The Oldsmobile Connection

[raskull]

About 2 months ago i decided that i was gonna drop some cash to do what i always wanted to do which is get some nice sound into my 88. Right now, the stock speakers are killing me. I cant take it anymore. The fact that the antenna is stuck in the up position doesn't help the quality of the sound coming out of the speakers either.

I figured id get some cheap speakers and sub woofers and and have it installed but I'm starting to realize that theres a lot of things i did not consider. I've been doing a lot of reading online about sound systems and frankly, i feel like I'm in over my head.

-What kind of HU, speakers and subwoofer should i get? How do i decide weather to go with Alpine or Pioneer for example? 15" or 10" woofers? 1, 2 or even 3 woofers?

- Should i mix components? ex: pioneer hu, alpine speakers etc..

-amps? HELP!!! :shock:

- I never even heard of a capacitor till i became a member here. when i turn on my lights on my car, the interior lights do dim a little. Do i need a new alternator? Is this gonna mess up any sound system requiring lots of power?

- I was looking at pictures of other systems, some cars have as many as 3 extra batteries. How can I design a system that is within the stock batteries range?

-Is it worth getting sound dampener?

-I don't know if my car even has tweeters. Can i build a decent system without them?

-Does anyone have faith that i can pull this off?

If anyone can give me some feedback, I would really appreciate it. I want to start this project this summer, but I am definitely not ready to make an investment in myself just yet. I'm just glad i found this website before i started dropping paychecks on things i don't need or that will mess up my car.

Thanks,

Alex

[raskull]

I took off the door paneling in the front door yesterday to find that there were tweeters above the 5.25" speakers. There are a lot of speakers out there now that have tweeters built in, should i forget about the stock ones and just rely on the ones in the new speaker, or should i purchase new tweeters?

anyway, so far this is what ive got planned, i think im gonna hold off on the subwoofer because it seems like ive underestimated their power and im not sure if need all that bass

Im lookin at:

Head-Unit - Pioneer DEH-1900MP 22W x 4 RMS 40 Max
5 1/4 - Kenwood KFC-1380ie 2-way 35W RMS 160 Max
6x9 - Kenwood KFC-6980ie 2-way 90W RMS 180 Max

Another question is: Is it ok to let my Headunit power all 4 speakers? it doesnt look like it has enough power and i read that underpowering speakers can damage them. If i got an amp should i get a 4 channel amp for each speaker? say, 400W?

Is it ok to have more power in the amp than the speakers are rated for?

And if i was going to hook up the front speakers to an amp, where would the ideal location for an amp be. It seems pointless to wire it to the trunk, then have the speakers wired from the trunk. Maybe under one of the seats?



Once i get all this cleared up, i think ill consider a woofer's and another amp. Maybe get one used off e-bay or something.

if anyone has any suggestions, im all ears.

[87Delta]

You can run those speakers off head-unit power just fine, those don't have a really high RMS requirement anyways. Underpowing and blowing speakers is a common mis-conception. Usually it's distortion that kills speakers. Generally you don't want to over-power speakers too much, but IMO you aren't distorting them I don't see a problem.

You can go with a 2-3 way setup with the tweeter in them, or can go to a component system with a separate tweeter you can adjust where you want it for better imaging. However, component systems are more expensive and require much more power. If you're just looking for a better then stock system 2-3 ways will be fine.

[Brando]

He has a stock component system...from the sounds of it anyways. Putting coaxials in would be a downgrade IMO. I would put a component set in, otherwise I would leave it alone. I find that a nice component set will put out some pretty good bass (down to 50hz on my CDTs), they just sound so much better than any coaxial I've ever installed/heard.

A separate amp is always a good idea. If you ever opened a head unit and saw the amplifier inside...you would laugh, I am sure. There's only so much they can fit in there, and a quality amplifier that won't distort right away isn't one of them.

Yes, it is perfectly fine to have more power going to the speakers than what they are rated for...within reason of course. Music has peaks and lows, if you watch the output on a multimeter as it's playing music (not a sine wave), you'll see that the power output is very inconsistent, and very rarely does it reach it's peak output at a normal listening level. The gain control on an amplifier is technically meant to match the RCA output voltage of the head unit, but it can also be used in a sense to put a limit on the output.

A common location for an amplifier is the trunk. Mainly because there is plenty of room back there. It's really not all that hard to run wires back there, you actually might find it more difficult mounting the amp under a seat, given that whatever amp you choose can even fit under the seat.

Mixing components is fine, but make sure you stop at a local car stereo shop and take a listen to the equipment you are buying, especially the speakers. Try the head units out and find the one you like. If that's not possible then at least read reviews on the items.
www.crutchfield.com
www.sounddomain.com
www.amazon.com
Are all good places to read reviews, I buy a lot of my car stereo stuff from SoundDomain, they price match others...and the service is great.

