Starting from scratch with car system

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myhopper

Member - Posts: 8

Joined: April 15, 2006

Location: United Kingdom

Posted: April 15, 2006 at 3:57 PM / IP Logged

Hi all, new to everything I.C.E.-even forums abouts it!!!

Looking for some help and advice for how to fit my system that i have bought, it is used, but nearly new, and with no boxes or instrunctions etc....as follows....

JVC mp3 head unit with pre-outs for , FRONT, REAR, and SUBWOOFER, it also has a small black lead out of it, with what looks like you could plug a small headphone jack into it, and a pre-in of LINE IN.

pair of clarion mids with tweeters for the rear, pair of phase 18xt 6x9's for the rear.

pair of phase linear front door speakers with tweets.

1 caliber amp- 2x130 Watts, bridgeable.

1 lanzar vibe 2 chanel amp, bridgeable 1600 Watts

Both these amps have 1 line in,1 line out, and 2 speakers out terminals on them, plus other settings buttons that i dont know what they are, and obviously the power, ground and remote terminals.

1 15" Atomic subwoofer in a sealed box, i managed to crack the centre of this sub of which the logo is on before i took it out of the 1st car, but it still worked fine, and from the look of it-it doesnt seem to be an actual centre cone???????????????????????????????????????????

1 10" pioneer sub in box, perfect condition.

Also a few different cables from a different install-not sure if any good!?!?!?!?!

this is what i ideally want to install-

but i do have a small pioneer amp at my disposal which was running the pioneer sub until yesterday, so any alteration of amps advice will be noted!

What i need to know is ... EVERYTHING!!!

I dont know what wires i need all together, what wires go where when i have them, what amps i should use for what items, and what to set the amp settings too.

I would like the option of have one subwoofer if possible incase i get fed up of not having any room in my boot!!

Things i think i know...

I need one cable to power the two amps to run from the battery to the boot where the amps are, what cable/fuse etc?? how do i get it for both the amps??

i take 2 audio jacks from the pre out's for rear and subwoofer from the head to the line-in's on the amps-

Which amps for which items, and what about the front pre-outs?

ground both the amps as close as possible to the car.

the remote lead needs to go from at least one amp to the head unit-what about the other amp-and where on the head unit?and waht size cable?

speaker cables to the subs and rear speakers-what size cables, and what about the front speakers?

PLEASE help me!

souns like alot, but i'm sure with the right knowledge from someone, i could breeze the install

**going in a mk3 VW Golf 1995**

the car only has the aerial lead at the head unit point - all other leads gone!?!?!?

jazzcustom131

Copper - Posts: 175

Joined: October 10, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: April 15, 2006 at 4:17 PM / IP Logged

FIrstly, look at the sides of the amps. tell us how many and what size the fuses are attached there. That will determine the size of the necessary cables, and we'll need to know that before we can get you all your wires.

Yes, You need to run RCA's from the cd player to the amps, If ya want, you can take and run just the rea channel set to the speaker amp, and the sub output to the sub amp.

Use the larger amp (the 1600)on your sub. I'd personally go with the pioneer, just because it's known to not have any issues.

What are the numbers on the other pioneer amp?

Can you get us the RMS and MAX numbers on these AMP @ 4 ohms? Or model numbers, and some of us will figure it out.

i'm not sure what an aerial lead is? Are you talking about the wiring harness for the stereo?

We'll tell you what all the knobs and switches on the amps are for later

Greed is for amateurs.

Disorder,chaos,anarchy now THAT is fun!!

arrow12

Silver - Posts: 527

Joined: October 06, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: April 15, 2006 at 6:55 PM / IP Logged

First of all... Don't pay attention to max numbers. These are some of the most useless gimmics around. Max numbers don't mean anything because they are commonly inflated beyond belief.

Secondly... Start researching. I don't mean this in a bad way, but you don't really no much at all about car audio. Search through this forum with the Search button. Go to THIS SITE too. You will learn so much from that site. Start reading all you can because us talking you through everything won't help you in the long run.

Thirdly... Don't run two different woofers together. This will cause some unsatisfactory tonal results. I'd stick with the Pioneer sub because I have never heard of Atomic.

That's my opinion. Take it, leave it, or correct me.

myhopper

Member - Posts: 8

Joined: April 15, 2006

Location: United Kingdom

Posted: April 16, 2006 at 6:17 AM / IP Logged

Ok then, thanks for the starting points!!

I'll do as you say to the best i can-and go through things as you say the best i can.

I will have to put the pioneer amp figures on here later-as its not here right now-so i'll start with the other amps.

