jrodefeld

Okay, new question. I've been working on installing this system all week but I've run into a problem. I'm new to this, so I hope someone could help. I've installed the power wire, with fuse, on the battery and run it through the firewall and into the trunk area behind the rear seats where I will install the amps and the subwoofer. The Pioneer head unit is installed and I just completed installation of the component speakers in the driver-side front door and I'm nearly done installing them in the passenger side front door. Before I continue, I want to power on the car and make sure that the components I already installed are working okay. The trouble is, both amplifiers won't turn on. I've gone over the wiring over and over again. I've connected the power cable to the +12 input, the ground cable to the GRN input (then attached to a bolt on the frame), then I attached the blue turn on cable to the harness on the back of the head unit. This should be enough for the amp to power up normally when the car is turned on, correct? Or is it the case that I NEED to have speakers connected for the amp to even power up? The XDi850 displays a blinking red light the moment I attach the negative connection to the car battery and won't change from this state. It's like an error core or protection mode. The KS1200.1 doesn't do anything at all. No light, no evidence of any power being supplied whatsoever. I could very easily be missing something very important, I'm just too much of a novice to know what to look for. I also have a T-Spec capacitor that I tried installing between the power cable and the amp, and that made no difference. I tried removing the fuse and fuse holder from the power cable at the battery to see if there was a loose connection that that was causing the problem. No difference still. I used a multimeter to check the voltage at the power and ground connections on the amplifier to see if the right amount was being supplied. It stayed around 12v to a bit over 14v, which should be exactly where it needs to be. The T-Spec capacitor also has a digital read-out that said the voltage was around 12.3v when the battery was connected, and around 14.4v when the engine was turned on. All the fuses are okay. The blue turn-on wire is connected properly. Any idea why the amplifiers won't turn on? My idea was to periodically test the components I install to make sure they are working correctly. I don't want to install speakers in all four doors then find out that none of them work. I'd rather catch the problem early on.

Yeah, I nearly passed on rear speakers as well. Then I decided that I do like having some rear fill, plus I'm thinking about passengers that might ride in the back seats. When you said "I would", do you mean powering the rear speakers with the fifth channel of the XDi850 amp? If I understand correctly, I'd run them either in serial or parallel whichever gets the ohms within the amps specifications. If I'm bi-amping the Focal components, do I completely ditch the crossovers, or do I still wire them through the included crossovers?

I'm currently working on installing a car audio system in a Honda CR-V. Here is the gear I've purchased: Pioneer DEH-80PRS head unit Focal PS165F 6.5" component speakers for front Focal PC165F 6.5" coaxial speakers for rear fill Morel Ultimo SC 124 12" Subwoofer Sound Ordinance Bass Bunker Sub enclosure Arc Audio XDi850 5-channel amplifier Arc Audio KS1200.1 monoblock amplifier I also got a bunch of sound deadening material from: http://www.raamaudio.com And all the wiring and accessories I need from Crutchfield. I question I'm wondering if whether or not I should bi-amp the front components? Ideally, this would yield the best sound quality from those speakers, but I want to have enough power for the rear speakers. Bi-amping the fronts would use 4 channels of my 5 channel amp. I could potentially bi-amp the front, then use the Pioneer 80PRS amp for the rear fill speakers. They'd be underpowered, but if I run them at a lower volume, it might be a fine compromise. What I'm wondering is whether or not that 5th channel on the XDi850 could be split to power the rear speakers? Is it possible to run two speakers off of one channel of an amplifier? This 5th channel is supposed to be used for a subwoofer, but because it's very underpowered for the sub I chose, I opted for a dedicated monoblock amp with plenty of power. Now I need to decide how to wire all these speakers for maximum sound quality. I'd really appreciate any suggestions.

I already bought the deck, amp and speakers. It wouldn't be TOO much worse to spring for a subwoofer as well, but I'm not sure I'm ready to take that step yet. I'm kinda considering not even replacing the rear speakers, at least not for a good long while. From my understanding, rear speakers are only for "fill", rounding out the sound a bit mainly for passengers in the back seat. Since music is a stereo affair anyway, I could just run the Focals in the front, then a sub in the trunk and be good right? The sub that comes with the CR-V is located under the front passengers seat. Is this an okay spot to install a new subwoofer or would I be better off finding a custom enclosure and putting it in the back of the vehicle? I want my components to match. The Focals are pretty high end, as is the Pioneer deck. I don't want to skimp out on the subwoofer. Any recommendations? Lastly, I've been told by multiple people that it's important to use sound dampening material, at least where I install the speakers, but preferably throughout the whole car. I've heard that this stuff is good: http://www.raamaudio.com Supposedly as good as Dynamat but substantially cheaper. How difficult would it be to strip down the whole car and install this stuff everywhere? Or where would you think it's most important to install it? Thanks.

Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums and I wanted to ask for some advice. I just bought a used car. It's a 2013 Honda CR-V. It's nothing special, but it is the highest trim (EX-L), has very low miles and is in excellent condition. I wanted something relatively nice, with good gas mileage and easy to maintain, for around $15000 so I think I got a pretty good deal and it's a hell of a lot better than what I was driving. So now I'm trying to make it a bit nicer. My first step is to upgrade the sound system which isn't that nice. Even though it's supposedly the "Premium" sound system with 7 speakers and a subwoofer it doesn't sound that great. But I don't want to make all the upgrades all at once since I'm on a budget. These are the components I'm currently considering: Head unit: Pioneer DEH-80PRS Front speakers: Focal PS165F Expert Component Amplifier: Arc Audio XDi850.5 I'm thinking of just getting these three things to begin with, then later on adding some coaxial speakers in the rear doors and a subwoofer in the back. I'm not into competition as far as absolute sound levels or thunderous bass. I'm much more interested in sound quality. Could I install just these three components and be pretty happy with the sound for a while? I'll probably be lacking some bass but I guess I could use the stock rear speakers or stock subwoofer though I don't know how they'll match with the much higher end Focals. To be honest, I've already purchased the amplifier. I saw a good deal and I couldn't pass it up. I was attracted to it because I think Arc Audio is a respected brand in amplifiers, and it's a 5 channel amp with generous power so I could conceivably eventually power four speakers and a subwoofer and I wouldn't have to purchase an additional amplifier down the road. Does it seem like I've got the right idea here? Now, my car does have a navigation system. It's not the latest tech but I do like it and I feel a little bad having to sacrifice it in order to upgrade the sound system. If I have to make that trade-off, I certainly will. I'm just wondering if there isn't a way I could install the Pioneer DEH-80PRS AND keep an in-dash navigation system. Last point is that I'm not really interested in people second-guessing the components I've selected, or giving me a list of things they'd prefer instead. Unless of course the components I selected are incompatible or there's some other major problem with installing them in the order I'm considering. I've never installed a car audio system before, but I do want to install this one myself if possible. I'll gladly soak up the expertise of people who know much more than me on this subject. Hope I can learn a lot from ya'll. Thanks.