Car Audio Stores Information

[Deutscher]

Hi guys,

As some of you may know me by now with all my questions, I've recently got my speakers put in my car. SoundStream SST-05 tweeters (100rms) and SoundStream TRC6N splits (200rms) in the front with sound deadening in the doors.

While I was waiting, I was reading one of the audio mags they had and it says that a Capacitor is "Vital" in an audio system, I decided to question Alberts and they said that if your running anything over 1000rms you'll "Need" a capacitor. From what I hear/heard capacitors are only for show.. but Alberts and Car mags seem to differ... is it only a money making scheme?

After I had my speakers and things tuned, the guy came out and told me,

1. I've got a subwoofer amplifier (SoundStream TRX2.800) and I've got so much wasted power, and would suggest using the amp to run some subwoofers and get a different amp for the speakers.. my view is that ... why would I run 2 subwoofers with 250rms each or 1 with 500rms... thats nothing at all! I got this amplifier because it's an amplifier which is 2 channel which had a bit more juice than 200rms for headroom purposes.

2. I should get some rear speakers and a subwoofer, to fill in the "gaps".. because it's not going to sound as good as it could.

Will back speakers really affect the sound that much? When I had Alpine Type R splits in the front and back I could never hear the back and I don't take passengers either so it was wasted... I know you can fade the fronts but then it's not using full potential of the speakers...

If you think I should get back speakers ... what should I look for?? I'm after volume but still like to keep some quality.

Also, when I asked about getting my boxes and stuff where my gear came in, the guy brought out the grilles and the tweeters from the TRC6N and also some crossovers but he took the crossovers back because they weren't for me ... this is the guy who done my car .... they would have used crossovers in my system ye??

[Joe Bellissimo]

Rear speakers are useless, thats my 2c.

[acarmody]

Ignore them, I'm sure Alberts sell caps and mags get a fair amount of money to publish 'advice' like that.

You have a perfect setup. You got a amp that puts out 210wrms per channel and you have splits that use 200wrms, a perfect combo in my opinion. A cap has absolutely no benefit for door speakers, they just don't draw enough power, and certainly not with enough speed to drain a cap, the battery would charge it faster than the amps draw, aka no difference. Also when they said thats a sub amplifier, thats bullcrap, the amp is designed for speakers OR subwoofers, and judging how it a Class A/B amp its probably much better for speakers anyway, most decent sub amps are Class D.

Also 'rear speakers and a subwoofer' is pointless is you are the only person in the car. Sub maybe, its up to you, rear speakers, no.

As for the crossovers, they should be in your car, you would definately know if they weren't because you speakers would sound FUBAR. Tweeters would be distortion and mid-woofers would try playing very high frequencies.

Also I'm intrigued, did you replace the splits tweeters with the SST-05 tweeters or are they wired up seperately?

[holdenboy]

Well yeah....basically all of what they said is bullsh*t, i would of thought that a reputable store like Alberts would be giving you a pat on the back saying "finally, a guy who knows his stuff". Oh well

I'd imagine they used the SST-05 tweeter crossovers, but im sure they wouldnt have a woofer output too? Maybe they do, im not sure.

In the end, if the system sounds great to you, thats all that matters.

[Verynice]

Capacitors help but they don't rectify the problem. If you find your headlights dimming to the bass, it means the amps are draining a fair amount of power from the battery. Putting a cap in will take power from the cap rather than the battery (for a while).

To rectify it you pretty much need a really decent alternator and a decent battery such as a yellowtop.

[Philthy]

Upgrading the "big 3" recently solved my headlight dimming issues for about $10. No $100 cap needed here!

As far as rear speakers go, I have alpine type-s's in there from an old setup but for all you hear of them I think you could easily get away with stock, especially if you aren't carrying passengers around every day who will whinge about the sound

[Deutscher]

Well yeah....basically all of what they said is bullsh*t, i would of thought that a reputable store like Alberts would be giving you a pat on the back saying "finally, a guy who knows his stuff". Oh well

I'd imagine they used the SST-05 tweeter crossovers, but im sure they wouldnt have a woofer output too? Maybe they do, im not sure.

In the end, if the system sounds great to you, thats all that matters.

The SST-05 didn't come with crossovers.. they were sold as just the tweeters. I haven't pulled panels off to have a look, but like acarmody mentioned they would sound like crap if they didn't have crossovers. I was thinking they would have used the TRC6N crossovers but when I asked for the gear back (boxing etc), the installer was going to give me a pair of crossovers... and then the sales guy said they weren't mine.

[Deutscher]

Ignore them, I'm sure Alberts sell caps and mags get a fair amount of money to publish 'advice' like that.

You have a perfect setup. You got a amp that puts out 210wrms per channel and you have splits that use 200wrms, a perfect combo in my opinion. A cap has absolutely no benefit for door speakers, they just don't draw enough power, and certainly not with enough speed to drain a cap, the battery would charge it faster than the amps draw, aka no difference. Also when they said thats a sub amplifier, thats bullcrap, the amp is designed for speakers OR subwoofers, and judging how it a Class A/B amp its probably much better for speakers anyway, most decent sub amps are Class D.

Also 'rear speakers and a subwoofer' is pointless is you are the only person in the car. Sub maybe, its up to you, rear speakers, no.

As for the crossovers, they should be in your car, you would definately know if they weren't because you speakers would sound FUBAR. Tweeters would be distortion and mid-woofers would try playing very high frequencies.

Also I'm intrigued, did you replace the splits tweeters with the SST-05 tweeters or are they wired up seperately?

Sorry acarmody, I meant cap in general not for the speakers, but I want to get a Orion HCCA 15.2 subwoofer.

[acarmody]

A HCCA is a good sub, I kinda wish I got a HCCA or a DD sub instead of the 2 L7s I currently have. Not that I don't think they are fantastic but just that everyone talks up the other stuff.

I wouldn't buy a cap period, a battery has just as high discharge rate as a cap, but with a hell of a lot more power, so I would get a second battery instead of a cap.