Help Me Please LOL

[crezz]

hi all, been a while since i last posted on here..im still trying to learn about ice but have decided ive got to bite the bullet and by some things to play around with instead of just imagining! lol

ive currently got a sony head unit which does not have any pre outs, i know its not the best but im going to connect my amp ( vibe slick a3) via speaker cable. is it best to run a good quality speaker cable down for this?

the amp is going to be in rear footwell under a false floor which is soon to be built.. i would like my amp to power a sub and a set of door speakers.. i believe i have enough channels on my amp to allow this. 2 channels for door speakers and 2 channels to sub Bridged?? is that correct?

ive currently got some sony 17cm coaxials door speakers which i would like to change for some components.. any reccomendations up to £80? im liking the look of the spl dynamics 6.2 mid bass? any good?

if being powered by amp im going to need to run new speaker cable? any reccomendation for my setup?

for the sub im thinking an 8" or 10" at the biggest as its going to sit in the side of the boot inside the wing.. fiberglass custom box. any reccomendations for a sub? up to £80

fabric too? preferebly a a soft carpet which doesnt hold all the dirt in! if you know what a mean! lol

and i promise the last thing is a wiring kit? willl a pre sorted kit be best or to purchase it all seperatly. not sure what i need, and where the fuse goes? in between battery and amp?

if someone could please give me some info or any knowledge at all it would be greatly appriechated.

many thanks crezz

[crezz]

started false floor today so needing to buy something quick! lol

[stevei'D]

If you've not got any pre-outs you will need to but a converter. These will do the job but aren't great. As you will be using all 4 channels on your amp you will need two converters. I'm not sure what you are thinking about with saying you going to connect your amp with speaker cable???

These take the output from your headunits speaker channels and convert to RCA. As you need 2 you will only be able to run your front speakers and sub, as each converter will use two speaker channels, left and right. So the front speakers channels covert to one RCA (to now power your front speakers via the amplifier), and the rear speaker channels to a second (to now power your sub via the amplifier), leaving you no more channels to power some rear speakers.

You will need to then run the RCA cables from the converters to your amplifier. You are correct in using channels 1+2 for your front speakers and bridging 3+4 to run the sub. You will then need good quality speaker cable to run from the amplifier to the sub. You will also need speaker cable to run from your amplifier upto your front door speakers.

As for a wiring kit, its a relitively simple set up so I would suggest buying a kit from your local accessory shop. This will 9 times out of 10 give you 5m power cable with fuse already in situ, 1x5mRCA (you'll need to buy a second set), 1m earth, 5m remote wire (turns your amp on and off with your head unit) and some speaker/sub cable. You will need to buy extra speaker cable to run to the fronts, 5m either side will be plenty. On top of this you'll need the speaker to RCA converters x2. If your headunti does not have pre-outs it is unlikely to have a remote turn on, you can therefore use the ignition live, this will mean your amp will be on all the time the ignition is switched on, fine your thinking so will my headunit, however if you headunit breaks then you'll have no music but your amplifier will still be on. A dedicated remote out will mean if your ignition is on but headunit off then your amplifier will be off to.

As for the fuse it needs to be placed as near to the battery as possibly, within 6-12inches will be fine. As mentioned in akit this size the fuse holder will be in place already for you.

There are rules when wiring up cabling, RCA's down the opposite to the power, and if they must cross to do so at 90 degrees (as if to create a cross-road)

My advice - wait and get yourself a new headunit with 2/3 pre-outs. The sound quality will be so much better. I say 2/3 for the following reason. Those with 2 pre-outs are often marked up and designed to be a rear and dedicated sub out, and you want to power up your fronts (and rightly so - now point in powering up a pair of rear or shelf speakers as you are in the front!) A unit with three pre-outs will give you dedicated front/rear/sub giving you the flexibity and freedom you want for the right sound and to build upon in the future.

A lot of info but hope some of it makes sense to you.

[crezz]

thats a great help thanks mate, looks like a new head unit will be bought first then, this somewhat means i need to not buy a sub or new speakers. or i need to save some more! lol

any reccomendations on head unit?

[crezz]

my amp has input via rca and high input ie speaker cable

[Gm8]

an alpine headunit will keep you very happy m8

[stevei'D]

Your amp may have input via speaker, but this is not the best way to connect up your sound system, nor the most economical in terms of wiring. Agree with last comment cant go wrong with an apine. Can't remember my model no. its a year old or so now but it has 3pre-outs and i paid 120 for it on line. 3rd alpine i've had in three cars, you really can't go wrong. Glad to be of some help