A Few Q's for a DIY system
 

I've got a set of Boston Pro components for the front, which I can run with either a 2 or 4 channel amp, and was going to use 1 10" 2 Ohm sub (tho I have two, I didn't want to take up all the space) that I am going to run with a seperate amp.

So, I can get the remaining things I need at Best Buy and get a Discount, so, was wondering:

a) How much Dynomat do I need to do the hatch?

b) If I am putting amps in the factory sub location, should I dynomatt it, too, or use some foam and just cover it up when I build in the amp rack?

c) I can either afford pretty much any of the amps from Best Buy (with the discount) or some smaller amps from somewhere else.. So, do I go for so-so quality but plenty of power, or not that much power and higher quality from somewhere else?

d) which Amp for the sub (which will determine which I go with for the components)? The best buy rockford and sony mono amps are all pretty small, but they'll run at 2 Ohms, but their 2 channels need 4 ohms to run 1 channel. Are the Power Acoustik amps any good?

e) how much power should I run to my components vs. my subs for good overall balance?

f) Do any (which?) of the Sony changers play mp3s and fit in one of the mailslots?

g) how long do RCAs need to be to reach from the head unit to the glovebox (or factory sub location?)

Tried to find some of these answers by searching, but couldn't, then I gave up and just thought I'd ask them all :)

Wow, lots and lots of questions... I'll try a few of em out...

A) Id do 40-60sq ft depending on how meticulous you are at covering everything

B) I didn't dynamat mine, see no real reason to

C) Depends- do you want your music to sound like clean music in a studio or do you want it to sound like you are 3ft from stage at a concert? You get the idea.

D) I don't know what sub you are running, but I got an xtant off ebay for $200 that puts out 600rms @ 2ohms. They also sell xtant amps for $150 that put out 300rms @ 2ohms.

E) Run as much power as you want, just adjust the gain/volume levels of the components and sub later until you are happy with the sound. Right now I have sound faded foward 3 and sub +5.

F) No idea :D

G) I bought some 9' RCA cables and had a few feet left. You should be fine with 6', but 9' is nice to have some extra room to work with in case you have to rerout the cable due to your amp rack.

There ya go, hope I helped some and lemme know if you got any more questions. #1 thing to remember about DIY... pull EVERYTHING out of the car, THEN start working- makes it a lot cleaner... oh yeah, and have fun. :D

-Wren

I don't know the answers to all of the questions, so I'll answer the ones I do know:

b.) I have both my amps in the factory location on an amp rack and I didn't dynamat it or do anything. I would think dynamatting it would be a bad idea as that would close off all the little holes in it that can be used for air circulation and cooling.

c.) Full range amp? I don't like any of the Best Buy stuff for that with the exception (maybe) of a decent 50+ watt Pioneer.

d.) The amp all depends on the power ratings of your speakers. But, since you're using a 2 ohm sub, I'd look into a monoblock (single channel) amp. You won't be able to bridge a non-high current amp down to 2 ohms (it becomes a 1 ohm load then and the amp overheats and dies). If you play the game right, you can get good prices on JL amps at the Good Guys. For Best Buy, I'd probably go with a RF. Sony amps are garbage. Best Buy might be able to order other RF amps, so check out Crutchfield.

e.) I have 75 watts going to front and rear and 500 going to the sub (total 800 watts). Realistically, you can get away with substantially less.

f.) I have no clue about fitment for it, but the Sony CDX-757MX plays mp3s. http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...=0&cc=01&avf=N Looking at it, this changer probably won't fit because of the height of a 10 disk. Personally, I'd stay away from Sony car audio. And in my estimation, a good, clean sounding system playing 128 kbps mp3s will sound like *** because the good system can reproduce all the shimmer and hiss inherent in mp3. As an aside, I burned a disk of songs in the highest quality WMA format (WMA is supposed to be better than mp3) and it did not sound at all like I wanted it to. So, CDs only for me.

g.) My RCA cables are like 15 foot and there was plenty left over. I wouldn't go shorter than like a 12 footer.

Thanks, guy. I'll post my own answers when I figure out wha/how to do it. Next trip will be over to Street Noyz to check it out as well. Any other ideas/tips?

My suggestion would be to also get some good rear speakers, as you WILL want some rear fill so it isn't all coming from in front of you... just get some rear speakers and wire your amp to 4channel, then fade the sound foward some so all you get is rear fill and not overpowering rears... thats what I did and I can't imaging it sounding any better