Start of something......

[hershy314]

Thought I'd post up the start of my system I'm installing in my 1993 Taurus GL. I'm starting with a JVC KD-S16 head unit. It's nothing special, but for the price I decided to get it. Now it only has one pre-amp out put, so I think adding more than one amp could be tricky...so I'm thinking maybe a 5 ch amp is the way to go when I get to that part. This will be a slow build since work is a little slow, plus I'm trying to save up for moving next year. Headed back to the Bay Area Ca. Okay back on track here, I have replaced the speakers with VR-3 6.5" 3-ways in the doors and VR-3 6.5" enclosure that I stuck in the back. These are only temporary speakers, didn't like how the stock ones sounded so yeah. The JVC is the third head unit I have put in this car, I had a VR-3 media head unit but right away there was no sound, turns out the problem was the head unit cause all the wires were hooked up right, next I had a Sony head unit that worked great till a few days ago, all the sudden on speaker quit workin. I checked the connections and even ran new wires and still got nothing. Now I have this JVC and we will see how long it lasts. I don't know why these head units suddenly quit workin right. Okay enough from me, I want to hear ideas from ya'll. I will take all into consideration, but remember I have no training in any of this and don't have that much money. Also I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to fiberglassing or anythng like that. So lets have them ideas people.

Be nice

[hershy314]

man no one has anything to say for a newbie?

[Jbabycsx]

man no one has anything to say for a newbie?

Start simple. You dont absolutely have to power your mids and highs with an amp. Invest that money into a better sub/mono amp/enclosure instead.

[casemods]

First: take care of the wiring in the car.

Get "the big 3" first thing. This includes upgrading the size of the wire of the alternator to battery, battery ground to chassis, and engine to chassis. I wish I did, now it's causing problems because I didn't.

Run a 0awg or so power wire to wherever you plan to put the amps. Then split that into 2 or 4 smaller awg. This gives you room to expand down the road for multiple amps.

Get a head unit that suits your needs. I personally am happy with a 3.5mm input and amp pre-out but you might want more.

Don't have ghetto bass. I would take care of the highs first. You get sound quality with or without bass.

Don't run the power wire next to any other wires, other than other power wires such as the remote wire. If you do, it can cause interference.

If your car is not a show car, I wouldn't get more than you can properly handle on one battery, or go with high end brands. It just looks stupid. It's like putting a $5,000 entertainment system in a crackhouse. If your car is ghetto, go with lower brands. Get a better car first, why are you even spending money on car audio when the car sucks to begin with?

"don't by an $85,000 car before you buy a house" - E-40

Also, if you are going to have any work done, research first. The guys who ran my power wire did a terrible job. Ran the power wire next to the RCA, didn't even sand the area for the ground, and some other bullshit...

Oh yeah, and try to get twice the power needed in the amp. If you're running a 1000w rms sub on a 1000w RMS amp, it's going to be used 100%. So a 2000w amp would only be half load. Of coarse you just don't turn it up all the way. Turn the gain down to half at least...

Edited December 2, 2010 by casemods

[casemods]

man no one has anything to say for a newbie?

Start simple. You dont absolutely have to power your mids and highs with an amp. Invest that money into a better sub/mono amp/enclosure instead.

I only agree with this if the bass does not overpower the highs.

[Jbabycsx]

man no one has anything to say for a newbie?

Start simple. You dont absolutely have to power your mids and highs with an amp. Invest that money into a better sub/mono amp/enclosure instead.

I only agree with this if the bass does not overpower the highs.

Absolutely.

[hershy314]

Thats great info guys, i appreciate that. I am looking for more of a SQ set up rather than a SPL set up. Think I will eventually upgrade my head unit, I just got this one cause it was cheap and I need music in my car. Specially driving an hour each way to work. I know for the front stage I'll be going with a componet set but I don't know about the rear yet. All the work will be done by me, I can't afford to let a shop do it for me. Besides that, how else would I learn if someone did it for me?

[casemods]

Thats great info guys, i appreciate that. I am looking for more of a SQ set up rather than a SPL set up. Think I will eventually upgrade my head unit, I just got this one cause it was cheap and I need music in my car. Specially driving an hour each way to work. I know for the front stage I'll be going with a componet set but I don't know about the rear yet. All the work will be done by me, I can't afford to let a shop do it for me. Besides that, how else would I learn if someone did it for me?

For the hands on stuff, just by watching them do it.

I was at a stop when I couldn't figure out where to run the power wire.

It literally took them 10 minutes to find it and run it to the point where I could finish it.

So I guess my advice for running the power wire yourself would be to run a test wire and drive the car. Then take that wire and see what condition it's in.

But yeah, doing the stuff yourself is a good idea.

You can ask the guys at the car audio shop if you can watch them install stuff. It's really simple stuff most of the time and only takes a couple guesses (removing door panels, taking the dash apart, etc)

Youtube has some vids usually of people taking their car apart.

Edit: don't half-ass it. And don't be violent. Take your time on your own car or you could damage it. Be patient

Edited December 3, 2010 by casemods

[hershy314]

Yeah it can be real easy to mess up something if your not careful. I know from previous experience, right now I've got a door panel that won't stay in place. Sadly it just happens to be the drivers door, I have tried using new clips and screws. Well the screws worked longer than the clips. I'll figure it out tomorrow. Far as wiring goes I think I have an idea. The power wire will run from the battery down the drivers side of the car and end in trunk, mainly cause the battery is on the drivers side. I'd run the rca cables down the passenger side of the car. Then run new speaker wires to the speakers. Doesn't seem hard. One question would running a 4 ch amp to power the mids and highs front and rear be a good idea?

[casemods]

One question would running a 4 ch amp to power the mids and highs front and rear be a good idea?

Of coarse. As long as each speaker get's one channel from the amp, that sounds like the best thing to do.

Make sure the amp is more than the rated RMS of the speakers. I wouldn't suggest running a 50w RMS amp on 50w RMS highs or mids if you plan to turn them up all the way. Putting full load on an amp isn't something I would do. Maybe only turn it up 100% if you demo it or if you're drunk/buzzed (for some reason, when I'm drunk/buzzed the music is so much better and HAS to be turned up all the way)