l3c03

so im planning on installing my 2- twelve inch subs w/amp from another car into my 06 tl and was wondering whether to keep the stock door speakers or not..you guys think it would still sound decent with the stock speakers and my amp driving the subs? in addition im planning on adding the ipod integration product that Isimple makes. let me know what you guys think..

I hate cars

The 12s will drown out the stock speakers. If you love bass more than SQ, that might be ok. I did it for a year before going aftermarket. If you're on a budget, I would at least amp the stock speakers. They sound pretty good with some decent power but you do have to be careful with crossover points or you'll hurt them. Adding an amp to stock speakers will give decent results. Adding aftermarket speakers to the stock amp will probably be disappointing and not as loud as stock. Obviously doing the amp and aftermarket speakers is best but if you could only do one I would amp the stockers.

jda123

^ Yup. What are your goals? Just to thump? Sound good? If you are going to do more than the 12 swap, then what is your budget?

The iSimple is cool.

l3c03

im basically just looking for it to be a little louder and clearer. The good thing is I also have a 4 channel Alpine amp..so I guess I could use that to power the stocks..thing is I wouldn't want the stocks to blow if i go past a certain volume level.
If i were to wire it up this way, would I still be able to use the stock amp for the other speakers? Would this set up lead me to get a LOC for the amps I will be installing or could i use the rca connectors that the ISimple provides for the set up Im looking for?

sddale

I'm with them on all points.

You certainly can blow the stock speakers if you feed them too much power...just adjust the gains down. You can use the stock amp for the other speakers. The stock speakers are 2 ohm so you can use the front 2 channels of the Alpine for the fronts and bridge the rears for your subs. You could keep the stock amp powering the center and rears. You can take the post amp signal and use a LOC for the amps or you can take the preamp signal and may or may not need a line driver depending on if the amp can take the balanced signal. I'm not sure what you would try to use the iSimple to the amps for...maybe you're talking about the inputs on it?

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

What amp ya got L3C03?

l3c03

I thought maybe the two RCA outputs the Isimple provides could be used to hook up to an amp or something...as you guys can tell, complete noob here. Can anyone tell me what the difference between an LOC and signal processor is and which one would I be better off with?

l3c03

4 channel amp is an alpine mrv-f540

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

LOC (Line-Out Converter): Takes a high-level signal and drops it to something that the amp can use that wont damage it; very cheap, quick and simple, will likely suffocate/hurt the signal and give reduced SQ; 2-channel

Line Driver: These will boost your signal to get the maximum clean signal for your amp. The Audiocontrol Matrix can accept up to 6-channels (anywhere from 2 to 8 channels usually in line drivers) and can accept a balanced signal, which is what we have. This will act as your LOC and give you the ability to gain match, etc for all your channels used. Can be had for around $75

Processor: These are the best possible thing for your car. They will allow you to set crossovers for each speaker, slopes, allow you to go active, multiple bands of EQ, channel summing, etc. If you want to have the best sound...this is it.The cheaper processors like the RF 3sixty.2 is Not too much more expensive than a line driver but quite a bit more than an LOC. Processors like the Bit.1 and MS8 are much more expensive but do the same stuff.


With that said, it looks like you amp doesn't accept a balanced signal so you'll need something that will accept it and feed your amp a clean unbalanced signal or you will get noise in the fronts.

What subs do you have? What ohm load are they?

l3c03

thanks for the info Trunk Monkey..so i guess these are all ways to improve the sound while at the same time providing us a way to hook up an amp to our factory stereo correct? I remember once I chat with someone from Crutchfield and mentioned in order for us to hook up an amp to our factory radio, we needed a device and couldn't remember what that was..