Sound deadener is definitely a good idea, especially in the doors. You want to seal the door up so the speaker is actually playing in an infinite baffle configuration...the way it's supposed to. Otherwise you'll find you midbass lacking, and it will most likely sound "muddy". Here's my door install to see what I am talking about:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/758178/2
You want to seal those holes up as best as possible. I'll probably end up adding more deadener as my doors still have some rattles here and there.
www.secondskindaudio.com is some good stuff.

Here's a great link that compares different sound deadeners and a lot more:
http://sounddeadenershowdown.com/

TOC Admin
Brando

[raskull]

the reason why i don't want to buy new tweeters is because i have no where else to place them besides the door. From what I know, tweeters are supposed to be precisely and strategically placed in the car so that the occupants get the full effect. When I'm sitting in my car, the tweeters are halfway between my knees and the bottom of the floor. They're almost covered by the lower half of the dashboard. Thats why I'm leaning towards the speakers i posted before.



On another topic, my antenna has been busted-up since i acquired my car. Since i sold my last iPod and I don't plan on getting satellite radio anytime soon, i thought it would be a good idea to replace that thing. The motor has been disconnected and when i reconnected it, the whined, but since the antenna is bent, it doesn't go down. The sounds quality is so mediocre in my car right now i cant tell if its the speakers, the antenna, or both. Im assuming i should replace the antenna to get the full effect of a new system....AND so i can go through car washes.

I tried to do a dry-run installation yesterday and i found myself really frustrated. I want to upload some pics of some of the problems i ran into.

First of all. I have NO idea how I'm going to get power to an amp in the trunk. From front to back , its all obstacles i have no idea of how to tackle. I really want to do this myself, just to save money and to gain some experience working with my own car.

My olds has the battery on the right side which is accessible, however, there is a whole lot of junk between the battery and the inside of the firewall. Theres a huge box i think with fuses in that blocks access to the firewall. I know a bunch of wires run through that area because in the trunk, the 6x9s and the antenna wires run in a tube up through the back seats and under the bottom trim of the doors.

i could most likely get from the front seat to the back seat, but id get stuck again with the rear seats. How the hell do you remove them? In the trunk, theres a huge chunk of metal making things really difficult as well. Ill try and get some pictures to better explain what im talking about. Main point is, i don't know how easy it is going to be to wire up my car.

I probably dont need to worry about it right now but can someone explain to me what a crossover does? wikipedia made me feel like i was getting tutored by an electrical engineer.
Also, capacitors?

[raskull]

I just got a new Pioneer DEH-P9300MP on ebay for 100$. I am still looking for the lowest cost speakers.

I think we all know how cavernous Oldsmobile trunks are. If i were to buy a sub woofer, what would be the best kind of box for it? I know theres a few different kind like bandpass and ported or sealed; but how do you know which one is the right one?

[88delta88]

what kind of music do you enjoy the most?

[raskull]

i listen to a lot of rap and alternative rock. for now its just whatever is on the radio because i don't have an ipod. One of the reasons i got that head unit is because i can buy an ipod adapter for it which would be nice.

[Brando]

This may be of some help for your head unit installation.

TOC Admin
Brando

[valley olds]

Hi raskull, Just wanted to make recomendations. For the tweeters, I dont know if youll like this Idea, but a lot of people I know put them on top of the a pillars of the car.

As for the enclosures you have 3 choices (sealed, ported, and vented). What I would recommend is sealed (this is what I'd do, you may have a different opinion). My main reason is that if you see enclosure size recommendations when you buy subs you will see that sealed enclosures dont need to be as big as vented or bandpass enclosures. Also dont forget up to a certain point, with sealed enclosures, bigger is better.

[raskull]

as far as tweeters go, i dont think i have the expertise to modify the pillars in my car to hold them. i might just scrap them and buy 5.25" speakers with tweeters in them. as far as woofers go i was leaning towards sealed enclosures anyway

[87Delta]

Generally ported is for a louder listening experience and sealed is for sound quality. Bandpass, I know nothing about, not that I ever would use one anyways. I always go ported, although I'm a annoy the neighbor type person :lol:

[Brando]

Ported can also be for SQ if the box is properly BUILT. If you're going to be buying a prefabbed box, then the only real choice is sealed. Buying a vented/ported or a bandpass box from a big name manufacturer will lead to problems. The box has to be designed around the thiele-small parameters of your subwoofer in order to actually sound right--good. You might be lucky if they actually do work, but do you feel lucky? Well, do ya punk? :lol:

TOC Admin
Brando

[raskull]

what is the 'proper' way to build a sealed enclosure? heres a little schematic i drew up for a 12" pioneer woofer that i'm watching on ebay.




I basically have the speakers planned out too. Im jsut in over my head for an amp. i dont know if i should go cheap and just get a mono channel for the woofer, or get a multi channel one and power the rear 6x9s and the woofer, or what. Truth is, im running out of cash haha. I may have to wait awhile to get an amp.

[raskull]

fortunately enough the 12 inch woofer that purchased had the specs for each type of box. Im gonna go with sealed. It recommended 1.5cu/ft for volume and i was wondering does that include the volume that the sub woofer and sound deadener take up? does it matter?