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Puddin posted:I just bought a new amp and totally forgot about how the previous owner had 0-gauge running to the back of the car. Ugh that's pretty irresponsible in itself, but at least you don't have to run the power wire yourself. Get a good distribution block and run your amp from that with the desired gauge. I run 0-gauge myself, but it was... interesting trying to get it through the firewall. I literally had to tape, shape, and lube it before it went through.  atomicthumbs posted:I've done too much looking through Crutchfield for head units and am pretty sure I'm gonna choose either the Sony CDX-GT700HD or the Kenwood Excelon KDC-X596. Are there any caveats of either of those I should know about? The interface matters a lot, too. In any head unit, you want to play around with the very same unit first, or at least similar ones from that brand/lineup, so you can get a good sense of how they perform or behave while you're supposed to be concentrating on driving. The interface also needs to be quite fast and responsive, intuitive, and not particularly inviting to Human error. The moving parts like knobs should not show sign of becoming unresponsive over time, but that's not easy to judge. They should support various bits of technology like hands-free bluetooth hopefully, and most important for me, iDevice or Android-equivalent audio connectivity, or at least USB storage support (even then it can be quirky and rather selective). I'm still using a Pioneer Avic-F90BT. I bought it without having tested these kinds of units first, which I somewhat regret - it's super slow to boot, but has strong high-volt outputs, good navigation all around, supports iDevices and a plethora of other entertainment options, has backup camera support, etc. EQ is a bit weak (not granular enough and groups too many bands together) for my liking too, as I have some weird zones in my car. I never really saw many posts of people complaining about the same things as I, but I had some luck reading forums for the Pioneer AVIC series to get an understanding of what people felt about the brand, and what burned them, etc. Try the same yourself. But yeah, that Kenwood looks a bit better, spec-wise. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Jan 3, 2013 |
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Jan 3, 2013 15:34
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[Sorry, ignore, double-post. Tried to put two together, but I can't delete this one.]
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Jan 3, 2013 15:46
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If you're really hurting, there are also kickpanels you can get for some cars to fit 6.5" components into. Not too sure about three-way components being compatibile with kick panels, however. Maybe just make your own? I think the value of having that kind of quality out of a three-way set is pretty much made pointless when you put the larger drivers/woofers into the rear; you'll source the sound far too easily as a listener. I had a pair of custom kick panels for my 01 Civic when I was driving one, which weren't too disruptive (in terms of space consumption). I had to watch for passengers kicking the grille by accident, perhaps, and they get scuffed, but it's no big deal. I also found that the kickpanels mostly aimed at the driver's head, so the passneger doesn't really get the same balanced sound. But the sound was indeed good. And legs/clothing can block the sound very noticeably, so that's not so good. Most folks I've talked to only care about the front sound stage, so they don't bother much with upgrading the speakers in the rear deck. I personally went with two sets of Alpine Type-X reference two-way components in the front and rear (each), then two 10" Alpine Type-R subs in the rear, in a ported box. It's a very loud system, but I can source everything very easily. Putting my front-cabin 6.5" drivers towards the back would be extremely noticeable/different and not be good. Edit: My kick panels had cut-outs for the drivers (6.5" or whatever smaller diameter you want) as well as the tweets, if you don't want yours up by the mirrors. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jan 8, 2013 |
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Jan 8, 2013 22:11
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Nice work making sense of that spaghetti bowl of wiring earlier! And there's always a tiny improvement over the original head unit. Unless you get a completely asstastic one, anyway.
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Jan 14, 2013 23:35
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Cool, I see an Apline PDX amp. Which one might that be? I have a PDX 1.1000, 2.250, and 4.100 all doing various loud amazing things. Anyway, it's not really a problem just using the stock components, but don't over-extend them. They're probably going to be getting more power and can get louder this time around. They might still sound like rear end compared to mid-range components elsewhere, though. It's pretty much always necessary to go through the firewall. It's probably the safest and most direct way of doing things; you cannot and should not run wiring under the car or otherwise exposed to elements. To be fair you might not have to pierce or drill a thing. There's usually a gromet in the firewall. It sounds weird, but if you have trouble pushing the wire through the gromet in your firewall (there are already wires routed through it, so it can be crowded), then you can try taping your wire to a pencil to better guide it through. If you still have problems there, you might have more luck taping it over a bit more and lubing it up. That's what it took to get a 0-gauge wire run through my old car ('01 Civic).
