[Hippo Machine]

Hi, I'm Joe B., 17, from Michigan. This is my first car, its a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix, and I've become obsessed with car audio!!

Here is a picture of the car:

So first I installed the new Kenwood eXcelon X896 head unit

I immediately noticed an improvement over the stock head unit, in both sound quality and volume.

Next were the 6"x9" speakers and the 4" speakers, both on the rear deck.

I ordered the Kicker 2-way KS69's and just went cheap with the Kenwood KFC-1094PS 3-way 4 inchers

Turns out the old 4" speaker's leads were broken, so they never were even powered!

Here are the old ones

I gained a lot of clean bass and clear highs after installing those ones.

Then I got Morel COAX 5.25" speakers for the front doors. (Would have gotten components but am only on a high schooler's budget :blush.

I don't have any pictures of these but am very happy with them. They are much better than the blown out stock ones (obviously) and have some good bass to them. I am actually starting to be able to "feel" the music now.

This week I received my sub woofer in the mail, the new Rockford Fosgate P3D2-12. I'm building a sealed enclosure and it should be installed in a couple weeks.

I'm getting a 5-channel amp (unsure which one) to power my entire system. So far I am very happy with my upgrades and look forward to doing more!

If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or suggestions let me know!

Thanks!


(P.S. Sorry I kind of rushed through this thread, I spent an hour making a detailed post, but it never showed up on the fourm...)

 

[trojan fan]

Take your time young grasshopper and don't be afraid to ask questions,,,,,we all had our first system....good luck

 

[Khymera-B]

Looks like you're on your way... this is one expensive obsession.

 

[Shadowmarx]

This >

Looks like you're on your way... this is one expensive obsession.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Atleast your in a good direction, when I started (15 or 16) I didn't know crap about quality - so I first bought the cheapest.... a pair of 12" Audiobahn subs, a 2kwatt new Lanzar amp and a cheap 10g power wire kit. First thing I notice was the wire was getting extremly hot- so I upgrade. But I was so dumb that I never ever even bother to upgrade the factory speakers (yeah just like many teens now a days that want just bass).

Anyways I came a long way and know now quality from garbage. Also learned some other stuff that you wont "understand" untill you experience it. Good luck.

As for your car, your lucky. I had to drive a "granny car" which is also known as a plymouth acclaim, lol. I loved that thing, even though I had no power, I had plenty of room for the girls.

 

[Khymera-B]

Atleast your in a good direction, when I started (15 or 16) I didn't know crap about quality - so I first bought the cheapest.... a pair of 12" Audiobahn subs, a 2kwatt new Lanzar amp and a cheap 10g power wire kit. First thing I notice was the wire was getting extremly hot- so I upgrade. But I was so dumb that I never ever even bother to upgrade the factory speakers (yeah just like many teens now a days that want just bass).

Anyways I came a long way and know now quality from garbage. Also learned some other stuff that you wont "understand" untill you experience it. Good luck.

As for your car, your lucky. I had to drive a "granny car" which is also known as a plymouth acclaim, lol. I loved that thing, even though I had no power, I had plenty of room for the girls.

When I started I did a piss poor job of wiring and the remote wire literally was frying in the car as I was driving. Smoke filled the cabin. Luckily I was in a position to be able to stop the car and pull the wire.

 

[bigguy2010]

Hey man I have a 01' GT. If you're going to do anything, definitely deaden and seal up the front doors. Made a world of difference when I did mine.

 

[mr.metoo]

Looks like a great start for your first build, keep up the good work.

 

[trojan fan]

Hey man I have a 01' GT. If you're going to do anything, definitely deaden and seal up the front doors. Made a world of difference when I did mine.

x2 exactly.....for such a small cost it can really help improve the overall SQ

 

[Hippo Machine]

I actually just installed some dynamat in the doors today! Made a good noticeable difference in sound quality and you can really feel it more.

 

[Navy Chief]

Great job so far, I cannot believe you had 6x9s and 4" in the back deck from the factory. My only piece of advice is do not assume you have to buy new. You stated you could not buy components because of your budget, but I bet for the same amount of money you could have bought very nice "pre-owned" components. Also look at places like Parts Express, you can get amazing deals on high quality products they may just not be name brands you are familiar with. By the way where in Michigan are you.

