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My project - accomplished. Opinions?

11K views 91 replies 27 participants last post by  MissSpyderGST 
#1 ·
I have a 1997 Mitsuubishi Eclipse GS-T Spyder. My dad, boyfriend and I took out my backseats (afterall - they suck...) and took my dad's system out; which contained: 4 10" subs (DB+ by Kenwood) and stuck it in the place of the back seats. We also got some plywood and cut out 4 extra spots. In the 4 spots I have 2 Sony Xplod's 5 and a quarter in diameter (small, but by far the best speakers. I recommend them!) and 2 cheap ass speakers I plan on replacing... At a measurement of 6 X 9. Still have the two Infinity stocks in the back panels, and two shitty speakers in the front that I plan on replacing. Then, mounted on each side of the sub box I have 2 Kenwood 5 channel amps, 1200 watts each. As for the radio, I have a brand new Sony XPlod, which is very good, and only 100 bucks at wal mart! Great way to save money and have a great radio that has an aux plug in. So, with all that said, what speakers should i use to replace the crappy speakers I have? I was thinking either more Sony Xplods or Pioneers. I will post the pics of them up as soon as possible. I know Sony isn't the best of all brands, but I'm going to college and I'm on a budget.
 
#2 ·
i did same thing in my capri convertible. you will want to make something to "hide" them. I have a hard top for the winter and in the summer i have a bubble cover with at wall i made to hide it all..here are some pics of it. they are older but you get the idea.









As for speakers, get the ones that sound the best to you. regardless of brand or price they have to sound nice to you and no one else! they cant see them anyways do no one knows unless you tell them
 
#3 ·
Working in the car audio field for over 10 years, I highly recommend Pioneer speakers to anyone on a budget. Priced comparably to Kenwood and Sony, the Pioneers have waaaay better bass response than Kenwood, and are definitely more reliable than Sony.

Post some pics so we can see your progress!!!!!!!!
 
#6 ·
I think I would have to agree I like pioneer speakers they are loud as hell! My buddy has a pioneer from wally world and I have an xplod I liked my Rockford Fosgate subs way better but sony will do.

Nice job on the car! How hard were those seats to put in?
 
#8 ·
I pulled all my stereo stuff out of the car.. kind of miss it, now I bring a little radio to plug in on long drives :D

OP, how much additional weight did you add to the car? Those spiders are pigs stock.
 
#9 ·
The seats were pretty easy, actually. What the real hard part was, was putting the sub box in and making the four additional speakers stay. Before we added the extra shelf below the extra speakers, the box would move up on my front seats when I put the brakes on, and was very unstable. Once, I accelerated pretty hard and the box went flying back and broke off the plywood that was holding the extra speakers, so I had my speakers sitting behind the sub box.
 
#12 ·
Well thats really cool I would really like to get some racing seats for my eclipse. I have a system in one of my DDs but I just grew out of them I liked them when I was younger but I like hearing a BOV way better! ;)
 
#14 ·
Your amp did not have a 2 channel mode?

I always buy Mono Amps for the subs. My Punch amp is 600rms with 1000 peak. got it new for about 200.

for the rest of the speakers i will always run 2ch amps. you can get more power and cheaper to buy. just run the speakers in parallel for a 2ohm load and its just right. 150rms is all you really need for the mids and highs
 
#16 ·
we paid 160 for 2 sets of 6in MTX with a "1000" watt amp....umm right..But it does put out 150W RMS in 2ohm.. That all you need. My son's car is awesome for a $500 price tag. I paid that much for my sub, box and amp alone that's in my car
 
#17 ·
Speaker wise: you could always go with whatever Walmart or Best Buy carries, and if you end up being unsatisfied you could exchange/refund them. One of the things I hate the most about high-end car audio is its difficult to hear the speaker you want, in your car. Same speakers can sound totally different in different cars.

Be sure and secure that box! In an accident that can quickly become a missle that may turn a simple fender bender into a trip to the hospital!!
 
#18 ·
Speaker wise: you could always go with whatever Walmart or Best Buy carries, and if you end up being unsatisfied you could exchange/refund them. One of the things I hate the most about high-end car audio is its difficult to hear the speaker you want, in your car. Same speakers can sound totally different in different cars.
Yeah I agree, anything on a sound board is kind of misleading, because it will sound different in a car. But since that's about the only way to try them out, just go with what you think sounds best. I have bought several different sets of coax and triaxials over the years for a variety of different cars and they really all sound about the same quality wise, some brighter, some boomier, some with better midrange. It wasn't until I stepped up and got an expensive set of seperates that I noticed a real difference. But it has to do with the amp and having everything wired right too.

A bad setup with alternator whine or bad crossover points can make the most expensive components sound bad.
 
#20 ·
Nah - just 3, 4 or 5 channels. Which is ok. I just need a noise reduction filter to reduce the whistling it does. And I will also need to either get an Optima battery or a bigger altenator.
And MTX isn't bad, either. My mom has an MTX audio amp in her 3G Spyder.
 
