Thanks to everyone who chimed in and educated me/pointed me in the right direction for my audio system in my recent thread= "Decent Sound System".... I have bought the Pioneer AVIC D3 (i finally gave into it, couldn't resist it anymore), Double Din adapter kit, Crutchfield Ford wiring harness, iPod hookup, four 6x8 Pioneer TS-A6881R speakers, deciding to dynamat the entire interior, and tonight or tomorrow i am going to purchase two IDQ10" subwoofers in a SuperCrewSound box...

In my thread, several people recommended me running two amps, one for the subs, and one for all four speakers. I am completely ignorant to what i need, so if you guys could point me in the direction of which particular model, how many channel, or what specs i would need for each amp, i would appreciate it. I do not know what kind of space limitations i have, but im thinking i have the right side of the rear seat area open from the box, under seats as well.

One more thing, i have not bought any wiring kits or speaker wire as of yet. Again i am completely ignorant here, im assuming i need to connect the HU to the amplifier, and then run a line to each speaker from the amp, but i do not know what exactly i need. Same with the amps. I know i need to send power to them from the batteries. Deal with me here, i'm still learning.

 

are you running sub woofers? if so how many? i am partial to MTX amps....thats just me...but yes the best way to do it is to run to seperate amps...one for the low range (subs) and one for the mids and highs (your 6x8's) . you are going to need an amp that will run these speakers in there optimal range...the 6x8's 50 watts RMS and 260 peak power... im not real educated on this but you should be safe with a number in between the two...as for the sub...if you are only doing one subwoofer, or even two, my pops always taught me that if you pay a dollar per watt , than you are getting a good amp...so say you spend 300 bucks on an amp and its 2000 watts, and there is another amp that is 300 watts, the 300 watt amp is going to be much better quality...as for the wairing kits...you can buy the single opr dual amp wiring kit and itll come with everything you need...and i would recommened taking it to your local sound shop all in place and let them wire it...and then they will tweakthe amps so that its performing at its best...hope i helped good luck!!

 

I like my MTX amps. PPI used to be outstanding, but I hear they changed hands since I bought mine and are now lower quality and higher priced. I've had good luck with Kenwood HUs but lousy luck with their amps. YMMV.

The first link has a decent write up on how to install an amp. The second link has a table to determine what gauge wires you'll need. Thicker cables quickly add to the expense without adding to the sound quality. Don't think that if X is sufficient, X*2 is going to be better.

RCA cables and speaker wiring pricing is usually negotiable at car stereo shops, less so at box stores like Best Buy.

http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/e...installamp.htm for amp install.

http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

 

o ya dont forget if you have a 400 watt amp X 4, thats only 100 watts per speaker

 

In my original post i mentioned i am going to have two Image Dynamics IDQ10 subwoofers.

 

why not run a 5 channel? I've run an mtx and am cur5rently running an eclipse in my truck, and a kicker in my boat. I love em all

 

The more i got to thinking, the Avic, it has power built in for 50wx4 correct? Do i really need the second amp, or can i just use one for the subs? The subs i bought handle 50-300w RMS, so i was looking at an amp with a RMS of 250w x2, at 2 ohm. Sound good? Or should i just get a 50w x4 amp and run the wires to the speakers. Also, i read up on the amp installation, and it said to run a RCA cable(s) from the head unit to the amplifier. Does the AVIC have the necessary ports to run to one, or two amps?

 

any amp in the "slash" series from JL Audio is pretty much unbeatable. I would stack it up against ANY MTX amp. Not bagging on MTX....but with amplifiers, you get what ya pay for! It all just depends how much you want to spend! Years ago I used Rockford Fosgate before they were bought out, then I used MTX a couple times, Kicker.......finally ended up with JL Audio, check them out, you'll be happy!

 

If the amp is advertised as a 400X4, you will have 400 watts per speaker maximum and normally 200 watts RMS if you are running it at the ohm rating it was certified at.

 

Just to give you some ideas you can look at my photo gallery. Good luck.

