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echinopsis posted:I think without checking its 25amp and there are two of them on the amp I run a 500w continuous power mono amplifier for my subs, it has 2 x 30a fuses at the amp, and a single 60a fuse at the battery. Even cranked up to the point where it hurts (112-115dbSPL on my phone) I get no light flicker at all, and I'm driving an absolute base model Ford Fiesta. I would have your battery and charging system checked before chasing the problem elsewhere. Most cars for the last decade or more have 120+ Amp alternators, and the battery should handle things just fine when the engine is slowed at stops.
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Jun 20, 2013 07:51
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The Locator posted:I would have your battery and charging system checked before chasing the problem elsewhere. Most cars for the last decade or more have 120+ Amp alternators, and the battery should handle things just fine when the engine is slowed at stops. Word, I have like 2000w rms in the fiat and can barely dim the lights. What car is this in?
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Jun 20, 2013 08:07
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So I've got a '94 Ford Taurus I'm thinking of upgrading to: Pioneer DEH-P8400BH. And then grabbing either of these to replace a blown rear speaker: MTX TN573. Pioneer TS-A1374R. I primarily plan to use it with bluetooth pairing my S3 for Google Play Music, but I figured for about a $50 premium over the low end bluetooth pairing models I could get a multi-line display, HD radio, and a good brand from what I gather from reading this thread. I am not remotely an audiophile, just looking to upgrade over the lovely stock radio and get the speakers fixed up. So with that said, am I missing anything obvious with the head unit, like this one in particular is poor or there's a newer/better unit for comparable/cheaper? And any help on deciding which of those speakers would be better would be nice (or similarly priced options)!
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Jun 20, 2013 08:07
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Holdbrooks posted:Word, I have like 2000w rms in the fiat and can barely dim the lights. What car is this in? mine is a 94 auto laser
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Jun 20, 2013 08:08
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Does anyone know if its legal in Australia to remove the back seats in a car and put a floor down and bolt a huge sub and amp in there?
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Jun 20, 2013 09:33
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11BulletCatcher posted:Does anyone know how I can trouble shoot a 50 year old delco AM radio? Wiring seems easy but I can't get a signal at all. Speakers emit static so I know the radio "works" Unless you're radio geeky to begin with it's probably not something you'll be able to pull off (assuming you've opened it up up and looked/smelled for obviously burnt components). Fortunately they are very basic and any decent radio repair shop (like commercial 2-way radio) would be able to take care of it. I'd call around and see if any of them are interested in taking it on. Also, if you know any local amateur radio operators ask them who they know that builds all their own poo poo and would take on a side job.
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Jun 20, 2013 16:41
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hedgegnome posted:Hi! Just make sure the focal isn't too deep, it might hit the window glass and keep it from rolling down.
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Jun 20, 2013 17:35
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LloydDobler posted:Just make sure the focal isn't too deep, it might hit the window glass and keep it from rolling down. How much room is there from the back of the factory grill to the speaker surround? I just picked up a pair of Focals for my WRX and they are shipping adapter rings to mount them inward more on the door to clearance the glass. I have yet to see if I will have to trim anything off the inside of the door skin yet. I've had to do that on a few cars previously. I didn't mount the components in my old 850 sedan, so I can't comment directly on what was required to get the woofer in the door.
