First off, hello to all the thousands of members here.

I bought a set of Clarion coaxial 2-way speakers for the front doors the other day without planning first. I don't know the model because I left the box in my friend's car. It was 50$; I might've been ripped off, I don't know. I don't think I can return it either because I lost the recipe. Anyways, I was wondering what would be the smartest thing to upgrade next. The speakers in the back are "Bazookas" that came with the car when I bought it. I've notice that it sounds better in the front seat than it does in the back seat. I'm planning to upgrade piece by piece. I'm not all that rich; I'm still just a high school student so I don't want to win any contest or anything. I just want a nice system to show off to my friends (and their sisters ). All these questions and what better place to ask right )? Thanks everyone.

 

What kind of car?

 

97 accord se coupe

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WillEat4F00d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've notice that it sounds better in the front seat than it does in the back seat.</TD></TR></TABLE>

How often do you sit in the back seat of your own car???

What are you running for source equipment??

 

When I first got the Clarion speakers, I moved back in forth to see if there was a difference. About the source equipment question, I have no ideal what you're talking about.

 

"I have no ideal what you're talking about."

Do you get the feeling this may take a few posts.

WillEat4F00d Listen carefully...

We need more info, and you must answer our questions as soon as you see them, and provide accurate and compete info

What kind of source unit, [radio, CD or tape player, stock or aftermarket, make and model] do you have?
We refer to them as HU, [head unit] your source is the most important part of a cars sound system, [any sound system for that matter].

You said you had Bazooka speakers in the rear, are they 6x9 inch speakers?

The next most important piece of equipment is your front speakers, what you put there and how you install them will have a big effect on how your system sounds.

Third, in line is amplification, it is important that things "match up".


All the above, no matter the expense of the equipment, will be a wast of money, if it is not installed and wired properly. 94

PS, Yes, you can have a good sounding system without spending a ton of money, and the best way to get a good sounding system on a budget, is to do it a little at a time, "build your system".

 

I have a JVC KD-S32 head unit and Bazooka CSC6902 6x9 speakers in the back. About the front speakers, I don't know the model, but it's some Clarions I bought for 50$. I got it install by the guy I bought them from.

 

I'm hearing from other places that I should just get some nice speakers for the front and not worry about the rear speakers at all because the sub (once I get it) will drown out all the sound from them, or something like along those lines.

 

They are correct, you do not need rear speakers, although it is not because a sub will "drown them out", it has to do with what effect rear speakers have on the sound stage, [where the sound is coming from, front of car, rear of car or some place between] and imaging, [where specific sounds are coming from, left, right, center, front of stage, back of stage, or some combination, EG, the drums are normally center rear, the lead guitar may be left front]

When you see a band live, you "see" where the sound is comming from, in a stereo system sound comes from 2 places the left and right channels or speakers, how much, [volume] of any one sound coming from which speaker will determine where you hear that sound coming from, if the lead guitar is a little louder on the right channel, [speaker] it will sound like it is coming from the right side of the stage.
The above is a very simplistic explanation of how stereo is supposed to work.
Think of it this way, when you sit in your car and close your eyes, it should sound like your sitting "fifth row center" in a concert hall listening to the band live.
This is not easy to do in a car, and using rear speakers, especially speakers reproducing high frequencies, [tweeters] will make it very difficult if not impossible to set the system up for a front stage with good imaging.

So if you want to use your rear speakers, start by disabling the tweeters.

They are also correct about good front speakers, [number two on the list of importance].

Your HU, [JVC KD-s32] is pretty basic, with only one set of RCA pre-amp outputs, [rear output], It is the first thing I would replace, I would look for something with at least 2 sets of RCA outputs with one set being a sub output or non fading output.
However you could get away with the unit you have, at least for now.

You do not necessary need a sub, it depends on your taste in music, and how much "bass" you want.
You could turn your rear 6x9s into your "bass speakers".

Your HU is rated at 4x18W RMS into 4 ohms, and that's at 14.4V, more like 12-15 watts normally, hardly enough power for good SQ or any kind of SPL, unless that's all your looking for.

I would recommend an off board amp, and with a budget, and if you intend on 'building" your system over time, I would look for a good 4ch amp, with x-overs built in.
Wattage of amp will depend on the speakers you are going to use, that's where "matching of equipment" comes in.
You need to decide on what you want for front speakers, to keep things simple and relatively inexpensive, I would recommend a good 2way component or point source speaker for the front, the Eclipse SP6500 is pretty good for the price... http://www.eclipse-web.com/point/sp6500.html it is a 60W continuous speaker, so I would look for a 4x60W amp, better yet a 4x75W amp, "it is better to be over-powered then underpowered"

You could add just the amp to what you have now and improve SQ by a lot.
Don't forget, the quality of the amp will determine the SQ of your system, a cheap "no name", [brand name] amp will get you cheap SQ, but also remember the install of any/all your system components is critical to SQ. 94

 

Well, I can't return the front speakers now, the Clarion SRR1616. The owner won't let me, so I guess I'll have to do with those. When said "You could turn your rear 6x9s into your "bass speakers"." how would I do that?