 

Yes Kris, be smart and go with the MTX amps. Get the 4 channel 564, that will power your interior speakers and the MTX 801d, is by far the best amp for the subs...That's what I have and had the set-up since 2001 or 2. It went from my camaro to camry and now in the truck. When MTX rates their amps, they rate them on the low side. So if they say it will produce X amount of power you can pretty much bet your going to get at least that ammount of power and probably more.

As far as the wiring, don't buy a kit. I'll tell you what you need. I just did mine the other weekend. I'de take more pics but I'm at a friends house in PA and didn't bring my card adapter.

Run 4 Gauge from the secondary battery to where you want to mount the amps. (14 ft should work) Under the hood install a 100 amp inline fuse.

Then run the 4g into a distribution block with fuses, so it will be one 4g in and two 8g out. Then run the 8g to each of your amps.

Then take like 16g or so for the remote wire from the back of the stero to the amps.

I hope your deck has RCA's on the back, Buy an RCA set-up that has your front, rear and subs all in one bundle...a lot less messy than 3 different RCA's.

Now for wiring the interior you have a couple options, you can;
a - Run the speaker wires back to the deck and utilize the wires that are already in place from the factory OR
b - Run the speaker wires from the amp directly to the speakers.

I always ran 14-16 directly to the speakers but involves a lot more work that option a.

Other than that, make sure you have a nice solid ground and you'll be rockin in no time!

I know it's hard to understand on forums sometimes, but if you want to send me a PM I will give you my number.

Good luck!

 

subscribing, I plan doing this in the near future.

 

My 200 watt mono MTX bench tested at 256 watts. The only amp that I've had that tested better compared to its rating was an older PPI model (when they were still black). The better companies rate their amps at what they should produce with 13 or so volts, with most cars being 13.7. Some other companies run 14.5 or more through there amp when rating them, so what you actually get in your car is less.

 

I would just go with an amp for your subs to start with, you will most likely be happy enough with that. If you run a big enough power wire back to the amp for the subs you can always add in a distribution block and hook up another amp if you decide you want one. If you decide to go without amps for the door speakers be sure to get the speaker adapter plugs so you don't have to cut the plugs off the stock speaker wires. It also makes it easier to get the polarity right on the speakers.

Be sure to match your subs and amp. The IDQ subs are available with dual 2 ohm and dual 4 ohm voice coils. I think that Supercrew sound only sells the dual 2 ohm which is fine. I personally would wire the voice coils in parallel and the two speakers in series. This will make each sub a 1ohm load, for 2 ohms total. Then find a class D mono amplifoer rated for 400-600 Watts RMS at 2 ohms (preferably at 13 volts like CruiserClass mentioned).

I haven't installed a D3 so I can't really help you with it's specifics, but it supposedly has 3 pairs of pre-amp outputs and sub outputs, so you should be fine hooking up amps with RCA cables. If you have the steering wheel controls and want to keep them pick up a PAC audio SWI-PS interface.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

 

Wow, you guys are awesome. I came home from work, hoping to find a reply or two, and i got all these, thanks! That just about sums up unanswered questions.

Johan- I take it there is a kit out there where it includes a triple RCA bundle in one loom, so i can run the front speakers, the rear speakers, and the subs all from one harness that plugs into all three RCA's on the back of the deck. Another question, what all do i need to run to the amps, other than power? Im assuming the RCA cables which (im guessing) sends the proper signal at a low wattage from the head unit, to the amps, which then amplifies the signal and sends it out through a 14-16 gauge speaker wire? If that is it, then it sounds simple enough. You referred to a "remote wire" from the rear of the deck to the amps, what exactly is it's function?

Also on the speakers, BeerStalker you mentioned something about a factory plug at the speakers.. Is that only used if i were to run speaker wires back to the deck to utilize the factory speaker wires as Johan mentioned? If i decide to run a speaker wire to each speaker from the sub (which i was planning to do while the interior was out anyway) do i have to use the speaker plugs, or what? Sorry for being so ignorant, but the only hookup to activate the speakers is just the 14-16ga wire that is coming from the amp correct?

Sorry for all the questions, we are all newbies at some time.