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Stereo advice from some sound guys plz

BadMastard

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Duvall, Wa.
No worries. I'd run 12 gauge minimum for your subs. Though the 16 will work, it makes the amp work a little harder than it needs to. Wiring your dvc parallel will result in a nice 1 ohm load. You may want to turn down your sub until you get your door speakers, but then again, I like bass so maybe not! If the amp gets really hot, or you hear a lot of clipping you might have to put a resistor load in your speaker circuit. Not a big thing, most stereo shops carry them. Good luck!
 

USAWEAPON777

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173
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18
Location
Orwigsburg,Pa
So what kind of db's are you talking about in order to drown out the truck/road noise with the stereo?
I'm really not quite sure what your are asking. My m1008 is not loud in my opinion. My dodge dakota was louder then it and I could hear the stock radio fine. I'm not putting in such large subs because I'm too lazy to dynamat the entire thing I'm doing for the fun aspect of having some powerful subs.
 

USAWEAPON777

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173
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18
Location
Orwigsburg,Pa
No worries. I'd run 12 gauge minimum for your subs. Though the 16 will work, it makes the amp work a little harder than it needs to. Wiring your dvc parallel will result in a nice 1 ohm load. You may want to turn down your sub until you get your door speakers, but then again, I like bass so maybe not! If the amp gets really hot, or you hear a lot of clipping you might have to put a resistor load in your speaker circuit. Not a big thing, most stereo shops carry them. Good luck!
Alright thanks for the info man, and I'm off to put the subs in the enclosures!
 

mistaken1

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I can google average car audio db ratings but I was just curious as to what db level of the truck is when running and/or moving. I was hoping someone on the thread would have a way of measuring or would have already done so.
 

USAWEAPON777

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173
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Orwigsburg,Pa
oh ok, no I don't have a db meter on hand. Or wait I have an idea. I just bought an iphone app that works as a db meter. It has good review and people state its pretty accurate when I go to work on the truck today and drive it I'll take some readings for you ok?
 

Brett09

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Location
San Bernardino, CA
You can go to the fuse panel for 12v acc and bat. for your radio. Make sure you test and fuse these connections. If you have noise in the system is cause something isn't right in either the truck or the install. Use what the manufacturer recommends for the wire size to the amp. Running a 4ga wire to an amp that would only take an 8ga would be pointless. Same goes for the speaker wires. Keep your grounds on the amp and the radio 18" or shorter. Putting 10" subs in a box and dumping power to them doesn't = good or clear sound. Make sure you are picking the right sub for this kind of install. If you need help picking the correct equipment for your install feel free to ask. I'd hate to see you spend a bunch of money on something that doesn't sound good.
 

mudguppy

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duncan, sc
in my opinion, Infinity Reference speakers are the best bang for the buck and the 3.5" specifically are about the best ones around for a decent price. then add a 5-1/4", 6.5", or set of 5x8/6x9s for the rear channel. all of these will sound ok if your deck is putting out near decent power (at or close to 20W per channel).

if you really want to have the ability to have a well-balanced system, do it right and use a set of component speakers up front and power them w/ an amp. you can put the mid-range woofer in the door and put the tweets in the dash corners. run your rear set off of the amp also.

you can get decent 4-channel amps from just about anywhere (walmart, for ex.) that will do the job and not break the bank. with the 3 pre-amp outputs from your head unit, that means you likely have independent tuning of the front, rear, and sub channels right from the deck. this lets you easily set cross-over points and levels without having to go to the amp with a screw-driver.

i suggest you spend a few bucks on a 4-channel amp (50Wx4 or better) and decent speakers (i suggest Infinity Reference, often on sale at Crutchfield); the resulting sound will be worth it.

run 4-ga to your sub amp and at least 12-ga speaker wire. you'll only need about 10-ga power wire to the 4-channel. here's a tip; if you buy a capacitor (1F, for ex) and tie it into your sub amp power wiring near the amp, you then have a very neat and accessible location to tap into for power to the 4-ch amp. just ensure your main power wire fuse is rated for both amp loads.

these suggestions will take you over your budget, but the appreciation and enjoyment you get from being able to play and enjoy music at higher volumes with rich, full sound is so much better than just being able to make bass.

lastly, if you haven't already figured it out, follow the wiring diagram for the head unit and it will explain exactly how you need to wire it: constant 12V, keyed 12V, illumination, ground, remote turn-on (for amps), speaker wires, etc. basic vehicle wiring skills and patience/attention are all that is needed for car audio install.

edit: oh, and a tip that you might already be aware of: keep your signal and power wires run as seperate as possible to avoid noise. an easy method is to run your RCA cables from your head unit to your amp down one side of the vehicle and the power and remote turn-on wiring down the other.
 
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Brett09

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San Bernardino, CA
run 4-ga to your sub amp and at least 12-ga speaker wire. you'll only need about 10-ga power wire to the 4-channel. here's a tip; if you buy a capacitor (1F, for ex) and tie it into your sub amp power wiring near the amp, you then have a very neat and accessible location to tap into for power to the 4-ch amp. just ensure your main power wire fuse is rated for both amp loads.
Without him saying what amps and subs/speakers he's using I don't know how you could figure what wire ga. he would need to power it or run to the speakers. Careful giving advise on this as it could be wrong. It could lead to over heated equipment, lack of performance or worse in some more extreme cases.
 

