Basic Audio Build (For Now)

[Antoni0_23]

Hi Guys! Me again. Since I decided on which springs I'm going to lower my car my next mod will be the Audio Build. I'm planning on running the stock H/U for now until I have more $ to get a Double Din with Nav and the works. Anyhow I was wondering which Speakers should I upgrade to that aren't that expensive. I was thinking Pioneers or Clarion speakers since they're not that expensive and provide decent sound. A friend of mine is selling 2 12inch DHD Subwoofers but I don't know anything about this brand so could someone enlighten me? Also I think I'll be getting 2 1,200amps (don't know brand yet). I mostly listen to reggaeton music (Wisin & Yandel, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar). I want some bass but not an enormous amount of it. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[Mike]

Do yourself a favor and spend a little cash, and get alpine, or focal speakers. Spend the money once you will be happy you did. Don't buy cheap speakers,and put them into a nice car. Also two 1200 watt amp's sounds a little heavy for what your thinking of installing.

[timot_one]

Alpine, Polk, and Infinity make good middle of the road speakers.  2 12"s and 2400 watt amps will give you an overwhelming amount of bass.  I've suggested it to plenty of people before, plan your system out first before you buy stuff.  I can safely say that I am well qualified to give advice on this subject, just check my credentials.

[Antoni0_23]

Hmm so Alpine or Polk or Infinity ... Well If I buy Alpine components in front I would also like to pair them up with Alpines in the back, same for Polk and Infinity. Also remember that I'm planning on running the system on the stock H/U for a while. Will any of these be good?

Alpine:
Components

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ALPINE-SPS-600C ... dZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-08-ALPINE-SPR-1 ... dZViewItem

6x9

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-SPS-69C3-6x9 ... dZViewItem

Polk:
Components

http://cgi.ebay.com/Polk-Audio-MOMO-MM6 ... dZViewItem

6x9
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-POLK-AUDIO-MMC6 ... dZViewItem

Infinity are out of my budget right now. So I think these are my choices as of now. So any of these combinations using the stock H/U and 2 1,200w amps or I could only use 1 1,200 to run the whole system. Also what about the two DHD 12inch Woofers my friend is selling to me? I think it's a steal since he's selling them to me for 80 bucks with the box included. Any more help will be greatly appreciated and Tim I know u are an audio guru so anything u say I will listen. It's only that I'm on a tight budget and I only want a simple yet clean sounding audio build.

[Fenix]

Infinity speakers may seem expensive, but i would suggest spending the money on a project like this. No sense in buying cheap speakers and having to replace them a year down the road. I've got infinity refrence door and 6X9 speakers, and would highly suggest them. Do what i did, buy the system piece by peice. I had a mountain of audio equipment in my room before i began my instal.

[Mike]

I would say the max wattage you would want for an amp to power your interior speaker's would be 100X4 RMS. 1200 watts is far to much.

[timot_one]

When it comes to a simple and clean audio system, I always look back on the install I did in Arie's car.  Here's a few rules that I try to follow when it comes to planning a system.  

First, you need to figure out your total budget and work with that.  Consider what your total budget will be for interior speakers and divide that 80/20.  80% of that budget should go for front speakers, and 20% of the budget should go for rear speakers.  

Go out and listen to different speakers that fit in your budget.  Trust me when I say this, your front speakers are the most important piece of equipment in your entire audio system.  Don't get hung up on getting awesome rear speakers because they're not as important as the fronts.  Do not listen to your friends, do not listen to the sales person, do not listen to your mother when it comes to selecting speakers.  Use your ears and get whatever sounds the best to you.

Once you've settled on what speakers you want (including subs), find an amp to match them.

After you have that figured out, you will need a line level converter since you are using your OEM h/u.  I would suggest AudioControl.  They make amazing products.

[Antoni0_23]

Well I think I'll be going with this alpine combination
6.5 Components
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-08-ALPINE-SPR-1 ... dZViewItem
6x9
http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-SPS-69C3-6x9 ... dZViewItem

Just 1 Panasonic 1.2k Watt running the whole system and the 2 DHD 12inch subwoofers.

Also which AudioControl Unit should I get?

[timot_one]

Those speakers aren't half bad.  I installed those components into Arie's car last summer.  I'd consider the AudioControl LC6.

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

Tim, what gauge wire do i need for this alpine amp?
any brand wire will work or there is some "special once" that i should get, amybe some are shielded better then others?

[timot_one]

I guess that depends on what kind of wire you're talking about and what kind of amp you're using.

I would recommend running 1/0, 2, or 4 gauge power wire from the battery to the trunk, based on the current draw of your amplifier(s).  You need to use multi-strand wire for high heat applications that has oil and chemical resistant insulation (because it goes in your engine compartment).  For high voltage wires, I would recommend using 14-16 gauge multi-strand speaker wires.  For low voltage wires I would suggest using shielded RCA's.  Single shielding should be okay, double is safer, but triple shielded is overkill.  The only wires that need to be shielded are RCA wires.  You would waste your money if any other wires were shielded.

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

the alpine amp that you recomended for my application (alpine v series 300 i think)
i got 16 gauge speaker wire from my store, it doesnt look like its shielded
so i need power wire for amp and speaker wires

amp wire. 4 gauge probably is overkill for my application probably 8 is good?.

[timot_one]

If this is going to be the ONLY amp you ever plan on using, then you may be fine with 8 gauge wire.  I need to double check my wire guide chart (which is sitting at home in MA) to make sure I recommend the correct gauge for the current draw of your amplifier(s) and the length of the run.  If you run an 8 gauge wire instead of 4 gauge, it may not be able to handle the current flow for the length of the run you need.

Speaker wire is never going to be shielded because it doesn't need to be.  Only RCA cables need to be shielded because they are a low voltage signal cable and are susceptible to EMR.  High voltage cables aren't that much.

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

ok. let me know.
this will be only amp i will ever run. i doubt i will be using amp for subs since im not planning to get any

[timot_one]

I'll check my length/amperage guide after I get home on Friday.