WTK: car audio upgrade help

[scruff76]

ok i'm fairly new to to the pimped audio thing but i'm not too badly off. lookin to start makin some upgrades an i was hopin to get some advice.

currently installed
two 6.5" jvc speakers on front foors (came with previous deck)
two 6.5" "spider" speakers (cheap but works) on back dash
one 12" pioneer sub ported box
one 300W pioneer amp pushin the sub
pioneer premier UB510 deck pushin the four speakers.

currently workin on gettin a 1000W amp.

i think i lackin mids. some ppl say put in a pair of 8" some say a pair of 6x9

any thoughts on the next step?

[Firewall]

first things first, forget what other ppl think. its your car and you have to listen to the music, so you need to like it

that 1000w amp is it a 4 channel or a monoblock?

that 300w amp that you have, how many channels has it got?

what budget are you working with?

you looking to get "gallery" loud or just for your enjoyment inside the car?

[scruff76]

the 300W is a 2 channel the 1000W is a 4 channel KOIILER xm- 9696( got it today)

inside enjoyment is good for me
budget wise i'd say about $1500 give or take.. i can flex on that

personnaly once that bass is bangin i'm happy , but the sub is poundin a lil too heavy for the speakers off the head unit

[Firewall]

is this the amp?



XM-9696 C/W
4 CHANNEL POWER CHROME/WHITE AMPLIFIER
MAX OUTPUT POWER (2OHM): 200W X 4 = 800W
POWER OUTPUT: 90W X 4 @2 OHM (360W) LESS THAN 0.5% THD
60W X 4 @4 OHM (240W) LESS THAN 0.3% THD
BRIDGED 180W X 2CH @4 OHM
VARIABLE LOW PASS FILTER
VARIABLE HIGH PASS FILTER
TRI-MODE SPEAKER CONNECTION READY
LED INDICATED POWER STATUS
BASS BOOST CIRCUIT (3/4 CHANNEL)
MOSFET DC-DC SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY
LOW & HIGH LEVEL INPUT
AUTO POWER ON/OFF BY REMOTE

if it sounds good to you right now, with enough bass, but not enough mids/highs, i say to run that amp u just got on your mids (specs state 60 x 4 @4 ohms) and get another (a small mono this time) to push the sub.

anything around 400 rms should work.

is the sub dual 2 or dual 4?

now i don't usually suggest something and then "coincidentally" have the same recommendation for sale because that just seems a bit tacky,

but if you want i do have a 400 rms mono that will work, but only if the sub is dual 4

[scruff76]

yeah thats the amp. u kinda lost me on the dual 2 dual 4 thing.

i was wonderin what the HIGH INPUT in the amp is for. cant find any documentation on it

[scruff76]

plus my car has really limited space so i was kinda hopin to sitck to one amp.. but if i must..
i was wonderin if there wud be any bad effects if i attached the amp to the back of the sub box (box body is pretty strong)

[Firewall]

high input? as in a little clip with some wires coming out of it? if that's what you're talking about its a high level input that is used when your headunit doesn't have any RCA outputs.

Basically its to make the amp "backward compatible" but ppl don't really use them, unless its for integrating the amp into a stock system, (where they want to keep the OEM look and headunit), but most aftermarket headunits come with RCA's and most ppl change their stock headunits.

The Dual 2 or Dual 4 is basically the coil configuration of the speaker. doesn't usually provide any additional benefit beyond flexibility when wiring your amps.

For instance, one dual 2 sub can be wired in series to "show" your amp a final load of 4 ohms, or wired in parallel to "show" the amp a final load of 1 ohm.

The use of these all depend on your amplifier and its capabilities.
For instance a monoblock amp may do 300rms @ 4 ohms, 600rms @ 2 ohms and 1200rms @ 1 ohm. You will want to wire your speakers to maximise your amp's potential, therefore you want the amp to "see" a final load of 1 ohm. You can do this with 1 dual 2 ohm speaker wired in parallel, capable of handling 1200 rms, or 2 dual 4 speakers capable of 600 rms each also wired in parallel.

hope you get the idea and any other questions i'm sure the guys here will be able to help you out

*edit*

shouldn't be a problem to mount the amp on the box, just make sure that the box is not flexing (vibrating) otherwise it may damage the amp internals.

what kind of vehicle? because i'm pretty sure that you have space under the seats.

if you want to use one amp i'd suggest that you get rid of the two amps that you have and buy a bigger 4 channel, or a single 5 channel amp. because from the specs of the latest amp, you music MIGHT sound worse that when you started IF you use that one alone. can you post the specs/ model number of the pioneer? both the 2 channel amp and the speaker?

look at all options and see which is the most cost effective.

[scruff76]

thanks dude, its alot to wrap around but i think i get the general idea..
i'll give it a shot see what the final product looks like...

oh shud i go with 8" or 6x9 speakers ?

[Firewall]

anyone would work fine, just look at where you want to mount it and how easily it will fit, but for your sake, WHATEVER you do buy CAR speakers, cause you will run into another set of problems trying to match impedances and you may end up with a system that can never be played to its full potential

[scruff76]

umm i wud think that it goes without sayin that yuh shud buy car speakers for a .. well car

wat ppl does go an buy a sony 5.1 surround sound system and try to squeeze it into dey b14? lol

[Firewall]

eminence, seleniums etc

[scruff76]

guitar speakers in a car? doe kni much bout cars but i kno a lil sumthin bout guitars.. and to me those things doe seem to add up

[SmokeyGTi]

^^ those companies mentioned manufacture pro audio speakers. people buy them because the're highly efficient - meaning they require little power to sound loud, but at the sacrifice of the "range" of the speaker - in terms of it's capacity to deliver low and high frequencies.

in other words, something like a guitar speaker but also made to play normal program material