Building Good Quality Car Audio

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moemedimrtn

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I stay in PTA and i would like to get audio components together. I am a beginner in this environment and i am best in Computer environments anyway. I am currently looking at http://www.autostyle.co.za/ and i found the following:
I am not sure if i need CrossOver or not, and how many Amp watts & channels required.

Crossover
-Audiobank 5 Way Crossover

Amp
-ST4160 Calibra Stealth 4000w 4ch Amp

Speakers
-Pioneer TS-S20 20mm Tweeters - 200watt peak power (200W)
-Pioneer TS-W310 12" 1000w SVC Subwoofer (1000W)
-Pioneer TS-A6965S 400w 3 Way 6x9 Speaker (4 X 400W = 1600W)

Tape
-Pioneer FH-XL755BT Double Din With Bluetooth & USB support

Help guys is this good or should i remove or add somethings. :confused::confused::confused:
 
which car do you drive?

The standard audio systems in cars these days are pretty decent and you may just need a sub of sorts to assist with bass.
 
I am not an expert on the RunX

If there are factory holes/speakers I would simply upgrade them to coaxials (two way speakers) and run them off the deck which have pretty decent inbuilt amps anyway. Also decks come with good built-in crossovers/equalizers these days.

I wouldn't fit 6*9's if it requires cut aways or replacement of the backboard. Once again just replace the standard speakers at the back if required.

So that just leaves the sub and amp as an addition for bass. Perhaps try to get an active sub which will have its own amp.
 
saturnz said:
which car do you drive?
Click to expand...

+1

I was plannign the folowing for the golf:
Starsound 6.5" 3-way split system (Competition series, 500w) in front and rear doors.
2000-3000W Starsound amp to drive those.
2x 12" DVC subs (1200w?) running 1ohm stable on a 1ohm amp. (Got the amp, can't remember the name. 4000w+)
5 way Crossover, equalizer, 8 farad cap, 200Amp wiring.
Headunit would have been a old high quality pioneer cd player or a dvd player. (have both laying around)

For a setup like that your cabling alone can be close to R2k.
 
Go for split systems, as in a 6.5" woofer and 2xtweeters, with a good 4 channel amp that has a built-in crossover. No need to cut extra holes and you get bass and clarity as good as or even better than a 6x9 setup. You can always add an additional DVC sub to that setup if you require additional bass. The front speakers that come with the RunX will easily handle the amp and won't likely pop unless you really push the gain up to 60%.
 
6x9's are cheap poor mans bass. Please leave them no matter what. Plus they are ugly.

Get yourself a decent split system for the front and back if you wish, with a small amp to power them. I use Calibra SQ.

Then you need to look at the type of music you like, or should I rather say how much you want to feel the bass.

Band-Pass box is good for a crap load of bass. I have a 10" sub that rattles everything.
Sealed enclosure for nice soft bass.
Ported enclosure for more heavy bass.

As for your amp, choose wisely and do some research about what the amp can do and it's true power output ratings.
Under powering your sub can and will make it sound distorted at low volumes. Remember a 4000w amp does not put out 4000w of power to the speaker but is split between the channels. And PMPO is waaaay higher then RMS.

Your sub requires an amp capable of 300w of continuous power. The Calibra ST4160 cannot do that, can barley do half of what is required in bridged mode. Amps are a critical component if you cheap out on them you gonna get *** sounding sound. I own this and its dam powerful even still today even though it is old.

Please look past max output and don't one of the many who has fallen for that sales gimmick.
 
If you are looking for Good Quality audio, I would skip any 3-way speakers. The tweaters on those are terrible. While it's difficult to find, dedicated midrange speakers will give you better sound. You already have tweaters in the mix. I have noticed that in general, you can only find n-way speakers. In that case, go with a 2-way.

As far as shape goes, the 6x9s give a lot of volume, but the sound has a higher tendency to distort due to the oval shape of the cone. 6.5"s generally give much better sound quality and as you included a sub already, you don't need the additional power from the 6x9s.
 
Get a split system as many have said with a crossover.
Power the sub with a nice amp.
You'll be smiling.
 
If you looking for something that is good quality and clear I would start with the headunit. The stock unit fits in nice with the dash but in terms of features and power it really lags behind.

The headunit does look good, so that a good start.

