Technical Some audio system questions..

leeroy1986 · 6th May 2008, 09:34

Hi there,

I have a few questions regarding my hopeful instal for my type r:

I am looking to replace all the speakers (pos with alpine type r's) and run them off a 4 channel amp (around 300/400w) and install a sub in the boot with its own amp which can be removed when needs be.

The sub i am looking at is an all in one unit from alpine the SWD-3000 (http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/3464.html)

My first question is when running to amps i will run one cable from the engine bay and use a split thingy from autoleads to run to each amp. With the amount of power the amps use (shouldnt be to much im not after 1000's of watts!) will i need to install a 2nd battery or a capacitor? I would rather not have to!

My 2nd which is the easiest way to connect the amps to the head unit? I was wondering about putting a line converter from the rear speakers and using RCA input to the amps. Will i need 2 line converters one for each amp? (ie one from the front speakers for the speaker amp and one from the rears for the sub)?

Im sure i will have more questions!!

Many thanks in advanced

mike_civic · 7th May 2008, 10:25

Why wouldn't you consider fitting in a 5-channel amplifier and use the fifth channel for the sub ? Therefore, you would need only one power cable coming from the engine. This is how I have made my install.
The head unit does not have pre outs, so you need high-low converters, from the audio cables you should connect pre-amplifiers which will output rca cables for the amplifier.
I used these by Phonocar :
http://www.phonocar.it/easysite/sche...lingua=inglese

Few days ago though I installed a different head unit and removed them. But they worked great with the factory head unit.

leeroy1986 · 7th May 2008, 16:55

I like the idea of the amp and sub being all in one so i can easily remove it so whilst setting up 2 amps might take more time i think once installed it will make my life easier.

Those phonocar cables, does that take the plug from the existing speakers and turn it into RCA? Does it also do the high-low conversion or will i need that seperately?

I understand that i need to take a left and right source, i was going to use the rear speakers as my source so that i dont have to take apart the dash (again!). Will i need to of these phonocar cables?

Im sorry if some of my questions seem stupid all these abbreviations are confusing!

Thanks for your help.

mike_civic · 7th May 2008, 23:37

Visit this :
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/158836-post6.html

You will see my amplifier (5-channel) and in some pics below you can spot the crossover of the front speakers(morel) and the Phonocar adapter.
With these adapters you drive the speaker wires of your Head Unit onto them, and rca cables come out going to the amplifier. The correct way to do that is to have short cables coming directly from the head unit to the adapters. Then the rca cables will go to the amp and then speakers cables from the amp to the speakers.

leeroy1986 · 8th May 2008, 10:41

I see, the connectors going into the adaptors are they the normal connectors on the headunit speaker cables or did you have to make them up?

mike_civic · 8th May 2008, 11:47

The wiring of the speakers that are coming from the head unit are connected to the Phonocar preamplifiers.

leeroy1986 · 8th May 2008, 14:58

Ok cool. I see your amp is 900w (im guessing thats max?) did you have to install a capacitor to help with the power the amp draws? or is it working fine direct from the standard car battery?

mike_civic · 9th May 2008, 09:05

The amplifier is 4*50 watt rms + 1*150 watt rms and at peaks it delivers 4*150 + 1*300.

No capacitor was installed by the professional installer, saying that it was not needed. I am not from the people that drive by and everyone is listening....I just want to listen my music, inside my car propely and sometimes just give a little bit more power!

leeroy1986 · 9th May 2008, 09:25

Yer same, i just want decent sounding music!! Cheers for your help.

mike_civic · 9th May 2008, 10:51

Glad I could help.

TYPE-R '07 · 9th May 2008, 12:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeroy1986

Hi there,

I have a few questions regarding my hopeful instal for my type r:

I am looking to replace all the speakers (pos with alpine type r's) and run them off a 4 channel amp (around 300/400w) and install a sub in the boot with its own amp which can be removed when needs be.

The sub i am looking at is an all in one unit from alpine the SWD-3000 (http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/3464.html)

My first question is when running to amps i will run one cable from the engine bay and use a split thingy from autoleads to run to each amp. With the amount of power the amps use (shouldnt be to much im not after 1000's of watts!) will i need to install a 2nd battery or a capacitor? I would rather not have to!

