I need some tuning help - Alpine F1 Status

[mikedc2 10+ year member]

Hey guys I'm new around here, first post actually. I'm not an audio-head, nor do I pretend to be. I'm very familiar with a wrench and any honda engine bay but I'd like to expand my horizons a bit. I came across a deal on a set of SPX-Z18T, I knew enough to know that the price I paid was much less than retail so I jumped on it without hesitating.. Well, now I'm thinking that I should have hesitated because I think I'm in over my head as far as getting them set up. I've read through the FAQ (which was very informative btw) and I have a better idea on crossover points and slopes. Here's the low down...

2001 integra hatchback

- eclipse cd3000 (already have)

- jl slash series 300/4 (already have)

- will re-wire car with 16 guage everything

- no sub set up (i want to hear how the f1 status does without them first then possibly add later)

Am I good to go as far as deck and amp? This will be upgraded eventually but I figured the weakest link in my system is going to be one of these so if they simply "must go" then I can spring for something a bit higher end. I know how to operate most of the settings on the amp, but looking at this alpine crossover just gives me a headache - I'll try to take pictures later. Talking to a friend I believe I want to run the mids and tweeters off of channels 1 and 2, and then bridge 3 and 4 to run 75rmsx2 @ 8ohm to the rear speakers in a series. (did i do that right?) There's also something in the manual that says "note: warning - if bi-amping (which is what I think I'm doing), propper crossover points on the tweeters must be set" ... yeah, that had me lost lol.

I'm sorry for the long ramble, if anyone can help out.. I'm all ears. Thanks guys

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Am I good to go as far as deck and amp?

They will work just fine.

I think you bought way more speaker than you needed compared to the price range of the rest of your system. You likely could have spent less and wound up just as happy.....but that's not to say anything you have or did was "wrong".

Talking to a friend I believe I want to run the mids and tweeters off of channels 1 and 2, and then bridge 3 and 4 to run 75rmsx2 @ 8ohm to the rear speakers in a series.

What rear speakers ??

"note: warning - if bi-amping (which is what I think I'm doing), propper crossover points on the tweeters must be set"

From what it sounds to me, that statement seems to be referring to running "active" (without the passive crossover, which you won't be doing) since if you are bi-amping through the crossover you wouldn't need to adjust the tweeter crossover at all.

 

[mikedc2 10+ year member]

hey squeak thanks for chiming in, sorry this is a bit late..

i'm actually thinking about selling them. I got a great deal on them to start so i'd pass it along to whoever wants it, and then take the money and buy some simple two-way components for the front and call it a day.

if i do keep them - I was chatting with an installer on honda-tech and he seemed to think that the easiest way to mount them in my car was with the tweeter in the stock location, the mid in the door panel where the stock 6.5 goes, and the mid-bass in the rear stock locations in some sort of fiberglass/mdf cabinet. this is also why he advised to run the rear speakers in a series.. i "sort of" understand the theory behind this, but not completely.

 

[Gary S 10+ year member]

The general rule of thumb is to mount all the drivers close together... so, everything in the doors and/or kick panels... i guess if you have stock dash speakers tweeters could alternately go there... but i would not put the midbass drivers in the rear.

If you don't want to/can't put the whole set up front, selling it and getting a two-way component set would be better.

I don't understand your wiring condundrum... the supplied passive crossover will keep all six drivers at the nominal 4-ohm load. Just wire the crossovers to the front two channels of the JL amp, and wire the rear two channels to a subwoofer.

 

[mikedc2 10+ year member]

hey guys just giving this an update, WOW have I learned a lot in the past few weeks. I wound up putting the mid-bass' in the stock 6.5 locations, the mids fiberglassed into the door panels below the tweeters, and the tweeters in the stock locations. I have channels 1/2 powering the mids/tweets together on either side, and channels 3/4 powering their respective mid-bass. This weekend i'm adding on a JL 10" W3V3 to round out the system...

So far the system sounds amazing.. absolute crystal clear highs, thunderous midbass, and I can hear back-up vocalists and instruments that I had never discovered before in all of my favorite songs. To think, all of this great stuff and I'm still running passive... I fear going active might be opening up a can of worms.