 

[Hippo Machine]

Great job so far, I cannot believe you had 6x9s and 4" in the back deck from the factory. My only piece of advice is do not assume you have to buy new. You stated you could not buy components because of your budget, but I bet for the same amount of money you could have bought very nice "pre-owned" components. Also look at places like Parts Express, you can get amazing deals on high quality products they may just not be name brands you are familiar with. By the way where in Michigan are you.

Thanks! I had no idea the 4" speakers were back there until I had it all torn down haha. I never really trusted pre-owned audio before because you never know how the previous owner used it, but I am more open to considering it now. I'm over in Grosse Pointe, which is on the north border of Detroit.

 

[Navy Chief]

When buying pre-owned car audio just ask lots of questions. Many of us here are like you and want a good product, additionally we take good care of what we have and when we sell it it is still in great condition. I have had great luck buying used equipment, it just requires that both parties are honest about what they want and what they have. By the way my wife is from St. Clair Shores, class of 97 Southlake.

 

[Hippo Machine]

When buying pre-owned car audio just ask lots of questions. Many of us here are like you and want a good product, additionally we take good care of what we have and when we sell it it is still in great condition. I have had great luck buying used equipment, it just requires that both parties are honest about what they want and what they have. By the way my wife is from St. Clair Shores, class of 97 Southlake.

I've been eyeing the classified for an affordable 5-channel haha. Sweet, I know a couple people that go there.

 

[lithium]

good start OP.

hope you dont mind some constructive criticism. usually, i wouldn't do this in someone's build log but it sounds like your open to advice and willing to learn. im not looking to bash your equipment and brands that you selected. i think these are mistakes all of us have made when we first got into car audio.

i think you would have been better off not buying speakers for the rear. it could have saved you quite a bit of money which could have gone somewhere else.

so my advice would be to focus on the front stage. which would consist of a good set of components and an amplifier.

you already have a sub and i see your planning to run it sealed. depending on your music taste you may find that a ported box would suit you better. learning how to build or own box is a pretty valuable skill in this hobby if you have access to the tools.

i know your probably really happy with things so far and may not want to abandon the rear speakers yet. so i would suggest that you leave the rear speakers on deck power and amplify just the subwoofer and front stage.

i put a system in my brother car over the summer and he was worried that without rear speakers it would sound wrong or bad! So i left them the rear speakers in (oem rear speakers sounded as good as most budget aftermarket coax speakers) but i disconnected them. after hear the car for the first time after i installed a nice front stage he never complained once about the rear speakers... idk if he realizes that they aren't even powered! hahaha

i see that you got a dual 2 ohm subwoofer so you looking to get about 600 watts @ 1ohm or 4 ohm. my recommendation is to get a 4 channel amp, run channel 1 and 2 to the front stage components and bridge channels 3 and 4 to the subwoofer. generally 4 channel amps are cheaper then 5 channel amps, so im just trying to save you some more money.

here is an idea for a new 4 channel amp, but better deals might be found in the classifieds.

not sure what you budget its but i would think you wouldn't want to spend more then 150-200 dollars on 1 amp.

Precision Power PPI S760.4 Class AB 4-Channel Car Amplifier/Amp
or
Amazon.com: Cadence Acoustics F600-4 1400 Watt Peak 4-Channel Class AB Amplifier: Car Electronics

(the awesome benefit with going with a 4 channel amp now is that if you determine later to add a dedicated sub amplifier you can simply use the 4 channel bridged to your front components or use it for an active front stage)

the small problem with the subwoofer you selected is that it is a dual 2 ohm model. had it been a dual 4 ohm model then an amp like the cadence f100-5 would have been a really nice budget choice. 100x4 @ 4ohms to the speakers and 500 @ 2ohms to the subwoofer (dual 4 ohm coils wired in parallel to the amplifier for a 2 ohm final load) for $150. it is typical that cheap 5 channel amps w/o a class D subwoofer channel are not stable below 2 ohms. this is something that you would want to plan out in advance next time.


hope this helps OP. i really like that your getting some sound deadening in the car already. read through sounddeadenershowdown.com for some great info on sound deadening in general. it may help you in the future.