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Jun 20, 2013 18:27
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echinopsis posted:So my amp is seemingly drawing too much current for my car. headlights dipping but then got to the stage where it was cutting out when I was slowing down [as the revs drop] and then next time tried to start the car the battery was almost flat.. A capacitor helps with sudden draws, increases the gaudiness factor by a billion, and makes your dick bigger. But it won't help for longer or sustained power draws (long bass notes, etc), if that's somehow a problem. Usually music won't have that and remains kick/beat-heavy. Alternator upgrades are fine too, but not cheap. The job itself can be expensive depending on how accessible the present alternator is. In any event, you probably want to go over all the wiring to start. Make sure all the grounds are good in the engine bay, then the one ground you have for your amp(s) in the back. Also go over some guides on setting your gains and volume settings. I have a feeling you might be able to get it to feel/sound loud enough without using so much power. I don't have good evidence on this, but based on my experience between two tunes, I don't see light dips anymore after dicking around with my gains (lowering if anything), increasing source input sensitivity/volume at the head unit, equalizing better, etc. Edit: My 2001 civic had some light dipping issues with a big sub so it really can just be a case of having a weaker, older alternator in your car. Other than that, it could also come down to inefficient amplifier design, but I didn't think anything bad of your amp. Kachunkachunk fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Jun 21, 2013 |
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Jun 21, 2013 19:21
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echinopsis posted:mine is a 94 auto laser Plymouth Laser? Ford Laser? Looks like the Ford got a tiny 60 or 65 amp alternator, while the DSM got a slightly larger 75 amp. I'd get your charging system checked out first; it sounds like your alternator may be weak (well weaker than it started out as  )
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Jun 21, 2013 19:47
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I've got a kenwood DAB head unit. It uses a powered DAB aerial that sticks onto my windscreen (this one http://images.kenwood.eu/files/prod/2389/5/DAB_Antenna_Fitting_Guide.pdf) I have just moved it into my latest car and I cant get the head unit to find any DAB stations (so assume the aerial isnt working). This is the third car the head unit has been in, but in this car I fitted a brand new aerial (I have moved the old one between the last 2 cars and reglued it onto the screen!). It was working in my old car last week with the old aerial (which is currently still stuck on the screen of the old car) It is powered through the cable it plugs into the back of the headunit with and it earths though a sticky pad that sticks onto the A-pillar of my car). It said it wasn't necessary to remove any paint when sticking this on - and I therefore didn't but I wonder if I should have done? (I dont think I did in the other cars). Any ideas on how to test this? I guess I can just poke a probe from my multimeter under the sticky pad to check if it earths? (and jump it with a wire to ensure). Is there anything else anybody can suggest to try and diagnose this?
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Jun 21, 2013 23:58
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Kachunkachunk posted:To your latest unquoted comment, I'm surprised as well. Do a quick search on The Big Three, which is a quick overhaul of your grounding system. Some people report better idling of their engines after, but take it with a grain of salt. Hey thanks. I mean, my own amp wiring is pretty substandard and I've wondered if I'm introducing too much resistance and doing myself a disservice there too. I'll definitely upgrade my grounds, and re-do my amp connections too. I'm way too ashamed to tell you what I've currently got. Good tips regarding gain too, thanks. I need to get a head unit or something so I'm not running my sub amp at max gain just to get sufficient volume from my iPod (lol)
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Jun 22, 2013 03:51
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echinopsis posted:mine is a 94 auto laser The 1G DSMs have tiny loving alternators. A cheap upgrade is to get a 90A version from Galant/whatever, install it, and upgrade your primary fuse to a 90-100A. I haven't done this in years, so I can't remember exactly what the donor car is that matches, I can probably dig it up for you if you need me to.
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Jun 28, 2013 19:49
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First thing I did when I bought my 1991 GST was replace the alternator and fuse with the alternator from the Galant VR4. Direct bolt-in.
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Jun 28, 2013 20:00
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MikeyTsi posted:The 1G DSMs have tiny loving alternators. A cheap upgrade is to get a 90A version from Galant/whatever, install it, and upgrade your primary fuse to a 90-100A. Thanks but I think I might just get a new car
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Jun 28, 2013 20:59
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For shits and Giggles I went out and measured the frequency response in my Jeep Wrangler (4 door) with the Factory Infinity sound system. Its 4 speakers, 2 dash tweeters and a sealed 8" sub. I did 2 measurements, Windows up and windows down. I would have thought that Windows up to produce more SPL and deeper bass due to cabin gain. Nope! It just shifted around some suckouts a bit.  Anyone else ever tried this with their vehicle ? For comparison, here is my theater plot, with an intended rolloff in the upper frequencies (Audyssey Movie curve). I'd be really interested to see what audyssey calibration could do in a vehicle... 
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Jun 29, 2013 03:50
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I'm redoing the stereo in a Wakeboard boat. I've got a 4 channel amp that puts out just under 200w rms at 2 ohms per channel. So my plan has been to run two coaxial speakers in parallel on two of the channels (so 4 coaxial speakers total, ~100w rms per speaker at 2 ohms). Then use the other two channels to power four more speakers on the wakeboard tower, which are 4 ohm speakers rated for 100w rms. Well, I just found out that the tower speakers (Kicker km6500.2) have crossovers built onto the back of each speaker, and because of this even when two are wired in parallel, they will still have a final impedance of 4 ohms. I'd really like to avoid adding another amp to this setup, mostly because the stereo is already using too much power. Are there any ways to lower the impedance per channel, other than adding more speakers in parallel? Maybe adding a resistor or something?
