Help me make the most of my low end junk.

[bunnerrabbit 10+ year member]

This is all going in a 95 Odyssey Van. The 95 is more like a station wagon than a van as it is smaller with 4 regular doors. I do like these vans after living in Japan for a few years and they are more of a Japanese type. Also my trucks motor blew and I got the van for $800 so being a student and having wife and kids I have to work with little to nothing.

Anyway what I am working with(nothing installed)

$72 JVC KWR-500 Head Unit

$28 Hifonics HFX12D4 12 Sub dual 4 ohm

$40 Hifonics ATL6.5C component set

$90 RE DTS 1000.1 560 at 2 ohm

$40 RE DTS 500.2 50x2

$20 4ga Belva amp kit

$40 0ga amk kit

This is what I have, some of it has been sitting around for awhile and some of it I have bought recently new or re-manufactured through sonic.

Should I change the speaker wires?

Sub box? ported or sealed? $45 prefab or make own? If i make my own it will be sealed and most likely a center console box with sub pointing toward the rear. Buying prefab most likely ported.

The speakers will not fit the doors. Think i can buy or make 3/4" to 1' extension and just use a plastic or foam baffle. Thoughts?

I need some clarification on setting up amp/sub and power levels. At 2 ohm I have 560w and with a sub rating of 400w. At what point will one 12" start over powering the fronts? I just want something that sounds decent. With only one cheap 12 would just running the fronts on head unit power be enough? 4ga or 0ga wire to the amp? remind you I already have both but hate the 0ga dam that stuffs bigger than I though it would be.

Thanks for any suggestions/shortcuts and remember the budget for this is pretty much nothing. Kids, wife, school, saving is where all the real money needs to stay for now.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

This is all going in a 95 Odyssey Van. The 95 is more like a station wagon than a van as it is smaller with 4 regular doors. I do like these vans after living in Japan for a few years and they are more of a Japanese type. Also my trucks motor blew and I got the van for $800 so being a student and having wife and kids I have to work with little to nothing.
Anyway what I am working with(nothing installed)

$72 JVC KWR-500 Head Unit

$28 Hifonics HFX12D4 12 Sub dual 4 ohm

$40 Hifonics ATL6.5C component set

$90 RE DTS 1000.1 560 at 2 ohm

$40 RE DTS 500.2 50x2

$20 4ga Belva amp kit

$40 0ga amk kit

This is what I have, some of it has been sitting around for awhile and some of it I have bought recently new or re-manufactured through sonic.

Should I change the speaker wires?

Sub box? ported or sealed? $45 prefab or make own? If i make my own it will be sealed and most likely a center console box with sub pointing toward the rear. Buying prefab most likely ported.

The speakers will not fit the doors. Think i can buy or make 3/4" to 1' extension and just use a plastic or foam baffle. Thoughts?

I need some clarification on setting up amp/sub and power levels. At 2 ohm I have 560w and with a sub rating of 400w. At what point will one 12" start over powering the fronts? I just want something that sounds decent. With only one cheap 12 would just running the fronts on head unit power be enough? 4ga or 0ga wire to the amp? remind you I already have both but hate the 0ga dam that stuffs bigger than I though it would be.

Thanks for any suggestions/shortcuts and remember the budget for this is pretty much nothing. Kids, wife, school, saving is where all the real money needs to stay for now.

1: Keep your stock speaker factory wiring, you arent going crazy with the power so stock 18 gauge is fine.

2: I'd still go with building your own ported box closest to recommended specs *OFFICIAL* Free Ported Box Plans (56k NO!!) - SRT Forums - SRT4, SRT6, SRT8, SRT10 & Dodge Forum here's free box plans just cut glue and screw. The Leftover wood will solve the next problem

3: Make a wooden MDF baffle.

4: To set the gains right, you need a multi-meter How to Adjust Amplifier Gains Using a Digital Multi-Meter - Knowledge Base

Since you already have a 0 gauge kit, use that for the monoblock amp. Use the 4 gauge for the 2 channel amp. trim it down if you need to in order to make it fit.

Other advice to you is, you might be better off with stock speakers and the new head unit along with the 2 channel amp. Hifonics speakers tend to sound a lot worse then stock sienna/odyssey speakers. I had some before and they were horrible, got loud but was peaky and missing a lot of details from the music. You also need to sound deaden your doors and turn the door to an enclosure if you go with aftermarket speakers. Amping them is a must also.