Basic sound install advice.
Forum rules
The global forum rules are found here.
NOTE: posts in this section are not counted towards your total.
The global forum rules are found here.
NOTE: posts in this section are not counted towards your total.
Basic sound install advice.
Split from: http://www.pcformat.co.za/modules.php?n ... 388#934388
Guys if I can make a recommendation please get proper HU's.
Get at least a Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony or JVC unit.
The signal quality from the cheaper units are just not up to scratch.
I used to run a Sony HU that retailed for R3500 and the SQ was brilliant. Lately fong-kong seems to be churning out a load of cheap DVD players and they all suck. Seem great for a start but down the line they all croak and you are left shelling out for a new unit. Remember that good sound comes from good head.
My latest sound project uses a JVC In-dash DVD player with motorised screen. Retail is around R6k and its well worth it. The quality is mind blowing.
Also don't skimp on the front stage. Get some quality splits like Hertz, JL, DLS, Rockford, etc. The cheap ones are just nasty.
Most important of all. That amp with 300000W output is most likely only rated at 65W RMS per channel.
For subs make sure you have a proper box built. I used to run 2 x 12" Pioneers in a box that was built to house one and its sounded good. I then dropped the one sub and switched to 1 x 12" in a proper box and it pounded my nuts. Proper box dimensions matched to the requirements of the sub is crucial to good SQ.
Feel free to add to the list.
Guys if I can make a recommendation please get proper HU's.
Get at least a Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony or JVC unit.
The signal quality from the cheaper units are just not up to scratch.
I used to run a Sony HU that retailed for R3500 and the SQ was brilliant. Lately fong-kong seems to be churning out a load of cheap DVD players and they all suck. Seem great for a start but down the line they all croak and you are left shelling out for a new unit. Remember that good sound comes from good head.
My latest sound project uses a JVC In-dash DVD player with motorised screen. Retail is around R6k and its well worth it. The quality is mind blowing.
Also don't skimp on the front stage. Get some quality splits like Hertz, JL, DLS, Rockford, etc. The cheap ones are just nasty.
Most important of all. That amp with 300000W output is most likely only rated at 65W RMS per channel.
For subs make sure you have a proper box built. I used to run 2 x 12" Pioneers in a box that was built to house one and its sounded good. I then dropped the one sub and switched to 1 x 12" in a proper box and it pounded my nuts. Proper box dimensions matched to the requirements of the sub is crucial to good SQ.
Feel free to add to the list.
-
- G3AR Staff Member
- Posts: 5790
- Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
- Location: PCFormat HQ
- Contact:
maxxis -> could'nt agree more regarding the HU and the front stage. Lots of guys go wrong with the HU and can never get it right thereafter. Personally, I prefer Pioneer (Premier range), although their decks are not as fancy looking as other competitors (eg Sony) They sound really good though...
WRT subs I'm a Pioneer fan.....I run a Pioneer 12" which is now 9 years old and still going strong.....
WRT subs I'm a Pioneer fan.....I run a Pioneer 12" which is now 9 years old and still going strong.....
Ya great...I need some help buying sound again since mine was stolen LITERALLY after living 4 days in Durbs :/
Im looking at a 12" sub (Also pioneer fan ) 2x 6*9's and an mp3 player.
Now my question is...does it gotta be 4 channel sound or can it be 2? The local audio shop is telling me its gotta be 4 channel however my mate says it can be 2 channel and will supply more watts to the sub / tweaters
Since I dont know much about sound, cant really decide on what to go for
Suggestions on specifically what parts to get would be great!
Im looking at a 12" sub (Also pioneer fan ) 2x 6*9's and an mp3 player.
Now my question is...does it gotta be 4 channel sound or can it be 2? The local audio shop is telling me its gotta be 4 channel however my mate says it can be 2 channel and will supply more watts to the sub / tweaters
Since I dont know much about sound, cant really decide on what to go for
Suggestions on specifically what parts to get would be great!
I am 63% addicted to Counterstrike. What about you?
