Beginners Install Suggestion

[Dod]

Hi, I'm looking to fit a decent system into my car. What are my options? I wanna achieve good sound quality with a decent bit of bass, so I'd like a Sub or 2 as well. No budget as yet but I'd be willing to pay for something decent. No TV screens required as I have a house for that.

[Jack]

Head unit; anything goes really. If you want a sub, best to look for a HU with a dedicated sub output with decent voltage. Being able to play MP3 CDs is pretty much the norm now, but if you have an iPood or whatever then some kinda line in socket may come in useful.

Front speakers; Do you fancy mounting door pods or cutting holes into your door? If not, you're limited to having 4" dash speakers which won't give any bass.

Rears; you can either make up some rear quarter panels to hold speakers, or mount some speakers in the parcel shelf. If you're having anything bigger than 6" in the parcel shelf, you'd be best advised to make an MDF one to stop if vibrating too much. Don't use the parcel shelf for speakers if you're having a sub as the latter will interfere with the air for the speakers.

Sub; I prefer 10" subs to 12" or 15" as they react quicker and sound punchier. Build your own box or get one to the manufacturer's specified volume - the 10" sub in my Nova sounds complete toss at the moment as the sub box is far too big (cheap ebay tat). If you're short on space, you can build the box smaller but pad it with foam or insulating material to make it "feel" bigger. Big wattage does not necessarily mean big sounds - my 300W JL is far better than the old 1200W Sony I once had.

Amp; match RMS output figures to RMS of speakers, taking account of resistance (note that 2x subs can be wired in different ways to change the resistance). If you want 2x subs, you don't need a multi channel amp, monoblock amps can run dual subs both off one channel, so long as the power requirements are ok. Don't forget to buy an amp wiring kit with suitable fuses and connectors!

Also, to improve sound at the cost of added weight, be liberal with stuff like dynamat and/or brown bread (or just whatever cheap insulating/soundproofing stuff you can get, but make sure ti won't catch fire if there's an electrical short or overheating). I'd say some form of soundproofing is essential if you're mounting speakers into the doors or rear quarters.

Pretty much all of this will depend on your budget tbh. I spent about £240 and that got me 2x amps, AWG0 twin amp wiring kit, RCA cables, 10" sub, sub box but didn't include speakers or head unit which I already had. I prefer to go for better kit such as the likes of JL, Alpine, Infinity etc over cheaper brands like Vibe, JBL, Sony etc. If I was feeling flush I would look at Phoenix Gold and Cerwin Vega :D

HTH

[novait]

as rj said... i would have to say a alpine head unit would be a good place to start...and one 10" will do fine with the rite amp... you can pick up jl audio amps/subs/speakers for good money now adays...

[Dod]

Right well I have a Stealth shelf and a boot build ready from donor carsbut i wanna keep it as subtle as possible. Dont want a whole mad ICE install for the world to see, just something with a bit of a boot to it. Any suggestions on Brands and models? Best place to buy?

[Jack]

Depends on budget, but as said I tend to stick with the likes of Alpine, Infinity, Pioneer, JL.

[Dod]

Well the budget is around the €500 mark including a head unit (so about £420 or there abouts)

As stated its a beginners install and I'm asking for specifics as i havent got a clue whats what with Sounds. Whats RMS, A Cross over, why do i need brown bread etc.

Can anyone show me a link and say "buy that, thats your best option" sorta thing pweeze? Rep added for anyone that does. :D

[Jack]

£420 is a respectable budget, that should get you some decent kit

Have a look on www.bassjunkies.com , www.incarexpress.co.uk , www.caraudiosecurity.com to start you off.

Incidentally, speakers/subs/amps etc have two power ratings - PMPO and RMS. The former is peak power, thats what the speaker/amp can hit for a short period before it breaks. RMS is continual power, thats what the speaker/amp can sit at all day long without overheating/popping and thus the more important power figure.

[Dod]

So for example, an 800watt Sub in 12" form, If I have 2 I'd need a 1600watt Amp to run them effectively?

Whats the best layout? Tweater, 6x9s and a pair of Subs? Do i amp the 6x9s and the subs or just the Subs?

[Jack]

So for example, an 800watt Sub in 12" form, If I have 2 I'd need a 1600watt Amp to run them effectively?

Unfortunately its really not that simple. Depends on how the subs are wired (series or parallel), what resistance they run at, and whether they're dual or single coil. This explains it. Fun ahoy!

Whats the best layout? Tweater, 6x9s and a pair of Subs? Do i amp the 6x9s and the subs or just the Subs?

No real need for 6x9s with a sub, as the latter takes care of the bass. I'd think about components up front, 6.5" in the rear cards, then a sub or two in the boot. Depending on the output of the speakers, you may want to buy a multi channel amp to sort them, but an additional amp (i.e. in addition to the amp that runs the sub) will chomp a lot of your budget.

[Welsh Dan]

Dont fit 6x9's.

Amp everything.

If I were to start from scratch, I'd keep the 10cm pioneer coaxials that I've got in the stock rear location. I'd fit some door or kickwell pods with some 13cm component speakers for the front, such as these. I'm happy with my Vibe Evo12 CBR sub. I'd use an amp such as this, and a headunit such as this.

I'm currently using a £100 sony mp3/cd head unit, and some 13cm pioneer coaxials in the doors, with no seperate amp other than the one thats built into the sub, it all sounds "ok", but I can see how amped components and a decent head unit would improve things.

EDIT: I've just realised that that would take you over budget if you bought a sub aswell, but you could spend £70 on thesehttp://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/6691.html, and buy a slightly cheaper head unit.