My 2nd which is the easiest way to connect the amps to the head unit? I was wondering about putting a line converter from the rear speakers and using RCA input to the amps. Will i need 2 line converters one for each amp? (ie one from the front speakers for the speaker amp and one from the rears for the sub)?

Im sure i will have more questions!!

Many thanks in advanced

OK Leeroy,
I also have the Type-R and ordered it WITHOUT a stereo for ! main reason..... They are crap. They had forgotten the rear panel speakers in. When I saw them I was amazed. I knew they would be crap but not that bad. infact I would'nt take them even if they were free.
Anyways, I put in my own radio/cd/mp3 in a Sony CDX-M9900 and Focal speakers, 2 4ch amps and a capacitor along with a 12" sub. You will only need a 4ch amp. for your speakers and a 2ch amp for the sub (for the sub a 2ch is better than a 4ch) as for the CD player that is up to you.
Make sure that the cable that leads from the battery to the back is as thick as your pinky (baby finger) This is a must in order to get the proper amount of voltage that will be required. As will the speaker wires must be of a good thickness. And now so your lights won't flicker when driving at night,( and for better sound) You will need a capacitor.
Also very important when installing all wireing make sure that the speaker wires are NOT side by side with the power cable. Always keep these seperate and on opposite sides of the car eg. power cable on the right side from front to back and the speaker wires on the left side of the car. always keep the 2 seperate. If you like I can send you photos of my set-up.

leeroy1986 · 9th May 2008, 12:17

If you could send photos that would be very helpful! I think a capacitor is a good idea, my lights dim when my air con kicks in as it is! Any idea on what rating the capacitor should be 1F, 2F? Also is it ok to install this at the back of the car near the amps? I take it that you split the power source to the amps after the capacitor and that the fuse still needs to be as close to the battery as possible.

I was going to run the speaker cable down the centre of the car so i can run speaker wires up each side from the amp which im planning to mount in the floor of the boot. (the sub amp will be on the side of the sub box for easy removal.)

nik nunez · 9th May 2008, 19:18

firstly you dont need to run 2 wires from the batt to have 2 subs just get a power dist block and a fused one at that, run 0 gauge from the batt and then 2 gauge to the amps

capacitors can be a false economy, they are used when you turn up the volume causing the amp to draw more power and the capacitor helps the batt BUT once you have it loud for a few mins the capacitor will run out meaning the batt then has the current draw from the amp at full vol and the capacitor trying to reload - not sure that made sense but you should get the point

what kinda budget you playing with?

i am going to be slowly building my install nothing is set yet but the alpine pdx amps look nice and small, i might just get 1x 4 channel amp using the front two channels to run the comps and the other 2 bridged to run the sub

6th May 2008, 09:34	#1 (permalink)
leeroy1986 Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th July 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Some audio system questions.. Hi there, I have a few questions regarding my hopeful instal for my type r: I am looking to replace all the speakers (pos with alpine type r's) and run them off a 4 channel amp (around 300/400w) and install a sub in the boot with its own amp which can be removed when needs be. The sub i am looking at is an all in one unit from alpine the SWD-3000 (http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/pro...s_id/3464.html) My first question is when running to amps i will run one cable from the engine bay and use a split thingy from autoleads to run to each amp. With the amount of power the amps use (shouldnt be to much im not after 1000's of watts!) will i need to install a 2nd battery or a capacitor? I would rather not have to! My 2nd which is the easiest way to connect the amps to the head unit? I was wondering about putting a line converter from the rear speakers and using RCA input to the amps. Will i need 2 line converters one for each amp? (ie one from the front speakers for the speaker amp and one from the rears for the sub)? Im sure i will have more questions!! Many thanks in advanced

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This thread is about: Some audio system questions.., it's in Ipods, MP3 Players and ICE at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; Hi there, I have a few questions regarding my hopeful instal for my type r: I am looking to replace all the speakers (pos with ...

7th May 2008, 10:25	#2 (permalink)
mike_civic Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 21st February 2008 Location: Piraeus, Greece Posts: 520 Thanks: 6 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Why wouldn't you consider fitting in a 5-channel amplifier and use the fifth channel for the sub ? Therefore, you would need only one power cable coming from the engine. This is how I have made my install. The head unit does not have pre outs, so you need high-low converters, from the audio cables you should connect pre-amplifiers which will output rca cables for the amplifier. I used these by Phonocar : http://www.phonocar.it/easysite/sche...lingua=inglese Few days ago though I installed a different head unit and removed them. But they worked great with the factory head unit.

