Hey guys/gals i had a few questions and concerns about a setup i want to install in my EG. here's what i plan on installing:

- Kicker 11TS10L32 Single 10 Solo Baric L3 Sub
- Kenwood KDC-BT952HD Deck
- Kicker 11DX500.1 Amplifier (500wx1) For Sub
- Kenwood KAC-8405 4-CH Amp (60wx4) For Speakers

Questions:
1. when running 2 Amps would i need to split the (+)wire to go to 2 amps? or could i just have the one (+)wire running to Amp#1 and have another coming from the RCA output of Amp#1 to Amp#2? (run in parallel)

2. with this setup would i need to replace my battery or alternator with higher voltage ratings since the 2 amps will be drawing 14.4v each from the batt?

3. my cx EG rattles a little bit and i've only laid out some dynamat in the trunk and planning on doing the doors as well. is there any other places i would like to mat up besides the floors to reduce noise?

4. would it be easy to install all this myself or would it be too much of a pain and just let the pro's deal with it? (ive never installed an amp or sub)

the usual no bashing and helpful advice is always appreciated! thanks and have a great day Honda-Tech!

 

First question

Did you buy all of these things already? If not, what's your budget looking like?

1. Split
2. Bigger battery and the big 3 would help. So would an alternator. For now, just a battery.
3. The entire trunk area. Don't use dynamat. It's good, but there is much better out there at a lower cost.
4. Installing is a piece of cake. It's the tuning you have to be worried about.

 

i didn't buy anything besides the dynamat and as for my budget id say around 2-2.5K would be my max. im not looking for some rediculous sound system that'll send me to the ER everytime i blast music in my car. just something around 500W nothing more. and by tuning you mean with like an equalizer or something?
thanks for the input!

 

$2500 is a healthy budget to work with

Is hatch/trunk space a concern?

 

hatch space is not a concern. only thing i ever put back there was a pair old DC shoes haha.

 

Okay

Now since you want to keep power low, efficiency is key here. You want efficient speakers and an efficient sub

What usually makes a sub efficient is it's cone area and the box that it's in. I'd prolly nominate a very low powered 15 in a large ported enclosure. Somewhere around 300-400w. Considering you'll have cone area and a big port, power isn't a concern.

Same goes for mids, but since we're limited to a 6.5 inch driver, power would need to be upped a little.

I'll be back in a few with some suggestions.

 

ahh ok are you talking about a 15'' sub? if so im not looking for something really big which is why i listed the kicker L3 10'' which imo is a decent sub from what ive heard in a friends eclipse. i mean i would like to hear other peoples suggestions on setup's that i should do, but mostly want to stick to the setup i listed and was just curious if that setup would be a good or if i needed to make changes to that listed setup. sorry if mislead you in anyway :\

 

Headunit is cool
Sub is alright. Much better out there in it's price range. MUCH better.
The kicker amp is good
The kenwood is below average.

Considering your budget, you could do a lot better. I suggested a bigger sub since they're much more efficient.

For example
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/i...tion/dcon.html

The dcon 15 would get louder on 100 watts than that kicker would on 500 watts.

It's not all about spl. From a sound quality stand point, you want as much cone area as you can fit. Obviously, the sub will get loud(if u ever want it to).

 

By more efficient you mean less power draw from the battery? i wouldn't mind going up to say a 12'' sub but anything bigger than that just seems a little unnecessary for what i want. plus i dont really got an alarm system in my ride atm so i dont want to have something to outrageous and then turn around and have my ride jacked since there's been alot of people boosting cars out here lately. im not trying to put down your suggestions or anything like that i'm just trying to look for something less...conspicuous?

 

The system you list will work fine, although I agree that you can do better then the Kenwood amp, I would be looking for something in the 4x75W RMS+ range, "it's better to be over-powered then underpowered".

The key to an "efficient" system is the install.

Not sure what your trying to ask here, "could i just have the one (+)wire running to Amp#1 and have another coming from the RCA output of Amp#1 to Amp#2? (run in parallel)"

If by "(+)wire" you mean the amps power lead, then it has nothing to do with the RCA output, if you mean the signal leads, RCA cable, then yes and no, if the HU you have has a sub output then you would run at least two (2) sets of RCAs, one set for the sub amp and at least one set for the 4ch amp.

If on the other hand you do mean the amps power leads, then it is best to run two (2) power leads of the appropriate gauge for the amps, for the 500W sub amp I would go with a 4ga if the cable is going to be longer then 8ft, use a 150A wafer, [ANL] fuse.
For the 4ch you can get away with an 8ga use a 100A fuse, also ANL, and stay away from the "pimp my audio system" gold anything, use the inexpensive stud and nut type fuse holders.

