Kind of Like a FAQ, but in reverse. Figure it will help out people so long as the advice is sound. Figure a begineer more than likely doesn't know about staging and imaging, time correction, Ohm's law, and suck so I figure let's K.I.S.S. this. (Keep It Simple Stupid)

Good advice is to:

1.) Run your power cable opposite your RCA cable (i.e. Power on driver's side, RCA's Passenger side)

2.) The Fuse under the Hood is to protect your car, Not equipment.

3.) There is no truely BEST Speaker or Subwoofer. There are some great Brands, but Technology changes and Today's best might not be tommarrow's best. Also Your EARS are the best device for testing and will let you know if they are the Best.

4.) Define your goals. (just Loud, SQ, SPL, Both, none ....)

5.) What type/types of Music you listen too greatly influences what will work best for you.

6.) Physics rules all. You can't change Physics or cheat them. So educate yourself in the simple stuff that helps makes decisions. I'll post up some stuff later.


I know Tuffluck and 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick will jump on this. Common lets strut what we know.

 

Also Don't be afraid to ask some questions. I can relate stuff like S/N (signal to noise ratio) so that It's easier to understand. No dumb questions but the ones you fail to ask.

 

Good start but change rule #1 to power on driver side and RCAs on the driver,as in f-bodys there is a nice big hole in the firewall over there.

Biggest problem in the car electronics---the ground is just as important as the power---

Please fuse all wires 10" or less from any unfused power. Please I have seen fires or burnt carpet from this.

Ohm's law---so important wattage changes depending on resistance.
Like the getto kids that say "did you bridge that" So amps can't do that.


We should talk about speaker wiring too. Or just go here

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxcalcs.asp

 

always use a minumum of 4 gauge power and ground wire when u run your stereo. even though it is not neccesary for all appliciations, sooner or later you will want to upgrade your stereo and then you will have to rip out the old wire and buy new wire to install all over again if u use like 8 gauge or 10 gauge wire.

if u start off with the 4 gauge u will save time and money in the future. u have nothing to lose and it is not too much more $ .

 

put a fuse under your hood, and then also put a fused distribution block b 4 alll your amps which will have a fuse for each individual amp.

when choosing what fuse size to put in the distribution block b 4 the amps check the amp and add the total of the fuse ratings that are on the individual amp that u will be putting the fuse in front of and put a fuse that is close to that # but make sure u do not put one that is higher.

when choosing the fuse to put under the hood, count up the value of all the amps fuses and put in a fuse that is colse too but less than that total too.

hope this isn't confusing, it sounds right in my head, if u have any questions feel free to ask.

 

if u want to upgrade your electrical system with lightening caps or batteries or alternators...

i would reccommend always upgrading the alt first. it is probably the most expensive out of the bunch but it is the mst benificial.... all the other stuff like batteries and caps just put more strain on your alt.

the alt is where it all begins, if that is strong and able to handle the power u demand then there will be no need for other extra stuff. which in return will save u money.

 

when choosing what headunit to buy try to choose one that has 3 sets of RCA cables out.

1 set for the front
1 set for the rear
and
1 set for the sub.

 

if u have a multiple amp system it is a good idea to add a relay to your remote turn on wire. otherwise u can damage the remote turn on of your headunit.

 

if u build your own enclosure alot of people say it is fine if u just use wood glue and a nail gun.

i find that using wood glue and course thread deck screws is way better. the nails do put the the wood together, but screws actually pull the wood tight and together. one screw every inch and a half to two inches is fine.

make sure u also pre-drill when putting in screws, this way u do not split the wood.

 

SPREAD THE WORD!

The very new digital powered systems are the way to go. They use the new TRIPATH class T chip. Do not waste your money on yesterdays technology.

The new PANASONIC CQ-C9901U, CQ-C9801U, CQ-C9701U, TRIPATH digital powered head units run cooler and have more than enough power for most all systems. You will not need a seperate amp with these head units.

Alpine and Blaupunkt also sell equipment that uses this new TRIPATH chip technology.

www.panasonic.com
www.tripath.com

 

this isn't the best thread in the world. too scattered and unfocused, and i don't think many will read it. but no big deal, i'll add my 2 cents since it's begun anyway...

cliff notes of what i'm about to say: never turn your gain all the way up...ever. 2/3 of the way is plenty, and might even be too much.

first of all, gains on amplifiers are different per amp. some of the gains like to not work at all the first half turn of the dial, and then the last halfway they are sensitive as all hell. secondly, to set a gain on mids/highs is easy with a test disc. you play tones on your cd player and turn the gain on the amp up until you hear the sound audibly distort, and then you back down. there is a little more involved, but it's basically that easy.

thirdly, hearing a sub clip is really difficult to do. most professionals use what's called an oscilloscope that will read the input voltage and tell you when your subs are being clipped. trying to do this by ear is near impossible. so, to be safe on any sub (i.e. if you don't have an oscilloscope), run you gain just a hair past halfway and you'll probably steer clear of any clipping.

and lastly, never use bass boost! bass boost is awful and i don't know why any manufacturer EVER designed their amplifiers with boost. boost is usually on a 0-x db scale, and x is lower (such as 6 db MAX) on the higher end amps like JBL, and x is usually much higher on other amps not as good, such as some MTX amps, which have a 0-18db bass boost!! boost is bad because it causes certain frequencies (usually the ones centered around 50Hz) to be played at x decibels louder than other frequencies.

so with your boost set to 12 db, your amp might pound on a rap song, but be hardly audible on an 80s rock song. boost is bad beccause it's taking a signal and amplifying it by 12 db, which is a HELL of a lot of volume! if your boost is off and your gain is slightly above halfway, you're going to be safe 99/100. if your amp's gain is halfway and your boost is on at all, you might be damaging your subs via clipping once those songs centered at 50Hz start playing.