7th May 2008, 16:55	#3 (permalink)
leeroy1986 Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th July 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I like the idea of the amp and sub being all in one so i can easily remove it so whilst setting up 2 amps might take more time i think once installed it will make my life easier. Those phonocar cables, does that take the plug from the existing speakers and turn it into RCA? Does it also do the high-low conversion or will i need that seperately? I understand that i need to take a left and right source, i was going to use the rear speakers as my source so that i dont have to take apart the dash (again!). Will i need to of these phonocar cables? Im sorry if some of my questions seem stupid all these abbreviations are confusing! Thanks for your help.

7th May 2008, 23:37	#4 (permalink)
mike_civic Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 21st February 2008 Location: Piraeus, Greece Posts: 520 Thanks: 6 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Visit this : http://www.civinfo.com/forum/158836-post6.html You will see my amplifier (5-channel) and in some pics below you can spot the crossover of the front speakers(morel) and the Phonocar adapter. With these adapters you drive the speaker wires of your Head Unit onto them, and rca cables come out going to the amplifier. The correct way to do that is to have short cables coming directly from the head unit to the adapters. Then the rca cables will go to the amp and then speakers cables from the amp to the speakers.

8th May 2008, 10:41	#5 (permalink)
leeroy1986 Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th July 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I see, the connectors going into the adaptors are they the normal connectors on the headunit speaker cables or did you have to make them up?

8th May 2008, 11:47	#6 (permalink)
mike_civic Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 21st February 2008 Location: Piraeus, Greece Posts: 520 Thanks: 6 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	The wiring of the speakers that are coming from the head unit are connected to the Phonocar preamplifiers.

8th May 2008, 14:58	#7 (permalink)
leeroy1986 Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th July 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ok cool. I see your amp is 900w (im guessing thats max?) did you have to install a capacitor to help with the power the amp draws? or is it working fine direct from the standard car battery?

9th May 2008, 09:05	#8 (permalink)
mike_civic Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 21st February 2008 Location: Piraeus, Greece Posts: 520 Thanks: 6 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	The amplifier is 450 watt rms + 1150 watt rms and at peaks it delivers 4150 + 1300. No capacitor was installed by the professional installer, saying that it was not needed. I am not from the people that drive by and everyone is listening....I just want to listen my music, inside my car propely and sometimes just give a little bit more power!

9th May 2008, 09:25	#9 (permalink)
leeroy1986 Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th July 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Yer same, i just want decent sounding music!! Cheers for your help.

9th May 2008, 10:51	#10 (permalink)
mike_civic Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 21st February 2008 Location: Piraeus, Greece Posts: 520 Thanks: 6 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Glad I could help.

9th May 2008, 12:17	#12 (permalink)
leeroy1986 Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th July 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	If you could send photos that would be very helpful! I think a capacitor is a good idea, my lights dim when my air con kicks in as it is! Any idea on what rating the capacitor should be 1F, 2F? Also is it ok to install this at the back of the car near the amps? I take it that you split the power source to the amps after the capacitor and that the fuse still needs to be as close to the battery as possible. I was going to run the speaker cable down the centre of the car so i can run speaker wires up each side from the amp which im planning to mount in the floor of the boot. (the sub amp will be on the side of the sub box for easy removal.)

9th May 2008, 19:18	#13 (permalink)
nik nunez Valve Cap Join Date: 20th March 2008 Location: middlesbrough Posts: 19 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	firstly you dont need to run 2 wires from the batt to have 2 subs just get a power dist block and a fused one at that, run 0 gauge from the batt and then 2 gauge to the amps capacitors can be a false economy, they are used when you turn up the volume causing the amp to draw more power and the capacitor helps the batt BUT once you have it loud for a few mins the capacitor will run out meaning the batt then has the current draw from the amp at full vol and the capacitor trying to reload - not sure that made sense but you should get the point what kinda budget you playing with? i am going to be slowly building my install nothing is set yet but the alpine pdx amps look nice and small, i might just get 1x 4 channel amp using the front two channels to run the comps and the other 2 bridged to run the sub