What do you think of this set up? (Audio)

[MikeM7]

Thanks for the detailed reply, I went ahead and ordered the NVX MVPA1 for the sub. I'm not willing to pay 500 for the one for the door speakers though.. trying to stay within a 2 thousand dollar budget.

The shop did ask me what kind of car I have and what I'm planning to install. The 150 was just an estimate for doing the sub, head unit, and amp. He said he'd need me to bring the car in to get into specifics with door speakers, sound deadening, and anything beyond the basic sub install.

I have a buddy that's willing to do it with me, but he already did header and exhaust with me and I both feel bad for taking up his time and energy, and am tired of f'ing with it myself. I'll probably swing by and check this place out, see what kind of vibe I get, find out the total price, and take it from there.

As for the 2nd amp, is it really necessary, or do you think the head unit can handle the front speakers? Keeping in mind I'm not the type to ride around blasting music at obnoxious levels. I'm not looking to show off, just have good quality sound for my own personal DD enjoyment. It will be kept at a reasonable volume 99% of the time.

Thanks again.

[keithr]

Originally Posted by MikeM7

Thanks for the detailed reply, I went ahead and ordered the NVX MVPA1 for the sub.

You won't be disappointed.

Originally Posted by MikeM7

I'm not willing to pay 500 for the one for the door speakers though..

??

I'm guessing you mean the JL Audio 3-channel? In that case, it wasn't just for the door speakers, that would have been for door speakers *and* sub. So, a little more than the combined cost for the two individual small amps.

Originally Posted by MikeM7

I'll probably swing by and check this place out, see what kind of vibe I get, find out the total price, and take it from there.

It never hurts to ask to see the actual shop area and take a look at any cars that they have in-progress at that time. You can watch the installer work for a few minutes and get a feel for their level of care (or not). If the shop won't let you watch their guy(s) or look at vehicles being worked on, they're hiding something from you, and that should be taken as a sign. Every quality shop I've ever been in was glad, nay, eager to show me what they were all about. I spoke directly with the installers, rather than funneling everything through a showroom sales guy.

Originally Posted by MikeM7

As for the 2nd amp, is it really necessary, or do you think the head unit can handle the front speakers? Keeping in mind I'm not the type to ride around blasting music at obnoxious levels. I'm not looking to show off, just have good quality sound for my own personal DD enjoyment. It will be kept at a reasonable volume 99% of the time.

Get an amp. You'd be doing yourself a disservice to run quality speakers off of head unit power. It might say 50Wx4, but if you look at the real specs (*edit: the manual shows 22W RMS, but I've seen a few other spec sheets that say it's 17W RMS -- either way, it's not nearly enough). Most quality speakers in a reasonable price range are going to want 60-90W or so RMS.

Remember, power is not necessarily about loud, it's about clean. Yes, volume is a factor, but you want adequate power to drive your speakers efficiently with room to spare (headroom) so that you get a clean, strong signal into your speakers so they can produce clean, quality sound. When an amplifier (whether it's standalone or built into a head unit) is running at or near its limits, distortion goes way up and the amp can start to clip. Clipping is bad, without getting too deep into it, just imagine trying to run a power saw when your electricity keeps stuttering on/off. You're going to get crappy performance since the saw motor can't get constant power to keep the blade spinning correctly, and you're going to burn up the saw's motor because it's working too hard to try to keep up. Distortion and clipping are both very bad in audio, and they will not only cause an audible degradation of quality (in layman's terms, it'll sound like shit), but they can cause permanent damage to your equipment as well.

It's kind of like buying an awesome HDTV and then only ever hooking up your old VCR to it -- you'll not be getting anywhere near the performance out of that TV since the signal coming into it sucks.

[MikeM7]

Ok so I got the JL stealthbox sub, the amp you recommended for the sub, and already have the head unit.

So how does this look to finish things off? This will only cost me an extra 99 dollars if I return the other amp.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105AX32....html?tp=35757
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130TSD1...TS-D1602R.html

[keithr]

Originally Posted by MikeM7

Pioneer-TS-D1602R

I have not heard these speakers in person, so, really can't say how good they sound. They get good reviews... so, there's that. In the absence of being able to hear them yourself, I suppose general consensus is better than nothing.

Originally Posted by MikeM7

JVC KS-AX3202

Well, the specs on it really don't impress me. Fixed crossover points, somewhat low SNR, and the power is on the lower end of where you'd want to be with those speakers, which have an 88dB sensitivity so they're not the most efficient speakers in the world. You'll want to make sure you have some headroom on the power.

If it was me, I would get the NVX MVPA4 that I linked.

Barring that, I'd probably get the Alpine KTP-445U and bridge it to 90x2.