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Jan 18, 2013 18:39
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I haven't heard thin woofers yet, but here's the thin version of what I'm using: http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/swr-t10/. The thin ones are a lot more expensive than I was expecting, Jesus. Edit: Sorry, that one was 4-ohms. I'm using two of these from a previous generation, 500-watts RMS each: http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/swr-10d2/. Edit2: I think it was 500 watts RMS. Or was it 1000. I don't really care. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Feb 17, 2013 |
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Feb 17, 2013 02:40
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I'm not even that sure if Alpine SWR gear is even all that great, either. I have zero problems with mine, and they have handled some pretty good thumping over the last four or five years. The newest generation of them also seem to the same as the previous SWX (Type-X) gear, interestingly (some comments I've read on Crutchfield suggested that as well). I've never heard these 1000-watt RMS subs, and not sure if it's worth replacing one or both of the 500-watt ones I have. And I'm not sure if JL Audio's current W7 subs might be worth changing over to as well. They have this weird resistance rating of 3 ohms, but I think my PDX-1.1000 will handle two of them fine regardless. Does anyone perhaps know if the W7 series (10" in particular) are worth their price, maybe when compared to cheaper high-ish end Type-R offerings from Alpine?
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Feb 17, 2013 19:51
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Re: Ground issues You can get ground isolators for cheap that basically filter RCA lines. They work nicely without any [noticeable] impact on sound quality or output! Beyond that, once I had some Chinese triple-way 12v outlet thing in my Civic some years ago that would induce whine on my audio system whenever it was plugged in. It would go in-line with my engine RPMs, which was kind of cool - sounded a bit like a turbo spooling, heh. My wires were run along both lengths of the car, so it wasn't a power line to RCA noise/crosstalk problem, for sure. It still amounts to some kind of ground problem in the end. Use an isolator if you must.
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Feb 18, 2013 19:53
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I have some doubts that the heat/cold of a typical year will work out okay for SSDs, but I know some nav-equipped head units have hard drives. Maybe they're geared for temperature extremes. The iPod thing isn't a big deal, really. The interfaces will usually give you artist, album, playlist, genre, etc. to categorize by. I have a 120GB iPod that I can drill down to an individual artist/song to in 5-10 seconds or four clicks I think? Depends how far into the alphabet. They very often have some kind of voice feature. The downside is the the audible library has to be updated from time to time, so it'll take a while to do that if you have a big iPod. After it's set, you just hit a button, speak something like, "play Closer by Nine Inch Nails". Then you put the windows down at a light, crank it up, and look like a disgusting pervert when the chorus comes up. Edit: Yeah, helps to have a double-DIN touchscreen. The speaking thing might still apply for single-DIN units, however. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Feb 27, 2013 |
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Feb 27, 2013 01:01
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If rebooting or turning off the head unit and turning it on again fixes the issue, you might just want to rip it all out and install your own head unit. That thing could be broken.
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Mar 17, 2013 18:55
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teejayh posted:I have an 2013 Audi S4 and I want to add a sub in the trunk. the rest of the sound is pretty good, but it lacks real deep base. The audio system uses a MOST bus from the head unit, to the "mmi brain" then to the factory amp. From the factory amp it is normal speaker wires out to the rest of the speakers. What I would like to do is find a way to break into that MOST network, and then feed it into an amp that will let me power a bigger sub. Edit: I also considered under-seat low-profile subs, but they're very expensive. Probably more practical than trunk subs/boxes, though, and it could sound a bit nicer if it's all in the cabin and not having to move through a seat. Maybe.
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May 11, 2013 04:41
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Do post about it, or at least PM me when you figure it out! And good idea on the under-deck option, that could also work. I'd like to this time have a decent-sized trunk. I managed to make a fairly roomy 2008 Accord sedan's trunk as small as a Mini's, due to my sub box, and even then it's pretty much all squished into the back against the rear seat/bench. On the other hand, I have 1700-watts of amplified goodness going on. I'm still not sure if I should consider dropping a sub (I have two previous-gen Alpine Type-R 10" subs) and going to a single Alpine Type-R latest-gen 12" sub, which is basically your previous-gen Type-X. I doubt it would quite be as loud, but it does double the power handling. Would it at least be more accurate? Perhaps, I'd think. And have sub boxes pretty much all decidedly gone to a ported design? It seems that's the prevailing option, but I'm not really complaining. The two 10"s I have seem to sound... less accurate than I hope. Either it's my box, or the subs. Or both. It's rather lovely not being able to compare. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 06:37 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 06:34
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Lowclock posted:I would skip the Alpines. They're not even as good as the previous gen Type X's, which weren't very good to begin with, let alone good enough justify their insane price tag. Hiding under that huge frame and giant rubber magnet cover is still a little 117 oz motor and a 2 1/2" voice coil. 1 12" may or may not end up sounding better than 2 10"s, but it's mostly down to install over subs. I usually recommend going with 1 larger sub over 2 smaller ones. - Shared enclosure for the two subs. - Relatively short ports. - Again, poo poo construction. I replaced it with another pre-fab box and saw a pretty huge difference. The sound gets deeper, is more consistent without a noticeable hump (I had to tweak the EQ like crazy before to get a more gradual curve), and overall sounds quite a bit more accurate and clean. The subs themselves have served me pretty well so far but if this didn't work out and the subs were completely to blame, I'd be moving to a single JL 10W7 or 12W7. Or at least something equivalent in quality but cheaper (which I hear is definitely out there). A local shop often has pretty decent prices for these subs. I still consider doing it, but I'm exercising some restraint.