 

[Hippo Machine]

good start OP.

hope you dont mind some constructive criticism. usually, i wouldn't do this in someone's build log but it sounds like your open to advice and willing to learn. im not looking to bash your equipment and brands that you selected. i think these are mistakes all of us have made when we first got into car audio.

i think you would have been better off not buying speakers for the rear. it could have saved you quite a bit of money which could have gone somewhere else.

so my advice would be to focus on the front stage. which would consist of a good set of components and an amplifier.

you already have a sub and i see your planning to run it sealed. depending on your music taste you may find that a ported box would suit you better. learning how to build or own box is a pretty valuable skill in this hobby if you have access to the tools.

i know your probably really happy with things so far and may not want to abandon the rear speakers yet. so i would suggest that you leave the rear speakers on deck power and amplify just the subwoofer and front stage.

i put a system in my brother car over the summer and he was worried that without rear speakers it would sound wrong or bad! So i left them the rear speakers in (oem rear speakers sounded as good as most budget aftermarket coax speakers) but i disconnected them. after hear the car for the first time after i installed a nice front stage he never complained once about the rear speakers... idk if he realizes that they aren't even powered! hahaha

i see that you got a dual 2 ohm subwoofer so you looking to get about 600 watts @ 1ohm or 4 ohm. my recommendation is to get a 4 channel amp, run channel 1 and 2 to the front stage components and bridge channels 3 and 4 to the subwoofer. generally 4 channel amps are cheaper then 5 channel amps, so im just trying to save you some more money.

here is an idea for a new 4 channel amp, but better deals might be found in the classifieds.

not sure what you budget its but i would think you wouldn't want to spend more then 150-200 dollars on 1 amp.

Precision Power PPI S760.4 Class AB 4-Channel Car Amplifier/Amp
or
Amazon.com: Cadence Acoustics F600-4 1400 Watt Peak 4-Channel Class AB Amplifier: Car Electronics

(the awesome benefit with going with a 4 channel amp now is that if you determine later to add a dedicated sub amplifier you can simply use the 4 channel bridged to your front components or use it for an active front stage)

the small problem with the subwoofer you selected is that it is a dual 2 ohm model. had it been a dual 4 ohm model then an amp like the cadence f100-5 would have been a really nice budget choice. 100x4 @ 4ohms to the speakers and 500 @ 2ohms to the subwoofer (dual 4 ohm coils wired in parallel to the amplifier for a 2 ohm final load) for $150. it is typical that cheap 5 channel amps w/o a class D subwoofer channel are not stable below 2 ohms. this is something that you would want to plan out in advance next time.


hope this helps OP. i really like that your getting some sound deadening in the car already. read through sounddeadenershowdown.com for some great info on sound deadening in general. it may help you in the future.

I was told that about the rear by others as well. I only invested $125 and a few hours of time into it. I noticed a big difference too, but it may have been minimal had I not done them as my first upgrade.

Those amps are a little too powerful for my front speakers. I believe they are 80w rms, but I'm not sure if the impedance of the tweeters effects how much power goes to them.. the speakers are 4 ohm and the tweeters are 6 ohm, and the tweeter is powered directly from the + and - of the 5.25, so what would be the overall impedance?

Yea I kinda impulse bought the sub cause I knew it is a good one and it had a great sale going on. I will make it work, I just need help deciding if i want it at 1 ohm or 4 ohms.

Thanks

 

[Hippo Machine]

I kinda have an idea. What if I bought two 8" subs that I could wire everything together to 2 ohms and make a 3 sub enclosure?

 

[Hippo Machine]

Never mind. I'm going to build an enclosure to the manufacturers specifications and wire it at 4 ohms, make it easy.

 

[Hippo Machine]

I just ordered this sub. Going to bridge two channels to give my sub 320w RMS @ 4 ohms, and also 100w @ 4 ohms to each front speaker. Should be nice!

PowerBass XAX-4160FD (XAX4160FD) 640W Class D 4 Chan Amplifier

 

[lithium]

I was told that about the rear by others as well. I only invested $125 and a few hours of time into it. I noticed a big difference too, but it may have been minimal had I not done them as my first upgrade.

Those amps are a little too powerful for my front speakers. I believe they are 80w rms, but I'm not sure if the impedance of the tweeters effects how much power goes to them.. the speakers are 4 ohm and the tweeters are 6 ohm, and the tweeter is powered directly from the + and - of the 5.25, so what would be the overall impedance?

Yea I kinda impulse bought the sub cause I knew it is a good one and it had a great sale going on. I will make it work, I just need help deciding if i want it at 1 ohm or 4 ohms.

Thanks

nothing wrong with using an amp that produces more power then the speaker is rated for as long as its installed and used correctly. essentially the volume knob determines how much power the speakers will see.

i thought your front speakers were coaxs? is there a separate set of tweeters installed somewhere?

check out bcae1.com lots of info there on how power is distributed to speakers and how much power they actually will see.