1. can some one explain how you ground a stereo system? is it just like grounding anything else?

2. i wanna good system that "Thumps" i know that sounds childish..but, i do.

3. how many subs can fit in the back of our cars? i was think about running 3 10's?

4. i know nothing about amps...any help there is needed..lol


i'm sure i'll think of more...but thats all for now :thankyou:

 

1. Grounding what? On your head unit, you just connect all the wires to the right wires on the harness. Grounding an amp is different. There's a space for a ground cable on the amp, the other end of that cable gets bolted to a piece of bare metal on the cars body. The closer the better.

2. Adire has good subs, as do JL and a few others. Don't buy cheap junk, you'll only be dissapointed.

3) 2 15's, 2 12's, 3 10's, 4 10's... a few

4) Ans amp amplifies the signal sent from your head unit, and increases its power enough to drive a subwoofer or two or three. They come in several kinds. Theres Class D which is the "best" for driving subs. These amps are very effiecient and are most often monoblock (one channel). These can be 1ohm stable, but not nescessarily. Then there are Class A/B amplifiers which can have 2, 4, or 5 channels. These are cheaper but not as efficient. These are most often used to drive speakers, but can be bridged (two channels connected to make double the power (ie left + and right- are connected to a sub)). The power is a cable ran directly from the battery.

 

1. if your wanting to ground an amplifier. you take the cool brown wire that will say ground on it. and plug it into your amplifier and then bolt the other end down to a solid metal part of your vehicle.

2. dont buy cheap subs. if your gonna spend money, then do it right the first time. i personally think JL audio is the best way to go (but thats only my opinion) there are also other good subs out there.

3. a firebird/camero hatch back can fit a numerous amount of subs in the back. to get the best sound performace though. id stick with two 10's OR two 12's. I tested out my firebird and it is possible to fit 3 10" subs in the back BUT the lack of airspace causes the subs to not perform to there full potential.

4. for an amplifier. you want a Class-D MONO block amplifier. this will get you the best performace out of your subs. Also a good amplifier is going to cost you a good amount of money. DO NOT BUY CHEAP STUFF!! A good amp, (if its NOT stolen), will cost you at least $300 unless you can get a deal somewhere.

 

well said.

300.00 is an average for a decent amp. my PG 600.1 costed about that. Retails double that...

anyway. start with the head unit please...3 preouts is a must unless you can an EQ which is cheap even for 12 band.(30.00) Alpine and Clarion are nice head units.

wiring should usually always start at 4 AWG. Its not worth it to buy 8 then need 4 later on and then eventually need 2 or 0. You can use 8 at the block right before the amp since alot of amps wont take 4.

subs/amp. Adire, RE, Phoenix gold, JL, JBL, L7, Alpine are some good brands. As said dont go cheap like lightning audio, pyle, or even sony. Sony is a starter brand but you realise later that theres much much better then best buy, circuit city ****.

Kick panels are good if you dont give a crap about leg room. Cuz lets face it the 4*6 and 6*9s arent exactly the best sound option for our cars.

If youve got about a grand you can make a pretty good system without amps for your components. But speakers always sound better amped.

oh and if your running high watts its a good idea to buy a stronger alternator/battery/maybe capacitor.

 

wow, that helped alot!

also, what do you mean by "high watts" i wanna be at about 250-300...is taht "high watts"?

 

na youll be fine with 4 awg for that. Theres some kinda graph online somewhere that shows the gauge wire u need for your system. I dont think it goes by watts but by something else. I just dont remember. But 4 is good for what your running.

Oh and 2 10s or 12s is probably your best bet. you can run 3 10s but its gonna be a bitch to amp since cause of the ohm load. Also if you run paralel it halfs the impedance with 2 speakers per one channel. So like 2x 4 ohm subwoofers hooked up to one monoblock.(1 channel) would turn into a 2 ohm load. Also dual voice coil has the same effect. (basically two sepperate speaker connections on one sub.)

Ill find a site you can find all the stuff you need to have a better idea of car audio. Ill come back with it tommorow.

Oh and a good ground connection is like some kinda big bolt as close to your amp as possible. I think theres one under your seats or something. Or you can bolt it down to the frame I believe. Cause on the amp there is negative lead - (ground) Positive lead + (power wire to the battery) and remote lead (blue wire that goes to your head unit.) and of course your speaker wires and the settings you want to listen to. But dont turn the gain more then like 3/4 length.

My advise. Look around these forums theres a bunch of info and prolly some links to some sites you could reference.

Nate

 

really quick, do you have to wire amps into the car main power? i was looking at a few amps on ebay, and saw an input on the back reading "12 volt"

 

yes that what your power wire is for. 4 gauge is big wire.(prolly about the size of a nickel. You have to get a end for it to connect to your battery too.

A stereo is a big drain on your electrical if your not prepared. Good alternator, battery, and possibly a cap if your lights dim are a must.

Its usually a good idea to wrap any kind of wire thats going near bare metal in plastic/rubber tubing in case of accident too. Especially if your going through your firewall with the wire which is always the best bet.

Other then the power wire 12V + whatever... You have remote which goes to one of the blue wires off your head unit, and your ground. But I already mentioned that.

 

http://www.bcae1.com/

this is what you want. It will tell you everything you need to know.