[gabf1]

Hi,

I am new here and have been trolling a bit to learn about getting a new system and have learned a lot, so thank you! I have also been to a number of stores and I have noticed that their best opinion of what is really good stuff boils down to what they have in stock .

I have a 2004 Ford Expedition with what I thought was totally stock system (more about this later) and am looking to upgrade all of it.

Here is what I plan:

Kenwood dnx 9980HD
JL HD 900/5 Amp
JL 10w6 sub

For speaker, I have heard and liked in the following order:
1. Hertz - I listened to the whole line from diece to esk to hsk and mille. I liked the mille the best but to my ear the esk sounded better. Don't know why?

2. JL Audio C5-650. I did not listen to the zr 650 csi but have been intrigued by this.

3. Focal ps 165 and I didn't get blown away.

So, my plan was to get Hertz ESK 165L for front and ESK or ECX 570 for the rear, but I was kind of questioning myself for not going for the HSK line. I was also seriously considering the zr 650-csi front and c5 6.5 in back.

Today I pulled the door panel to take a look and I was surprised to see a Hertz Dx 130 component system! I checked the rear and that has ECX 570.


Granted, I did think the sound was pretty good when the volume was low-med., but I really want an upgraded sound!

So, now I am rethinking my strategy...I am leaning to JL or maybe the Hertz HSK?

The other thing is that I was considering the Hertz HDL 5, but am not sure of the price?

Any ideas/thoughts would be great. Thanks!

 

[gabf1]

Anyone?

 

[The A Train]

I wouldnt bother with the rear speakers. If anything, some decent coax's for rear fill. I dont have much experience with the speakers youve mentioned but go with what sounds best to you. It is your car btw.

 

[gabf1]

Thanks. I've been thinking again about the speakers and I am leaning toward getting the hsk 165 Xl components. But the thing is their ems rating is 150 w and the amp will only power 100w/channel therefore leaving them underpowered. Thinking of coupling the 4 channels into two and giving myself 200w/speaker and then either running the rears with another amp or through the head unit. Again would really love some input. Thanks!

 

[The A Train]

I wouldnt really worry about 'under powering' them. There really is no such thing. My question to you would be if you plan on rhnning these active, or through a passive crossover

 

[gabf1]

I have just purchased my system:

kenwood dnx9990hd
jl audio 600/4 (bridge to front speakers at 300W X 2)
jl audio 900/5 (bridge to rear speakers at 150W X 2 + 500W to sub)
jl audio 10w6 subwoofer
Hertz HSK 165 XL front
Hertz ESX 570 back

I am using JL power kit for amps and using the sound deadening on the doors.

I think for this set up, I am going to go with passive crossovers and see how things turn out. I am pretty excited about the setup, but a little intimidated about setting up the sound of all the equipment and getting it tuned to work well with my vehicle.

Thanks again and any help with figuring out how to set the electronics would be great. Also, thinking about if I should put a limiter in to prevent blowing out the speakers. The amp setup right now will power the speakers to their max power: 300W in the fronts and 140W in the rear. Thoughts?

 

[gabf1]

I wouldnt really worry about 'under powering' them. There really is no such thing. My question to you would be if you plan on rhnning these active, or through a passive crossover

With the setup, I am going to be able to run 300W to the fronts which is peak power for the speakers (RMS 150W) and 150W to the rears (RMS 70). I hope I don't have too much power to them b/c I don't want to blow them.

As far as active vs passive, I am going passive b/c I just don't think I have the technical knowledge to do active correct. Not sure really how to make that work and what I would hear differently...

 

[Coppertone]

Great choice of equipment, and I respect a man who knows his limits. Active no matter how good is not for everyone. It takes trial and error and most get frustrated before they get it right. Hence the large amount of audio being sold on a daily basis. Speaking for myself, I always think this new product out will take me to that next level. Install what you have in hand, enjoy it, and run while you can from those of us still stuck in limbo.

 

[gabf1]

Great choice of equipment, and I respect a man who knows his limits. Install what you have in hand, enjoy it, and run while you can from those of us still stuck in limbo.

Thanks man! There is so much to learn about everything...I hope the install goes well and am glad I made the decision to get this stuff and move forward.

 

[gabf1]

Now, I need to make sure everything will sound the best way possible. If anyone has suggestions about tweeter placement or how to set the amps up please let me know. I am also wondering if I should set it up so there are limiters on the power output of the amps because I am not sure if I will be running too much power to my speakers...

 

[D-Bass]

Those XL's will sound great. I have a pair myself. I had them temporarily hooked up through the passive crossovers and i was pretty impressed. great midbass. Make sure you seal the door up real good with some hushmat/dynamat type material. it makes a big difference.

 

[chaser9478]

That's a lot of wattage for the comps, can you bi_amp them? Run the 4ch with 1ch for ea driver up front? If so then they would be getting perfect power.

 

[gabf1]

Yes. I am going to bridge the 600/4 into a two channel giving the front hsk 165 xl speakers 300w each. With the 900/5 amp I am going to bridge the 4 front channels into two 150w channels powering the esx 570s 150w each. That will also give the sub 500w. I'm pretty excited about the setup! Just have a few more components to arrive and then the install.

 

[gabf1]

Those XL's will sound great. I have a pair myself. I had them temporarily hooked up through the passive crossovers and i was pretty impressed. great midbass. Make sure you seal the door up real good with some hushmat/dynamat type material. it makes a big difference.

I am going to put deadening on the outer doors and the inner panels as well. So two sets of deadening all around. I am also doing the rear door too.

For the sub, they are going to build a fiberglass box so I'm not sure if I'm going to need any deadening around the box compartment. It is going to be placed behind a panel on the rear drivers side near the rear door. I want the space and the stealth.

 

[chaser9478]

Instead of bridging the 600/4 to the front, you could run it 4ch, with the tweets on 1&2 and the mids on 3&4 but what you are doing will work, just go easy on the gain.

Your car audio quest begins! You have nice equipment to start with.

 

[gabf1]

Instead of bridging the 600/4 to the front, you could run it 4ch, with the tweets on 1&2 and the mids on 3&4 but what you are doing will work, just go easy on the gain.

Your car audio quest begins! You have nice equipment to start with.

Thanks! This is getting exciting. I do want to make sure about the gain being set correctly. If its not, I think I will run into clipping? I'm not exactly sure about the physics about this, but I conceptualize this as sending too much power to the speaker so that the full spectrum of sounds that is meant to be played is cut off or clipped resulting in distortion/reduced sound quality and ultimately destruction of the speaker.

Am I close on this? Or way off?

Thanks

 

[chaser9478]

You lost me on that one....lol

I wouldn't worry about clipping so much as over powering the drivers....