Karlos

Hey gents,

Just traded in my MY96 for a nice green low mileage MY98. Anyway, first thing I want to do is stick a decent alarm and some sounds in it.

I noticed that for the front speakers on this year car you have a normal door speaker location plus a tweet location. My question is what are a good make/model of component set which will go straight into the factory locations? Where would you put the passive cross-overs, or would it be worth having a boot mounted active cross over.

Thanks for your help,

Karlos

rockin'Ru

We have a Portsmouth New Hampshire not far away...
Anyways,I must agree with most of the regulars here on their choice of Infinity components.Very nice sets for the price,and there is a wealth of information here on fitting them.
IMO,if you want to run an active xover,go with a 4 way unit.This will give you low/mid/high level controls and xover points.Plus a sub contol to boot.
I just helped a friend put together a system using one of these and it's a great rig.The quality could be better,but the 3-way comps up front just blow away any 2-way setup I've heard.
The draw back is that it's fairly elaborite.Lots of wires,amp channels and speaker fitting up front,but for the sq gained,it's worth it.
I run a 3-way passive setup.I pieced it together from drivers and xovers from Parts Express.The sq and detail are incredible,and it's PLENTY loud too.Best part is,I've got six speakers on one amp.I have a Pioneer HU that has low/mid/high tone controls as well as 50/80/125 hz xovers built in.Simple setup with outstanding sq.
Good grief I'm rambling Only trying to give you some ideas.
Sorry for the long post

chiark

I've tried an active set-up on the front, and I didn't notice that much difference - but the passives that I'm using are supposed to be top notch anyhow.

I've got two channels of amplification unused in the car at the moment and an AudioControl 4XS sitting around doing nothing... I sense a fiddle coming on when I'm allowed to put down the paint brush - just moved house, y'see?

It'll only be a 2 way that I'm running, but the unit can run as a 3 way (4 way) too - I just haven't got the speakers and 3 ways ain't really stealthy

For speakers, what's your taste in music, and what's your budget?

For mounting passives, I'd always mount 'em under the dash, not in the door, for the simple reason that you've then got all the cables you need to go active should you want to. My crossovers have adjustable attenuation, and I can adjust it without dismantling the door.

[This message has been edited by chiark (edited 04 May 2001).]

Karlos

Thanks for your responses,

Budget-wise, I wouldn't want to spend more than £150 for a set of components. Is this two little. Music type is a bit of everything unfortunately, from R+B to Metallica and Pappa Roach. I had a Kenwood six inch mid and tweet setup in My Nova (don't say anything) a good few years back and had them running active. Sound was V Good and was happy with quality. Only paid £80 for the components back then.

I'm really not that technical when it comes to sound systems and terms like attenuation, 3x 4x, all that mallarky don't mean much to me i'm afraid... :-(

I already have a four channel Kenwood 626x amp to run the components. Is this needed or would they be best of the head unit.

I also have a Kenwood 300watt mono bass amp and a pair of Kenwood small enclosure 10 inch subs which I don't know what to do with.

I'm just looking for a better, louder clearer sound. Is my choice of speaker dictated by what media I decide to go with, be it CD, MD or MP3?

I wait for your infinite wisdom Chiark!!

Karlos

[This message has been edited by Karlos (edited 04 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Karlos (edited 04 May 2001).]

chiark

Nope, £150 is plenty enough for a good set-up.

For that sort of music, I'd be tempted by something quite ballsy. One of the american brands, maybe JBL or (shock horror) Rockford Fosgate. Still, saying that Infinity are having a very good run on the board at the moment and you wouldn't go far wrong with them...

The amp would be fine, and better than the head unit. What active cross-over are you using?

Regarding terminology, attenuation is just making something quieter . Beyond that, the 2,3 and 4 way refer to the number of ways your splitting a signal. With woofer/tweeter, it's two way. For 3 way, you've got a woofer, tweeter and midbass too.

There is a FAQ that may be useful -

Karlos

Thanks Chiark,

Could you tell me that exact model of Infinity components which are well recommended by everyone? The active cross-over I have is an old Kenwood KEH-101 (i think that's the model number) Don't know if it's any good, but when I had it in my Nova It was running my Kenwood components with the 4 channel amp. I was always told that for the best sound you should always keep to the same make of speakers/amps/head unit. Do infinity do a headunit and amp then or was I told a load of crap?

Thanks again,

Karlos

chiark

A quick look around will show what's popular - sorry, I'm up to my eyes at the moment with work.

The 101 is a 2-way unit (if it's the KEC-101) with x-over points at one of 50,90,4KHz and 6KHz. Your amp also has a high-pass x-over at 90-120Hz.

