Audio Advice

[stevenmichael]

I added an sound ordinance compact sub with built in Amp to my cruiser yesterday.



I just added a compact sub to mine yesterday. I got the sound ordinance (BT-8?) with built in Amp. It had 4.5 stars on crutchfield and was a very easy install. I first tried to mount it under the drivers seat but it would vibrate the seat so bad I was sick of it after 5 min. So I then moved it into the cargo area in the back and it is just about perfect. It is not in your face loud but it gives off just the right amount if tuned properly for the 80s interior.

Thanks Andrew , I was thinking the same thing it being right underneath you . Did you put it behind the cargo plastic and cut a hold for the speaker to stick out or on the out side ?will you post a photo ? I was thinking about putting it behind the plastic and just bolt it onto the plastic or the metal thats behind the plastic and just cut slots in the plastic . For some reason there are slots already cut on the passenger side . Is there any wires already there for the woofer ? they put woofers in that area from the factory .

 

[Trollhole]

This is what I've been installing in 80's for about a year. Actually I install it in just about everything. Reason being if you purchase the separate setup mic. It will automatically calibrate the stereo for your cars acoustics. Something only a professional really can do properly.

So if you want the best out of your stereo either get a professional that can tune it or buy a stereo that has the capability to do it for you. There are quite a few stereo's with this capability now. There is a lot more than bass and treble these days.

Amazon.com: Pioneer AVH-X3800BHS In-Dash DVD Receiver with 6.2" Display, Bluetooth, SiriusXM-Ready, HD Radio: Car Electronics

 

[Trollhole]

This is the sub I built. In hind site I could have made it 1" thinner as I had to much air space. Not enough punch for my tastes. So I stuffed it with rags to take up the volume. Works great now.

 

[Marine7]

Not sure if anyone else recommends it, but Crutchfield.com has the best prices, on top of the line equipment. Plus, whenever you order a head unit or amp from them they send you ALL the connectors you need.... no guessing! Also they put a installation printout for your specific vehicle SHOWING you, with good pictures, each step. And if your still confused they have a 1800 help line where you can talk to live techs that know their s***..... not a Best Buy flunkie!!

 

[Marine7]

Also, as Trollhole noted...... get your stereo "tuned". If you don't know how, bring it to a TOP END shop. Best Buy had no idea how to phase my channels!! But, by doing the phasing you will hear instruments you never knew Elvis even played! Lol

 

[Andrew Bluemel]

Thanks Andrew , I was thinking the same thing it being right underneath you . Did you put it behind the cargo plastic and cut a hold for the speaker to stick out or on the out side ?will you post a photo ? I was thinking about putting it behind the plastic and just bolt it onto the plastic or the metal thats behind the plastic and just cut slots in the plastic . For some reason there are slots already cut on the passenger side . Is there any wires already there for the woofer ? they put woofers in that area from the factory .

I did not put it where the factory subwoofer for one main reason and one secondary. First off I did not put it in the stock spot because there is no way to hold it in place and I thought it would rattle against the body panels. One other reason is because of the wiring and trying to pass it all the way back there. (it was 20 degrees when I was installing and really didn't want to keep wiring it all the way back). I have Ammo cans in the back that I keep tools in right behind the second row seats. I therefore thought I could place it between the ammo cans and then back of the seats. It worked perfect since it was easy to wire to and hidden. It rattled around a little bit so I got some weather stripping to put around the sub to stop the rattling. And it sounds so good!! I'll post up some pics tomorrow.

 

[LINUS]

My best bud is the town stereo shop (non-chain) upper staff, his big thing on any stereo you spend more than $4-500 on (heck, my latest H/U is the Alpine 149bt & even as the flagship DIN unit, IIRC it was $300 tops, taxed!), and esp if you add a amp, a sub, or any quality speakers up to and including component setups - take the time & wire a fresh set of lines for each speaker. Or pay for it - I prefer my own workmanship, YMMV.

We can all run wires under the rug, and the panels come off easy with a panel prybar, so the worst is door speakers & wiring through the ports & taping the loom to look factory - not even technical, just time consuming. Esp if you drop over $150 on any pair of speakers in your setup, devoted wires are worth your time & the material cost.

 

[stevenmichael]

My best bud is the town stereo shop (non-chain) upper staff, his big thing on any stereo you spend more than $4-500 on (heck, my latest H/U is the Alpine 149bt & even as the flagship DIN unit, IIRC it was $300 tops, taxed!), and esp if you add a amp, a sub, or any quality speakers up to and including component setups - take the time & wire a fresh set of lines for each speaker. Or pay for it - I prefer my own workmanship, YMMV.

We can all run wires under the rug, and the panels come off easy with a panel pry bar, so the worst is door speakers & wiring through the ports & taping the loom to look factory - not even technical, just time consuming. Esp if you drop over $150 on any pair of speakers in your setup, devoted wires are worth your time & the material cost.

Linus I was trying to figure out how the wiring worked going to the speakers because the white plug that was in the factory radio is not is not used at all and you switch to the 2 gray connections . So some how because there are only 2 wires + and - at the speaker the wires from the white plug is connected to the gray plugs some how . Even if its connected before the factory amp and even if the white connection is disconnected its still going to send power back into the factory amp from the new radio because its jointed together somewhere or both plugins wouldn't work ,and who know how thats going to effect your sound . So your either going to have to figure out where the 2 wires join for every speaker and disconnect then or run new wires like you said which I think would give you the best sound . I was thinking if you could follow the line from the door speakers to behind the dash and then solder that wire right to the wire coming out of the wiring harness you had to buy for the new radio and bypass the one gray factory connection that is for the speakers and connect the other gray one that is for the power .

