questions about speaker install
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=11314
Printed Date: July 18, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Topic: questions about speaker install
Posted By: trickluvdakids
Subject: questions about speaker install
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 10:12 AM
I work at Pizza hut delivering pizzas and I just bought a nissan sentra to deliver in, because I was tired of tearing up my car. Well i have a couple questions? i spend alot of time in my car so I want to make the sound system great. Well I guess the guy that I bought the car from had boston acoustics (which he gave to me and i'm going to reinstall them) well he rewired the whole car with speaker wire and didn't use the factorie wiring. Is there a benefit to this? Also I also have 2 alpine 5x7's that I want to install. I have 6 possoble spots to install. 4 in the doors and 2 in rear deck. 2nd question is if I installed all 6 speakers without an amp would it be better with just the 4. I also have two infinity 12's I'm going to put in the trunck with an amp. I had the twelves in my eclipse (hatchback), so do you think the amp will overheat and shut off alot in the trunk? It would do it some times in the eclipse if I had the windows up and would blast for it for a while. thanks Scott
Replies:
Posted By: tdsteele
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 11:22 AM
Well this probably wont help much but i just sold a 94 Sentra 2 door and i had 2 12" JL's in the trunk with a Rockford amp and never had a problem out of it. My system didnt use any of the factory wiring either. Personally i would consider factory wiring to be the bare minimum required to get signal from point a to b. So like in my case where i wanted some power to the speakers in my doors and the rear deck a bigger gauge speaker wire was used. Quality wire can make or break a system so. All depends on what YOU want of it. Besides, wire is pretty simple to run through that car.
Posted By: trickluvdakids
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 5:08 PM
Great I now owne a '93. Question is if I run a parallel offthe hu (rear speakers) and run both my rear deck and install my 5x7's in the rear doors will it affect the sound quality? or should I just get an amp to run all 6 of my mids and highs? thanks scott
Posted By: tdsteele
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 5:15 PM
I dont see where it would affect the sound quality because that way you could still fade between the front doors and the rear doors/deck. I had one amp driving my whole system, 2 channels for subs, 2 channels for rear deck and front doors. Had the front tied into the rear speakers, worked fine for me. Guess as far as an amp on all of them would depend on if you were putting in subs. Most head units wont put out enough power to keep up with an amp and subs. Course then there are people who just want alot of bass. All depends on what you want out of it and what kind of music you like i think.
Posted By: trickluvdakids
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 5:42 PM
Thanks. I just got the car last week and just realized TODAY that there are no speakers in the rear doors, but like I said I want to put my alpines in them and I don't think It'll be that difficult. Thanks Scott P.S. I don't curently have and amp on my mids and highs and since the new speakers I have are boston acoustics that can handle up tp 150 watts a piece. I am going to have to get one. Be fore in my eclipse My hu could keep up with my subs with just the alpines in. But probly not with the ba's. So what amp is a good cheap amp to push my mids and highs?
Posted By: tdsteele
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 7:21 PM
A good cheap amp....well you may want to read through a bunch of the other posts on that one. On my new system i have a Eclipse 36401 on my mids and highs. Its only a 50W X 4 @4ohm but it does the trick for me. It ran $280. I've had two different Rockford amps before that did real good. Other than that i dont have any personal experience with all the other brands that are out there. Check some of the other topics and post on this site, alot of information around here.
Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: March 23, 2003 at 8:11 PM
Kinda depends on how loud you intend to play your music. If you're not thinking about really really loud sound, but just moderately loud hq sound, then you might be able to get by with just using the head unit's amp to run a pair of speakers. But it will be hard to match these up with the rest of the system. The ideal situation would be to get a 4 channel amp to run all of these, as most 4-channel amps are 2 ohm stereo stable. So technically you can run up to 8 speakers off of just one amp. This way you not only maximize your amp's power (since they put out more power@ 2 ohms), but you have all the speakers coming from the same source of amplification. You can't really go wrong with rockford amps, but depending on where you buy them they can get a lil pricey. I have a profile amp (400sx white califnornia series) that i got from crutchfield about 5 years ago for 100 bucks. It has been through a tornado (car was totalled, carpet was soaked) but the amp still keeps on chugging away. Currently it's running an mtx 10" 6000 and never skips a beat. If you do all the wiring correctly, especially from the amp to the speakers, and are using good quality speakers, and just in general do a real solid install you will probably be able to use a less expensive amp such as a profile. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of people will push their stereo components past what they're designed to reproduce, and they let everything get distorted, or overheated, or they feed way too much bass to their coax speakers, and yet they still let the music play on, or they continue to create these situations which inherently cause damage to the components. No wonder their stuff goes out on them! In my opinion, part of the difference between different brands of amplifiers (like between RF and profile, for example) is that some of the more expensive ones are designed to take more abuse by their owner, but if you have common sense, and you take care of your components and know when to stop turning up the volume, and when to turn down the bass and treble, etc. you can easily be happy with the sound of a less expensive amp. Of course this is just my own opinion and it is just a general obvservation but it's something you might want to think about. Admittedly there are many high-end amps that are simply amazing and would blow profile out of the water, but sometimes it's just not worth all the extra money. On the other hand, there are also some really crappy brands out there that even when properly used still have more problems than other systems. Okay some people will write back and say i'm an idiot and that rockford amps put out more than their advertised power ratings. Okay...but so what? So instead of the amp putting out 300 watts RMS it puts out 325 watts RMS? Is that worth an extra 200 bucks? For me, it was and still is not worth the extra dough. I'd stay away from profile subs/speakers and head units, but I've always been a big fan of their amps. More bang for your buck in my opinion. I wonder what some of the other "regulars" here have to say about this?