For what it's worth, you can get those Pioneer speakers at Sonic Electronix for 1/2 of what they want for them at Crutchfield:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...TS-D1602R.html

The Alpine amp at Crutchfield is is 149.99 so you could do an even swap for your Pioneer, and then get the speakers from Sonic, saving yourself some money for a better setup than the JVC amp.

[Chimera]

I have the KTP-445u
its pretty awesome, you can get it for about $100 some places. it wires to the Factory Amp harness easily too, which saves some effort.

[keithr]

Originally Posted by Chimera

I have the KTP-445u
its pretty awesome, you can get it for about $100 some places. it wires to the Factory Amp harness easily too, which saves some effort.

Yeah, the flexibility for install options is nice. He's getting a nice Pioneer head unit, so he'll want to use the proper 4V pre-outs off the Pioneer and delete the factory amp entirely.

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by keithr

Yeah, the flexibility for install options is nice. He's getting a nice Pioneer head unit, so he'll want to use the proper 4V pre-outs off the Pioneer and delete the factory amp entirely.

I have a pioneer 5600bhs, and I'm still using the line level inputs into my 445u, mostly because that's how it was originally wired (before I got the 5600bhs), but it works just fine.

[keithr]

Originally Posted by Chimera

...but it works just fine.

I made my own speaker once from a kit I got at Radio Shack.

It worked just fine, too.

Whatever rocks your socks...

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by keithr

I made my own speaker once from a kit I got at Radio Shack.

It worked just fine, too.

Whatever rocks your socks...

Pshhh, as far as I am aware there's not an appreciable difference beyond the minor risk that you now have 2 amps clipping range to worry about, the HU and the amp itself, but as long as you don't push either it's logically the same.

though TBH if I was doing a fresh install I would prob just run the RCAs as I have RCAs for my Subwoofer.

[MikeM7]

Originally Posted by keithr

The Alpine amp at Crutchfield is is 149.99 so you could do an even swap for your Pioneer, and then get the speakers from Sonic, saving yourself some money for a better setup than the JVC amp.

Don't mind if I do!

Ordered both.

You da man.

[keithr]

Originally Posted by MikeM7

Ordered both.

Keep us posted on the install and how it all turns out!

[MikeM7]

Originally Posted by keithr

Even $150 is pretty cheap, and I'm surprised they're quoting you anything without knowing exactly what gear you want installed and exactly how you want it installed. I'd be leery of cookie-cutter pricing and potentially a cookie-cutter install job.

Finally got this install done.. you were right. I ended up going somewhere different, but it's all the same around here. 100-150 for a head unit/amp/sub, little more for the other amp and speakers, and sketchy shops doing half ass work. I was literally looking for a place that would charge me more just so I'd feel safe with them, but couldn't, they were all just as cheap and sketchy as the last one.

I'll probably be creating a new thread tonight for advice on how to approach this problem, but just wanted to bring this thread back from the dead to give your "I told ya so"

They mangled my interior trim pieces.. 2 that don't require tools to remove, and one that didn't need removing at all. These are the aftermarket black trim pieces I had to order too, not the ugly silver ones. (aftermarket on my 2013 at least)

They kept my old speakers, the instruction manuals for the new stuff, and all the boxes.

They didn't hook up the usb and aux to the new unit.

There's a popping noise when I turn the car off, possibly from a bad ground.

I'm sure I'm missing a couple things, but you get the idea. So now I've got to figure out if I want to address it with them or just leave them 1 star reviews, if I want to fix it myself, and how I'm going to fix it.

[Calum]

If you're capable, fix it yourself. I'd get them to pay for the new panels, but otherwise I'd cut my losses and docit yourself. Car audio isn't hard, mainly just time consuming.

[MikeM7]

Originally Posted by Calum

If you're capable, fix it yourself. I'd get them to pay for the new panels, but otherwise I'd cut my losses and docit yourself. Car audio isn't hard, mainly just time consuming.

That's what I was thinking, I just don't feel comfortable leaving my car in their hands again. It's really not that bad, I'm mostly just mad at myself. I was planning to pull the panels off and either leave them in the car somewhere or just leave them at home. This seems to happen to me a lot.. I'll have the right idea in my head, for whatever reason I don't act on it, and then later it's "I knew I should have..."

At the end of the day, I'll have to spend an extra 50 bucks on trim pieces, pull the head unit out, reconnect a couple things, and be done with it. I had 2 amps, head unit, sub, and door speakers installed, and they talked me into the thing that lets the dvd player work while moving, for a total of 300 bucks. So I'm looking at around $350 and half an afternoon for the full install and all problems fixed. Could be worse, at least after some adjustments it does sound great.