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
KB, i was a semi pro sound installer at a car place.... have no fear i will sort you out bro...KillerByte wrote:how do you suggest mounting the amp?
https://carbonite.co.za - CUD central
-
- Moderator Emeritus
- Posts: 5547
- Joined: 21 Dec 2002, 02:00
- Processor: i7 3770k
- Motherboard: ASUS P8P67-Pro
- Graphics card: 2xNvidia GTX670
- Memory: 16 GB Gskill Sniper
- Location: In SQL Space inserting 'null' on purpose
- Contact:
I recommend getting a good head unit first - this can run the tweaters (for now)ADV4NCED wrote: Im looking at a 12" sub (Also pioneer fan ) 2x 6*9's and an mp3 player.
Now my question is...does it gotta be 4 channel sound or can it be 2? The local audio shop is telling me its gotta be 4 channel however my mate says it can be 2 channel and will supply more watts to the sub / tweaters
Since I dont know much about sound, cant really decide on what to go for
Suggestions on specifically what parts to get would be great!
get a 4 channel amp that you can bridge on the sub - a DualVoiceCoil sub would be nice as well...
Headunits.. go for either Pioneer / Kenwood.. if you can afford these..
Sony aint bad either.. they make some of the sexiest MP3 players out there (IMO)
check for a combo maybe?
http://www.autostyle.co.za/prodview.php?prod_id=12547
Temporary Absence
-
- Registered User
- Posts: 511
- Joined: 17 May 2003, 02:00
- Location: Pretoria East
- Contact:
Pioneer ... Pioneer ... and Pioneer. HUs and subs. Bang for your buck for sure!
Lately I've been amazed at Camtec amplifiers in terms of performance and price. I have a Camtec monoblock waiting for my boot. Vibe Audio is also getting good rep.
Just so lazy to put audio in my new ride
I'm not sure about Sony though. Many differing stories on their products. Some installers swear by them but most people say they crap. Only ever used one HU of theirs and it blew on me after 2 years (running factory speakers ... no amplification at all). I don't think I'll go near 'em anytime soon.
My 0.02c
Lately I've been amazed at Camtec amplifiers in terms of performance and price. I have a Camtec monoblock waiting for my boot. Vibe Audio is also getting good rep.
Just so lazy to put audio in my new ride
I'm not sure about Sony though. Many differing stories on their products. Some installers swear by them but most people say they crap. Only ever used one HU of theirs and it blew on me after 2 years (running factory speakers ... no amplification at all). I don't think I'll go near 'em anytime soon.
My 0.02c
Owner @ Quick Flow IT
Xbox 360 Services
PC: In need of an upgrade
Xbox 360 Services
PC: In need of an upgrade
What car is this going into?ADV4NCED wrote:Ya great...I need some help buying sound again since mine was stolen LITERALLY after living 4 days in Durbs :/
Im looking at a 12" sub (Also pioneer fan ) 2x 6*9's and an mp3 player.
Now my question is...does it gotta be 4 channel sound or can it be 2? The local audio shop is telling me its gotta be 4 channel however my mate says it can be 2 channel and will supply more watts to the sub / tweaters
Since I dont know much about sound, cant really decide on what to go for
Suggestions on specifically what parts to get would be great!
Personally I hate 6x9"s. If you plan on running a 12" then the 6x9" will be useless.
At the moment my new SQ car is getting a set of 5.25" co-axials to replace the 6x9"s in the standard locations. The sub is a 10" that will take care of all the bass.
Amp. Starsound Chrome series. Targa, Camtec etc are all good value amps with plenty of kick.
Run you setup with the following: (Civic is running like this and the Jetta did)
- 4 Channel amp powering the front splits and sub
- HU running the rear speakers.
Rear speakers are just for ambient fill and should never overpower the front stage. They are merely there to compliment the front.
With regards to subs. Pioneers are great. Have one that might be going into the Civic in a spec enclosure and its about 7 years old. Still in perfect condition.
-
- G3AR Staff Member
- Posts: 5790
- Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
- Location: PCFormat HQ
- Contact:
I have ordered my 6" splits, my sub enclosure and my wiring kit.
I have 6" Co-axials that will be moved to the rear shelf with the split kits being installed in the doors.
Can I assume every one will agree with me that its worth spending the money on good quality cables.
I have 6" Co-axials that will be moved to the rear shelf with the split kits being installed in the doors.