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Jun 29, 2013 04:48
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A few weeks ago I was asking about putting a new stereo into my car. Well, I did, and it mostly went fine. I put this unit (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDX250B/JVC-KD-X250BT.html?tp=5684) into my 2002 Audi TT ALMS with Bose speakers. The music is playing fine, but the all of the speakers make a loud pop every time I turn the car on, off, mute, or change sources. It's not deal breaking, but it is rather irritating. They never made this sound before I changed the unit, and once the music is playing, it sounds absolutely fine, so I don't think the speakers blew. What could be causing this?
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Jun 29, 2013 21:52
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The Wonder Weapon posted:A few weeks ago I was asking about putting a new stereo into my car. Well, I did, and it mostly went fine. I put this unit (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDX250B/JVC-KD-X250BT.html?tp=5684) into my 2002 Audi TT ALMS with Bose speakers. The music is playing fine, but the all of the speakers make a loud pop every time I turn the car on, off, mute, or change sources. It's not deal breaking, but it is rather irritating. They never made this sound before I changed the unit, and once the music is playing, it sounds absolutely fine, so I don't think the speakers blew. What could be causing this? The Bose system in my MB had a separate amplifier. It was using line level inputs and amplifying them. The speakers were also a non-standard impedance. If there is a separate amp it could be causing the pop when it is powered on/off. If there is not an amp and the speakers are very low impedance like mine were, it is really not good for the internal amp in the HU.
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Jun 30, 2013 15:53
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FecalFajita posted:I'm redoing the stereo in a Wakeboard boat. The KM6500.2 is a 4 ohm speaker. The crossover is built into a coaxial speaker and the final load is based on what the amplifier sees at the terminals of the speaker. Two KM6500.2 speakers wired in parallel should be a 2 ohm load. If you are seeing a 4 ohm load (are you using an actual test reading for this?), then either these are actually different speakers that are 8 ohms, or someone has added some resistors into the mix to increase the load for some reason. If you haven't actually tested them, use a cheap multi-meter from radio shack and actually test the load. 2 x 4 ohm speakers wired in parallel should read 2.0 ohms on a digital ohm meter. Note that even if you give the amplifier a 4 ohm load, it should work fine, just at half the power rating (i.e. 100 watts instead of 200 watts). Try it and see whether the volume is sufficient for your needs before you worry about adding more amplifier. A huge amount of the power requirements for music is bass, so if you aren't driving deep bass into a subwoofer, 100 watts may be more than enough.
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Jun 30, 2013 18:40
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Also the difference between 100 and 200 watts is 3db. Not a huge amount.
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Jun 30, 2013 19:53
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I haven't tested the ohms myself. From what I've read, Kicker considers the horn and mid as one speaker when wired in parallel. So they list them as 4 ohm, 200w rms speakers. Pretty confusing. The amp I'm running is a Rockford 700x (which is supposedly under rated). Rockford 700x specs: 87.5 watts RMS x 4 at 4 ohms 175 watts RMS x 4 at 2 ohms 350 watts RMS x 2 at 4 ohms in bridged mode The speakers: Tower - KM6500.2 (two horns and two mids) In boat - 4 x Polk db651 (4 ohm 65w rms) (and not entirely relevant, two 12" Kicker CVRs powered by a dx1000.1 amp) If I wired the KM6500.2 in parallel with one mid and one horn per channel on my amp, the final impedance would be 4 ohms and each individual speaker would see less than half of what they're rated for. Not exactly ideal. Is it a bad thing to under power speakers by that much? If I bridged the channels, it would be > 350w rms into 2 channels, and each individual speaker would see > 175w rms. If I go this route, I would have to add another amp for the speakers that are in the boat. If I could magically get the tower channels down to two ohms, they would see the perfect amount of power, and I could just run the one amp. Which I guess brings me back to the original question...Is it somehow possible to lower the ohms without adding speakers?
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Jul 1, 2013 17:46
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Do the speakers have two sets of terminals so that it is even possible to connect the individual components separately? There is nothing bad about connecting less than rated power to the speakers, they don't care.
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Jul 1, 2013 18:00
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I think the answer to your question is no. There is one set of connections for each speaker. Here's an image from google image search. (the horn has a jumper setting on it, not two sets of connectors) http://store.earmarkcaraudio.com/Xcart/images/d/kicker_km6500_2c.jpg In all scenarios I'm considering, there would be two speakers wired in parallel though.