CALIBER AMP-CA 130, 2 x 130Watts, Competition, series- III

Bridgeable, with 1 20amp fuse, signal in (right & left), signal out (right & left), and a few other buttons and switches on it (frequency, level, & variable crossover)

LANZAR VIBE AMP-i have found the spec for this online-but it is without the "Remote Subwoofer Bass Control"

2 Channel 1600 Watts High Power MOSFET Amplifier

2 x 250 Watts RMS at 4 Ohms

2 x 800 Watts Max at 4 Ohms

1 x 1000 Watts Max at 4 Ohms Bridged

2 x 450 Watts at 2 Ohms

MOSFET Switches Maintain Rated Power Over A Wide Range of Battery Voltages

Stiffly Regulated PWM-Type Power Supplies

Variable Input Level Controls for Each Pair of Channels

Variable High & Low Pass Crossover Controls

High-Efficiency

Heavy Aluminum Heatsink

Remote Subwoofer Bass Control

Electronic Crossover Network

Bass Boost Circuit

Bridgeable at 4 Ohms

2 Ohm Stereo Stable

Tri-Mode Capable

Gold RCA Inputs

Line Outs for Left & Right Channels

Power & Protection LED Indicators

Advanced Protection Circuitry

Soft Turn On/Off

Frequency Response: 15 Hz-35 kHz

S/N Ratio: 90 dB

Dimensions: 10.25"W x 2"H x 19"L

by aerial lead-i mean the lead that goes in the head unit from the car aerial to give the radio signal.

i will stick with one sub for now if thats best, but i do want to have the provision there for two subs-as i a plan on getting a box with 2 of the same sub's in it (i also want to know what i will have to do when the time comes from going to one-to 2 sub's!)

also- would i be right in saying-i'm better off running the front speakers off an amp and the rear speakers off the head unit as i dont always carry passengers any way-and i only have the 2 channel amp for one set of speakers (either front or rear)???

thanks

arrow12

Silver - Posts: 527

Joined: October 06, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: April 16, 2006 at 9:34 PM / IP Logged

Put the amp to the front speakers.

That's my opinion. Take it, leave it, or correct me.

myhopper

Member - Posts: 8

Joined: April 15, 2006

Location: United Kingdom

Posted: April 17, 2006 at 6:53 PM / IP Logged

Right, i picked up the pioneer amp and pioneer 800w sub-amp-

pioneer gm-x602

250w x1 /4ohm

or 80w x2 /4ohm

head imp, 2-4ohm

also-picked up an identical pioneer 800w sub!

So i think i'm gonna do this....

vibe amp as 2x 800w left speaker output=sub 1, right speaker output=sub 2

pioneer amp as 2x 80w front "phase linear" speakers

caliber amp as 2x 130w either just the rear "clarion" mids/tweets, or the rear "phase xt" 6x9's-or both by splitting speaker cable or putting 2 spaeker cables in one output (any issued with doing this?)

*few things to ask though..

shall i just run the front spakers off the head unit-as it outputs at 50watts a speaker any way -as appose to using a 3rd amp at 80watts per speaker)

and if i buy a seperate battery for the system-will i not need to get a different alternator (if at all)??

also-what leads do i need to do for powering the 2 or 3 amps?and how do i do this?

arrow12

Silver - Posts: 527

Joined: October 06, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: April 17, 2006 at 8:45 PM / IP Logged

I think you are reading all of the max power ratings for your amplifiers and head unit. The head unit probably only puts out about 20-25W RMS. I have no clue about the amplifiers though. You should power the front speakers too. About the second battery... That will only help you if you play your system with the car off. An alternator will help while the car is running and to recharge the batteries.

That's my opinion. Take it, leave it, or correct me.

myhopper

Member - Posts: 8

Joined: April 15, 2006

Location: United Kingdom

Posted: April 18, 2006 at 4:41 AM / IP Logged

how do i know if i need an alternator then?

myhopper

Member - Posts: 8

Joined: April 15, 2006

Location: United Kingdom

Posted: April 19, 2006 at 11:19 AM / IP Logged

right then, heres what i've done (after loads of reading and research, and what i'm comfortable with!)

vibe amp running 2 subs (bridged)

pioneer amp running front speakers

caliber amp running rear 6x9's

head unit rear wiring running clarion rear components

one monster power cable into distribution block running the 3 amps, i'm gonna see about an alternator, but i had 2 amps running alot more previously and never had a problem.

**problem i have now, is that when the old system was taken out (about 2-3 years ago), no wiring blocks were left in place!!, fortunately i can tell which ones were the front and rear speaker wires-as they still have bits of the speaker cable on them, BUT.....

the 3 wires i have left (i'm assuming for the remote, power, and earth) are the following colours-and i dont know which ones are which!?!?!?!?!

IF ANYONE KNOWS-PLEASE TELL ME!

BROWN

RED & WHITE

BROWN & RED

(these are in a vw golf MK3)

once this is solved-all i need to know then, is how to set the switches and buttons etc on the amps

thanks

arrow12

Silver - Posts: 527

Joined: October 06, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: April 19, 2006 at 3:53 PM / IP Logged

You'll "need" a new alternator when your lights start to dim. I say "need" because you don't have to get one, but if the lights bother you than get one. For the wires you can look HERE I think.

That's my opinion. Take it, leave it, or correct me.

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