new system

[Simonn]

gday. Right now iv only got a headunit but would like to update the rest of my system. Any of you car audio enthusiests feels free to yell out if you have any idea or whatever.
ok im thinking of putting in a front pair of amped splits I think im just going to leave the rear speakers stock read they dont do much anyway and ill be leaving the rear unamped.
Now I also want a subwoofer for the boot with some sort of amp.
now my question is What sort of amp would you recommend for the splits and sub not nessaserally intrested in the watts atm but how should I amp it all. Would it be better to run 2 seperate 2ch amps or maybe just a 4ch to do it all? Also my headunit only has one set of rca outs so if I decide to run 2 amps how do I go about doing this?
your help is much appreciated.

[acarmody]

Ok you want front splits and a sub, nice easy setup. Firstly turf the factory rear door speakers, just unplug them or something, will only provide bad sound compared to any decent front splits, why ruin good sound?

Ok a nice 2-channel amp for the front splits, any decent brand will do, Pioneer, Alpine, Cadence, Kicker, etc etc, depends on how much you want to spend. You are probably wanting to run a mono amp for the subwoofer, monos are the best amp, especially something with a subsonic filter. Again comes down to budget, same with sub.

As for the single RCA output, you can either have a RCA splitter in your boot, pretty self explainitory name, makes one RCA to two RCAs. Or if your 2-channel amp comes with a preRCA output you can plug the RCA into the input of the amp and plug a RCA cable from the output to the mono amp.

You will also need a multi-amp wiring kit.

All of this comes down to your budget and what you are after. So tell us how much you want to spend in total (hardware and installation) and what sort of music you listen too (mainly for sub).

[Nackerz]

me and the misses have got a $800 dollar setup and goes good its all fusion except one amp already had

Fusion head unit cd player ipod and radio
Fusion 6by9's x2
Fusion 6an1/2 x2
Fusion 12" sub with built in amp
Not sure what brand other amp is (4 channel)

Ok i have the two fronts running of the head unit
2 6by9's running of the 4 channel amp got it running on 2 channel tho
Sub running off built in amp that it has

It sounds good i will get pics

[Simonn]

ok my budget is about $500 hardware only I wil install it myself. I mainly listen to house/club music.

[sycvs]

same music as me i have a 2008 sony head unit a two channel amp for my two 12" subs and two 6-9" clarions stock fronts in vs wagon havent amped any speakers yet but sounds nice and clear amp cost me 100 6-9 second hand 30 subs cheapo from repco 70 each pro audio does the job and home made amp wire kit except battry lead 500 will get you a decent set up
what you after loud or semi loud but real clear nice sound

[acarmody]

Ok well no way in hell you going to get two amps, speakers, sub and a wiring kit for $500, Your going to need a 4-channel amp and use 2 channels bridged for the sub.

*A set of $150ish splits. Look around and see what you get. I know Pioneer have a set around this mark that are really quite good. You don't want to spend less than this for your main speakers.
*Pioneer GM-6400F is a decent amp and could be had for about $250
*Pioneer TS-W307D4 is a decent sub for about $80-$100, try big stores like WOW or JB as this is a discontinued sub so if you can find one it will be quite cheap. I put mine in a $25 box from WOW and went really well.
*Wiring kit $50-$90, cadence kit is nice at about $90. You can also assemble the kit yourself from Jaycar parts and it will work out quite cheap.

Also try looking on Ebay for second-hand parts, can get some real bargains.

[sycvs]

2 channel kits on ebay now buy it now for 13.00

[Simonn]

thanks for that. If I do run a 4channel amp for the speakers and sub how do I go about setting up the LPF and HPF becuase it controls all channels dosent it? I would like to just run one amp though alot more neater. How many watts would my amp need to be? for a pair of splits and also 10" sub
thanks

[sycvs]

watts depends on what sub and splits you get but some 4 ch have individual lpf hpf some control all so have a look around and find the separate ones

[acarmody]

Yeah watts depends on what you buy, same as filters. I personally wouldn't touch a 4-channel amp unless it had HPF and LPF, subsonic would be a bonus.
For what you are lookin at, 50-60wrms x 4 amps will work well. Hell my first amp was 40wrms x 4, a good old Alpine MRP-F250, was great. Nowadays 50-60wrms X 4 is more common. Walk into a JB or WOW sight and sound and see whats on the walls. Get real friendly with the sales people, good discount will ensue.

To set the LPF you set it to the frequency you don't want to play above, eg 80hz works well, for a sub. For a HPF you set it for what you don't want to play below, again 80hz works well. In this setup your splits won't play below 80hz and the sub won't play above 80hz.

[Simonn]

ohok thanks. Well im not doing to be getting all this stuff for a few weeks so iv got some time to think things though

[Nackerz]

i installed it myself too so it was 800 just for the fusion stuff

[2LOUD2OLD]

you are really going to be pushing it with only $500 for splits, 4 chan amp and a sub

also remember you need a box for the sub. have you factored this into your budget? DIY is certainly the best and cheapest way to go as far as sub boxes are concerned.

for a nice sounding set of splits on the cheap I would recomend Digital Designs, you can get their DD C6.5 splits for $172 from Digital Designs Audio Direct - Get a bangin system in your ride!

for an amp you are really going to want something aropund 4x100WRMS as something with only 40WRMS per channel is only going to give you about 160W to run the sub where as 100WRMS per channels will give you around 400W for the sub which gives you a lot more options.
could go something like this Ryda Car Audio - Clarion Car Audio APX4360 4 Channel Amplifier($329.95)
another option would be jaycar Response Car Amp 4x100WRMS - Jaycar Electronics

then I would go for Pioneer TS-W307D2 for the sub, should be able to get one for around $100
whatever sub you get make sure it is either dual 2ohm coils or single 4ohm coil so you can wire it up for 4 ohms

sure this setup would slightly go over your limit (about $600 not including wiring or box) but it is probably about the bare minimum I would go and should sound pretty good.

[Simonn]

thanks for your help. ill buy the stuff for the install in a few weeks time.

[bezz]

+1 on 2LOUD2OLD's suggestion. Pretty much exactly what I'd have recommended.

[Simonn]

just a qucik question my mate was saying something about not being able to tune the sub via the sub control on the headunit due to the fact that it will affect all speakers and vice vera for the speaker adjustment via the headunit will affect sub and he also recons that there is only limited adjustment that you can do via the amp and most of it is usally done via the headunit. Is this true would I be able to properly tune my sound system?

[bezz]

He'd be right, but it's nothing to worry about as about 90% of your tuning comes from setting the gains on your amp anyway.

[2LOUD2OLD]

plus if your HU only has one set of RCAs it probably doesnt have subwoofer control

[Simonn]

yeah I think your right, When looking for an amp Should I be asking if its got independent HPF LPF adjustments for each channel? went to jbhi today and they had some 4ch amp with amp1 and amp2 adjustments on them is this what I need?

[acarmody]

I'm not 100% on what you mean by amp1 and amp2. But when buying the 4-channel amp at least make sure that channels 1+2 have a HPF and that channels 3+4 have a LPF.