First car audio install Alpine system help

[ninjazbr]

Ok so this is what I bought and installed

Head unit: ALPINE CDE-102

Front: ALPINE SPS-600C 6 1/2 2 way component

Rear: ALPINE SPS-609 6x9

First time installing a car audio system and the result is crap. Any advice would be great. My main problem is that the head volume goes to 35 but audio starts distorting after 20. I have very little if any bass. If im listening to rap or techno I can hear the bass but if im listening to metal or rock I cant turn the bass up at all with out it getting distorted no matter what the volume level is. I have all the speakers wired to the stock car wire. I have a 2005 dodge neon. I bought the converter kit for the stock wiring harness to the stereo and the radio converter. I only pick up one radio station and dont get much reception. My buddy cut the ground off the head unit for some reason and said I did not need it, is this true ? He said there was a ground built in the stock wiring. I dont want a sub but not sure if I need to replace all the wiring with good cable vs stock or need to hook up an amp.

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[Wildbillpb 10+ year member]

Why would you not need a ground?? Sounds like more problems then I want totype about

 

[sulin's baby 10+ year member]

As stated before...no ground. Bro you need to find a better grounding point and do it properly. Idk what your friend meant by stock ground???

But get some sand paper and scrape off all the paint in that area then run a cable the same size as your power and use a self taping screw to hold it together. That should work wonders for your system!

 

[ninjazbr]

well it still sounds half way decent at 20 but you think I should use the stock head unit ground vs the stock wiring ground ? Would that even help at all

 

[sulin's baby 10+ year member]

That head unit needs to be grounded as well as possible. I have a 9886 and I actualy got alot better transiant notes outa my midbass by doing a direct ground to the chassis. The stock ground may work OK...but a proper ground will have alot less of a travel path than a routed stock. Try it...the worst that can happen is it sounds the same. Also check all of your speaker connections and make sure there are NO...I repeat NO exposed wires newhere in that wiring harnass...otherwise that could be your problem or could short the unit and kill it. Hope this helps bro!

 

[ninjazbr]

Thanks for the help man. i was thinking of ripping out the front speakers and head unit and swapping them out for brand new ones from best buy and starting over and grounding it properly. Would it be worth it to replace the speaker wire instead of using the stock wiring

 

[sulin's baby 10+ year member]

Well you can...honestly I never do unless i'm adding a 4 channel amp. And I sell those alpine decks and the cde-102 is OK...if you want real power and control get a 9886,9887, or 117. All of those decks have more power...more control...and just plain sound and look better. Plus the 9887 has the imprint 3 way active crossover and EQ built in. They go for 350 though. Heck If you lived close i'd give you a deal lol! BTW 9886's are discontinued now...I saw a few go for 80 bucks! and those are 300 dollar decks!

 

[ninjazbr]

So i guess with no amp my main prob is my head unit ? So the $150 I have isnt cutting it ? So spending another 200 would make the speakers sound better?

 

[sulin's baby 10+ year member]

Yeah its gota be the headunit. And itl sound ok...but a higher end deck is just gona make you happier in the long run in two ways. 1. Its just plain going to sound better. 2. as your knowledge grows and wants to explore...the deck wont be able to serve your purpose and keep you interested and ull upgrade neway.

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

The 9887 is down to $229 here-

Alpine CDA-9887 AM/FM CD/MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver(ALPCDA9887) and other affordable Head Units at 6ave.com.

 

[ninjazbr]

Im a complete newb here but I just dont know how a different head unit that is still putting out 50w per channel is going to make it sound better.\

 

[ninjazbr]

What about adding the ALPINE KTP-445

 

[sulin's baby 10+ year member]

you could do that too...but that deck has more tuning options. That alone will help make it sound more like what you want.

 

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

well it still sounds half way decent at 20 but you think I should use the stock head unit ground vs the stock wiring ground ? Would that even help at all

oh my, the people and there stories aboutthere friends who "hook up systems"...listen. the thinker wire he cutthe connector off of is your ground. just butt conenct to it and you will be fine. your deck at max will always distort, its called clipping. ifyouwant bass, buy an amp and subs. the deck has waht you can call a beginners version of a eq built into it. you need to adjust the settings until you find one that sounds good for you. read the manual thats on the disc in the box and it will walk you through the settings. if you want more volume with out distortion you will need an amp for the speakers. the alpines rms wattage is like 18watts. BEFORE you yell and tell me the box way 50x4 please look up the meaning of rms. this will not blow your mind, but for most people driving to work thats all they want. like i said nothing makes it better then a good amp.

 

[AVX Mike 10+ year member]

I'm going to start with....turn the loudness off! Then make sure there isn't a factory amp in the car. If you are feeding 18 watts a side into a factory amp, it is going to like it. It also sounds like your powered antenae isn't hooked up or your antenae wasn't even hooked up. Did you use the antenae adapter for it? An Alpine will start to clip between 20-25. Just because a deck's volume goes to 35 doesn't mean that's the volume to turn it up to. For future reference......gains aren't volume controls either.