 

The best advice I can give (said on #3) is to not buy what sounds good to your buddy or to the sales man selling it.

Listen to what sounds good to you and form your own opinion based on an educated/experienced decision.

 

I plan on getting a bunch of info on here, and then Compiling it together into a better post link to here.

I can't remember everything, plus I don't know everything. Example is what sexyvic1 said about starting out with 4ga 1st. I don't think like this sometimes and end up with tunnel vision.

gollum, those new Tri-Path chips are great. They have been in development for a while. Blaupunkts amps used an early version before and they were an awesome amp for the money.

sexyvic1, that is overkill for fusing. All you truely need is a fuse at the battery (or voltage source), and make sure the amps are fused. Any else is just for show and maybe a piece of mind to you and a chunk of money to the seller.


Some more advice.


7.) (tuffluck posted this) Damn skippy on the gains. THEY ARE NOT VOLUME CONTROLS OR BOOSTERS. You want hiss and noise?, turn up the gains. That is why you want a deck with higher voltage outputs.(4v or higher) Less need to add amplification to the input (turning up the gains). The S/N is a measurement of this hissing sound. Those of us that grew up with Tape Decks know all about how a crappy S/N ratio sounds.

8.) Unless you are going for just plain ol' loud, Spend the money on the front speakers. This is where money is most wisely spent. (don't argue about rear fill here) Say you have $300 to spend. Best bet is to put it towards a good set of component speakers and stay with stock for the rear.

9.) Learn. Read up on sites like soundomain, 12 volt.com and other places that are specialized on this topic. Not to say we are not here, but you are on a tech forum for our cars performance mostly.

10.) Best Starting point for most system is the HU. (radio, deck) This is the Brain of your system and sould receive a larger amount of attention and money. Right now, I'd say IMO, Alpine and Pioneer are the 2 best choices out there.

11.) Don't be scammed by Wattage ratings. I love the new CEA-2006 compliance system because it is looking at for the consumer. Puts equipment on a level playing field. Also, 50-100 w/ch for full range is alot. 250 for a sub can be alot. Most people never want or need a 1000w+amp.

12.) For a great priced wiring kit, go to Walmart and pick-up a 4ga wiring kit. Contains almost everything you need and the price is so right, $25. Hard to beat anywhere.



Features. I need some input guy's. HU feature and Amp feature. These are probably the most common items.

 

Some links to prior info.

Some info I found.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/wiring-stereo-electronics/273506-here-something-useful.html

An older post I made.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...60#post2420860

 

gollum, those new Tri-Path chips are great. They have been in development for a while. Blaupunkts amps used an early version before and they were an awesome amp for the money.

Blaupunkt in 2002 started with and still use the lower powered 15 watt system with old TRIPATH chip. This year PANASONIC will use the newer higher powered 70 watt system with TRIPATH's newest chip.

Go to www.crutchfieldadvisor.com
search under.... TRIPATH'S DIGITAL REVOLUTION
also search under.... MXE CQ-C9800U

The Panasonic MXE CQ-9800U is the 2004 60 watt version.

 

Okay, if you are a car audio newbie, and know next to nothing about electricity, then I HIGHLY suggest you visit this site: http://www.bcae1.com/
The site covers the principles of everything concerning car audio, and "how stuff works" animations. This is an invaluable source of information for anyone looking to do they're own install. So newbies, please for the sake of your car.. Before a single door panel is pulled... educate yourselves!

 

i'm still not too impressed with 31 watts rms; even though it is coming out of a HU, i still would always want more power to drive my speakers.

 

I agree. Its not even a true 31 watts per channel. (try playing 30hz through it for a while youll see what im talking about). I always asked myself this...how big is a true 120 watt amp. Now look at the size of the cd player. Most of the time the amp will be 2x the size of the head unit plus it also plays cds. The reality of the matter is that head units usually use one transistor and a few filters to amplify the sound. A real amplifier uses MANY.

 

correct me if im wrong, but with the craptory monsoon system, the HU doesn't really power much so a high power HU doesn't benifit us

 

There was talk here of grounds but Using a 4ga ground at the amps is not enough. There's a smaller gauge ground at the battery going to the innner fender well and a larger one going to the engine , replace that wimpy factory body ground with a 4ga, 2ga, or 0 ga. Also , when you ground an amplifier or ground terminal block, be sure to sand the area down to bare metal when the ring terminal is screwed to . Use a bare metal screw ,not a painted one. This will save you from unwanted alternator whine (most of the time , not always) coming through your sound system.