Ground leads for the amps should be the same gauge as the power leads, keep them as short as possible and ground to the same point, floor pan of the car, seat and seat belt bolts work very well.

Changing the batt. will only increase play time when engine not running, [batt. not charging] adding a 2nd batt. that is isolated, [constant duty solenoid] will allow you to play the system till the extra batt. is dead, but still allow you to start the engine on the cars batt., only useful if you like cranking the tunes for long periods of time without the engine running.

Upgrading the alt. is always a good idea if you add more load to your electrical system.

A stiffening cap on the sub amp will help supply currant when the sub amp is working the hardest, loud passages of sub bass, much more effective then a bigger batt.

The more Dynamat, [or the like] and sound abatement you do, the better your system will sound.

Sound abatement is easy to do, expensive to have someone else do, it is easy but time consuming.

Back to the install, the SQ and SPL of your system has a lot more to do with installation then it does the equipment you have, a properly installed "budget" system can sound very good on the other hand it makes no diff. how much money you spend on equipment, if it is not installed properly it will sound like dodo.

When it comes to the install, the most critical installation is the speakers, both high-pass, [full range] and the low-pass, [sub], attention must be paid to the installation of both, a proper, well constructed, sub box is a must, along with properly installed full range speaker. 94

 

Here's what i came up with.

Headunit - Pioneer DEH 80PRS $349.99

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_13080PR...DEH-80PRS.html

The headunit is the brains of the operation. **** signal=**** music..

Has
28-Bit Binary Floating-Point DSP and 3-Way Digital Network (WITHOUT a processor)
5V preouts
Burr-Brown 24-bit D/A Converters
Bluetooth, iPod direct,
L/R Independent 16-Band Digital Equalizer
Time Alignment
Pandora
Wired Remote Input
SD/SDHC Memory Card Slot
Full Dot LCD Display (192 x 48 pixels, 3-line)

Front components - JBL MS62c $179.99
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...BL-MS-62C.html

Review here
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...ll-out-me.html

Front stage amp.

PPI p.900.4 $209.95

http://www.ebay.com/itm/P900-4-PRECI...item564d6fdcf3

This will supply you with all the power you'd probably ever need for a pair of passive components. Bridged down to 2 channels, you'll have 450watts on tap per side.

Now, i could see you asking "why do i need so much power for 80 watt speakers". Simple.

The crest factor of a CD is like 30 dB (a power factor of 1000), which means the peaks can be 30 dB higher than the average, so if you are listening to music at 1 watt RMS - your amp (even the one on the tweeters) will need to be able to produce a full 1000 watt output - even if for just a few milliseconds. This why guys can put 600 watt RMS amps on every speaker and rarely if ever blow them, the power is for headroom (peaks).

It's expected, maybe even normal to vastly exceed the long term power handling for a few miliseconds at a time in order to have a dynamic system.

Looking at some of the material I've looked at lately, a 50w rms system would need to be capable of a peak of 500w to remain true to the source material's dynamic peaks.

Last thing u want is your amp shitting itself during one of those transients.

This is a reason why i always advocate giving a system more power. Me and FCM bump heads over this a lot. Buy as much power as you can afford. Your setup will thank you for it later.

Sub. SSA Dcon 12 $124.99(dual 4 ohm)
http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com...subwoofer.html

One of the better bang for buck subs on the market. Far superior to most main stream brand subs that cost double(rockford, kicker, alpine)

Review
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...12-review.html

Some like em sealed

Most like them ported

I like them ported tuned low(30-33hz)

Amp For sub.

PPI p1000.1 $239.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Precision-Po...b91dd0&vxp=mtr

With the sub wired down to 2 ohms, you'll have 725 on tap for her.

 

Wow, Have you seen the quality of those ppi amps? I have and I have. I would pass. Your better off using Soundstreme. At least they kept that line up. PPI days are over with. There not even PPI anymore. I rather him use the kenwood stuff.

Looking at his post you can see he does not want nor need anything crazy. Just a basic system, Keep it simple then. Look into a good five channel amp. Then match the speakers to it. This way its a simple install. 1 run of power cable And 3 sets of rca. Now the op can have less items in the car and more room, imo.

 

You do know the phantom line is made by the OLD ppi guys, right?

They have the same guts as the higher end arc audio and hertz amps do.

There's a reason a 40 page thread is up on an sq forum concerning them..
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...black-ice.html

From a different thread

SO yeah, these are sq amps in different cases. Buildhouse copies are running rampid these days. Pretty damn good for us customers, imo.

Here's another review
http://www.pasmag.com/car-audio/test...-?q=ppi+p900.4
Nothing crazy about a 2 amp passive setup with a low powered 12..

