Car speakers and audio

[theoblivious]

Hey all,

I am a bit confused as to how I setup a sound system in my car. I have 2002 CR-V and would like to deck out the sound system in it (since I had to sell my type s...sad).

1. I dont have all the money up front to make a complete sound system, so what order should I go in?
2. If I do go for I guess a "complete setup" (which includes 2 tweeters, 2 front 2 rear speakers ( i think same size) and room for a sub)...
   a. what kind of head unit would i need
   b. how many amps would i need to run
   c. if I have component front tweets and speakers, would this change the number of amps I need (assuming they have passive crossovers).

again im pretty newbish when it comes to sound lingo so if you could use lamens terms, that would be great!

thanks!

[legacy-user-351]

theoblivious;323385 wrote:

1. I dont have all the money up front to make a complete sound system, so what order should I go in?Depends, of course, on what you want and what you have... Is the deck lacking a feature you want? CD player? Ipod input? If not, I'd leave that alone first. Speakers will make the biggest sound quality difference, but if you're wanting bass obviously you'd start with a sub.

theoblivious;323385 wrote:
2. If I do go for I guess a "complete setup" (which includes 2 tweeters, 2 front 2 rear speakers ( i think same size) and room for a sub)...That's pretty typical - components up front (woofer and tweeter with a separate crossover), co-axials in the back & a sub wherever it'll fit.

theoblivious;323385 wrote:
a. what kind of head unit would i needMostly personal preference - just make sure it's got the features you need. If you plan on amplifying everything, make sure it has 3 sets of pre-outs.

theoblivious;323385 wrote:
b. how many amps would i need to runTypically I'd say two. A 4-channel for the speakers and a monoblock for the sub. Lots of possibilities here though. Be sure to chose a sub amp that matches your sub - i.e. if you get a dual 4 ohm sub, you'll want an amp that will put out the power you want at 2 ohms.

theoblivious;323385 wrote:
c. if I have component front tweets and speakers, would this change the number of amps I need (assuming they have passive crossovers).No, only if you're going with active crossovers.

[theoblivious]

thanks so much for the replies. So as far as what i thought looked good, I am looking at the clarion cz500. has three sets of pre outs and has blue tooth with a mountable mic for phone calls. i think it has 5 equalizer settings as well...

The problem is, using the USB interface, it uses the stereos song selection system (which I think is annoying and pointless given that the ipod interface is so intuitive). Is there anyway to bypass this without going up a ton in price (on crutchfield, the cz500 plust harness and face plate is 139.00 free shipping..).

1. do you have any other suggestions as to how to bypass it?
2. any other comparable models that I could get for cheaper (including faceplate and harness)

Secondly, with the components (woofer and tweets), how do they connect to the amp. From what I understand, one set of pre outs go out and connect to the amp the connections from the amp to the cross over confuse me because from the crossover to the tweet and woofer...there are 4 wires (2 + and 2 - wires)...are there only two speaker wires between the crossover and amp or do I combine the 2 positives on one positive speaker terminal and the two negatives on one negative speaker terminal?

Thirdly, when connecting two amps (so i saw on crutchfield...yeah sorry its newbish) there was a thing for an in and out rca cable connection on the amp...what is the out rca connection for in terms of connecting to another amp?

4th(ly???), in general how much power can the stock alternator and battery take before having to perform the big three replacement?

5th, if i plan to power all my speakers and subwoofer (so 2 tweets 4 coaxial and 1-2 subs) through amplifiers, how many distribution blocks would I need ? One for the positive and one for the negative? should I also get ones for the battery terminals?

6th, do i need to get a capacitor at any point?

holy shit...i wrote too much...but thanks in advance.

[RidinRails]

just to answer 4-5-6,
-your stock alternator and battery will provide more power than you will ever need.
-If your plan on running 2 amps you'll need 1 distrubution block for +, you dont really need one for the ground. But there are companies that make good 5 channel amps you could use ( i would look into this).
-No, you will never need a capacitor, they are a waste of money.

And last but not least...talk to chuck (trafikjamz) he'll hook you up with everything you need for a great price.

[legacy-user-351]

theoblivious;323395 wrote:

1. do you have any other suggestions as to how to bypass it?You could always use the front aux input - or find another unit that has a rear aux-in.

theoblivious;323395 wrote:
2. any other comparable models that I could get for cheaper (including faceplate and harness)
I'd have to do some shopping, it's been a while... Maybe others would suggest some.

theoblivious;323395 wrote:
Secondly, with the components (woofer and tweets), how do they connect to the amp. From what I understand, one set of pre outs go out and connect to the amp the connections from the amp to the cross over confuse me because from the crossover to the tweet and woofer...there are 4 wires (2 + and 2 - wires)...are there only two speaker wires between the crossover and amp or do I combine the 2 positives on one positive speaker terminal and the two negatives on one negative speaker terminal?
Hopefully this will help.