Posted By: trickluvdakids
Date Posted: March 26, 2003 at 5:56 AM
thanks I'm going to install everything today. so I'll tell you how it sounds. I'dont have the amp yet for the mids and highs but soon. I'll let you know. Scott
Posted By: thepencil
Date Posted: March 26, 2003 at 9:29 AM
I share the same opinion as you esmith69. An amp is an amp is an amp to me regardless of their brand, power output, reliability, and features, …etc. They do one crucial thing, which is to amplify sound. Despite what marketing has tried to convey many of us about improvements in the technology, much of the basic still remains. I use to owned a fairly new at the time that I purchase it, but used Alpine amp, which was at least 12 years old, a 9 years old Orion and a 7 years old Hifonics, but I have now pass them on to my friends and family. They are still working and still sound much like the new amps that I have in my car. Some of you might ask how I got the amp working for so long and not break down? (Knock on wood) As esmith69 said, “if you have common sense, and you take care of your components and know when to stop turning up the volume, and when to turn down the bass and treble, etc.” They should last for a very long time.
The research and development technology that is put into amplifier is not like the computer technology where the hardware technology has surpassed the software developer. Personally, I would prefer to spend my money on a head unit where I can see a dramatic improvement and enormous steps taken to transfer some of the computer technology in to the head unit. MP3, DVD and 10g hard drive just to name a few. Mind you I have already place my orders in for the first available amplifier to come into the market with features like washing my car when it’s dirty and cleaning up garbage that other have left in my car. 
------------- Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.
Posted By: Big Purds
Date Posted: March 26, 2003 at 2:36 PM
I agree with both esmith and thepencil here...
an amp is an amp is an amp...the major quality difference between amps, IMO, is clipping points, and that is where you see quality differences in amps...well, that and the crossovers/equalization in them...higher quality amps take alot more to clip than their lower quality counterparts...but, if you buy a large enough amplifier, as far as your components go, you should never even see their clipping points...
I run an MTX 2300 (2x150 @ 4 ohms, conservatively measured at 12V...) to my front stage, which is a set of Focal PolyKevlar 136Ks...I have the gains set at zero, and have all sorts of head room...and thusly, I should never really see my amp clip unless I am consciously trying to make it so...and everything sounds incredible this way...much better than if I tried a smaller amp, because the smaller amp would have to work harder, and in doing so, would end up clipping more...btw thepencil, dont laugh at me becuase my amp is almost 9 years old now =P! lol...
and esmiths view of Rockford products hits the nail on the head exactly, as far as I am concerned...RF used to very conservatively rate their products, back in the good old days...alot of their old amps only claimed 4 ohm stability, but I have seen them go much further below impedance and not have any issues...and the power that they put out in comparison with their ratings was great...but, those were the good old days...now, you are lucky if you can get an RF amp to bench at more than 10% of its rated power...and impedance? I would almost prefer not to test their rated impedance, let alone go below...they really have gone downhill in the past 4 or 5 years...and IMO not worth near what they retail for...
with all this said, my honest opinion is to buy an amp that has a good reputation...doesnt have to be the most expensive amp, but a brand with a good reputation...I have heard alot of guys with knowledge build some pretty decent systems out of gear that I considered junk, but they knew what they were doing, and as both thepencil and esmith said, its knowing the point at which you are abusing your gear, and knowing where you can and cant set your gains/treble/bass/bassboost settings...for the typical guy who just wants to build a system that will take a beating, he is better off buying from one of the major brands...
again, these are opinions...
Posted By: tdsteele
Date Posted: March 26, 2003 at 7:10 PM
Just a quick note on Rockford nowadays next to Rockford yrs back. Me and the manager where i got my install done talked about Rockford alot as he used to manage a store yrs ago that dealt in RF. Point he made which is quite true is back then RF was like say Diamond Audio or Eclipse now, Only a select few carry them and only in a car audio retailer, not a chain store. RF now has basically been taken over by Best Buy. Like seeing Sony and Pioneer in your local Wal-Mart. Course so many different brands out today it makes it alot harder to just go out and buy something. I spent roughly 2 months researching different brands to find what was fairly inexpensive but yet a real good quality. Like alot of posts i've read in here, personally i dont see the point of having a sub that can hold over a 1000 watts or amp that puts out the same or having multiples of each. I know competition is the thing for alot but alot of people just want something to jam to and enjoy. Maybe disturb the neighbors or what not but personally i would like to SIT IN my car and be able to enjoy it. Like these guys have said which im surprised at considering most posts from people in here, you dont have to buy because of a name or because it says it says it can handle this much or put out this much, it all comes down to a persons ears and listening habits. I built my first system out of an old Alpine deck, 2 Roadmaster EQ/Boosters, Radio Shack speakers for highs and an old RF Series 1 12"sub pushed by a Craig amp, basically all junk except the deck and sub, and it actually sounded good and really freaked people out!! Come a long way since then but anything is possible. My new system is still in the works but i plan on putting up a post about it when its done just to show a budget system on here for people looking for a modest system that kicks butt.
Posted By: trickluvdakids
Date Posted: March 27, 2003 at 1:22 PM
Thanks for the advice guys. My system sounds great after the install yesterday. A little too much bass considering I have A 500 watt Aura amp powering the 2 infinity 12's in the trunk, and just the hu powering all the boston aucustic componits in the doors and rear deck. But O.K. for now. I had to turn the amp way down to equal out the sound. It's funny you guys mention rockford fosgate. I was looking for a last minute amp to install yesterday to run the mids and highs, and I came across a used 250 watt RF witch I thought would be plenty enough power for the BA. Any way I'll probly pick it up in a week or two and then my system should be up to "par".........Well maybe a little better  . Thanks guys. Scott
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