standard speakers

[CANDEE]

As above I have never seen any issues with an 4 channel being run like suggested above... Unless you are loading it below the rated resistance or something similar...

Hell I ran one of my old 2-channels @ 2 ohm bridged for about a year with no issues at all... Though I wouldnt run it with the un-bridged channeds @ 4 ohms and the bridged ones @ 2 ohms...

 

[marc.r]

fitted 6.5 inch orion cobalt splits and sony 6 inch budget co-axials to replace completely rooted factory speakers. came in at less then $200 in total! the orion splits fit well in the stock locations and you can take the shroud off the tweeters and they fit well in the stock tweeter locations.

to my non refined ears they sound fine off the stock mmcs head unit. plenty of bass and the tweeters are VERY bright. I was toying with the idea of using a LOC or high input amp but it sounds a hit and miss proposition in terms of hissing and sound quality.

I would still like a bit of a rumble as I use a sub on my home stereo and the splits dont go sub bass at all even though they do hit hard enough to satisfy in the short term. apparently using an amp with high level outputs for subs is a much less of an issue as the sounds arnt as complex. I will prob add a small active underseat sub in the future when I have some money to blow.

all in all very happy with the improvement for the price.

 

[cyber_scriber]

I had a quick look at the specs of those Orion splits. They're rated at 50W RMS and have a fairly low sensitivity of 85dDB. In plain English, they'd sound much better with an amp!

Do you know if those Orion splits have an adjustable tweeter? Some splits allow you to reduce or increase the tweeter output to suit eg. if they're too bright because they're on the A pillar or too dull because they're in the kick panels.

If you're going to run a sub and want a simple and straight forward set up, I'd recommend a 4 channel amp, with 2 channels bridged to run the sub.

 

[marc.r]

they dont have an adjustable tweeter, they are cheap! im getting used to the brightness. i cant decide to next upgrade the back co-ax which are 30 dollar sony jobs. or add something like invisabass for some impact. if I go for the invisabass i will prob pick up a 4 channel amp and attemp to amp the front splits and see how much distortion I get. invisabass go on ebay for about $100 delievered. plus 300 or so for a 4 channel amp and wiring puts it at a tad more expensive than the active sub option. i have read a review saying the fusion active is passable.

 

[Slinz]

I wouldn't spend any extra money on the rear door speakers unless you have run out of other parts of the system to upgrade. I've got some 'decent' type-S Alpine's in my rear doors and though the overall sound is a bit fuller than it was before they were in, the quality is no better really than when I had only front splits in. Use the money from the rear speakers to go toward a higher quality amp, or to buy one 4-ch amp for your door speakers and one monoblock amp for whatever sub option you end up with. There are lots of good sub-in-slimline-enclosure packages going around too.

 

[cyber_scriber]

Forget upgrading the rear speakers. Many audiophile set ups run either the factory rear speakers or no rear speakers at all. They are the least important component of your stereo set up.

Running an amp won't cause your splits to distort. If anything, running them off the head unit increases the chance of distortion eg. They're not loud enough because the head unit cannot supply sufficient power to them so you keep turning it up, eventually causing distortion.

 

[unclepaulie]

chaps, figured id bump this thread rather start a new one


so id like some advice on my audio setup

currently:
headunit with 2 RCA's
2x rca cables
4channel amp
front and rear speakers both powered by the amp.

now im not some audiophile but i do like clean crisp sound and some nice base (for rnb, hiphop, bit of house/electric/trance/whatever its called, minimal dubstep)

so that said, i hav a sub and 2channel amp i hav acess to and id like to install.

would it be better into run the rear speakers off the headunit and power the sub by the 4channel amp?
or install the 2 channel amp and buy another headunit?

i might even hav the setup all wrong, im no expert when it comes to sound stuff, but from what i hav learnt, i think those are the two options available.

 

[Poita]

If you don't want to spend the money on a new headunit with F/R/sub out RCAs, then just run the rears off the headunit you already have and run the sub off the remaing 2 channels of your 4ch amp (bridged of course).

Best scenario would be to have a monoblock amp for your sub as I am not a huge fan of bridging, but it will still sound ok.

I have front splits on a 2ch amp, rears running off the headunit (turned off at the headunit, only turned on if I have passengers), and a sub running off a monoblock.

 

[cyber_scriber]

Paul.

What are the specs of the 2 amps?

 

[steveP]

Yeah run the rear speakers off the HU, and the sub off the bridged 2 channels. This set up is the easiest to install as all the wiring is already in place, you just need to fiddle with the HU a bit. If you don't like the set up, then change it later.

Also agree about the rear speakers being pointless. I actually replaced the rear speakers with MB Quart splits, and even when the system is cranked, I never hear them due to the front splits being set up correctly.

 

[unclepaulie]

hmm i see. i might try running the rears off the headunit and power the sub via the remaining two channels on the amp

 

[Slinz]

Couldn't you also (if you want to keep your rears running off the amp) get some RCA splitters to make use of both amps? I'd be tempted to do that just to have the sub running off a separate amp to the other four speakers.

 

[unclepaulie]

use to hav it that way. maybe that'd be an ok thing to do?

so keep the headunit, 2x RCA

RCA 1: split it, front and rears running off the 4 channel

RCA 2: run that to the 2channel amp (bridged) and use that to power the sub

is that right?

 

[steveP]

But then you don't have independant control of the sub. Try the single amp solution first.

 

[unclepaulie]

But then you don't have independant control of the sub. Try the single amp solution first.

ohh, ok. rear speakers off the headunit and sub and front speakers on the 4 channel.



would there be a way to power the rear speakers by the 2 channel amp and split the one rca to into the fronts and the rear speakers?

 

[steveP]

Yeah you can split it, which means controlling the front speakers will have the same affect on the rears.

Personally I would just get a HU with 3x RCA outs.

 

[unclepaulie]

yeah might have to. more money lol ill ad it to the list

 

[Slinz]

But then you don't have independant control of the sub. Try the single amp solution first.

Really? Isn't it usually the case with the 2xRCA units that you can set it to have the second RCA as either 'sub' or 'rear' depending on if you're running one, and then you have independent controls for the sub? And obviously if the sub is running off an entirely different amp you'd have control via that amp too.

Ohhh I think I realise what you mean now! Yeah I'd be talking about splitting the RCA that runs the door speakers and not bothering to have fader control. You still get balance control but not fader, I think.

 

[steveP]

If you have the sub split off the rear RCA's, then any adjustment made to the rear speakers will also be applied to the sub settings, and visa versa. It works, but personally I like full control.

 

[Slinz]

Yeah I think I had mine that way, got annoyed with it and then changed it so it was splitting the front RCA to run both front and rear speakers, and rear RCA sub only. That way you get the separate control but you just can't alter the fader settings between F and R other than via the amp gains.