#22 ·
If you have Alt wine check and see if it is the Ant first. Disconnect the Ant and see if the noise goes away. I have seen Ant's cause it. There is a filter for that as well. Otherwise clean up the installation. You need to run you RCA's and your power wires not together. if you have cheap RCA they will get the noise from the power wire or even the Fuel pump. Get a good ground, makes a world of difference as well. Older cars had the Alt problems, Newer cars normally have bad installs or cheap parts for the whine problems. look into the wiring first before the others.
 
#23 ·
Oh yeah, the install is very clean, went to Best Buy and got the expensive RCA cables and audio splitters. Paid like, 80 bucks for two splitters and a set of RCA's. The whine is coming because I have 2400 watts in total - My dad had the same problem (since all this was in his '00 RS). He told me to get the filter, get a bigger altenator and a bigger & better battery.
 
#24 ·
Bigger alt and bigger battery won't help unless your alternator is not able to keep up with the demands of your system, or if you are playing it a lot with the engine off. IF you are hearing a whine at normal sane listening levels and the battery has a good charge then something is wrong with your wiring. Our cars are getting old and some of the factory grounds may even be upgraded, but before messing with them I would check your system grounds.
 
#27 ·
And beyond that, I am hoping to do the "Big Three" on my car as well, I think there is a thread on here about it. I don't quite have a whine, but I get some pops and a bit of noise when I touch the brake, turn on the wipers, etc.

Definition: the "Big Three" upgrade means improving the current capacity of three cables: 1) alternator positive to battery positive, 2) battery negative to chassis, and 3) engine ground to chassis. Some people replace the factory wiring; others add additional cables to the factory wiring.
 
#28 ·
Yeah. I just talked to my dad about it, he said it's my altenator. Reason: The battery can't suppport the 2400 watts i'm pushing out, and my altenator is continiously running, to keep the battery charged - which makes since. Two ways that you can help it, is by either getting a bigger battery (Optima battery) or a bigger altenator. I can always get a noise reduction filter, but no matter what, my altenator will still stay on, and will wear out quicker.
 
#31 ·
+1! In the previous 4 vehicles I have owned, I did away with any mid or high from the rear. Definitely kills imaging and takes valuable amperage. In my experience, it's not the wattage of the amps, but how well the individual components mesh with one another. That means not throwing 1,200 watts when you only have stock head unit watts to drive the fronts.

Properly done and thought out, pushing 300 RMS to the sub (or 600 bridged for two), and 100 or so to the fronts RMS can play as loud as your ears can handle provided the gains are set properly and all speakers can handle the power (which most mid-high quality can) without distorting.

Of course, that has better quality components in mind. Of course the cheaper amps highly overrate their power output, so you always get what you pay for.

All that matters is that you like it. Although overkill for a Spyder, it looks good and probably sounds alright too.
 
#30 ·
In my experience whine is typically related to a poor ground or signal bleed.

One area to look at is making sure your RCA lines are ran separate from your power lines. In other words run the RCA(s) down the driver side and your power lines down the passenger. Often people run them together for ease of installation which can cause signal bleed. I've seen signal bleed caused by this even in the most high-end heavily shielded cables.

Be sure the main ground point you used for the amps have a good contact. Scrape the paint away and be sure you have metal to metal contact. In some extreme cases, I've eliminated whine by running a ground line back to the battery and using that to ground the amps.

Another tip as a last resort: Take some bare wire (remove the insulation) and wrap it around all the RCA ports on the back of the head unit in a X like criss-cross pattern, and then attach one end to a ground point somewhere on the head unit, or a metal point in the dash, or best yet locate a ground wire in the dash harness somewhere. Reason for this is sometimes the RCA ports are not grounded all that well from the manufacture and can cause noise. So you are essentially improving the ground.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Power wires and signal wires should NEVER be run down the same side of the car, and should only be crossed, (if absolutely necessary), at 90 degrees to each other, but try to avoid it.

Ground wires also should be as short as possible, 18" at the longest.

Ground loop isolators, or noise filters, do as stated above; they ground the shielding of the RCA cables, which may not be grounded sufficiently.

I definitely recommend "the big 3", using 4AWG wire will be fine for you, you need to run a new battery ground to frame, a new engine ground to frame, and a new alternator positive to battery positive, this should eliminate any possibility for whine caused by poor grounding.

And peak output wattage is not a good indication of whether or not your alternator is being overdrawn - your amperage draw is though. Kenwood 5 channel amps are fused with 2-30amp fuses each, meaning the most current they can draw is 60 amps a piece, but realistically is more like 30 amps a piece, otherwise power spikes (ie. heavy bass notes) would blow the internal fuses. Since you have 2 amps, you are probably never drawing more than 60 amps, and your alternator is rated at 75. If you want to spend $500 on an Optima battery and having your alternator rewound to a higher amperage go ahead, but if it was MY car, I would buy and install a 1-farad capacitor - this would eliminate power shockwaves from amplifier to battery, improving amplifier efficiency and reducing stress on your electrical system.........

Keep us posted!
 
#33 ·
Oh wow... Thanks, that's good news. I think the sound system was worth it - though I didn't want it that big. My dad promised me two subs and an amp, of course with new speakers and a head unit. BUT he said, FUCK IT! I'm giving you all of my speakers! I was like... Damn... Ok?
 
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