Depending on budget:

I would go for a set of splits upfront, Co-axials in the rear doors and small sub in the boot

The splits and sub can be powered by a 4-ch amp with 2 channels running the splits in the front doors and 2 channels bridged to run the sub. Most amps come with built-in crossovers so that will be fine.

When doing the install I suggest adding some sound deadening to the doors, this will give it a more solid sound.

You will also need to get a double DIN adaptor so that you can mount the headunit properly.

Maybe give us an approx budget. Also are you intending to install this yourself?

I normally get sound stuff from the following places:

http://www.answholesalers.co.za/

http://www.soundslimited.co.za/

For good advice and installation you can also try:

http://www.tremoraudio.co.za/

http://www.payntwagon.co.za/
 
Dude if you're in PTA, go to Montana traders. You can haggle there and get good deals on the sound equipment.
 
Thank you guys, I have read through the coments. I have picked the following:
6.5" are good than 6x9.
2X tweeter.
5 way Crossover, equalizer, 8 farad cap, 200Amp wiring.
4 channel amp
2 way speakers


On my research i have learned that when chosing an AMP you should get 1.5x watts of the total speakers.
For example:1x 500w sub, 2x 200w speakers = 900w in total, therefore required AMP will be 1350w. so u can get 1200w AMP for this.


I am not sure also with 4chl AMP, How will this split into speakers, tweeter and sub.??


Can you guyz be specific on types of your sugestion, sayin good 4 chanel AMP is not specific in terms watts, name, etc.
 
moemedimrtn said:
Thank you guys, I have read through the coments. I have picked the following:
6.5" are good than 6x9.
2X tweeter.
5 way Crossover, equalizer, 8 farad cap, 200Amp wiring.
4 channel amp
2 way speakers


On my research i have learned that when chosing an AMP you should get 1.5x watts of the total speakers.
For example:1x 500w sub, 2x 200w speakers = 900w in total, therefore required AMP will be 1350w. so u can get 1200w AMP for this.


I am not sure also with 4chl AMP, How will this split into speakers, tweeter and sub.??


Can you guyz be specific on types of your sugestion, sayin good 4 chanel AMP is not specific in terms watts, name, etc.
Click to expand...

Your split system should come with crossovers, otherwise you bought those cheap ass tweeters in a packet.
Mid's and tweeters connect to crossover and crossover connects to amp.

I do not understand your logic behind what amp to get. are you talking PMPO or RMS?
 
This is what I am running, its entry level nothing competition style or anything:

A pair of 4" speakers in the dash.
I have four 6.5" speakers, one in each door.
A 5800 watt Monoblock Starsound amp wired to a pair of pioneer DVC subs, amp is capable of pushing 1300 RMS @1 ohm speakers are 800 RMS @ 1 ohm, wired in parallel gives me a 1 ohm wiring setup.
Then I have a 4 channel Starsound amp for my speakers, rated @ 75 RMS per channel at 2 ohms per channel.
I also have four of those cheap R30 tweeters connected to my Deck
Works pretty well you can hear me from down the block only problem is lights dimming, capacitors are a waste of time, they just add more weight to the electrical system, I need a stronger alternator, A highoutput alternator.


For the OP I would add a split system in the front, a pair of 6.5 inches in the back, run the speakers of the deck and get a monoblock and a 12inch sub.
 
HavocXphere said:
Tremayne said:
Works pretty well you can hear me from down the block only problem is lights dimming
Click to expand...
What benefit is there to you in people hearing you from down the block? Aside from annoying everyone of course...

There is no benefit but the bass feels amazing in the car. You may get annoyed but some people don't, why would somebody get annoyed at me playing loud music it's not as if I'm parked outside there house playing it 24hours a day
Click to expand...
 
It is beyond annoying when someone has sound so loud you can feel it in your car and it drowns out whatever you are listening to. It is selfish and shows you so inconsiderate of others you are willing to spend thousands of rand just to irritate them. Very mature.

I'm not saying upgrading your car audio is bad, but some cars have very good audio when they come out tye factory. The current cars I have deliver distortion free sound at loud levels with acceptable frequency seperation. Only change I made was fitting a mp3 capabile head unit to my old car and it's built in 4x50watt amp works fine.

In small/cheap cars you might want to replace the stock speakers, I have had little satisfaction with the stock setup you find in i10/Spark/Corsa Lite/Bantam.

Once you start fitting amps, bigger alternators and speaker in places where you have to cut holes for them, then you have gone too far.
 
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