New Car Stereo Setup. Whatcha think? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

phathom · 03-21-2005, 02:09 PM

Ok, purchasing a new car stereo setup for my 92 accord. What I got so far is an Alpine CDA-9847 Deck with mp3/wma sirius/xm, 50wx4 with 3 preouts and sub control. 4x Rockford Fosgate T162C 6 1/2" speakers for my mids/highs 75W RMS 150W Peak with 200hz line filters on them to filter low distorting bass out. just bought a Phoenix Gold Octane R 15.0:1 1500W RMS underated amp (hey everything phoenix gold is underated by them), going to be running 3 Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad capacitors, and 1 15" Kicker Solobaric L7 with 2000W Max handling and 1000W RMS. What'd ya think? anything i could change to make it better? any enclosure reccomendations? the sound quality on it right now is awesome, just can't wait to get the sub hooked up to give me some spl.

jujueye · 03-23-2005, 08:38 PM

Get rid of those 200Hz line filters. A 6 1/2 should easily go down to 100. Do you have a crossover on the amp or headunit? Try to get your crossover point somewhere near 90 or 100Hz. If you are going to crank it up a lot, stick with 100Hz.

3 1f Caps? That's quite a lot. I'm hoping you shopped around and had an idea why that many was important. I'll bet someone mentioned that you'll want 1f for every 500 watts, maybe. No worries. I used to work on car audio a lot and going form no caps (yeah, back in the day....lol) to just one 1f cap was eye opening. Quite a surprise.

If available, do not use an asymmetrical crossover.

As for improvement, I always suggest upgraded cables. Even some entry-level home cables will make a difference. Try some AudioQuest stuff. I used AQ F14, and it completely smoothed out my high/mid sound. The cable is flat, so it runs under carpets really well. You can also upgrade the interconnect between the head unit and the amplifier. Find a home audio place that can build cables to custom lengths and have them build you one for the car.

Finally, you might think about Q-Logic QForms. These will place the front speakers down near your feet, and fire up towards you. I wont go into why this makes such a difference, but it has to do with what is called path length differences. It can make a good stereo great. I'm sure there are models for Hondas.

Good luck, and have fun!

degrawj · 03-24-2005, 11:41 AM

well, from personal experience, i think that 15" subs don't give very good quality bass. i mean, it's great for the REALLY low bass, like 20-40 Hz, but anything higher and the sound quality is kind of muted/muffled sounding. the best setup i've heard had 12" and 10" subs, so the guy had tight sounding bass from the 10 and nice lower freqs. from the 12. i haven't heard your system, so i really don't know how good it sounds, but i think that if you added a 10" in there it would be perfection. other than that, your system sounds pretty freaking sweet.

phathom · 03-24-2005, 05:21 PM

Ok changed the setup a little bit, instead of the 15" Solobaric I went with 2 12" older JL SVC 4ohm subs, put them in a ported plexiglass enclosure, and they hit like crazy. And thanks for the wiring advice but i already had it covered, everything is wired either with MonsterCable or Rockford Fosgate RF series performance cable in the highest guage everything will take. I am also aware that for about every 1000W of power you should have a 1 farad capciter for better response and to save your electrical system. I also work for an electronics retailer so capcitors, performance wiring, and stuff like that come to me very cheap, so I can afford to go for 2-3 capacitors and all high grade wiring and connections. Looking into the qforms right now. And planning on getting another amp later for the 6 1/2"s but for now a 200hz cap sounds just perfect to me and everyone else who hears it.

03-21-2005, 02:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
phathom Crazy	New Car Stereo Setup. Whatcha think? Ok, purchasing a new car stereo setup for my 92 accord. What I got so far is an Alpine CDA-9847 Deck with mp3/wma sirius/xm, 50wx4 with 3 preouts and sub control. 4x Rockford Fosgate T162C 6 1/2" speakers for my mids/highs 75W RMS 150W Peak with 200hz line filters on them to filter low distorting bass out. just bought a Phoenix Gold Octane R 15.0:1 1500W RMS underated amp (hey everything phoenix gold is underated by them), going to be running 3 Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad capacitors, and 1 15" Kicker Solobaric L7 with 2000W Max handling and 1000W RMS. What'd ya think? anything i could change to make it better? any enclosure reccomendations? the sound quality on it right now is awesome, just can't wait to get the sub hooked up to give me some spl. __________________ -snooch to the nooch

03-24-2005, 05:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
phathom Crazy	Ok changed the setup a little bit, instead of the 15" Solobaric I went with 2 12" older JL SVC 4ohm subs, put them in a ported plexiglass enclosure, and they hit like crazy. And thanks for the wiring advice but i already had it covered, everything is wired either with MonsterCable or Rockford Fosgate RF series performance cable in the highest guage everything will take. I am also aware that for about every 1000W of power you should have a 1 farad capciter for better response and to save your electrical system. I also work for an electronics retailer so capcitors, performance wiring, and stuff like that come to me very cheap, so I can afford to go for 2-3 capacitors and all high grade wiring and connections. Looking into the qforms right now. And planning on getting another amp later for the 6 1/2"s but for now a 200hz cap sounds just perfect to me and everyone else who hears it. __________________ -snooch to the nooch

03-23-2005, 08:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
jujueye alpaca lunch for the trip Location: in my computer	Get rid of those 200Hz line filters. A 6 1/2 should easily go down to 100. Do you have a crossover on the amp or headunit? Try to get your crossover point somewhere near 90 or 100Hz. If you are going to crank it up a lot, stick with 100Hz. 3 1f Caps? That's quite a lot. I'm hoping you shopped around and had an idea why that many was important. I'll bet someone mentioned that you'll want 1f for every 500 watts, maybe. No worries. I used to work on car audio a lot and going form no caps (yeah, back in the day....lol) to just one 1f cap was eye opening. Quite a surprise. If available, do not use an asymmetrical crossover. As for improvement, I always suggest upgraded cables. Even some entry-level home cables will make a difference. Try some AudioQuest stuff. I used AQ F14, and it completely smoothed out my high/mid sound. The cable is flat, so it runs under carpets really well. You can also upgrade the interconnect between the head unit and the amplifier. Find a home audio place that can build cables to custom lengths and have them build you one for the car. Finally, you might think about Q-Logic QForms. These will place the front speakers down near your feet, and fire up towards you. I wont go into why this makes such a difference, but it has to do with what is called path length differences. It can make a good stereo great. I'm sure there are models for Hondas. Good luck, and have fun!

03-24-2005, 11:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
degrawj I'm still waiting... Location: West Linn, OR	well, from personal experience, i think that 15" subs don't give very good quality bass. i mean, it's great for the REALLY low bass, like 20-40 Hz, but anything higher and the sound quality is kind of muted/muffled sounding. the best setup i've heard had 12" and 10" subs, so the guy had tight sounding bass from the 10 and nice lower freqs. from the 12. i haven't heard your system, so i really don't know how good it sounds, but i think that if you added a 10" in there it would be perfection. other than that, your system sounds pretty freaking sweet.