Can I assume every one will agree with me that its worth spending the money on good quality cables.
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
agreed KB...KillerByte wrote:I have ordered my 6" splits, my sub enclosure and my wiring kit.
I have 6" Co-axials that will be moved to the rear shelf with the split kits being installed in the doors.
Can I assume every one will agree with me that its worth spending the money on good quality cables.
https://carbonite.co.za - CUD central
Yes...just remember to lay your power cables away from your audio cablesKillerByte wrote:I have ordered my 6" splits, my sub enclosure and my wiring kit.
I have 6" Co-axials that will be moved to the rear shelf with the split kits being installed in the doors.
Can I assume every one will agree with me that its worth spending the money on good quality cables.
-
- G3AR Staff Member
- Posts: 5790
- Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
- Location: PCFormat HQ
- Contact:
-
- Registered User
- Posts: 511
- Joined: 17 May 2003, 02:00
- Location: Pretoria East
- Contact:
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
KB you may have to take maestro up on his offer.... the lady is away next wknd which leaves me with my baby boy... 11 months old.... but we shall see.... maybe i can teach him how to drill...
https://carbonite.co.za - CUD central
-
- G3AR Staff Member
- Posts: 5790
- Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
- Location: PCFormat HQ
- Contact:
Firestrm is helping me do it.
this is the cable set i have ordered
http://www.autostyle.co.za/prodview.php ... dstr=&str=
6m x 4GA clear red power cable
-1.2m 4ga clear black/purple/blue ground cable
-10.5m x 12GA black speaker cable
-6M x 16GA blue remote turn on wire
-7.5 clear ble RCA cable with 4 plugs x 4 plugs
-1.8m split loom tubing
-1 power ring terminal
-1 fused power block with 2x 80A AGU fuse
-20 cable ties
-4 female disconn
-2 Ring terminals
-2 spade terminals 4GA
-5 spade terminals 14-16ga
-5 rubber grommets
-2 butt conn 18-22ga red
-1 button conn 4ga red
-1 white screw
-2 black self tapping screw
this is the cable set i have ordered
http://www.autostyle.co.za/prodview.php ... dstr=&str=
6m x 4GA clear red power cable
-1.2m 4ga clear black/purple/blue ground cable
-10.5m x 12GA black speaker cable
-6M x 16GA blue remote turn on wire
-7.5 clear ble RCA cable with 4 plugs x 4 plugs
-1.8m split loom tubing
-1 power ring terminal
-1 fused power block with 2x 80A AGU fuse
-20 cable ties
-4 female disconn
-2 Ring terminals
-2 spade terminals 4GA
-5 spade terminals 14-16ga
-5 rubber grommets
-2 butt conn 18-22ga red
-1 button conn 4ga red
-1 white screw
-2 black self tapping screw
Last edited by KillerByte on 30 Apr 2008, 13:09, edited 1 time in total.
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
-
- Registered User
- Posts: 511
- Joined: 17 May 2003, 02:00
- Location: Pretoria East
- Contact:
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
a Dad's gotta do what a dads gotta do... KB if you dont mind entertaining an11 month old ill do it for ya...maestro_za wrote:Being Dad ... awwwwhh ... responsibilities ...Firestrm wrote:KB you may have to take maestro up on his offer.... the lady is away next wknd which leaves me with my baby boy... 11 months old.... but we shall see.... maybe i can teach him how to drill...
https://carbonite.co.za - CUD central
-
- Registered User
- Posts: 511
- Joined: 17 May 2003, 02:00
- Location: Pretoria East
- Contact:
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
you coming to jhb? KB is coming to my spot...maestro_za wrote:I'll pitch, even if my skills aren't needed. I love car audio, along with many other things.
https://carbonite.co.za - CUD central
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
Not to hijack the thread, but I have 2 x 12" Pioneer Premier 2000 W, 750 RMS subs and 1 x Audiobank 3000 W Monoblock for sale.
Any one interested?
Any one interested?
Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 cooled by Gigabyte 3D Rocket II Cooler
ASUS P5B 1066 FSB (P965 chipset)
2GB Transcend AXE DDR2 800+
1GB Corex Extreme DDR2 800
2 x 250 GB Seagate SATA II
XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX
Thermaltake Matrix VX Gaming Case
ASUS P5B 1066 FSB (P965 chipset)
2GB Transcend AXE DDR2 800+
1GB Corex Extreme DDR2 800
2 x 250 GB Seagate SATA II
XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX
Thermaltake Matrix VX Gaming Case
- Firestrm_ZA
- Deliciously Moist Cake
- Posts: 16644
- Joined: 13 Mar 2008, 02:00
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5950X
- Motherboard: ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- Graphics card: EVGA 3080Ti XC3 Ultra
- Memory: 32GB 3600 G-Skill Trident Z RGB
nopeJAM wrote:Not to hijack the thread, but I have 2 x 12" Pioneer Premier 2000 W, 750 RMS subs and 1 x Audiobank 3000 W Monoblock for sale.
Any one interested?
https://carbonite.co.za - CUD central
see bang for the buck is one thing - and then high end stuff is another - and it all depends on how high you wanna go
my setup would not be classified as loud by any means - nor would most people think of it as awesome cos it wouldnt seem good to anyone who didnt really know what to look for in a high end setup - but suffice it to say that at retail values getting a systm like mine would set you back around R30k or R40k and not a dvd screen in sight 8O 8O 8O
my setup is purely for ultimate SQ and wouldnt do too badly in an SQ comp - and some of the brands im using are definitely not mainstream and are very specialist
my install also isnt mindblowingly pretty looking - but it looks decent enough to ensure that people know its a custom setup - but its due to change pretty soon - i will get screens for the back seats eventually but it isnt a priority since very few people sit in the back seat - but im going to get cheapie removable stuff ie those two screens for R1500 linked to each other or something like that but you cannot watch video or play games while driving so that means i dont want to put temptation in my way ie having a screen upfront would mean at some stage id try to look at it whilst driving - and to me thats a HUGE no no
heres a description and some pics of my stuff - please note that this would be a typical rookie SQ setup competitively - and to go into amateur/expert/pro divisions you would need much better
1) Kenwood KCD01 cd player
2) phonix gold EQ230 (on its way)
3) two x phoenix gold xenon x200.4 amplifiers
insides
4) JBL GTO1502D 15" DVC subwoofer
5) MB Quart Q-line QSD split component set (this is truly high end stuff)
6) audioquest rca interconnects and Dali speaker cable
7) various fuse blocks and power cable
my setup would not be classified as loud by any means - nor would most people think of it as awesome cos it wouldnt seem good to anyone who didnt really know what to look for in a high end setup - but suffice it to say that at retail values getting a systm like mine would set you back around R30k or R40k and not a dvd screen in sight 8O 8O 8O
my setup is purely for ultimate SQ and wouldnt do too badly in an SQ comp - and some of the brands im using are definitely not mainstream and are very specialist
my install also isnt mindblowingly pretty looking - but it looks decent enough to ensure that people know its a custom setup - but its due to change pretty soon - i will get screens for the back seats eventually but it isnt a priority since very few people sit in the back seat - but im going to get cheapie removable stuff ie those two screens for R1500 linked to each other or something like that but you cannot watch video or play games while driving so that means i dont want to put temptation in my way ie having a screen upfront would mean at some stage id try to look at it whilst driving - and to me thats a HUGE no no
heres a description and some pics of my stuff - please note that this would be a typical rookie SQ setup competitively - and to go into amateur/expert/pro divisions you would need much better
1) Kenwood KCD01 cd player
2) phonix gold EQ230 (on its way)
3) two x phoenix gold xenon x200.4 amplifiers
insides
4) JBL GTO1502D 15" DVC subwoofer
5) MB Quart Q-line QSD split component set (this is truly high end stuff)
6) audioquest rca interconnects and Dali speaker cable
7) various fuse blocks and power cable
Asus Z68-V Pro/Gen3, i5-3570k, 16GB Kingston Hyperx DDR3-1600, Gigabyte Radeon HD6970 OC graphics card, Corsair H100 liquid cpu cooling, Lite-on Blu-ray burner, Western Digital Raptor X HDD, Gigabyte Sumo 5115 modded case, Samsung P2770 monitor