Noob Question: Speakers

Geophray

Geophray

New Member
First off, I'm a 'nub' when it comes to car audio :? . So I have a couple questions:

1. Can the speakers in the front door only be accessed by taking the whole door panel off?

2. I'm getting a 800W Kenwood sub tomorrow (as they're half price) and I'll get an amp later - what size amp would I need? And if I can't be bothered waiting for an amp, is it a bad idea to wire it straight in to my HU?

3. I have Kenwood 6x9's at the back - peak power 350W but rated power 60W... so what's this mean - do I tell people I have 350W speakers or just 60W?

I get that these questions would sound obvious to you's, but I'm a twat :lol:

Cheers.
 
im no expert either... from my experiance
yes pull ur door cards off to get to your speakers

sub wont do *poo* without amp.. dont bother and wait for your amp, but yeah ill let other peopel tell u how big of amp

u tell people u have 350w for the wank factor.. but who realy cares? lol
 
1, you need too take the WHOLE door card off too access the speakers ( the speakers have too be 6" otherwise customizing will be needed )

2, you will want an amp that has a lower power rating then the sub, a 600w monoblock would be good for a single 800w 12"

3, might need too ask someone else :lol:
 
Ah, cheers. Reckon I could also run both my 6x9's in a 600W amp to make 'em sound better? Or would I need a bigger amp?
 
you will need either a 2-way amp or 4-way too run your 6x9's

and it has too be a seperate amp too the subwoofer
 
i got a noob question, with just your average speakers will wiring them thru an amp make them soud better or will they just stay the same?
 
Ok, first lets start with what is the budget you have in mind and what do you want/need?

Because really there is better stuff out there than Kenwood. Even Alpine type S coaxial (2-way) speakers can be picked up around the $120 mark from JB HiFi and a a nice cheap lil speaker (better than Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, etc in my opinion).

With speakers you look at the continuous/RMS power and just ignore the 'peak' power because those figures are utter bullsh1t! If you got a 60WRMS speaker then just a basic 50-70WRMS amp will be fine (since you're getting a sub you dont need 6x9s but get 6" speakers). If you want to amp only two speakers then you'll only need a 2ch amp, if you want to amp 4 speakers (ie front and rear) then you'll need a 4ch amp. Although really you don't exactly have to run the speakers off an amp and could just get away with an amp for the sub only....

As for subs that '800W' Kenwood is probably more like 150WRMS tops. So when you buy an amp look for something around the 150-200WRMS mark. If you can afford it look at something better like a Kicker or JL Audio sub, JB HiFi do pretty good deals on these...

The thing to note with speakers is it doesn't matter 100% that the amp is the same wattage as the speakers and if anything you should buy an amp that's rated higher than the speakers so that when putting out full volumed music you aren't clipping the audio signals. But yeah setting the right High pass filter (speakers) or Low pass filter (subs) and adjusting the gains right is important as if you set the gains too high you'll likely end up frying your speakers.

resuliac said:
i got a noob question, with just your average speakers will wiring them thru an amp make them soud better or will they just stay the same?
Click to expand...

Generally yes as that way you can feed them more power and a better quality signal than what alot of the built-in head deck's amps are capable. In particular you should be able to get more punch from the speakers...
 
Ryan said:
Ok, first lets start with what is the budget you have in mind and what do you want/need?
Click to expand...

I'm looking to do as cheap a job as possible - I'm not overly in to cranking the stereo to it's maximum, I just want to add a little bit of bass to my music. I also see it as a bit of a show off (wank) factor to my friends ("I GOT A SUB").

The Kenwood ones are half price at Autobahn for $99, and they sound like they'll do enough of a job for me.

Ryan said:
As for subs that '800W' Kenwood is probably more like 150WRMS tops.
Click to expand...

Just Googled WRMS and it says it's the "average wattage" - where can it be found on the speakers? Is it listed as "Rated"?

Ryan said:
As for subs that '800W' Kenwood is probably more like 150WRMS tops.
Click to expand...

