car audio

[Sheep]

As for me, I prefer an Alpine head unit. Alpine has always focused more on sound quality and less on features like "cool animated display effects".

Agreed. Alpine for Head unit and speakers. JL for subs and amps.

SheepStar

 

[Spiffyfast]

For audio quality look at Eclipse head units. Speakers ..boston acoustic is ok... I was like most people and was into bass. JL is the ultimate in subs, quality and spl. for amps look at JL, PPI, or Pheonix Gold.

 

[JaceTheAce]

Agreed. Alpine for Head unit and speakers. JL for subs and amps.

SheepStar

My sub is a JL Audio. I bought a 12" and I think that is a little too much - but at least I can turn the sub down from the head unit so it's not so loud.

 

[JaceTheAce]

For audio quality look at Eclipse head units. Speakers ..boston acoustic is ok... I was like most people and was into bass. JL is the ultimate in subs, quality and spl. for amps look at JL, PPI, or Pheonix Gold.

I had a friend with a $6,000 car audio system - the head unit was Eclipse. I don't know why he'd spend that much money on a car system, honestly. The most I'd spend is $2000.

At the end of this year I'll put either Canton or MB Quart component speakers in my Civic. I'll have to drive down to Minneapolis to listen to the Canton car audio line. I imagine they'd sound just as good as their home audio speakers.

 

[GlocksRock]

MB Quart is known for really bright and somewhat harsh tweets, but they still sound pretty good.

 

[niget2002]

I went with a sony head unit. They may do a little more "bling", but they still use some of the better D2A's on the market, has full RCA out's, and an AUX in.

When wiring the amp, Do I need to run both + and - from the battery? Or just + and ground it out in the trunk? I'm pretty sure I just run the +, but I want to ask anyways.

After reading and asking around, the eD speakers are coming fairly recommended. I'm thinking a pair of their 10"s, one in each rear corner, being pushed by a single amp. I can put the amp on the left side of the car, and that will leave the right side for another amp if I ever decide to upgrade the fronts. I like cemetry in looks. A single sub and amp in a trunk actually makes my head hurt looking at it

I'm pretty good at fiberglass, built a few boats and RC airplane parts, so I'm probably going to do that for the enclosures. It will help save some space.

Thanks for all the links and information you've been providing. It may sound like I'm going overkill for a semi-first install, but it's the way I've started every other hobby (RC airplanes, motorcycles, HT, computers). I've also helped build boxes before, but I've always seemed to be busy the day of the wiring (hence the battery question).

Again, Ya'll have been extremely informative... much better than the enthusiast (kids) sites!

 

[Hi Ho]

I'm going to upgrade the system in my Civic as well. Along with sound deadening, I will probably go with component speakers and a sub. I'm not sure which speakers I will get, but if the Ascendant Arco set gets good reports I would be very tempted due to my past experience with their speakers (subs). The sub will most definetely be Ascendant, probably an Assassin 10".

I have a Panasonic head unit. What I really like about it is the fact that it isn't flashy and it is very user friendly. There are no unlabeled multifuntion buttons or cryptic symbols/menus, something I have seen in many car stereos and something that really drives me nuts.

The head unit does not have the most powerfull amps, however, but it does have preouts that I can use to connect an external amp. What do you guys think of the Blaupunkt amps? I found one (can't link to it at the moment) that is rated 150w/channel or 300w bridged for a good price. I figure I could use one amp to power the two speakers and another, bridged, to power the sub.

 

[GlocksRock]

Yeah, + from the battery to amp, ground it to bare metal in the trunk, no need to run another long wire from the battery. I know you will like the eD subs, I have their old flatcone e15A and I absolutely LOVE it. I think I'm gonna get their higher end components when I have to replace my current JL XR's. Look around on the eD picture gallery for some really slick installs, especially the 12A glassed into the new Z.