 

I am less then 10 min away and I been there more then 30 times in the last three months. But I guess your right. Don't beleive everything you read.

 

i recomend the 8" alpine type R they have out there in their own box, it's a compact ported box and hits real nice compared to most 10" mid range subs

if u just wanna sound good daily driving then don't need to get too technichal with it
just don't go super cheap or go super expensive... i'm pretty much a fan of alpine, and JL audio stuff (what i have in my cars) but a decent amp and subs always hit just as good as the really expensive stuff

As far and the ur questions
1.u can run 4 ga. wire to the back then have a distribution block(preferably has fuses to split) then split to the amps with an 8 ga. wire

2.as long as you have a good battery and alternator, you don't really need to upgrade them unless you plan on doin compition or at car shows, i got JL 500w amp going to my JL 13" w7 and a JL 4 channel with a decent battery from autozone in my EK9

3.all the ratteling comes from plastic panels, most of ur rattling will come from the tail lights and license plate area, i used a small rag shoved behind the tags, when u put the system in and play it, use ur hand and go around the area pressing on the parts and see if the rattling goes away those areas u may wanna dampen don't need to put dynamat all over the car waste of time and money, it'll help but not get rid of the rattling completely

4. it's not to hard but it's not super easy to do but as long as u know how to run the wire and put + to + and neg to neg u'll be all set, tuning the amps and head unit is a lil tricky took me a while to understand how to tune systems. sometimes it is easier to have a good shop install the stuff for ya, but then if u do urself u can learn and understand something as u go. i use to ask alot of questions on forums when i started out my first system

 

EDZY - thanks for the listed setup and more info! ill check it out when i get home ive been working alot the past couple days and havent had a free minute to look any of the stuff you mentioned up. right now i currently have aftermarket speakers installed so i probably wont need those.

FCM - thank you also for your informative input it has helped me understand car audio a little better now. let me clarify for the "(+)wire" i meant the power leads for the amps. would i be able to run 2 power leads (1 for each amp)?

WRX-KILLER-STI-EATER - thank you also for your input ill consider a 5-ch amp, but i'vebeen away from a comp for a few days and havent had time to research anything.

AAU - thanks as well for your input. i would really like to install it myself for the learning aspect, but if its too much then i'll let the shop take care of it. as for the rattling ill do what you suggested and see what shakes.

 

Yes, it is what I do when there is a sub amp and other high-pass amps.

A sub amp requires a lot of currant, [the lower the frequency an amp has to "make", the more current it needs].

Keep this in mind, "electricity takes the course of least resistance".

If you run one power lead and split it through a fuse holder to a sub amp and a high-pass amp, a few things happen, first is you add a lot of connection points, as many as 9-10, [depending on type of fuse and fuse holder] between the batt. and the amp, and any connection point is a point of resistance, how much resistance depends on the type of connection.

A bigger problem is current draw of the sub amp when it "hits", [loud, low sub bass passages in the music] the amp needs current, it will draw the current needs from the closest, [course of least resistance] supply, that will be the power supply, [caps] of the high-pass amp, starving the high-pass amp of currant, resulting in the high-pass amp distorting, [clipping], most noticeable in the vocals, vocals that normally sound fine, [clean] tend to get "muddy" sounding when the sub amp "hits".

Running two power leads eliminates this problem, along with all the extra connection points. 94

 

Op, if you want to come down and do it with us and I watch you to make sure your doing the job correctly, I don't mind.

 

FCM - alright cool ill definitely use 2 power leads instead of a splitter. thanks for the clarifying that for me you've been a ton of help.

WRX-KILLER-STI-EATER - I'll see what i can do i work Mon-Fri so it'll prolly be on a weekend sometime, but i'll let you know if i need any extra help thanks.

Update: put in the dynamat in both doors and allover the trunk area now everything is all shiny haha, but i was wondering does anyone know where i can buy or obtain a trunk board? the board that covers my spare is all warped (looks like it got wet at some point) sometimes i can hear it rattle back there when im listening to music.

 

Check your local boneyards, [PicknPull] that's where I got my spare tire well cover. 94

 

i thought of that. maybe ill swing by the one i drive by everyday after work and see if i can find one. hopefully itll be in better condition than my current one.

 

if u can't find one in good shape, check out home depot or lowes and see if they have that type of board and cut it to shape, my cousin had to make one b/c he had a full size as his spare and just did some 2x4 and plywood to make the spare fit without haveing a bulge stick out the middle of the floor, he also put hinges on the board so he could open it up to get to his spare and did lil compartments with the lil space on the side of the spare tire well

 

the board does seem a bit thin. this isn't a bad idea i might consider doing this instead. thanks for the input!