thewhitepearl

Alright - so after much debate between going carPC or doubleDIN entertainment solution.. i've decided to purchase the Pioneer AVH-P4200 DVD (http://signature.crutchfield.com/S-t...-P4200DVD.html)

It does everything I want minus the internet access.

Here's my new dilemma. What to do to upgrade the rest of my sound components.

Subwoofer
I've already decided I'm going to get the custom 12" fiberclass enclosure from here on the forum and put in an M-class Memphis audio sub. (Model: 15-MCP12S4 / 300w RMS / 600w peak / 88dB sensitivity).

Amp & Cap
Not really sure what I want here. Ideally I'd like the sub tuned for clarity w/obnoxious lows. Music isnt music w/out bass IMO.

Front Stage
I'd like the front speakers to handle whatever I push to them. These won't be tuned for bass, but rather high/mid ranges.

Rear Stage
Tuned for mid/low ranges.

Tweeters?
Depending on the Front Stage setup.. I may want to get tweaters and build them right into the pillar or front defrost.

Should I just go Memphis audio all the way around?

mattastick

First off, don't spend any time/money lookin for a cap. It's a complete waste, and will be more of a draw on your electrical setup than anything else...

2nd, your sub/enclosure choice has more of an impact on the sound of your substage than the amp will.

3rd, for your front stage, look into components. They will take care of what you need. Just be sure to amp them, and you'll be money.

4th, don't worry about the rear speakers. Don't even mess with them.

I'm doing a similar low power setup in my DD Celica, and I'm using 1 4 channel amp to power the whole thing. Passive components in the front, and a single sub in the trunk.

thewhitepearl

thanks for the recs. i've been searching the forum and am now thinking the following..
1 JL Audio 10"/12" w/a mono amp
All other speakers provided thru a 4 channel amp

I read on a few crutchfield reviews people reporting that it's best to pair the speakers w/the maker of the head unit. is this true? are there any gen2TL owners who recommend certain components/sizes for front/rear?

After looking at component pairs on crutchfield.. they come w/tweeters. where are gen2TL owners placing the tweeters? can we make them flush or hidden? i personally am looking for a clean/stock look.

Dont worry about the rear speakers? I want a very full sound. Crisp highs (not crisp enough to hurt me ears tho).. nice boom from mids.. low hits for bass.

mattastick

Go with whatever sub you want, but I personally wouldn't run JL. You can get the same quality for a lot less money....

That being said, a mono to power the sub and a 4 channel for the other speakers sounds like a good plan.

No such thing as pairing companies, unless you like the sound of those speakers best. Speaker choice is all a matter of personal choice...

And yeah, I wouldn't mess with rear speakers. I haven't had rear speakers in my CL in over a year, and I love it. A good front stage is all you need. When I build my celica, I'm going to be unhooking the rear speakers. No need to have them hooked up since they'll be completely overpowered by the fronts anyway...

thewhitepearl

thanks for mentioning the no-rear-speaker concept. i've been looking on car audio forums and a lot of them are saying exactly the same thing so.. w/that being said.. would it be best to run a mono amp to my sub and a two channel amp to my front sound stage? how much rms would you recommend for the front?

thewhitepearl

also - what size? im so new to this, but want better sound.

mattastick

If you want to run 2 amps for your setup, be my guest. Like I said though, I'll be running 1 amp in my DD (3 amps in the CL) so I've done both ways. It's really a personal call, especially when it comes to wiring everything up, and all that. It's really a question of what do you want to do.

As for RMS power to the fronts, it's your call. In my CL, I'll be running almost 300w per door when I finally get this tweeter amp hooked up. In the Celica, I'll be running 125w rms per side. The amount of power you run will be determined by what speakers you run.