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Jul 1, 2013 18:42
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Aflicted posted:The Bose system in my MB had a separate amplifier. It was using line level inputs and amplifying them. The speakers were also a non-standard impedance. If there is a separate amp it could be causing the pop when it is powered on/off. If there is not an amp and the speakers are very low impedance like mine were, it is really not good for the internal amp in the HU. I'm not entirely sure what this means, nor what to do about it
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Jul 1, 2013 19:58
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Maybe I should approach this differently. The speakers are designed to be wired with two in parallel (one horn, one mid) and receive 200w rms per channel. If I power them with 87.5w rms total per channel, the ONLY downside is that they will be ~3db quieter?
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Jul 1, 2013 22:05
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FecalFajita posted:Maybe I should approach this differently. Yes. What most people would consider normal volume levels requires very low power, and all speakers work perfectly fine at those low power levels. Adding power is done by turning the gain up, limited by the amplifier power or by your ears bleeding. Speaker efficiency is stated in the form of db SPL at 1 watt of power. So a 93db efficiency Speaker will produce 93db at 1watt of power at a specific distance from the speaker. I forget the distance but I think it's 1meter. 93db is pretty loud. I don't remember the test signal used either.
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Jul 1, 2013 23:30
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You should be fine with that amp, most if not all of the older RF amps are underrated by anywhere from 100-300 watts, I don't know about their new stuff. The only way to know for sure is the paper work that came with it.
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Jul 2, 2013 09:17
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The Wonder Weapon posted:I'm not entirely sure what this means, nor what to do about it In most Bose systems, and from what I have read about yours, the HU that you replaced actually feeds a separate amplifier that drives the speakers. I think yours is somewhere behind the passenger seat in a compartment. Usually systems like this are full of proprietary components that don't always play nice with aftermarket stuff. The amp is probably looking for a turn on command that is not from a standard 12v turn on lead. The speakers themselves could be a non-standard impedance. Usually an amp in a HU is rated to power speakers with 4 Ohm impedance. This is pretty standard, but the Bose systems can run anything, and running something outside of the impedance rating can be detrimental over time to the amplifier in the HU. In my Mercedes, I had a Bose factory system. The HU had individual leads for each speaker that ran to the trunk where the Bose amplifier was. This then amplified the signal and drove the speakers in the car. The speakers in the front were an effective 2.34Ohm or something crazy. The rear doors were 2Ohm, and the rear decklid speakers were another impedance. I removed the Bose amplifier, but did not want to use the amp in the Pioneer HU I had, because of the wonky impedance levels it would see from the speakers and the potential to end its life early. I picked up a 4 channel amp to drive everything because it was better equipped to handle down to 2Ohm. This is purely anecdotal on my one car, but everything I have read points to it being similar in other factory Bose systems in Audis, Nissans, etc... Most of this info, I found on Club202.com which was specific to the 202 chassis C class cars. The site is all but extinct now, but you should be able to find a good bit on the Audi Bose systems with a bit of searching.
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Jul 2, 2013 13:01
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Aflicted posted:In most Bose systems, and from what I have read about yours, the HU that you replaced actually feeds a separate amplifier that drives the speakers. I think yours is somewhere behind the passenger seat in a compartment. Usually systems like this are full of proprietary components that don't always play nice with aftermarket stuff. The amp is probably looking for a turn on command that is not from a standard 12v turn on lead. The speakers themselves could be a non-standard impedance. Usually an amp in a HU is rated to power speakers with 4 Ohm impedance. This is pretty standard, but the Bose systems can run anything, and running something outside of the impedance rating can be detrimental over time to the amplifier in the HU. Some quick on-lunch googling found me this post: http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2849942&highlight=bose The poster mentions exactly my problem (popping when changing sources) and says I would need "Floating ground adapter(s)." Is this what he is referring to? http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_34321_Scosche-FGAB.html Does his suggestion sound like total crap, or is it reasonable?
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Jul 2, 2013 18:50
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The Wonder Weapon posted:Some quick on-lunch googling found me this post: http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2849942&highlight=bose Yup, that sounds right. I would double check my wiring while back there installing the adapter. You can probably find more details on rewiring the power harness for the remote turn on lead. Good on you finding actual information on audiworld. Though when I had my A4, I found it to be generally better than audizine or fortitude etc...
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Jul 3, 2013 01:58
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The Wonder Weapon posted:Some quick on-lunch googling found me this post: http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2849942&highlight=bose Or just get rid of it. Bose is crap. Crappy crappy crap.