 

[adwilk]

The head unit does not have the most powerfull amps, however, but it does have preouts that I can use to connect an external amp. What do you guys think of the Blaupunkt amps? I found one (can't link to it at the moment) that is rated 150w/channel or 300w bridged for a good price. I figure I could use one amp to power the two speakers and another, bridged, to power the sub.

I really am not a big fan of Blaupunkt, but i know some people who are. 150 or 300w.. blah blah.. "watts" is very relative especially in car audio. I think it work just fine for the midrange/highs, but i have had so much more luck with an amp designed just for subs to power my sub(s). Directed Audio is very reasonably priced and readily available on ebay and make fantasitic sub amps. These are the best sub amps on a budget period. Crossfire is another great choice. My $.02

PS.. i dont know if this is allowed on these forums but i have two really great Eclipse amps if anybody is interested...

 

[Hipnotic4]

Im big in carudio. MECP certified and all. Check out sounddomain, icixsound and soundillusions.net

Lots of differnt factors come into play with car audio. Its not as simple as home audio. The type of car it self plays a huge role. Speaker placement/aiming is crucial, but that also vares with the type of speakers your using.

3 or 2way setup for the front stage...Active vs passive xovers, eqs, time alignment etc..lots of stuff. Its a very exspensive hobby.

If you get really into it youll know what im talking about..

 

[Hipnotic4]

I'm still kind of new at the home theatre thing, but actually have some pretty good knoweledge of how to make a vehicle sound good. Just like home audio (most those kids dont do this), its critical that you step up and spend money on all the accessories like fuses, noise dampening materials, proper boxes, good crossovers blah blah blah blah... Most aftermarket head units are capable of powering most two way coaxials on the market and this method works just fine. if you invest in a component speaker set, an amp may be necessary. The info here so far on subs is correct. NOBODY HAS TWO 15's that sound incredible. My best setup included every component from Eclipse audio. I had a pre-amp head unit with an 8volt preout, an eclipse premium 4 channel amp (only 50x4), Their point source series components up front and in back and a titanium 10" sub with an eclipse premium 700 watt amp. I used good cables, good connections, applied l-pads to the tweeters (trick i learned in an audioholics DIY forum) and there was some music i would have rathered listned to in my car(sitting still of course)than inside my home. I found that the key to good car audio is spending a little more money on good components. upgrade a piece at a time so you can tell what makes a difference...

Please relax..Eclipse makes good decks and some good amps. They got some really good subs too. They are not "the end all best" car audio equipment. And I have herd setups with 2 15s that sounded increadable. Try looking up the guy with the red beemer who uses 2 15inch subs from B&W in his front stage. Check out how much SQ contests hes won.

Its all in how you tune your system. ALOT goes into it rather just what drivers you have or how many of them. the enclosure alone for the sub plays the biggest role on how the bass will sound. Im not even going to get into all of this..Just check out the other forms i mentioned before...

 

[adwilk]

Hey, you relax... i dont want to steal somebodies thread and argue with you, but for the price, and a simplistic seamless installation, your cant go wrong with Eclipse. Obviously, this guy isnt looking for 2 15's for his front stage. Of course there are extreme conditions that call for something like that. I also didnt consider that this guy was gonna go car audio nut (read the OP) and start going to contests and what not. Assuming that he might want to replace the factory speakers in their factory locations, Eclipse is as good an option as there is. Obviously i'm talking something different than the guy with the full size conversion van running 1.2 million watts and has 42 total drivers and cant see out the rear view mirror. Thanks for making this one more of those rediculous car audio pissing contests... I'm done with this one.. good luck!

 

[Hipnotic4]

Hey, you relax... i dont want to steal somebodies thread and argue with you, but for the price, and a simplistic seamless installation, your cant go wrong with Eclipse. Obviously, this guy isnt looking for 2 15's for his front stage. Of course there are extreme conditions that call for something like that. I also didnt consider that this guy was gonna go car audio nut (read the OP) and start going to contests and what not. Assuming that he might want to replace the factory speakers in their factory locations, Eclipse is as good an option as there is. Obviously i'm talking something different than the guy with the full size conversion van running 1.2 million watts and has 42 total drivers and cant see out the rear view mirror. Thanks for making this one more of those rediculous car audio pissing contests... I'm done with this one.. good luck!

lol. The point i was trying to make about the 2 15s is that YOU can make it sound good. Depending on your level of skill it can be an extreme condition. I never reccomended this guy to do any sort of install like that. Never.

