non-adonized screw and star washer. Will any of the bolts in the hatch area work? There seem to be plenty of them, especially behind the carpet on the back wall where I'll be mounting my amp anyway. But are those non-adonized? I think they are black, meaning they might be painted... And there certainly aren't star washers, but what does that matter?

adonized, or anodized? :P

anyway, i connected the ground for my amp under the nut that attaches to that silver tube that the antenna on the passenger side rear sits in, behind the spare tire. if you remove the spare tire, you'll see what i'm talking about. it's a real shiny silver bar with two bends (curves) in it. of course, my amp wiring is only 8ga instead of 4ga, but with the proper termination connector on the end of the ground cable, you should still be able to use that spot. if not, just make sure that wherever you ground it has the paint scraped/sanded away so that the entire terminating connector makes contact with sheet metal.

as far as a star washer, it just helps grab hold of the connector on the end of the cable a little better, but if you have one of those closed-loop type connectors, it's a moot point.

Oops, anodized. =p

Anyway, gotcha. In fact I noticed that silver tube earlier today when I was pokin around the hatch earlier today checkin out where I might run wires.

Thanks a ton guys. Hopefully my next post will be one to say I've got it up and running. Gimme a few days. =p

so have you gotten everything installed yet? if so, how are you liking that MB Quart amp? i'm tempted to get me one of those myself.....even though i probably really should use the money for more important things, LOL. :)

Sorry for the late update, I've had no internet the past week while at home. Everything is installed and running smoothly though! Thanks a ton for all the help and tips, it even looks pretty professional if I do say so myself heh. I'll get some pics up as soon as I can get a hold of a camera.

I played it all at "low volumes" for about 20 hours as was suggested in the sub's manual to break it in, and then cranked it up to set the gain. Following the amp manual on how to set the gain, it said to turn the gain all the way down, the head unit all the way up, and then slowly increase the gain until you hear distortion or the clipping LED begins to light up. That produced these results (tiny red markings where I set them):
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/gain.jpg

As you can see I barely turned the gain up for the highs and the clipping LED came on. The clipping never came on for the sub, but I started worrying how much gain I should be putting to it since I thought I might tear it up or rattle the back of my car apart, so I just set the gain in the same place as I did for the highs. I pretty much set the crossovers at about 8:30 on a clock face, that should come out to be around 100hz between 50 and 500. I'm not sure how sensitive/accurate the frequency nobs are though, so I'm tempted to turn off the amp's crossovers and use the head units since I can set a LPF and HPF at 50hz, 80hz, or 125hz with the touch of a button, and it indicates what it's set at so I know for sure.

I also might turn the gain up to about half way, and just not turn the head unit all the way up. Even though it's set now to where it won't distort if I turn it all the way up, I'd prefer to only have to adjust my volume in the 10-30 range instead of the 40-60 range.

Also, my highs are a tad bright at high volumes, so I might try and re-angle them or just fool with the EQ and turn down the treble a notch.


All in all, it's goin great. And as for the install, boy what an endeavor. Started late on the first day, only spent a couple of hours trying to get all the carpet up and the wires ran through the firewal and under the carpet. Day two consisted of about 4 hours in the morning of figured out how to put together the dash kit, what wires to hook to where, and how to fit the head unit in the dash heh. Then lunch, and four more hours of figuring out how to get the speakers in the doors lol. Hooked everything up and it ran fine, so day three I just spent a couple of hours finishing up. Mounted the tweets, crossovers, amp, and sub. Spent the rest of the day cleaning out the interior and washing the car, and discovering I can't polish my wheels up like I had planned. But that's another story for another time. =)



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OH! And the absolute WORST and ironic thing happened. After becoming a self proclaimed master of car audio, my computer sound decided to stop working and I can't figure out why. =\ My Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultras produce nothing out of the 5 satellites, just bass out the sub. I hook up headphones and it sounds fine though, so it must be the speakers and not my soundcard. I've checked, double checked, and triple checked and I can't see anything I hooked up wrong. *shrug* *cry*

....I also might turn the gain up to about half way, and just not turn the head unit all the way up....


not a good idea...the volume numbers on the head unit don't matter in the slightest. if you start cranking the gain up, it will still be amplifying a lot more noise, even with the volume lower, than it would be if the gains were set correctly with the volume turned up higher. amplifying noise = reduced speaker life. and i definitely would not recommend turning up the gain if it results in the "clipping" light coming on.....

as for which crossover to use, you can probably get away with using the x-over in the h/u instead of the one on the amp. that's what i'm doing with my Kenwood h/u, i have mine set to 80 HP/80 LP....the cool thing about my h/u is that it has a lot more than just 3 x-over points, so i have a wider variety to choose from, and i adjust it depending on what type of music i'm listening to (which makes it handy to be at your fingertips). for rap or stuff that has a lot of bass/midbass, i tend to set it at 80 HP/80 LP, and for rock/metal, i usually set it at 60 HP/50 LP. for country music, i change the station! :jest:

heh, j/k, i don't listen to the radio anyway......i can't stand having to change the damn channel after listening to 1 - 2 songs, and there's not even really any good stations in B/CS anyway, so i just hook up my MP3 player that contains my complete CD collection and jam away to exactly what i want to hear....

for country music, i change the station! :jest:
:D I hear ya.

Thanks for the advice on the gain. And man I see what you were saying about sound deadening. Not that I didn't believe you to begin with, but I didn't see where I could squeeze it into my already stretched budget. If I come across some spare change though, I'll definately rip into all that again and sound deaden the car heh. My stereo sounds like a million bucks with the key in ACC mode or while I'm just sitting, but once I start driving... man, I always thought my car was quiet but I guess I never really noticed how loud it is. I guess I've always just compared it to my parents' old rickety volvo that's super noisy heh.

Also on a slightly unrelated note, great news! Turns out I AM a master of audio (hehe), because I got tired of having no sound on my computer and unscrewed my Klipsch sub to see if I saw anything visibly wrong. After all it said "Do not open, no user servicible parts inside" and I had no idea what was gonna be in there anyway. After looking around I noticed a wire unconnected, so I reconected it which caused a spark (even though power was unplugged heh), and then plugged everything back in. Works! And as much as I've put into my wonderful car stereo lately, I still probably value my computer sound a bit more. After all I'm at my computer more often than I drive heh.

Other great news! I found a digital camera! Expect pics soon. =)

Those photos were a Godsend... thank you sir :)