I've already bought the radio, and the speakers are on the way, however, The radio has 2 sets of preamps. I was considering (heavily) running a 40 (or 50)x4 amplifier to all the speakers, which takes up BOTH of the preamps, yes?
By doing that, I would be SOL for installing a amp and a sub, wouldn't I? I know there are "Y" splitters, but wouldn't it be too much for the radio running 3 pair of RCA's?
The Pioneer radio puts out 14 RMS, would adding am amp that drives the speakers properly make a lot of difference, or would it be best to just not worry about, and save the preamps for the sub amp? If I could work both, I'd do it.
It's a standard cab truck, but it is the highest trim level, fully loaded, which means.....it has a storage compartment / pockets, etc and a case of the jack and so on behind the seat, meaning, a sub box won't "fit" there, because it has nowhere to "sit".
Only option I can think of (since I don't want to remove the stuff back there, looks nice) is to mount a sub under the seat, perhaps a 10" under each side, or a 12" under 1 side?
I need help figuring out what sub would be ideal, I want bass, since listening to speakers that can't produce crap below 250 Hz isn't fun, and hearing 4x6's trying to sound like 12"s must be the saddest thing in the world to ever hear (dun dun dun FART, dun dun dun FART)
I don't want "blow me out of the vehicle bass" or "overpowers EVERYTHING" bass, but I want something that has a punch, and sounds like a sub, not a mid-range, but that doesn't overpower everything else. I have 2 12"s in the trunk of my Town Car, and just picturing all THAT directly underneath me, is....scary.
I saw under "subwoofers" the first sub (also the cheapest, not intentionally) they have a MTX Tunderoad? 4500 series, 10", that has gotten pretty much all 5* reviews. Would something like that be ideal?
1994 Lincoln Town Car, Signature Series, Pioneer DEH-1900MP, JL Audio TR570-CXi's, JL Audio C2-690tx's, Kenwood KAC-8204D, Kenwood KFC -W3011's.
1993 GMC Sierra K1500 SLE, Pioneer DEH-3100UB, Boston Acoustics all around.
On your radio - there is no way I would amp 3.5-inch speakers - but that's just me - I've never had much luck with them - but I haven't had a car with 3.5's since the 1980's (but it didn't have them for long with an 18W amp).
What I would do is amp the 4x6's and amp the sub - either with a 4-channel or separate 2-channel and mono amps.
For your RCA's, you want the sub using the rear subwoofer RCA's in subwoofer mode.
For the mains - I will assume the 4x6's are in the rear. You would get the best sound quality connecting the 3.5's to the rear HU speaker outputs, the front RCA's to the 4x6 amp, and just knowing that front and rear were reversed on the fader control. Otherwise, you can run the rear speaker level wires to speaker-level amp inputs or a LOC.
If you wanted to amp all 4 speakers are run the sub - I would use the speaker level inputs and/or LOC so you still have the fader, but if you don't care about the fader, Y-adapters on the front outputs would work.
There are other options such as RCA outputs on the amps, but if you change the settings on the HU, you will be affecting that amp also, so that probably isn't a good idea!
2002 Ford Focus Sony CDX-GT410u Sony XT-100HD HD Tuner Stock speakers, no amp, no subs
SignatureSeriesOwner: It's a standard cab truck, but it is the highest trim level, fully loaded, which means.....it has a storage compartment / pockets, etc and a case of the jack and so on behind the seat, meaning, a sub box won't "fit" there, because it has nowhere to "sit". Only option I can think of (since I don't want to remove the stuff back there, looks nice) is to mount a sub under the seat, perhaps a 10" under each side, or a 12" under 1 side?
The only way I ever figured out to put subs behind the seat is to take the box out. I did have them under the seat in a nice set of boxes, but I've sold the boxes since. The jack is useless for me because I lifted the truck.
You'll definitely want two subs. 10"s are you're best bet, but if you know what you're doing you can put 12"s under the seat (I did). I have a 1992 Chevrolet Standard Cab Silverado (with the Z71 off road package).
1992 Chevrolet pickup; Jensen VM9412 HU; Alpine 4x6 2-way dash speakers x 2; Pyle Blue Label 4x6 3-way rear speakers x 2; Pyle Blue Label 12" subs x 2; Crunch GVP700.2 "Ground Pounder" subwoofer amplifier; Custom Subwoofer box
Is the clearance between the seat frame and the carpet enough for all 10" or 12" subs, or only for shallow-mount ones?
The only problem I had with either the 10"s or the 12"s was the spring that allows the seat to move forward and backward. When I made the boxes to hold them, I used 3/4" MDF. I recessed the speaker down in the front and cut a hole in the back for the magnet to fit through and sealed it using rope caulk. The magnet set on the carpet and the recessed front solved the problem of the spring (mostly). And I didn't use shallow mount subs.
But be forewarned, if you go with 12"s, you're going to be working hard on the box for a week or two. I can personally gaurantee that it is no easy task getting a box under the seats of a standard cab truck.
I have never installed an amp for interior speakers before, so I was wondering.... Am I needing to run new wires from the amp speaker outputs to the speakers, or is there something I'm missing here?