 

[stevenmichael]

This is what I've been installing in 80's for about a year. Actually I install it in just about everything. Reason being if you purchase the separate setup mic. It will automatically calibrate the stereo for your cars acoustics. Something only a professional really can do properly.

So if you want the best out of your stereo either get a professional that can tune it or buy a stereo that has the capability to do it for you. There are quite a few stereo's with this capability now. There is a lot more than bass and treble these days.

Amazon.com: Pioneer AVH-X3800BHS In-Dash DVD Receiver with 6.2" Display, Bluetooth, SiriusXM-Ready, HD Radio: Car Electronics

The Kenwood ddx9903s has all that built in now you can set it so all the speaker sound reaches your ears at the same time its called time alignment , you can also filter out side road noise and move the sound stage up or down ,if all your speakers are low you can make it sound like they are high ,it has a dual core linux processor with the NTSF format which allows you to use the larger 2 tb or larger hard drives. It also lets you adjust different devices sound levels ,like your phones blue tooth volume and you ipod will not be at the same level but in this radio you can preset 5 different devices sound levels so when you plug in your device your radio,cd player and your device will all be at the same volume you don't have to keep adjusting the sound. This radio also lets you adjust the equalizer for your different devices so when you plug them in you get the sound you want out of it once you set it and I think it has up to 5 different devices you can set up . your never going to get the sound you want out of different devices with out adjusting the equalizer and readjusting every time for every device is a pain in the butt so this radio fixes that . It also is apple and android comparable . It also has 2 phone pairing so if your traveling with a buddy and he wants to play a song thats on his phone or he has unlimited minutes and you don't they can connect to spotify or play music thats on there phone and play it over the radio and you both can still receive calls using the radio which I thought was very cool . watch this video he goes over all this . so far its the only radio I know that has a built in dual core processor with the NTSF format all the others ate the older FAT 32 format that limited the hard drive size . I think for 599.00 with the 100 dollar rebate you can't beat it . I've done a lot of reading and watched a lot of reviews of just about every radio out there and I'm getting this one .

 

[stevenmichael]

Recently I installed a new Kenwood KDX-X399 and 4 new Focal speakers. Even though the sound is night and day better, I still don't feel like it's as good as it should be. It's like my dad's 01 Tundra has a better sound. It seems like all the noise is coming out of the front two speakers and there is nothing from the back. I have tried going through the settings and changing the equalizer and all that stuff with little success.

So my question is where to go next. Do I need a new amp? Should I pull the stock sub and replace it? Or is it worth getting new speakers for the 3rd row?

Sorry this is kind of a bland and dumb question but I would really appreciate some input.

Thanks!

Watch the video I post in this thread He talks about time aliment ,Its built into the almost all the Kenwoods even the ddx394 thats only 319.00 . You should get rid of the radio you have and get a kenwood that does the time aliment . go to this site and you can see the silver box that has time aliment pictured .DDX394 | eXcelon | CAR ENTERTAINMENT | KENWOOD USA It doesn't matter what speakers you have or where they are at with the time aliment you adjust each speaker and sub so the sound thats coming out of the speaker reaches your ears at the same time . Your never going to be able to do this with your the radio you have with out spending a boat load of money . Its cheaper to just get the 319.00 radio . watch this video on the ddx394 . this radio does all most every thing the ddx 9903s does for half the price .

 

[stevenmichael]

This is what I've been installing in 80's for about a year. Actually I install it in just about everything. Reason being if you purchase the separate setup mic. It will automatically calibrate the stereo for your cars acoustics. Something only a professional really can do properly.

So if you want the best out of your stereo either get a professional that can tune it or buy a stereo that has the capability to do it for you. There are quite a few stereo's with this capability now. There is a lot more than bass and treble these days.

Amazon.com: Pioneer AVH-X3800BHS In-Dash DVD Receiver with 6.2" Display, Bluetooth, SiriusXM-Ready, HD Radio: Car Electronics

I have a 1997 lexus lx450 and I'm going to install the new kenwood ddx 9903s . I don't know how the amp works when its connected to the radio I have never installed a amp before so I don't know how it works or how to connect things . In my suv the white connection that is connected to the old factory radio is not used when you hook up the new radios for some reason . The suv has 2 gray connections that the new wiring harnesses hook into .(1) Why doesn't the new radio harness just hook into the white connect that was connected to the factory radio ? Wouldn't doing this make you go through the amp ? (2) Does the 2 gray connections once connected to the new radio run to all the speakers I have like the factory radio did ? I have 2 tweeters in the dash 1 in each door I have 4 doors and 1 I think small subwoofer or maybe its just a mid-range speaker I don't know in the center console . All the speakers have lost the foam from around them so I wanted to get all new speakers . I'm going to use the same speakers and get the spacers from Clay thats in this video . He said the speakers in the dash and in the doors work but didn't know about the subwoofer . (3) How does the sub woofer connect to the new radio if its no using the amp that the white connection at was used to connect to the back of the factory radio? I tryed to send this to you in a message I'm not sure if I did it correctly or not . Do you know where I can get a wiring diagram of the stereo system .Thanks

 

[canman]

If you don't use the factory amp, the small "subwoofer" in the center console will not work. I really think the center console speaker provides an added dimension (sound stage?) to the sound vs just the door speakers. I upgraded the center console speaker with a unit from Tang. There are several threads on this upgrade.

 

[Rivman1243]

Only the LX450's have a center console subwoofer right?

 

[canman]

Only the LX450's have a center console subwoofer right?

Yes.