As for speaker size, it all depends on how much custom work you want to do to your car. If you wanted, you could run 10" mids in your doors (these are more used in SQ installs than anything, although sometimes large Pro Audio drivers are used in extremely loud music cars) or you could take the nice simple route and find some speakers that drop right into your stock locations using all stock mounting hardware. Like I said, it's all about how much time/money you want to put into this...

thewhitepearl

gotcha. i'm really just looking for a very nice/smooth sound. nothing overpowering. looks like i need to go to a speaker shoppe and listen to diff types. thanks for all the info.

thewhitepearl

awaiting delivery of..
jl 10w3v3-2 sub, rf punch 500-1 mono amp, pioneer AVH-P4200DVD, uncald4 custom enclosure

starting new thread for installation/pix.. expect it to be up 05/05/2010.

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

A good 4ch amp might be all that he needs.. run the rear fill off the HU
2ch to the front comps. bridge the other 2 for the sub since its gonna be a low powered system
Sundown SAX 100.4 perhaps?

thewhitepearl

im thinking i'm going to just worry about the front stage and run the rear off of the head unit.. i'll prob just get a 2ch amp to run components in the front.

now the only question is how to install the tweeters so that they're flush & cleeeeean

dykyy

^ But why? There is a perfectly good alternative of running everything off of 1 good 4 ch amp. I am bridging 2 channels to 1 sub = 280rms (much like the output that you will be getting) and as suggested by everyone else, leave the other two channels for the front stage.

People put the tweets in the pillars. Some cut out holes in the doors and do it that way.

dykyy

Oh nvm you already got a 1 ch amp.

mattastick

Great amp. I may be running 2 in my fully active 3 way frontstage down the road, but we'll see I guess... That build's gonna be awhile so plenty of time to nail down amps.

This is a great idea. That's what I'm doing in my Celica, and it's going to simplify things a ton. 1 amp and done. Except I'm getting 500w for the sub channel (or at least rated anyway) from my MB Quart Discuss 4125

thewhitepearl

do people actually make them flush w/the pillar? like behind the pillar's carpeting? cuz that would be awesome. i dont want people to know that they're even there.

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

anythings possible... depends how much work you're willing to put in...

dykyy

Dude thats a sick amp, with that thing there is definitely no need for anything else. Besides im pretty sure that MB Quart wouldn't overrate their stuff.

As for the pillars, i am not too sure what you meant "thewhitepearl", but if you want to put it behind the carpeting, you would likely distort the sound... Again i am not fully sure about this but i think that there is a different type of fabric which would allow you to run a speaker behind it without any sound deadening or distortion. Much like the stuff used to cover our stock speakers.

On another note, I was wondering if anyone has put their tweets in the little triangles on the other side of the mirror. I think that the location is awesome, especially if you get a pivoting tweeter set. Installation would not be difficult as well. Much easier than the pillars IMO.

Anyways if anyone has done it, show some pics!

mattastick

Well, MB Quart ain't what they used to be, but the newer Discuss series amps are very strong. The DSC2000.1 is probably the best bang for your buck in that power range, and does rated power. Very solid amps.

You're right about this. Really, anything positioned between the speaker and the listener will deflect the sound/effect the way the sound waves move. Now, sometimes you want this, like for stock tweeters in the 1st gen CL's firing up at the windshield. Other times, this is not wanted at all. It's all dependent on the install. I've heard of some people trying to put a ring around the front side of the speaker to try and channel the sound. Not sure how it turned out, but it's just an idea.

I have seen this type of thing done, just can't remember where. I could see mixed results, depending on the driver. If you have either swivel mounting capabilities, or have lots of time to invest in getting the perfect location, they would be pretty ideal, imo.

on1wheel01

thread fail for no pics

thewhitepearl

im starting to the think the best method would be to put pivot tweeters at the top of the dash by the front windshield and bounce the sound off the window. i really want components but want the interior looking stock. this would mean that the tweeters cannot be visible or at the very least.. not TOO visible. any ideas?

mattastick

Sails would be your best bet, imo. Especially with tweeters that pivot in their flush mounting cups. You could drill the sail with a hole saw, put the flush mount in with grill cloth covering it (assuming you have a dark interior) and they would basically disappear except when you're listening to them. You'd hear them and the sound would be nice (with the right tweets of course) but they wouldn't draw too much attention to the sails.