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Jul 3, 2013 23:05
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I can't believe luxury branded car companies use Bose. You would think they would stay away and go with a reputable high end audio company instead of a gimmick company. For example, new Acuras have a Krell Audio sound system. I don't know if its crappy or not, but they make some really expensive high end home audio stuff. I wonder if we will ever see a Rolls Royce or Maybach with McIntosh amps and B&W speakers.
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Jul 3, 2013 23:52
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Maserati is partnered with B&W. If you want some sweet sweet B&W action, just gotta go grab yourself a Quattroporte.
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Jul 4, 2013 02:25
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So I've got myself in a pickle. ripped out of head unit from my 94 Ford laser, used a multimeter to determine earth, acc and battery and wired up but now the dash lights don't come on with headlights [I can deal with that] but neither do the tail lights [unsafe and just waiting for a ticket], brake lights are fine. did some googling and determined the illumination wire went through the old head unit and I may have even used it for earth!!! or not. I did think the wire colours at the time were odd and should have consulted wire diagram but too late for that! But ultimately does anyone have a clue what I need to do to fix this? do I connect this wire to earth? or to something else? I'm so disappointed with myself e: from what I can tell, no fuses are blown and it's not the dimmer either e2: actually the tail fuse did blow but it blew straight away after I replaced it so yeah at least I feel I'm making some progress :/ echinopsis fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 20:48
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Thankfully no one replied coz I sorted it myself, somehow the illumination wire was sufficient as a ground for my headunit. Weird. Cool that I am sorted
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Jul 5, 2013 00:03
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I think I just realized that I get stressed out every time I read about your car. Good work, though!
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Jul 5, 2013 16:55
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I picked up the pair of Focal front components and then impulse purchased a set of Focal coaxials to match for the rears. They actually came in a week ago, but I have been busy with travel so no time to install them. I was visiting my parents and noticed that my father had pulled the system from the old Mercedes and sold everything but the 8" Polk sub and ported box. I dutifully put it in the back of the car and brought it home with me. My WRX is a hatch, and I don't care about shaking the earth below so I think it should be more than enough to provide a nice bottom end to the music. That puts me in amp territory though since he sold all of that already on ebay. I was actually going to run the Focals off the HU, don't shoot me, for a while. I'm looking at 5 channel amps to drive everything. The Focals are pretty drat efficient and don't ask for a lot of power, and the sub is rated for ~200w RMS. Now I'm really in it because I need to pick up an LC6i to interface with the stock HU (would rather not swap it out yet) and an amp, and then wire it all... also dynamat. I haven't shopped for amps in forever, who makes decent ones without going for stupid sums of money? Any solid recommendations? Care to talk me out of my current rabbit hole? TL;DR I am about to install some speakers, got a free sub, now shopping amps and don't know who is making good ones now. I also am keeping my stock HU and looking at an LC6i because I'm stubborn like that and don't give a poo poo about colors and razzle dazzle.
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Jul 8, 2013 01:33
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Where do you want to mount it? I have two of the JL HD900/5 under the drivers seat of the fiat that are awesome. And I just put a monstrosity of a hifonics Brutus brx5000.5 in the crown vic. The JL is like $700 but sounds very clean and is really tiny. The hifonics sound ok and is huge/glows blue but it was only like $250 http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_20135_JL-Audio-HD900-5.html?SearchClickout%5Bquery_id%5D=21749023&SearchClickout%5BIgnore%5D=1 http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_67937_Hifonics-BRX5000.5.html?SearchClickout%5Bquery_id%5D=21748997&SearchClickout%5BIgnore%5D=1
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Jul 8, 2013 05:36
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Holdbrooks posted:Where do you want to mount it? I have two of the JL HD900/5 under the drivers seat of the fiat that are awesome. And I just put a monstrosity of a hifonics Brutus brx5000.5 in the crown vic. The JL is like $700 but sounds very clean and is really tiny. The hifonics sound ok and is huge/glows blue but it was only like $250 I'm shopping for a 5 channel as well, thanks for the recommendation. I'm noticing that JL also has a 700w version that is $300 cheaper, so for those of us that don't quite need that much power and want to spend a little less, it has excellent reviews as well. I really like the alpine PDX line of amps too, not sure if that'd be better or worse than the JL. Anyone with experience on those?
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Jul 8, 2013 18:34
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