System setup help
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=40358
Printed Date: April 29, 2024 at 3:57 AM
Topic: System setup help
Posted By: mpathy
Subject: System setup help
Date Posted: October 05, 2004 at 10:09 PM
Hello , Just join and realy nedds some advise. I have a 96' pathfinder and want to hook up a nice system that is loud but not to loud ... Just enough to hear good out side of my truck. Here what I currently have ...Head unit = Kenwood KDC2019 cd player with front and rear rca outs. Speakers = Voice - 4 Pioneer 2 way 6.5 TS-G1640R 4 ohms 160W max and 30W rms and for bass I have 2 visionix V1065S4 10" in a sealed inclosure. For my amp" I have a 100w amp 2ch. bridged for al for pioneers and I have a V117SX 400 Watt 2 Channel Amplifier (2 x 100W Rms @ 4§Ù 2 x 150W Rms @ 2§Ù 1 x 400W Max @ 4§Ù ) Bridged. So far It sounds ok But , I am one to keep tryng to get it better . I have my fader set to push more to the rear which is my sub for the reason that if it is level I get no bass. Like I said before so far it is ok the way I have it . What I want to do it lose some of the bass on my pioneers and be able to level everything out so that when I have the volume up high it sound good and not distorted. I have also noticed that at nit I can see the power drain from the system on my truck.. My head lights well all the lights in the truck dim when the bass hits ..... ???? How can I get what I want done cheap as my wife is holding the money( you married guys know what I mean)? Do I need a capasitor? What can I do ? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Replies:
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: October 05, 2004 at 11:49 PM
for lights, check all amp wireing, you arent using all that much power. if not get a half farad capacitor, a cheapo one should be fine. or try disconnecting some accessoriesif you have any that might take up a decent amount of juice. for tuning the system, you could either get crossovers and an equalizer if you want to go all out, or get a get a deck with crossovers in it and sell the old one. make sure the deck has at least 4v preouts for the future. if really short on cash, get some crossovers for the doors
Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 12:59 AM
Those amps shouldn't be using that much juice. Do you have the gain set correctly on the sub amp?
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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 7:49 AM
You're using two coaxials? They are rated too low for use with an amp, at 30 watts. Trade them out for 50 watt models. The amp is 2 X 50? The subs are wired to an impedance of 2 ohm? Make sure you have the high pass filter on for the speakers, and the low pass filter on for the subs. For the dimming problem, you may have some old wiring that needs replaced under the hood. Clean the ground connections.
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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 2:57 PM
stevdart wrote:
You're using two coaxials? They are rated too low for use with an amp, at 30 watts. Trade them out for 50 watt models. The amp is 2 X 50? The subs are wired to an impedance of 2 ohm? Make sure you have the high pass filter on for the speakers, and the low pass filter on for the subs.
Stevdart what do you mean? Thanks all for the info I will be tryng to get a capasitor soon. Kfr01 I have the gain all the way up for the sub and 1/2 way for the highs. I Have to have the fader on the HU more to the rear(subs) to get bass. If I level it out I won't get any bass. How should it be? bullman96 could I just use bass blockers for the doors? will that work?
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 8:33 PM
Sounds like you need a crossover. It will help you clean up the bass out of the door speakers and leave only bass for the subs. Might help you with fader issues depending on the crossover you get. Like the others said , check the wiring. Maybe need to upgrade to bigger ground wires or just check the ones you have for good connection.
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 9:22 PM
What about bass blockers will that work ? What is the bigger ground going to do for me ?
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 9:33 PM
the grounds may or may not be the reason your lights are dimming when the bass hits. Just somthing to look into.
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 9:46 PM
What did I mean? I asked some questions there. Are you using two speakers or four? And the speaker rating is 30 watts, which is too low for use with an amplifier. Trade up for better ones. You said "a 100 watt amp, 2 channel, bridged for the pioneer speakers". Is that a 2 X 50 watt amp? And why are the speakers bridged? You have the speakers wired in parallel at a 2 ohm load? Instead, work out a way to power your main speakers at 4 ohm, not below. Do you have the subs wired to 2 ohms? And more...you have the gains all out of whack. All the way up on one amp?? Halfway on the other? You need to start over, write down a diagram of everything you have hooked up together, make a list of all the wiring, everything. Forget about capacitors with this. Forget about bass blockers. You just need to get the basics right. And 30 watt speakers for your main speakers just aren't going to cut it. ------------- Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:33 PM
Yes the amp is 2x50.I am useing 4 speakers.
I have it brigded to get the full 100watts out of it.
They are 30 rms 160w max. Is thatstill to low. I just bought them
about 2 mnth ago. They are not wired parallel I am not sure how to do
that. The sub was in a sealed inclosure already . I am not sure how they have it wired.
I will have to take some time to rework all of it . My main concern is not to spend
more than I already have . I would like to get this working right with what I have
now if I can. Thank you guys for all the help... I am learning alot.
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:46 PM
Ok The pioneers are 4ohms so if I did this correctly parallel will give me 1ohm and series will give me 16. I am thingking that I want to go series correct? My sub if it is correct is 4ohms each speaker and I have it bridged....
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:52 PM
I believe paralelling the 4 ohm pioneers will give you 2 ohm if theres just 2 of them right?