SGT Estum

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Location
Twin Cities, MN
For what it's worth...

I ran a lead to the GPFU fuse slot (which is empty) for my +12V connection -- it's always hot.
I ran that to the stereo as the always hot line.
Then I branched off of that to a toggle switch I mounted on the dash. This toggles positive to the +12V ignition connection on the stereo.

In effect, what this does is it makes it so radio (and future accessories: CB radio, cigarette lighter plugs, etc...) can be turned on or off regardless of the vehicle's run status. I can turn my radio on when the truck engine is off without running my glowplugs.

I plan to add an inline fuse on the wire immediately after the connection to the GPFU fuse slot on the fuse block. That way it can blow out in the unlikely event that the positive lead gets grounded or overloaded by something not behind a fuse.
 

USAWEAPON777

Member
173
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Location
Orwigsburg,Pa
alright guys thanks for all the juicy info. Well the subs are mounted in their enclosures and wired up. Thats about all I got around to today unfortunately. Tomorrow hopefully my goal is to have it all mounted and installed. Thank you all for the help. oh yea and the subs are kickers and the 3.5 are mtx's. the amp is a hifonics
 

mudguppy

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duncan, sc
Without him saying what amps and subs/speakers he's using I don't know how you could figure what wire ga. he would need to power it or run to the speakers. ...
well, once you've done this a dozen times or so, you start to see trends if not develop your own 'rules of thumb'.

so, i appologize for giving advice based on experience...
 

Brett09

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San Bernardino, CA
well, once you've done this a dozen times or so, you start to see trends if not develop your own 'rules of thumb'.

so, i appologize for giving advice based on experience...
I did this for almost 10 years professionally and have installed literally thousands of pieces of equipment as well as fixed many peoples installs. One of the biggest problems I faced was fixing peoples "rules or thumb". There is some basic math you can use to figure the wire ga. you would need to run based on the equipment requirements and length of the run itself. Being that he was talking about 1000 watt amp there is a good chance that it would use a 4ga on its own. Splitting the power to a 4 channel could easily raise the amount of current the wire could handle and either give you a lack of performance or much worse.

I'm not trying to start a pissing match or even saying you are wrong. I am saying be careful what you tell people cause innocent advise can be bad. I have seen it countless times. So sorry if I offended you.
 

mudguppy

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you haven't offended me - i love learning from experts.

so, in your professional experience, what guage wiring should he run if he splices in a 200W amp w/in 18" of the sub amp?
 

Brett09

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Location
San Bernardino, CA
Total RMS watts or both amps x2. Divide that be the running voltage of the car (13.8v) in most cases. = Amps. You can find a charts that will show the recommended wire size based on the amps and length of the wire. In this case I'll assume 1200w rms based on what he said. 1200x2=2400. 2400/13.8=174amps.

Assuming you will use a distribution block (increased resistance in each connection) and as much weather as these trucks see (the more the corrosion = more resistance) a 10-12 ft run you would want to use a 2ga. I would just run a 0ga to give you room to expand down the road.
 

USAWEAPON777

Member
173
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18
Location
Orwigsburg,Pa
Hey guys, well I needed to take care of some important issues on the truck before I install the stereo such as the passenger side inner fender so rotted out I'm suprised I still have both my batteries lol, and my missing driverside window. So I'm taking care of that all now and hope to have the stereo in by this weekend.

I have a quick question though, Since the Cucv's have pretty much no electrical accessories I saw almost no electrical grommets through the firewall. For those who have installed stereos or powerful electrical devices that needed to draw from the battery did you drill a new hole in the firewall or is there an existing one with room that I'm not seeing. Thanks for all the information guys!

oh yea and I was testing the head unit and 3.5 to make sure they work and I definately realized that these little guys trying to play bass is not going to work. How do i determine the type of bass blocker that I need
 
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Brett09

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Location
San Bernardino, CA
I just drilled and used a grommet. I didn't care to go into any factory stuff if I didn't have to. It tears and pulls the grommet out.

With how and where the speakers are getting installed I would use these.
Bass Stopper 1.2 kHz/600 Hz
I would try and take most of the bottom end out of them for the simple reason these trucks are loud and you will be cranking up the sound to over come road noise. Should keep the distortion low and clean up the sound a bit.

Edit- You just wire those inline on the positive terminal on the speaker.
 
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USAWEAPON777

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Location
Orwigsburg,Pa
Alright thanks for the info. I have yet another question. I got my dash pulled today and when looking at the speaker holes, do I need a special adapter bracket for the 3.5's ?
 

SGT Estum

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Twin Cities, MN
Yes, there are bracket adapters. If you order your speakers from crutchfield.com and enter in your vehicle information then they include the brackets for free.

I ordered some sound ordnance p 35 speakers from them and the brackets came with. I'm not sure I'd recommend those speakers, though, because the center piece is pretty tall. The dash fits over it but it bulges the speaker grills up a little bit.

I also got the active FM antenna from crutchfield so I could listen to radio. It was about $20 but money well spent IMHO.
 
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