It really depends if you want to run a sub or not. If you don't, then I'd try the active x-over at either 4 or 6KHz x-over point.

If you do run a sub, then I'd forget the active x-over and use two channels for the front (high passed in the amp at 90Hz) and the other two channels bridged for a single sub, low passed at 90Hz or lower.

I think you may have to experiment with this...

Nick.

JonW

Greg reports that 605CS drop straight in, 6.01CS and 6.02CS either need a spacer or trimming of the splashguard, none of its rocket science though. Check out the recent threads and my missive on fitting my 6.02s posted yesterday for more info.

Jon.

Karlos

Chiark,

Thanks again for your help, but I have yet another question. I have a pair of small enclosure Kenwood WS252 10" subs and a mono bass amp to run 'em. I'd like to do a similar install to the one on in the picture on your FAQ, with a sealed box between the suspsension turrets. My question is, each sub needs to be in a sealed enclosure which is .5 Cubic Ft capacity. WTF does this mean? What would the specifications of the box for each sub need to be? (never was any good at maths!)

Decided to go with this setup for the front

Kenwood KFC-PSR50P components running Passive
https://secure.caraudiodirect.com/shop/acatalog/C_A_D_Catalogue_Component_Kits_89.html

Kenwood KDCMP6090R for head unit
https://secure.caraudiodirect.com/shop/acatalog/C_A_D_Catalogue_Kenwood_MP3_421.html

Please let me know what you think of my choice. I thought I'd stick to Kenwood stuff as it's what I've had in the past and it's always been good.

Karlos



[This message has been edited by Karlos (edited 10 May 2001).]

Adam M

0.5 cubic feet just meaned exactly that, for a ten inch, to put it simply, a square box, i.e. 12 inch by 12 inch would be 1 square foot, 12 inches deep would make it 1 cubic foot. Since you want 0.5 go for 6 inches deep.

Bear in mind these are internal measurements to create the ideal volume.

Though esiest to buildd, I would not recommend a box where the wall at the back is as close and parallel to the woofer, but the maths will get more complicated as will the building if you start angling things.

chiark

For the sub box, .5 cu ft is the internal volume that you need to give each speaker. How I made mine was to partition the width of the box between turrets into 3 - one for each sub and one for amp, etc.

I managed to give each sub a bit less than 1 cu ft.

It should be fairly simple to work out the volume of your box. Split the cross-section of the box into squares and right-angle triangles, then work out the cross-sectional area by adding the bits together. (For squares/rectangles, area=width*height, for triangles, area=width*height/2)

Multiply the cross sectional area by the width and you get the volume.

Always use internal volumes, ie allow for the thickness of the wood.

I've had kenwood components in the past, and they're not bad value for money. If you liked 'em before, try 'em.

For the head unit, I used the Kenwood 860MD (I think) for a while and liked it - my wife nicked it for her car though, giving me an excuse to upgrade. It's currently not installed, so if you're interested....

Now I run the KMD-PS970 and there is a difference. See if you can get a good deal on the 971? You get 4.5V pre-outs (3 of 'em) which is a great way to start a monster system plan. Either way, both units are good.

Nick.

Karlos

Nick Said,

"It should be fairly simple to work out the volume of your box. Split the cross-section of the box into squares and right-angle triangles, then work out the cross-sectional area by adding the bits together. (For squares/rectangles, area=width*height, for triangles, area=width*height/2)

Multiply the cross sectional area by the width and you get the volume."

WTF are you on about!!?!?! Did I mention I suck at DIY AND Maths!?!? Wouldn't want to build it for me would ya!!!?!

I'll checkout the Head unit you recommend, thanks for the advice. Does it play MP3's?

Karlos

chiark

Sorry, my mistake - I thought you were on about MD, not mp3 on the head unit. Go for it, it's recommended by the rest of the board!

For a box, Auto Audio do a simple box moulded to the right hand side of the boot that gives 1 cu ft (IIRC)... It's 150 quid, but it may be the way to go. Either that, or try Audio Images (?) in Bradford, as Adam M wants their children - they're that good.

Nick.

Adam M

Actually their children are nestling in the rear quarter panels of my car.

Karlos, what nick is saying is, if you imagine taking a slice through the box you plan to build, measuring the area of the slice in square feet would be the cross sectional action. All you have to do is then multiply that area by the width of the box in feet (ie. from left to right). You want that final number to be 0.5.

It is important that all the numbers you measure are not including the thickness of the wood. I have to say that you would be far better off buying a prebuilt box, or having it made.

Also, it is nonsense that you should stick to the same make for all components. More often than not, that is the worst possible way of doing it!

There are quite a few companies that will sell you a cheap ready made box, try those that nick has recommended. Or drive to a specialist place and have it tailor made.