thewhitepearl

pardon my stupidity.. but where is the sails located exactly? is it the defrost or pillar?

mattastick

The sail panels are basically the pieces where your mirrors mount. They're high up on the door/pillar and should give you ideal staging (especially if you invest the time to figure the right angle for your tweets).

thewhitepearl

damn - right on. i'll have to check that out when i get off work. thx for the insight.

thewhitepearl

i wasnt able to locate what you were talking about. can you send me a pic?

while looking i think i may have found another spot to put em. the visor!!!
right there on the flap that turns sideways. i could even run the wire thru the visor mount that connects it to the roof.
i was thinking some type of a rectangle tweeters would look pretty sexy there. just not sure how well they would function...

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

The sail panel is that plastic triangular piece that sits at the corner of your driver/passenger window.. near the door handle.

jedc

I don't believe the sails offer enough room behind them to properly mount flush mounts. I was thinking about trying the a-pillars, but not sure which way to angle.

thewhitepearl

i gotta figure it out soon. just got my HU, sub, amp installed (pics hopefuly coming this week).. now i need some components. a-pillar is ideal at this point.. very curious as to how hard it is to run wire tho.

mattastick

I have my BT mic in my celica up at the top of the A-pillar and it was easy as hell to run wire to it. Took me ~5-10 minutes, tops. On an Acura, though, it's probably a bit more of a bear, but shouldn't be too bad.

thewhitepearl

yeah - i wont be sure what the heck to look for.. ive never ran wire thru the pillar.

mattastick

Just point out the 2 places you want to start and finish. Then start looking for the easiest path to get there. If there's something in the way, look for another route. Running wire is running wire. It doesn't matter if it's 1/0 from the front to the back of a car or 22ga hu wire. The process (at least the one I use) is the same no matter what.

jedc

Running wire is running wire, but getting wire through the factory rubber boots going into the doors is not fun at all. Thankfully I'm done with that. The pillars should be much easier to run the wire.

jedc

Here's a pic of my amp rack behind the back seat, just to show you what I have done so far. Still need to do a little more wire cleanup.

jedc

This is what I'm running for comps in the front doors: http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-RSD6CS...3601512&sr=8-1

I am running them active, but they were still pretty damn good off the passive crossover. They get great reviews from most everyone who uses them, plus they're only $60 on closeout. Just make sure your doors are deadened and sealed.

thewhitepearl

a little wire cleanup? lol. how did you go about making the rack? i'd like to make one and then put the amp on the other side against the seats so that when you open the trunk.. you can't see the amp.

thewhitepearl

so i went to a local audio shop today to listen to some components and ended up buying some memphis audios. so sick. scratching the a-pillar idea and putting them in the corner w/the mirror. ill have to let you know what the model# is tomorrow when i pick up the car.

jedc

Here's a better idea of what I did. Basically just measure the space and cut it out of 3/4" MDF. I bolted the rack straight to those factory triangle braces on each side and used rubber spacers between them. I wrapped the mdf with speaker box material that I got from a friend. The picture in the earlier post was before I had all the wires hooked up to the amps, so of course they were all just laid wherever.

You do know that our back seats don't fold down for easy access right. It's a little process to get the out of the car, albeit not hard. You could go with your idea of them facing inside the cabin but you'd probably never see them unless you were adjusting the amps.

jedc

thewhitepearl

yeah i found about the seats when i had to run amp wire. i was thinking about mounting the amp in such a way that it'd be accessible by the rear seat pass thru. i dont want the amp to be visible when i open the trunk.

mattastick

Keep in mind that anything you put between the sub and your ear will effect how it sounds and how loud it is. Perfect example is the big ass piece of MDF that's covering where the back seats are. You'll never get your full output out of that sub (into the cabin anyway) with that blocking all the sound from coming in. The ski pass is a huge area for sound to travel into the cabin (especially if you have stock rear deck speakers still in place) and covering that will cause a noticeable drop in sub output. Just a few things to keep in mind...