..I basicly stated theirs more than just Eclipse and their are tons and tons of options for the guy. Eclipse speakers IMO are not that great in comparison to CDT, Alpine spx, kicker resolutions and alot others. I have had the point source and the old component sets. They are OK. Nothing to brag about..but hey its SQ which is too subjective to bother arguing about..

I was not trying to make this some "pissing contest." Please just PM me if you want to aruge about anything car audio.

 

[adwilk]

Hey, its much later now and after reading my post some 8 hours later, i realize i was probably out of line... I suppose you are right, we could go round and round to no end. thanks for the insight

 

[Hipnotic4]

Hey, its much later now and after reading my post some 8 hours later, i realize i was probably out of line... I suppose you are right, we could go round and round to no end. thanks for the insight

Its all good man. It happens

 

[JaceTheAce]

Wow this turned into a long thread

 

[Sheep]

Wow this turned into a long thread

Phhhft. 35 posts? Try 300 + like buckeye, taking my title....

A good thread none the less.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to make a new thread.

SheepStar

 

[niget2002]

So, would 2 Pyramid 8" subs on a 4x125 be louder than a 15" JL?

J/K.

Yeah, this thread did make it farther than I expected. Lots of really good information and links. Now, I just need to keep reading. I cut out some templates in cardboard over the weekend to make sure what I want to put in my trunk will fit where I want it to. So far it looks like my plans may actually work.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[Hi Ho]

I wanted to update my inquiry about sound dampening.

I had an idea about a week ago. I have a large amount of extra fiberglass insulation lying around here. I thought, "who needs DynaMat?".

I removed all of the door panels from my 1990 Civic and lined them with fiberglass insulation.

The impact is very impressive! Not only is the ride much quieter, the sound from my speakers has improved dramatically, mainly the bass. Before, I had to turn the bass up all the way (+12db) in order to get a halfway decent sound that wasn't thin while driving. Now the bass is plenty loud and much tighter with the bass at -2db! The road noise when driving on the freeway has nearly been eliminated, leaving only wind noise. It's almost Lexus-like.

I am thoroughly impressed with the results of my experiment. I did not put anything in the floor or on the firewall, that is best left to a DynaMat type material, but simply putting it in the doors made an amazing difference.

 

[mulester7]

I wanted to update my inquiry about sound dampening.

I had an idea about a week ago. I have a large amount of extra fiberglass insulation lying around here. I thought, "who needs DynaMat?".

I removed all of the door panels from my 1990 Civic and lined them with fiberglass insulation.

The impact is very impressive! Not only is the ride much quieter, the sound from my speakers has improved dramatically, mainly the bass. Before, I had to turn the bass up all the way (+12db) in order to get a halfway decent sound that wasn't thin while driving. Now the bass is plenty loud and much tighter with the bass at -2db! The road noise when driving on the freeway has nearly been eliminated, leaving only wind noise. It's almost Lexus-like.

I am thoroughly impressed with the results of my experiment. I did not put anything in the floor or on the firewall, that is best left to a DynaMat type material, but simply putting it in the doors made an amazing difference.

.....NOOOOO!!!, THIS LISTENING TEST WAS NOT CONDUCTED UNDER THE PRESCRIBED AND REQUIRED PROTOCOL OF DOUBLE BLIND TESTING, SO YOUR NEFARIOUS AND NEBULOUS CLAIM IS UNFOUNDED AND SERVES NO PURPOSE!!!!!....

.....haha, HiHo, I couldn't resist....I applaud you on your experimentation and results.....