 

Use the Clarions for now,
For the rear speakers, start by disabling the tweeters.

If and when you get an amp, [4ch] you would use two of the channels to drive the front speakers, the other two would be bridged into mono and you would wire the 6x9s together in series, for an 8 ohm load and connect them to the bridged 2 channels, if the amp has a x-over that allows for a high, low-pass x-over point, [mid-range] even better, do not use a sub x-over point, anything lower then 1000Hz is pointless. If the amp has band-pass, [where you can x-over both the upper and lower cuts] even better yet. 94

 

How do I disable the tweeters? Also, it's hard to customize the eq because everything sounds right... Is there an easier way to do it or do I just experiment to see what sounds the best. Am I suppose to turn "Loud" on or off?

 

LOUD should only be used at very low volume, no more then 25% of usable volume, [not 1/4 of the way up the dial].

The best way to disable the tweeter, is to remove it, your not using it so there is no point it being there, however that may not be practical with some speakers, so next best thing is to remove the capacitor that is on the tweeters pos.(+) terminal, that will open the circuit and disable the tweeter.
If you "unsolder" it, you could re-solder it later if you needed to.

 

Since I just got a pair of Memphis 15-PRC92 6x9 for free from my friend, I decided just to put them in since I know it can't hurt swapping them from the old Bazookas. What amp would I now buy to match the Clarion fronts and Memphis 6x9? With that amp, will I be able to add a sub to it later if I wanted to?

BWT I still should disable the tweeters in the 6x9s right? If so, I would just get a scissor and cut the wire that I marked red?

 

Since the Clarions have 35 watt RMS and the Memphis have 60 watt RMS, I should be looking for an amp with at least 60 watt RMS but not too much over right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WillEat4F00d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Since the Clarions have 35 watt RMS and the Memphis have 60 watt RMS, I should be looking for an amp with at least 60 watt RMS but not too much over right?</TD></TR></TABLE> Yes, 75W RMS into 4 ohms would be great. 94

 

I couldn't find an 75W amp, but there were 80W amps. Will the Profile HA1040 do me just fine? Should I spend the extra $30 to get the Profile AP1040 instead? What's the difference between the two?

Profile HA1040: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-I...A1040

Profile AP1040: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-I...P1040

About disabling the tweeters for the 6x9s, what will I gain from it and is it noticeable? To do it, I would just do what I stated in the above post right?

 

Either one will "do the job", I am no fan of Profile amps, this is a 4x75W RMS amp... http://mobile.jlaudio.com/prod...d=437

"About disabling the tweeters for the 6x9s, what will I gain from it and is it noticeable? To do it, I would just do what I stated in the above post right?"

You will gain a better sound stage and imaging.
Yes it will be noticeable.
Yes you could cut the wire, but would be better if you just "unsoldered" it. so you can reconnect if you wanted to. 94

 

I plan to buy a 12" dual 2 ohm Kicker CVR with 400 RMS sub soon. What should I look for in am amp to power it? Am I better off buying one 4-channel amp to power the front and sub or buying two different amps?

 

Better to buy a dedicated mono block sub amp that makes at least 400W RMS into 4 ohms, 500W RMS would be better, and stay away from amps that make 400W RMS into 1 ohm, SQ is much better @ 4 ohms then @ 1 ohm, [a DVC 2 ohm sub can be wired for 4 or 1 ohm]. 94

 

I found a mono amp that would put out 500W RMS into 4 ohms.

Kenwood KAC-9102D: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-o...C9102

Is 80W RMS bad to power my 4 speakers since the fronts only have 35W RMS? Am I better off finding a 2 channel amp to power just the fronts because I will get a sub?

 

What 80W RMS amp? 94

 

My brother's close friend is trying to give me some stuff for free. I only want to get one or the other because I don't want to be greedy.

1. Bazooka Party Pack EL10190PP

2. Kicker Comp TC10 150W RMS (4ohms) + Lanzar MXA232 amp

Which option should I go with?


Modified by WillEat4F00d at 8:00 PM 7/24/2007

I'm thinking about getting the TC10 without the amp since it won't match anyways. If I get the Kicker, I think I will get the Kenwood KAC-8402 amp to run it.

60W RMS x 4
180W RMS x 2 bridged
both at 4 ohms

I would used the first two channel to run the front and bridge the last two to run the sub right. The fronts are 35W so 60W is good right. The back is 150W so 180W is good too right. Better overpower than to under power as you said.

BTW, should I just get a cheaper amp with the same specs RMS wise? The Profile HA740?


Modified by WillEat4F00d at 8:42 PM 7/24/2007

 

The Kicker sub and Kenwood amp is the way I would go, yes a little overpowered, but then you don't have to turn the amps gains up all the way. 94

 

The Kenwood amp is okay right? Are there better alternatives out there for my needs? What other stuff would I need to get everything strait (wiring, etc.)? Should I resolder the rear tweeters if I add the sub and amp?