Hey guys, I've followed a bunch of threads here and there in the audio forum, but audio has always taken a backseat to performance and... getting the car running. You guys seem to really know your stuff. Maybe you can help a novice out.

I want to do a complete system later this year, but I'd like to get a head start on what I'll be doing. What are some good reads for a beginner? I have a decent/good background in electrical concepts, but I only know the bare basics when it comes to audio and audio terminology. I'm an AVID believer in do-it-yourself, and also do-it-right-the-first-time.

What books would you guys recommend? Any thorough websites? I don't need to know stuff like, "which brand is better" or general things novices ask. (At least not yet.) I'd prefer to learn things like, "what makes this or that brand/product better and why?"

Other things I'd like to learn are:
-Speaker box construction
-Fiberglassing
-Imaging? Sound dynamics? (Don't know the correct terms.)
-Speaker/wire material differences
-Can't think of others at the moment.

I'm sure a lot of you guys could give me a short list of what to buy for what type of sound I want based on how much I have to spend, and that'd be great. But for now I just want to get a good understanding of it all before I start picking out the components.

Just to give you pros an idea of the **** I'm used to listening to, here's what makes up my stereo "system" now:

-Blaupunkt headunit 168W, don't know model (prev owner).
-Crap generic 4x6s, from ebay (stockers didn't work).
-Sony 6x9s, don't know model (prev owner).
-Stock wiring, as far as I can tell.
-Nothing behind the rears. I just realized this week that there should be something behind the 6x9s (I figured there should be).
-Nothing else.

I have no intentions of buying a "budget system." But I don't plan to impress the losers in the car 4 lanes down, and definately not planning on winning any "sub competitions" in late-night parking lots. I just want something that'll complete the driving experience, and possibly make the girl in the passenger seat wet herself. 'Know what I mean?

Thanks guys,
Scott

 

Here is a good website to start with.

http://www.caraudioheaven.com/

It will give you the basics.

 

Thanks! That should keep me busy for the weekend.

Any more?

I'd still like to get a good book on the subject as well, anyone have recommendations?

Thanks,
Scott

 

http://www.bcae1.com/

http://www.the12volt.com/

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/le...1mOGYkpjn/car/

Those should get you started out.

 

http://www.caraudioforum.com i found this forum the most informative

also
http://www.termpro.com is full of many competitors willing to pass on their knowledge

 

Nice thanks! I have something to do while at work this week!

Scott

 

hope m not repeating anything i got dialup so i cant just cheak out those sites right quick to get an idea of what your already seeing....but heres a few tips as i also learned anything i know from doing it myself for about 10yrs now....its just been the last few yrs that i would come here for extra help.
Ive had few friends that worked intalling sterios also to pic apart there brains...ive also done alot of installs for friends and all of my 8 owned cars.

sence i dont realy know your exctent of experiance even with wireing up decks im prob. ganna say some things that may be redundant.

-if you didnt knowtice alot of aftermarket decks use the same color codes for there decks.
-good ideas are to find out wire diagram (colors) for your particular car match them to your aftermarket wire diagrams and anyone should beable to hook up a deck.
-cheack out the sterio and sub related stuff here in the tech artical pages as i find them nice and short and give good basics
-learn alittle about amps and low and high input.
-learn abit about subs dual voice coils and single vc's
-learn abit about sealed, free air, or combanations boxes (subs are ment for certain boxes sometimes) sometimes the maker or breaker along with the amp.
-learn about it not the max wattage to look for its the RMS wattage that sets the junk apart from the good quality amps and speakers.
-becarefull on priceing even tho your not ganna run a butget system that doesnt mean your cant still get a nice set up for cheap....ppl put high mark ups on electrnics and prices are alwasy competitive....i love ebay but becarefull on buying used there that can be sketcy.
-sometimes its better to start at the deck and go from there....noone says you cant upgrade later ...but sometimes its a chain reaction if you deside later...(getting a deck is key to think what you plan on doing later)....also no one says you have to buy it all at first....i could of never done that but getting something here and there i ended up with a system that i enjoy allot and rattle cars i drive by and sets off alarms and i think sounds nice.

here is a genaric example of a nice systems set ups:
-quality head unit(i like mp3,wma players they rock)
-4 aftermarket speakers
-running an amp from the rca outs on the deck(running a thick power lead from the batt)
-running a sub or 2 off the amp.
-sealed subbox with enoght volume for that sub

then alittle more say:
-you can add components which have crossovers midbass and tweeters.
-more amps to speakers or to your second sub
-eq's (preamp kinds)

or you can go really nuts and add things like:
-music kegs and changers
-imageing or suround sound setups
-fancy fiberglass show setups
-upgrading the alt. and adding more batt's
-etc...

 

Thanks guys for the links! And I really appreciate all that typing ya' did, J!

I lost my car keys the other night so I decided to play around with the old cass deck from my truck, which I thought was broken. Grabbed my old firebird fronts and 2 aiwa small stereo speakers (from a broken cd player years ago...) and wired it all up (nice and ghetto too!) It doesn't sound too bad... hell the factory 4x6"s that I thought were broken (one still is kind of bad) sound BETTER than the cheapo replacements I bought off of ebay last year. And that's through a crappier deck without any type of enclosure. Not as loud, though. I'm never buying generic audio stuff EVER again, not even as a temporary solution.

Anyway, I think I'll keep using that little circuit to test anything I do in the future. I just had a spare car battery, an inline fuse and some switches wired up in my room to test headlights and accesories, so I'll just solder all this wiring how it is and keep it on the side for later. I think my favorite part of my ghetto system is the aluminum arrow I stuck into the antenna plug to help clear up the static. Works damn good too.

Guess I'm going to build a budget-minded "starter system" and once I'm more experienced and confident (and maybe have a better paying job) I'll stick that in my truck and get a real nice high quality system for the 'bird.

I need to read these boards more and figure out if I'm using the correct terms to descibe things. I feel like a moron when it comes to audio! Thanks again guys, laters!

Scott