In car tunes...

Im planning to install some form of stereo in to my 110 and want it to be loud enough (if possible) to still hear it on the motorway, and sound good when i can hear it lol!

I've been looking for information and despite reading many wonderful articles on wattage impedence and other crap Im still confused...

Basically I want to put in 2 tweeters, 2 mids and a sub. Can I do this with one amplifier and if so should it be 2 channel, 4 channel or more?

If I need more than one amp how do I run this from the head unit as it only has 1 set of preamp connectors?

Any help gratefully received...

job sorted

truly ghetto...

Had crossed my mind...

Further research has turned up better information leading me to conclude that a 4ch amp can do the tweeters and mids with a mono amp for the sub and splice the wiring to take the preamp feed to both.

Still open to further suggestions though...

you can get a proper splitter for the pre out/rca leads although make sure your amps are the same ohmage otherwise you will cook things best way get a high power head uni u can get 60watt per channel shizzle these days run a two way 6x9 pair of spkrs off this and use a mono amp for sub... pump it

Get a four channel using RCA splitter leads hook up all the inputs, set the hp (speakers) to around 100hz and the low pass (sub) to 100hz too. You want a bridged rms output for the sub of a minimum of 100w, ideally a 4x60watts rms amp should do the job (provided it's bridgeable) I use one of these http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/8118.html

Ideally to run a sub tour head unit should have RCA output for sub only, this will be a low pass signal from 0 to 80hz or there abouts. ( remember 33hz sorts your bird out and 7hz makes your bum open on it's own accord)

This should be run to a Class D amp. The Class D stuff will need to be matched to your sub or vice versa. Remember to use the RMS wattage and not the inflated cock extension wattage shown on the box.

Your tweeters and mids can be bought as a set with crossovers. These can then be run from one channel of a standard amp, the crossover ensures the high frequency stuff goes to the tweeters and the mid range goes to the mids.

The unit should never have any gains raised as this introduces noise. However your headunit should then be able to adjust the basic sounds and EQ.

All sound adjustment with regards to volume and frequency should be done at the amps and not the headunit.

Use good quality cable and remember to use the remote leads for turning the amps on and off, not a direct 12v feed as amps will kill your battery very quickly when left alone to their own devices.

There are 5 channel amps out there - I have one (a Maystar) in my Ninety mounted behind the passenger seat. Two channels drive 6x9s in pods either side of the rear door, two channels drive component speakers with their own crossovers in the dash, and one channel drives a sub in a custom box mounted between the seats. The Alpine head unit has front, rear and sub pre-outs.
I'm very happy with the setup, and every passenger has been pleasantly surprised at the sound quality - even if they've not appreciated my choice in music!

Ian

Thanks for all the advice, gonna be a multi stage process methinks...

At least Ive got a better idea of what to plan for now

If you already have the headunit you want to use I'd do it in the order of front speakers, amp, sub then rear speakers. That way you are just building on what you have and if you want to stop at any time you've not really missed anything out, just not taken it to the next level. Also rear speakers are fine running off the head unit for rear fill IMO, you sit in the front and too much music coming from the back is a waste (subs are a different matter as bass is unidirectional). Last point is it's better to buy half decent stuff first time round than changing after 6 months because you want something better. Buy once, buy right! All this is my opinion and my experience though, others may suggest otherwise!

If its any help, I scoured ebay for some bits and ended up with : Polk Audio 5 1/2 components (separate mids by your ears and tweeters stuck to the screen) 2 x kenwood amps (one x 4 channel bridged to give about 200 w per channel rms) and a single 1800 w (500 watt rms) sub amp running a kicker 12 inch sub in a box. a fixed up with chunky cabling, splitters and a power cap. Signal come from a Kenwood Excelon head unit.

In all seriousness it is truly deafening and makes your hair vibrate when turn up!

The only tip I'd offer is that it's actually quite distracting to drive with it on as you haven't got a clue what the engine sounds like to gauge what gear you are in or revs you're doing. It does mask the rattly engine and insa turbos though.

Just bought two JL 10" subs in boxes and 2 Pheonix Gold 4-ch amps and all wiring for £100

Winner.

That's me and the missus with some bass to back up the tinny factory stuff now. Lol

Also when you're setting up remember the sound stage.

The bass should not be over powering and you shouldn't hear it, but feel it instead.

The main sound should appear to be coming from half way between you and your passengers head, not bias to the front or rear. Almost like setting up surround sound at home.