Since the amp I'm looking hard at is a RF Prime R150-2, it puts out 50x2, since the speakers take a max of 35 RMS (the 4x6's, I would have the gain turned down, is an cooling fan necessary, or would normal heat sink be fine with this application?
I also was looking at the Orion Cobalt CO3002, it seems to perform better than the RF, however, it has no preamps..it uses speaker level inputs...
How does it work if there is no connection to the radio, and I have to run new wires from the speakers to the amp?
SignatureSeriesOwner:I have never installed an amp for interior speakers before, so I was wondering.... Am I needing to run new wires from the amp speaker outputs to the speakers, or is there something I'm missing here?
I thought you ended up running one on the Town Car?
It is similar to the way subs work - the speakers are wired to the amp inputs and the HU outputs (either speaker or RCA) are wired to the amp inputs - if you don't use the speaker level inputs on the amp, you NEED to cap off the HU speaker level outputs.
There are three ways you can wire the speakers to the amp:
Since the amp I'm looking hard at is a RF Prime R150-2, it puts out 50x2, since the speakers take a max of 35 RMS (the 4x6's, I would have the gain turned down, is an cooling fan necessary, or would normal heat sink be fine with this application? I also was looking at the Orion Cobalt CO3002, it seems to perform better than the RF, however, it has no preamps..it uses speaker level inputs...
Hmmmn - first off, even 50W to 35W speakers is a bit much - the MTX TN200-2 might be a better match - and is fan cooled.
Rockford makes very good amps and they put out more than rated - the Prime series is a new entry-level for them - not sure how it compares. Not sure why you think the Cobalt performs better, but I don't know much good or bad about it.
Errrrm, the Cobalt has either pre-amp or speaker level inputs, you can see the RCA jacks here.
Fan cooling is an advantage - but if you have sufficient airspace around the amp, it isn't required.
Before you purchase, you might also want to consider a 4-channel amp like these that would power your 4x6's and give you 150W RMS-ish for your subs - it would save you some money and be more compact than a dual amp install.
Not quite following you - the amp gets signal input from the RCA's or the speaker-level inputs and outputs this to the speakers with the new wires.
Hope This Helps!!!
I did run one in the Town Car, however, I used RCA's, I don't know what speaker level inputs/outputs are, or where they are located. I'm not understanding how the signal goes from the radio to the amplifier, if the wiring for the speakers goes directly from the amp to the wires, which rules out any audio signal for the amp to detect there, and there are no RCA's running from the amplifier to the radio, so it isn't getting an audio feed. I never saw any wires labeled "Speaker Level Outputs" on any of the wires I was soldering, or on the back of the radio itself.
I'm just more comfortable with the RCA method, as it's just plug and play, plus I know how it works.
I was looking at that MTX, but I don't understand how the speaker level inputs work (as written above) so that shyed me away from it.
Hmm. The Kenwood KAC 6404 is looking like a strong contender here. 40x4, 130 RMS x2, RCA inputs....
Here is my question for that amplifier.
Sine I will only be running 2 speakers to it, for the time being, there will not be any subs hooked up for a month, maybe more. Is it ok to leave channels 3 and 4 with no load on them, period? I won't burn anything up by just using 2 channels, with nothing hooked up to the other two?
And for the radio itself, if the rear speakers are not receiving a signal from the wiring harness, but from the RCA's, I won't blow a channel will I? The signal would still be sent to the rears, via the factory wiring, however, the speakers won't be getting any of the load, because the amp is powering them. Will this harm the radio, if the fade/balance is 0/0, but only the front speakers are being powered from it, via the radio amp?
?action=view¤t=Speakerlevelinputdiagram.jpgThe speaker level inputs allow you to splice into the factory speaker wiring and connect it to the amp. Basically, the speakers outputs on the HU connects to the amp.
How do I insert an image from my computer?
EDIT: Ok, here's a diagram:
AAAARRRGGHHH!!! Didn't work!
Let me try again:
Click in Reply, see the thing that looks like a strip of film? Upload your photo to Photobucket or similar, then post the direct link, then it should work.
I don't have a photobucket acount. Is there another way?
EDIT: I'm creating one now. BTW, is that your truck?
blackchevy92: BTW, is that your truck?
BTW, is that your truck?
It is :)
Looks real good!
Sorry to get off track, my diagrams up above.
Or right here if you prefer:
That's how speaker level inputs work. Here's a direct link:
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab142/1992Chevypickup/Speakerlevelinputdiagram.jpg
Ah, Ok, I see. Thats a lot of wire running though, means I have to run one either to the HU, or a dash speaker. RCA's seem to be less of a hassle in this application.
It looks like I'm going to go with the MTX Tunder 4500's for subs. 2 10"s, and I mean, for $30.00/ sub with the price break, hard to go wrong. Lot of good reviews too.
Reckon that'll work nicely?
They normally are more of a hassle. Speaker level inputs were designed for people who don't want to replace the factory head unit.
That sounds like a good option. You can't beat the price.