The Oldsmobile Connection

[DKnight]

It's pretty much cheap stuff, but sounds pretty good all the same. My CD player is from Radio Shack, and is 120 watts. The two front 3.5" speakers each have small capacitors to filter out bass. I have two 5 1/4" speakers in my rear dash, and I'm gonna put caps on them too, but larger caps for lower frequency than the 3.5's. In the rear I have two Walmart 6 1/2" bass cannons 300watts peak each...I know...but they don't sound bad. Tomorrow I'm gonna hook up my old faithful 400 watt radio shack amp. Then I'll get some solid bass.

I'm not looking for all out volume. I'm just looking for decent sound with good solid bass. It's a bang for the buck type of system, but it sounds good to me. I used to have the amp hooked up to two 10" Optimus woofers, but I banged them around too much, so I needed other speakers.

DK

[Primer Death]

the system in my room shall be in my car! :twisted:

[88delta88]

DK... Sounds like you've got the same type of system happening in your car as I do in mine! Cheap components can sound very good with some tuning! If there is anything I've leaned though, even when working with cheaper speakers, you NEED a separate amp to run your speakers, don't ever run them off the deck's amp. Deck amplifiers in my opinion, are never high enough quality to run 4 speakers. Plus, decks only have 14 or 16 guage power wire to feed everthing including the cdplayer. I have a cheapo garage sale amp (old 4 channel pheonix gold from like the 80's!) I use to run all my speakers, and I tell you there was a HUGE difference from when I converted over from the head unit's amplifier.

[DKnight]

You're not kidding. I meant to put in my amp today, but it was too rainy, and I had to go to class anyway. Tomorrow...tomorrow...

The bass tubes are hitting just a little now, but they'll be hitting hard later, cuz my amp has a built in crossover. I'll put a couple caps in the 5 1/4 speakers to cut out the very low bass. They do ok with mid and high bass. The amp is 4 channel. I think I'll just use two of the channels so I don't have to bridge the input. It sucks to have to bridge the input and output both.

Then I can listen to my Randy Savage "Be a Man" cd in true bliss, haha.

DK

[86Delta]

my system started the pretty much the same way. but i got bit by the sounds quality bug and have not stopped.

first upgrade: old school Alpine two knob tape deck, stock speakers

now that i look back on it, i could have afforded probably 2 L67 swaps with all the money i have ever spent on my system. everything has been upgraded at least once.

here's my system:

HU: Clarion DRX9675z pre-amp only CD head unit (36 color display)

Changer: Clarion 12 disc changer

Wiring: Streetwires Zero Noise 3.5 RCA's
Stinger and Lightning Audio 4 gauge power wires
2 Stinger 1 farad capacitors
Stinger maxi fuse holders
Streetwires and Stinger speaker wire

Amplifiers: Directed 4500 Amp - 4x75
Directed 600d Amp - 600x1 at 1 ohm

Speakers: Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.5" component set in the doors
Infinity Kappa 3way 6x9's in the rear deck
2 Rockford Fosgate Punch HX2 12" subs - dual 4ohm voice coils

Other stuff: Stinger cooling fans for the amps
4 Street Glow mini blue neon tubes for the amp rack
B-Quiet Xtreme sound deadender (trunk lid, under carpet on floor)
Dynamat original (inside front doors and trunk floor)
Cyberdyne amp temperature gauges
around 150 pounds of MDF

[strokercutlass]

that was one of the things I liked about building my system in my Vista, 86..the car is so much heavier built, as well as in general, that even with the 15's, outside the car you can barely hear the stereo with the windows closed, although as soon as you open the door it about knocks a person on their ass!! :thumbup:

[88delta88]

DK...
You've got an 88 delta 88? Where exactly did you stick the 5 1/4 speakers? Mine only has support for 3.5" up front and 6x9 in the back... did you make door kicks?

[DKnight]

The 5 1/4" have their own plastic casings, and you can just sit them wherever you want. They're angled slightly forward, so I put them in the rear dash. Today I put caps in line with them to keep out the very low bass. Cleaned up the sound quite a bit. I also installed the amp today, and only used two of the channels, turned to about 85% gain. 30 watts per channel from the head unit plus 100 each from the amp make 260 peak watts to the bass cannons, but they can handle 600 peak. I bet they can only handle about 250 rms, though. I don't know, they're cheap, but effective.

Bang for the buck, I say. In fact, for 14.99 a piece a person could fill a trunk full of these suckers, and you'd register a 3 on the Richter scale.

Seriously, though, they're not like 10s or 12s, but they also don't require as much power to get them moving. In other words, they're more efficient. Cheap efficiency - ya can't beat that.

DK

[Psyco Diver 69]

I had a good system in my 85 Cutlass. I ran a Eclipse head unit with 2 Pioneer 3 way 6x9s out back with 2 Pioneer 2 way 4" up front and 2 12" Rockford Punch Zs in the back being powered by a USAccoustics 400 watt 2 channel. All I can say the Eclipse head unit made that system what it was, I bought 2 other head units brand new and still never came close to being as good as my Eclipse, I swear by them. I had probably the best sounding system in my school, it wasn't like all the other crappy "thump" systems.

In my 442 I running that same head unit with 2 6x9 Jenson and thats it. I plan to run I brand new Eclipse head unit with 2 6" Pioneer or Jenson 2 ways in kick panels and 2 Pioneer 6x9 3 ways in the back with just a 8" JL sub powered probably by a 300 or 400 watt 1 channel amp

[88delta88]

Not a fan of the work PEAK. Peak is some crazily derived number (although there is a mathematical method to figure it out). Especially in pyramid amps. I'd love to find out just how some companies come up with these numbers.

I had a pyramid 600 watt bridgeable amp for a long time. It was bullet proof. It worked great, but it claimed 600watts! Even though I bet it wasnt even delivering 100 watts of rms. I almost guarantee it didnt produce 100 watts. I wonder if one would call that "false advertising" :-)

[Psyco Diver 69]

Agreed, My 300watt USAccoustics claimed 150 watt per channel but it knocked harder than my friends Rockford 500 watt amp, and we switched amps to make sure

[Brando]

Voltage X Amps = Watts

That is how they derive these peak ratings, they run their amps the highest that they can (some are even rated at 17 volts!), and they give out these bs ratings that the only way it would ever happen is if you plugged the amp into your house outlet. :ermm:

TOC Admin
Brando

[Brando]

88delta88 wrote: I had a pyramid 600 watt bridgeable amp for a long time. It was bullet proof. It worked great, but it claimed 600watts! Even though I bet it wasnt even delivering 100 watts of rms. I almost guarantee it didnt produce 100 watts. I wonder if one would call that "false advertising" :-)

It can't be called "false advertising" because they don't actually give you the voltage that they test there amps at to get these "peak" ratings. Only the higher quality amps give that info out because they got nothin' loose except make you :drool:

I would imagine Pyramid amps are tested at around 120 volts... :laughing:

TOC Admin
Brando

[strokercutlass]

another thing I've been told is that alot of the imported amps ( aka cheapo amps ) are rated differently than over here, at least in the offbrand amps....that they're rated in european wattage, which is supposedly different than the ratings specified over here...whether its true or not, i dunno...probably goes along with that solid main web 403, or the dreaded 442 cubic inch Olds engine... :laughing:

[Brando]

Maybe for Home Amplifiers...since they use 220 volts there in Europe....import em' over here, don't change they rating even though they will only get 120 volts in america....I guess it could go the same for car amps, but I don't think there's a difference in their car electrical systems, is there?

TOC Admin
Brando