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:52 PM
Stevdart here is the info on my pioneers This info is off there site . Watts MAX. Music Power 160W
Watts Nominal Power Handling 30W
Frequency Response 35Hz ~ 25kHz
Sensitivity (1W/1m) 92dB
Ohm Rating 4
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:53 PM
Rushman wrote:
I believe paralelling the 4 ohm pioneers will give you 2 ohm if theres just 2 of them right?
I have 4 of them ..
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:56 PM
ok , I understand. if you paralell the left channel to the left channel amp and the right paralell to the right channel of the amp , you should only end up with 2 ohm loads on each channel. 2 ohms left and 2 ohms right.
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 10:58 PM
Is that what would be best with a 100watt amp...
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 06, 2004 at 11:05 PM
I believe your amp will put out a little more wattage in a 2 ohm stereo mode. Most amps do. This should be ok with your speakers but like stevdart recomended , changing the speakers out with better ones , I tend to agree with him. Its up to you. You might like what you hear . If not theres always room to upgrade. Check with the amps specs to make sure it can do a 2 ohm stereo load. It should be able to.
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 07, 2004 at 5:38 PM
Ok guy, I am looking into an EQ and have found a Boss Ava 1204 Band Preamp Equalizer . Can I use this with my amp's? I ask for the simple fact that it says preamp on it .
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 2:04 AM
you can use it if you want to. I dont believe I would put it in my system simply because its from Boss. Im not knockin Boss , but they have a reputation and its not the best. That EQ would probly hurt your system more than help it by putting alot of unwanted noise like altenator wine , hissing and humming in your music. You might have to put so many noise filters and ground loop isolaters to get those noises out , it just wouldnt be worth it. I dont know what kind of budget you have but if you really have to have or want an EQ , save up for the better Alpine or Kenwood or any other better brands. They will work and sound soooo much better than that boss. Just my opinion...
Posted By: /R7
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 8:22 AM
your dimming may be the cause of the gain settings you have.
gains are not meant to be cranked to get the full potential out of your amp, every amps gain setting will be different, but most of them probably will not be maxxed out for the best possible output. setting your gains properly may result in a louder system just because settings are not overpowered.
there are various tutorials to read with setting your gains, i personally find the use of a multimeter the most effective. i found my tutorial for a multimeter on JLaudio.com
an EQ can seriously improve a systems sound quality, which may be a nessesity to your taste, but if that is the case go with something worthwhile, i found phoenix golds EQ's to be very complimentry to my system.
hth
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 13, 2004 at 6:09 PM
Well guys/gals , Thank you all for the help. I purchased a capasitor which arrived today and and EQ which is on the way. Once I have the EQ I will rewire the whole system to spread out the power wires and speaker wires. So far I have rest all of the settings on th HU and amps and it is sounding better than before. Even my wife likes the way it sounds. Still can't turn it up with here in the truck but that is ok. Once again thank you all . I will keep you posted as I install the rest of the equipment
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 14, 2004 at 3:34 PM
Ok my capasitor is in . Now what will be the best way to wire this up? Am I going to needs a dist. block or can I just go direct to both amps from the capatistor? How do I do this ? The instructions are very confusing ....
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 14, 2004 at 4:15 PM
Also as I look thru all the post here I see every one talking about the pre out levels . It made me want to look at what I have and here it is .... Preout level / Load (during disc play)....................1800 mV/10 k§Ù
Preout impedance............................................................¡Â 600 §Ù sorry for sounding stupid but, Can someone decode this and tell me what my output is?
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 27, 2004 at 6:22 PM
Thanks to all that has giving me some advise. It was all taken in and some of it was even used. I have completed my install and it sounds great. I still need to get my EQ and Xover setup but all in all it sounds good. I still have to get my gound wire for my cap upgraded to 4ga it is currently 8 and redo my + and - for my battery and alt. as well. Here are a few pics of my system . sorry no pic's of the amps as they are under the fronseats and hard to see. https://www.wnytrux.com/Eugene pictures/. Once agai thanks for all the help.
Posted By: Rushman
Date Posted: October 27, 2004 at 9:29 PM
Thats a pretty good install. Looks like you planned it out and put some thought into it. Bravo. If you dont mind some advice. You did a nice job running and hiding the wires but if you get a chance and can afford it I would suggest upgrading all your RCA cables. Im sure your system sounds great but do you have any alternator wine . Im only asking because those kind of cables are popular for picking up that wine. Changing or upgrading to a better high shielded cables will improve the over quality of the sound and help illiminate some or all unwanted noises. Other than that the system looks great. Radio and EQ nice and straight in the dash , Capicitor bolted down and wired up clean , Crossover nice and clean and easy access for adjustment. Good Job.
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99 F-one fitty
Pioneer Premier H/U
Alpine EQ
Kicker 1200 amp
4 Kicker comp 10s
6 kicker SS65.2 components
Posted By: mpathy
Date Posted: October 27, 2004 at 9:33 PM
Yes there is some whine and I hear you about the RCA's I will be upgrading to better ones asap. I was working on a fixed hidden buget from the wife LOL . Soon enought I will upgrade . Thanks you for the compliments you guys have been alot of help.
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