Need advice for new speakers!!

[fika84]

Originally Posted by B-R-Z

I am running 100% off of aftermarket amps, not using the factory amp or headunit built-in amps at all. Rear speakers I disconnected and zip-tied to plug right next to the speaker.

Dash and doors are powered by a Soundstream Rubicon RUB4.500 75x4 @ 4 ohms. Sub is powered by a Soundstream Rubicon RUB1.1000D 1000x1 @ 1 ohm.

I ran 12 gauge OFC speaker wire for everything (doors/dash/sub). The only part where I cheated is for going from the cabin out to the doors. There is a plug right by each door that I pulled the +/- pins out of and connected the speaker wire to those. I then did the same with the speaker wire that attached to the factory speakers in the doors. It was a major PITA to get 12 awg wire through the rubber grommet so this was an easy work around.

OP: You could re-purpose the factory wiring as long as you are not running a lot of power. Use the factory amp signal leads for dash speakers, and then R/L factory amp output lines for doors (as it is already connected). You would then just need to run an RCA from HU to your amp in the trunk. You should also run a power line from battery if adding an amp, but if your amp is low-power you technically could re-use the factory amp power wires..I would not recommend it though. They make nice little amps that can fit into the factory location. You will need some DIY and re-pin/pin-pulling skills.

Good stuff! I plan to run the dash and door speakers off the HU even when I get the Pioneer AVH deck. Later down the road I might put a different amp in the stock location and power the dash and doors.. is there a huge benefit to running the speakers off a separate amp instead of the HU? I know you get a little more power to them, but is the sound quality that much better?


Currently I'm running my sub (10" solo baric) off an amp (1000.1 DX) that I wired. Currently the amp is getting its signal from the output of the oem amp signal to the doors using a speaker to RCA converter since the stock HU doesn't have RCA out. But I DID run RCA wires from the HU back when I installed the amp! Woohoo to thinking ahead!

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by fika84

Good stuff! I plan to run the dash and door speakers off the HU even when I get the Pioneer AVIC deck. Later down the road I might put a different amp in the stock location and power the dash and doors.. is there a huge benefit to running the speakers off a separate amp instead of the HU? I know you get a little more power to them, but is the sound quality that much better?


Currently I'm running my sub (10" solo baric) off an amp (1000.1 DX) that I wired. Currently the amp is getting its signal from the output of the oem amp signal to the doors using a speaker to RCA converter since the stock HU doesn't have RCA out. But I DID run RCA wires from the HU back when I installed the amp! Woohoo to thinking ahead!

Short answer is yes, there's a quality difference. In specific as you raise the volume an amp will actually not have to work as hard to produce the power/volume ultimately that the HU will and will not go into whats known as clipping. Clipping is what happens when the amp (on board the HU, or external) is no longer able to reproduce signal at the requested level perfectly, and so the signal wave is truncated or clipped. there are very good articles on this that go very deep if you want to dive into electrical engineering world.

anyways, basically an amp can produce signal and volume more easily than the HU. Mind you just about any after market head unit will produce more than a stock.. although the FRSs stock is pretty darn good, so in the FRSs case I'm not certain that's true.

so compare apples to apples most after market HUs produce about 15-22w RMS (the RMS is a better measure than peak power output, for reasons Ill let you lookup if you care to) where as the 15A alpine and pioneers produce 90w RMS to 2 ch, or 45w RMS to 4ch. and what @B-R-Z is running produces 75w RMS to 4ch, meaning he's capable of pushing an average of 3.5x the power that the HU alone could.

edit: as an addon to this story I have had 2 different friends tell me they thought the speakers in their cars were blown out, when for one he needed an aftermarket HU, he was running a stock jeep HU, and sony speakers which clipped pretty much constantly and for the other he would hear clipping in his tweeters at high volume and thought they were broken until I recommended he try out the alpine ktp-445u, and now he's happy as a clam.

[fika84]

Originally Posted by Chimera

Short answer is yes, there's a quality difference. In specific as you raise the volume an amp will actually not have to work as hard to produce the power/volume ultimately that the HU will and will not go into whats known as clipping. Clipping is what happens when the amp (on board the HU, or external) is no longer able to reproduce signal at the requested level perfectly, and so the signal wave is truncated or clipped. there are very good articles on this that go very deep if you want to dive into electrical engineering world.

anyways, basically an amp can produce signal and volume more easily than the HU. Mind you just about any after market head unit will produce more than a stock.. although the FRSs stock is pretty darn good, so in the FRSs case I'm not certain that's true.

so compare apples to apples most after market HUs produce about 15-22w RMS (the RMS is a better measure than peak power output, for reasons Ill let you lookup if you care to) where as the 15A alpine and pioneers produce 90w RMS to 2 ch, or 45w RMS to 4ch. and what @B-R-Z is running produces 75w RMS to 4ch, meaning he's capable of pushing an average of 3.5x the power that the HU alone could.

edit: as an addon to this story I have had 2 different friends tell me they thought the speakers in their cars were blown out, when for one he needed an aftermarket HU, he was running a stock jeep HU, and sony speakers which clipped pretty much constantly and for the other he would hear clipping in his tweeters at high volume and thought they were broken until I recommended he try out the alpine ktp-445u, and now he's happy as a clam.

Thanks for the explanation! I never knew about clipping! Reading the RMS for wattage I was aware of. I'm also pretty sure that the stock FRS Pioneer HU is way better than the stock BRZ HU..

[B-R-Z]

The BRZ headunit was great actually, the only things that were bad IMO was the navigation and the fact that there are no RCA outs. The unit played loud and was super clear. Its made by Fujitsu Ten who is the same company that made/make Eclipse units which are great.

I replaced it with an Android double DIN similar to the CaFi but cheaper.