theoblivious;323395 wrote:
Thirdly, when connecting two amps (so i saw on crutchfield...yeah sorry its newbish) there was a thing for an in and out rca cable connection on the amp...what is the out rca connection for in terms of connecting to another amp?Yes, that's what you'd use if your deck didn't have 3 pre-outs. Problem is you'd lose discrete control over those channels (front to rear fade, sub level). You'll see the pre-out intended for a sub labeled "non-fader" sometimes...

theoblivious;323395 wrote:
4th(ly???), in general how much power can the stock alternator and battery take before having to perform the big three replacement?As long as your car is running, the alternator is running the show. Powering the car, charging the battery, and running your system. Stock alternators are typically rated for 60-120 amps - I'm sure you could find out the rating on yours with a little googling. A small to mid sized system isn't usually a problem. How many total watts are you planning on?

theoblivious;323395 wrote:
5th, if i plan to power all my speakers and subwoofer (so 2 tweets 4 coaxial and 1-2 subs) through amplifiers, how many distribution blocks would I need ? One for the positive and one for the negative? should I also get ones for the battery terminals?
First - I wouldn't run tweets + coax up front. Components will have a pair of tweets and a pair of mids. Getting into the high-end of things here, but placement and phasing will have everything to do with getting a nice wide stereo image up front. Get the location & phasing of the tweets right in the car and it'll feel like you're at a concert live.

And to answer your question - your positive run should go as follows:
-Battery Terminal
-Less than 12" of cable
-Fuse holder (this is to protect your car if the cable shorts somewhere, and yes, I've seen them burn to the ground)
-Firewall grommet
-15' of cable (or whatever you need to get to the trunk)
-Fused distro (fuses matching what's in your amps)
-Short cables to your amps

Ground is much simpler, just run short cables from each amp to a common grounding location. Seat belt bolts are great for this, or anything solid and grounded. Be sure to clean the paint off the area and use a star washer.

theoblivious;323395 wrote:
6th, do i need to get a capacitor at any point?No, they're pretty worthless IMO.

[legacy-user-351]

RidinRails;323399 wrote:
But there are companies that make good 5 channel amps you could use ( i would look into this).I always wanted a Memphis Belle. :icon_thumleft:

I put the Infinity 5 channel in my brother-in-laws suburban. Pretty neat to have it all-in-one.

[theoblivious]

thank you so much for the replies...they have been really helpful!

So if i understand this correctly, the amp powers the crossover with 2 speaker wires into the crossover and what comes out of the crossover is 2 sets of speaker wires. I guess i didnt (or maybe still dont know) but the crossover basically designates the range of sound to the specific speakers?

[legacy-user-351]

Exactly.

[Trafik Jamz]

absolute first thing I would install is a JBL MS8 amplifier/digital signal processor. Yes, it costs a bit of money but it will make EVERY speaker you have sound the absolute best it can. Aside from that it has an Aux input so you can use your ipod with your factory system. You might find that you don't NEED to replace your speakers if you do this first....however, you may want to add a sub down the line along with a sub amp (MS8 is an 8 x 20 watt amp @ 4 ohm or 8 x 30 @ 2 ohm which may not be enough if you want some serious bass....not a problem, the MS8 has preamp outputs as well)

http://ms8.jbl.com/index.html#/ms-8-intro

[Trafik Jamz]

I know that not replacing the speakers first goes against EVERYTHING I've EVER preached on this and other forums, but the MS-8 is really that amazing and worth the money.

So I'd upgrade your system in the following order:

MS-8 Amplifier/Digital Signal Processor
Sub and Sub amp along w/ big 3 upgrade
Front Speakers (Component Speakers)
Rear Speakers (Coaxial Speakers)
CD/DVD/GPS unit

[theoblivious]

thanks Chuck for the info. that looks pretty awesome except I dont understand how everything will hook up to it. So if i get an aftermarket and amp sub (which I have), how do I connect that? Does the MS8 act as the head unit? Secondly, if i get an aftermarket headunit, how does this all tie in then...sorry if thats confusing...

[Trafik Jamz]

basically what will happen since you are using the OEM deck is that you will need a pair (front left channel and right channel: Left Front Speaker +green/black - light green | Right Front Speaker**+green/yel - grey/red**) of full range outputs from the deck (aka speaker wiring from the deck itself). From there you will connect the remaining speaker wires (for stock/aftermarket speakers to be powered from the MS8) to the MS8 itself. You will also then hook up you sub amp to the RCA outputs (channels 7 & of the MS8. Then you run the CD that comes with the unit and follow the setup instructions in which it will have you put on a pair of binaural microphones (they look like headphones and come with the MS8 @ no additional charge) and have you look in various directions while it plays frequencies through your speakers. It will then determine the optimal tuning for each speaker individually and allow you to produce the absolute best sound possible with the equipment that you currently have.

It does come with an auxiliary input so that you can plug an Ipod into it as well and listen to it through your factory speakers.

[Trafik Jamz]

I should have my MS-8 installed by the end of this week (assuming my wholesaler can get them in stock by then) and I'd be happy to do a comparison for whoever wants to hear what it can do for an otherwise stock sound system such as what comes in a 2011 Honda Pilot EX.