I found a product info site, think it's the one I'm getting - it listed it as 200W Rated (if that's WRMS :? )

So when you buy an amp look for something around the 150-200WRMS mark. If you can afford it look at something better like a Kicker or JL Audio sub, JB HiFi do pretty good deals on these...
 
Yeah, the rated power probably means the RMS wattage. You can always tell the crap companies from the good ones when they don't clearly state and advertise based off their RMS wattage. The crap ones always invent these ridiculously high 'peak' power ratings to market their gear with....
 
u cant wire a sub to ur head unit.. :( get a monoblock amp if ur guna spend abitta $$$. otherwise get a jenson power amp. cheap but good!

and if u wana change ur speakers in ur doors, yes u gotta take the pannel/card off. its easy iv done it afew times.

just tell people u have 6x9's. haha
 
6x9s are pointless if you have a sub. You'd really only get them if you want some bass but dont want a sub....
 
Ryan said:
6x9s are pointless if you have a sub. You'd really only get them if you want some bass but dont want a sub....
Click to expand...

agree with that 100%

i put 2 mtx audio subs in my boot with two 6.5" speakers on the parcel shelf.
i ran a 4 channel amp to run all of these ones.
from memory my subs were 250 wrms n my speakers were bout 150w i think.
i ran an option audio amp which runs these brilliant.
this set up cost me $620 including the boxes and a wiring kit.
i have also got a headunit which contains a mini amp inside it which puts out 150 each channel for the speakers.
i still have stock speakers in the door.

in total my system costs just shy of a $1000 but i must say i was very pleased with the set-up.

cheap n it worked.
 
i had 6" in the door with 1" tweeters, 4" 2ways on my parcel shelf, 6x9 3 ways on the rear panels and two 12's in my boot. pre sure it was perfect :D
 
hahahaa make him spend TONES on audio hahahaha :D

im looking at getting 4 extra 6's or 6.5's to go in my boot or in the rear of my car one day in the future.

gotta wait for a big sale on audio stuff first. and go to wreckers wen i choose to do all this, n buy all the rear trims for a lancer to work on incase i eff up :p
 
I've done a few full systems in my time and spent alot of money on them, and right now all Im running is my Alpine head unit lol. Kinda over it all sound system wise, maybe Im getting old. It all comes down to how much you want to spend.

General rule of thumb, 1 channel = 1 speaker. If you want to run a sub cheaply, you can get a 2 channel amp to run 1 sub by bridging the 2 channels together to create extra power. You could also get a 4 channel amp to run 2 speakers off 2 of the channels, and bridge the other 2 channels to run the sub.

2 and 4 channel amps are generally designed to run speakers and are whats called "class A" amps. Speakers are a lot lower powered and are more based on higher frequencies. For this reason, 2 and 4 channel amps are not really designed for running subs, and can result in the amp heating up alot, as they dont run very efficiently.

Sub amps, AKA mono amps are generally "D class" amps. Mono amps are mainly designed to run just the lower frequencies, and cannot really be used to run speakers.They produce power more efficiently, and stay cooler longer than 2 and 4 channel amps. The comment about getting an amp with less power than the sub is garbage. It is actually easier to blow a sub up through underpowering it. If you get an amp thats got a bit more power than the sub you can always tune the amp's power down. If you underpower the sub, quite often you will go looking for power, and turn the volume right up trying to get the sub to make some noise, which can fry the voice coils in the subs. One of the worst Ive seen was my mates Kenwood sub that had the rubber all torn to pieces from underpowering it.
You can pick up a mono amp from about 160ish, which may not be a bad idea to go to.
 
Wow, thanks heaps for all that. Makes more sense than what the audio "expert" guy said at Autobarn.

The $160 sounds like a good price, ones at AB were around that price so I'll go back there sometime soon and pick one up.

Also, got my sub today. It's the 800W Kenwood (which refuses to say the RMSW), but the guy at AB said it was 200RMS. Got it for $99 (half-price). Just sitting in my boot waiting for an amp... shouldn't be to long :D

And for the future, I'm sure I'll replace the front/parcels with some high powered DD stuff and run it all off amps, thanks to Sams suggestions.
 
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