I don't have a lot of experience with doing anything more than installing a CD player and some front speakers, was wondering what the best thing would be to put behind the seat. I'm more an engine mechanic than interior/body so... Is a large sub the best thing for this location? and if so how should it be mounted. Thanks

 

It all depends on what youre looking for? Bass, go with some 8' to 12's clear and crisp go with some 6x9's or some components for both. Im putting in 2 10 subs IMPP's from pioneer. Making a box with no port holes by w 41/2 to 5x 11x 11 will hit hard as hell and still be clear with some 5.5 components in the doors.

 

my 1980 f150 has a 10 in sub parked just off center behind the seat sounded ok till i got crafty with plywood and made custom speaker boxes for the sides of the cab so you can just about see the whole speaker when you open either door btw the 10 in sub is hooked to a kenwood hiding face cd player and powered by a 125wat amp any thing more is just plain overkill in a pickup

 

I probably want to go with bass, I got a 3x6 in the center dash and pioneer 4 way 6.5" in the doors, and they got almost no bass. Got em hooked up to a Sony Xplod Detachable face CD player.

 

Yeah my audio system is a sony Xplod deck, with matching 6.5''s and 6x9"s, and then i have an Alpine V12 digital 300 watt (rms) amp that runs 2 JL 10W04 subs (10"). Now unless you are going to spend some money on a big amp stick with 2 10" subs and a amp in the 200-400 watt (rms) range. For boxes you can make your own (this way you will be sure that they will fit behind the seat) or you can buy boxes. I built 2 oxes to hold my subs, and i also built an enclosure inside these boxes to hold the 6x9s. Now i'm assuming that you have a bench seat (easier to make a box for), what you can do is makee a triangluar type box for your subs that will take up about 2/3 behind the seat and fit snug in that recess area underneaththe back window (mine are 16 inches high) and will fit nice and snug against the seat when its all the way back.

 

I only got 1 6x9, mounted in the center of the dash. Whats the best setup for speakers? And whats the best way to wire it? (Funny i'm asking questions like these 'cause i've had a college course in auto electronics)

 

unless you have buckets seats, a speaker in each door and one on the dash is the best way. To wire them, just run new wire (don't reuse more headaches then one person needs, trust me cause i found this out the hard way) to each of the door speakers straight from the deck then run the 2 rear speaker out puts to the speaker in the dash.

 

already wired the speakers, whats the best way to wire subs?

 

depends on the amp mostly, i just ran the wires straight from the amp to the subs, there was only one output on the amp so i just connected the 2 sets of wires up to the output (2 positive wires to the postive output and the 2 negative wires to the negative output). I'm runing at 2 ohms of resistance this way, and unles you run an 1000 watt (RMS) amp where you can run it at 1 ohm or you get dual voice coil subs, this is the way you will wire it.

 

Basically, You can get a Pioneer Amp that has a rating of say, 200 amp, get two or even use one 12' bass Speaker rated at 8 ohms (never mix a 4 ohm bass speaker with a 8 ohm one...pop goes the 4 ohm speaker AND the amp) Get a crossover amp that will tie in to the amp that you have ( so you can adjust the bass curve between both bass speakers (or more) Instructions comes with the Amps and the crossover amps) When you buy the amps, get a auto wire kit too, as it has all your wiring that you can use with the inline fuse. On another note, remember that the more wattage you have, the more wattage you'll use when you "crank" it up, big amps require big amp alt's and a good strong battery to power it. For instance I use a 130 amp alt with a rated a 130 amp voltage reg. Its enough power to boost the rating of the subs AND power any lights I have on at night and still keep the battery from being drained when its not running...some systems have their own battery box wired in to power those deep watts of bass. Go with the plug in cables, don't bother spiceing wires in the circuit, over time it will work itself loose from all that vibration you'll create when you turn it up. Also some systems has inline a quick disconnect, for those times that the cops are lookin for those loud autos booming from across town. Radio Shack has some nice Amps if you want to start small and build on your system. But there are others that products just as pricey in other Stereo Shops...including Alarm systems.

 

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I solder most of my connections, I never use quick splices or anything like that. I like to make most of the changes to my audio systems permanent.