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May 28, 2013 03:30
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echinopsis posted:So my amp is seemingly drawing too much current for my car. headlights dipping but then got to the stage where it was cutting out when I was slowing down [as the revs drop] and then next time tried to start the car the battery was almost flat.. A capacitor helps with sudden draws, increases the gaudiness factor by a billion, and makes your dick bigger. But it won't help for longer or sustained power draws (long bass notes, etc), if that's somehow a problem. Usually music won't have that and remains kick/beat-heavy. Alternator upgrades are fine too, but not cheap. The job itself can be expensive depending on how accessible the present alternator is. In any event, you probably want to go over all the wiring to start. Make sure all the grounds are good in the engine bay, then the one ground you have for your amp(s) in the back. Also go over some guides on setting your gains and volume settings. I have a feeling you might be able to get it to feel/sound loud enough without using so much power. I don't have good evidence on this, but based on my experience between two tunes, I don't see light dips anymore after dicking around with my gains (lowering if anything), increasing source input sensitivity/volume at the head unit, equalizing better, etc. Edit: My 2001 civic had some light dipping issues with a big sub so it really can just be a case of having a weaker, older alternator in your car. Other than that, it could also come down to inefficient amplifier design, but I didn't think anything bad of your amp. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Jun 21, 2013 |
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Jun 21, 2013 19:21
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I think I just realized that I get stressed out every time I read about your car. Good work, though!
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Jul 5, 2013 16:55
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I own three [older-generation] PDX amps: - 1.1000 (1000w RMS, mono, powering two 500w Alpine Type-R subs) - 4.100 (400w RMS, four channel, powering two sets of Alpine Type-X Ref. 6.5" components) - 2.150 (300w RMS, two channel, powering nothing at the moment; used to be an 8" free-flow sub). They're great. They're stackable and plenty of strong output. The fool-proof speaker connectors can be flipped around any way without accidentally mucking up your polarity, but it's not really a necessary feature. The amps can get pretty hot, but they seem to handle stuff just fine. There's an upper limit before they turn off, but I've never experienced that before. My dynamat starts to slop off the top of my inner trunk, but the amps were still going (we're talking very hot sun-baking, more than 40 degrees celcius kinda lovely hot weather). Fine-tuning or control is rather basic (nothing to complain about). The power and ground wire inputs can be quite large if you have low gauge wire, but you should use a distribution block or two for your own sanity sake, especially if you use two or more amps. One annoying thing to deal with is the angle that your power wires go into/out of the amps. If you're moving the amps a lot, take care to ensure that they, and the wires, remain completely fastened/inserted/secure. Check after moving the amps for any reason. It seems easy to slip out if your moving/tension is ever rough. Sound-wise, it's clean and very powerful gear, no complaints. It's more than my ears would comfortably take, so I can't comment on where things might distort. They aren't very cheap. And customs might take an interest in attempting to force one open for some dumb reason. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 21:17
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If replacing the speaker resulted in the same problem (even if it's worse), then it'd be wires, the amp, or the head unit, if the speakers aren't separately amped. If they're components, then check/replace/bypass the crossover box.
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Jul 15, 2013 07:56
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The site's fitment/suitability thing is pretty useful to me, but generally their prices aren't amazing so I've never actually ordered anything from them before.
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Nov 3, 2013 05:11
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johnny sack posted:Okay so I have the 4 6x9" speakers put into the car now. I am utterly disappointed. The factory system doesn't have nearly enough power for aftermarket speakers and I'm experiencing that now.
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Nov 18, 2013 17:51
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