Audio setup questions

[lh0628 10+ year member]

I'm putting together a system for my car, nothing fancy, but this will be my first attempt so I'm running into some problems. I know some of the questions are quite common, I'm going to search the forum and see what I can find out. But in the mean time, please feel free to give some hints/tips for me newb //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Enough of that.

- Alpine CDA-9886

- Alpine MRP-F450 75x4 or 200x2 (4 ohm stable)

- Polk DB6501 (front speakers) 100 watts RMS

- Nothing for rear

- Still looking for a sub

Speakers: Right now I have them installed, but I had the +/- wrong on one side; corrected that today, but I couldn't tell any difference. Does it matter if my left and right speakers are out of phase? What about the tweeters? Which would be better, in phase or out of phase?

HU to amp: There are 3 preamp outs from the HU, 2 for speakers, 1 for sub. Do I:

- bridge the 2 speaker preamp outs into the amp or just use the front preamp outs?

- Do I need another RCA connection to the amp for a sub?

- I want to keep wires at a minimum.

Amp to Sub: Going to bridge Channel 3 & 4 on the amp, 200 watts RMS at 4 ohm.

- Does this mean I should get a sub that is 4 ohm and shouldn't go over 200 watts RMS too much?

Frequency setting question: Should I filter 80Hz+ to the crossover and 80Hz- to the sub? Do I do this from the HU or at the amp? Is there any difference?

Hope I'm making some sense, off to readings now. And thanks in advance for any help //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[lh0628 10+ year member]

Anybody? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[93dakota 10+ year member]

ok as for having the speakers that are opposite phase you will lose some volume from it. for hooking your amp up you want to use the front pair of RCA's to run channel 1 and 2 and the RCA pair labeled sub for running channels 3 and 4. for a sub you are going to want a sub with either a single 4 ohm voice coil or a 2 ohm duel voice coil. and just make sure it is rates to take at least 200w RMS you can go higher but i would not go any lower.

 

[lh0628 10+ year member]

Thank you.

So leave the rear preamp out on the HU along?

Why would I want a sub rated at least 200w RMS? The amp is only able to put out 200w RMS max. Wouldn't that underpower the sub and cause problems?

 

[Atimm693 10+ year member]

I'm putting together a system for my car, nothing fancy, but this will be my first attempt so I'm running into some problems. I know some of the questions are quite common, I'm going to search the forum and see what I can find out. But in the mean time, please feel free to give some hints/tips for me newb //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Enough of that.

- Alpine CDA-9886

- Alpine MRP-F450 75x4 or 200x2 (4 ohm stable)

- Polk DB6501 (front speakers) 100 watts RMS

- Nothing for rear

- Still looking for a sub

Speakers: Right now I have them installed, but I had the +/- wrong on one side; corrected that today, but I couldn't tell any difference. Does it matter if my left and right speakers are out of phase? What about the tweeters? Which would be better, in phase or out of phase?

HU to amp: There are 3 preamp outs from the HU, 2 for speakers, 1 for sub. Do I:

- bridge the 2 speaker preamp outs into the amp or just use the front preamp outs?

- Do I need another RCA connection to the amp for a sub?

- I want to keep wires at a minimum.

Amp to Sub: Going to bridge Channel 3 & 4 on the amp, 200 watts RMS at 4 ohm.

- Does this mean I should get a sub that is 4 ohm and shouldn't go over 200 watts RMS too much?

Frequency setting question: Should I filter 80Hz+ to the crossover and 80Hz- to the sub? Do I do this from the HU or at the amp? Is there any difference?

Hope I'm making some sense, off to readings now. And thanks in advance for any help //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Running speakers out of phase is generally not that bad of a mistake. Not nearly as important as subs. Run them in phase though.

Get 2 regular RCA cables or a 4ch. Connect one RCA cable to the front outputs, to the front inputs on the amp. Take the other and hook it up to the sub output on the HU to the rear inputs on the amp. Don't bridge the amp for the speakers, do for the sub.

Get a DVC 2 ohm or SVC 4 ohm sub with the RMS from 150-250. Underpowering won't hurt anything unless you push your amp to clipping.

Set the speakers on full range or high pass filter. Sub set on low pass filter. If it doesn't have those settings put the speakers on ~80hz give or take until it sounds the best. Sub settings will depend on the driver and enclosure, ranging from 100-60hz.

 

[lh0628 10+ year member]

Thanks I will give that a try.

Another question, on the amp, battery, ground, and remote connections are right next to each other and is divided by plastic. A connector for a 8 gauge wire won't fit, it's too big. What should I use to make the connector?