I'm new and looking for advice based on my budget.

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

after doing some checking i found a way you could save some money and at the same time still get a warrenty. http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=2034 the idq12v2d4 is last years model of the IDQ. Now with the Q line you have a lil better sound quality, and you can also go a smaller box if need be. the IDQ sounds beautiful in a one cubic foot box. and i just noticed you said 2 12s so you may want a lil more power maybe somthing that does 800 watts into 2 or 4 ohms depending on which coil you get.

 

[roper 10+ year member]

Awesome. Thanks horseman. I have a question though.

I know nothing about subs... Would mind explaining to me what I have to buy and the steps I need to perform to install the subs/amp?

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

are we talkin the "whole" install or just the sub and amp part?

 

[roper 10+ year member]

The set I originally chose, I think i'm set with the ID set, the amp, the d-block, and the wiring.

As for what I plan on buying a little later, meaning the new subs and the amp, what do I have to buy? The subs, the amp, a box, a battery? I've been reading around, these are just some of the terms i've read about, not so sure what a battery is for or if i'd need one. Or if I should buy a box or build my own? (I'm a super novice at this so maybe building shouldn't be done by me, unless it's simple cutting and gluing)

 

[roper 10+ year member]

Anyone?

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

kinda confused by your last post?

So you are asking what you wil need in the future if you want to change out your sub and amp?

Or you need to know everything you need for this first build?

 

[roper 10+ year member]

Okay, here's a summary. Right now, I have no aftermarket speakers in my car. The entire car is 1994 factory speakers.

Currently, i'm prepared to order a head-unit, a component set, an amp to support the set, and then of course wiring etc.

In this order, I am NOT getting subs. Though, I do want to get them in the future. I was just curious, if I was going to buy two 12" subs next month, what else would I need to get to make them work? I was asking if i'd need another amp, and if i'd have to buy a batter or something, etc. I don't know much about car audio, therefore I don't know what equipment I must buy to install two 12" subwoofers.

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

like i said in an earlier post make sure the first run of power wire is big enough to support both amps. yes you would need antoher amp for the. run all the rca's now so you only have to have the deck out once. you wouldn't need anouther battery but that also depends on what amp you get and etc. for the most part i'm thinking you should be ok with your factory stuff. maybe. you will need an enclosure which one could build themselfs if you go for a regular retanglular box sealed all that requires is wood cut to a certain size and you glueing and nailing them together. and depending on the car you would need a dash kit and wire harness for the deck.

 

[roper 10+ year member]

Alright, let me go over this with you.

---

1. While I have the head-unit out, run all the wires NOW so that later, when I get the subs and second amp, I don't have to take the deck out and do it again. Yes/no?

2. You say I will not need another battery, does that mean that the factory installed audio system has a battery already?

3. The enclosure is just a wooden box, i'd just need to look up some measurements and do the box work myself. The subs then go in the box, which would be in the trunk. Yes/no?

4. What is a dash kit, and a wire harness?

5. Where would the second amp go?

6. What would you recommend as far as power wire?

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KFX-AK44

Is that power wire good enough for what I have in mind?

---

Horseman, I can't thank you enough for everything, sorry for having a thousand questions. I just really want to make sure I get this right before I start installing everything and such.

 

[97accordalpine 10+ year member]

Okay, here's a summary. Right now, I have no aftermarket speakers in my car. The entire car is 1994 factory speakers.
Currently, i'm prepared to order a head-unit, a component set, an amp to support the set, and then of course wiring etc.

In this order, I am NOT getting subs. Though, I do want to get them in the future. I was just curious, if I was going to buy two 12" subs next month, what else would I need to get to make them work? I was asking if i'd need another amp, and if i'd have to buy a batter or something, etc. I don't know much about car audio, therefore I don't know what equipment I must buy to install two 12" subwoofers.

When you are ready for subs you will need:

1.The Subs

2.An amp to run them

3.A box for the subs. Id suggest reading into a ported or sealed box and decide which would fit you better. Id also shy away from prefab boxes. Have a good builder make one for you.

4. Another short run of wire from the distribution block to your sub amp.

5. A remote wire ran from the HU to your amp.

6. A short run of wire for your ground.

The wires make the list seem confusing because they come in a wiring kit but since you are already buying a wiring kit, you can just buy the pieces you need when you decide to buy sus.. Like horseman said it would be best to have the rca cables and remote wire ran when you have your HU installed so that it doesn't need to be removed again to run the second set of rca's. As far as another battery goes, you should be fine on the stock electrical system/battery. It never hurts to have more then you need but with your budget it will be fine.

EDIT:

1. Yes that is correct. It will make it much easier in the end. All you need ran extra for the subs is another set of rca's and a remote wire.

2. No you will be fine. The stereo will be running off the car's battery. There is only one battery on most cars. The one battery runs it all. (unless you have alot of stereo equiptment)

3. Yes the enclosure is made of wood (MDF). Basic boxes require basic woodworking skills. You can do it yourself if you have time and patience. You would need to look up measurements. The box would go in the trunk.

4. A dash kit consists of plastic pieces that allow the dash to accompany the aftermarket HU and yet look nice. It give the HU a place to slide into and fills the gap difference in size between the factory and aftermarket. A wiring harness is a plug that plugs into your existing wires that plug into your factory unit. The use of this is to not cut the original wiring. You plug the harness into the original plug then wire the HU up to the harness.

5. The second amp could be put where ever you would want it. You would probably want it near the other amp for looks and to be able to have easy access to them both at the same time.

6. The power wire in the link you posted would be fine. Someone correct me on this if I am wrong. Every time I try to find what wattage different gauge wire can take tends to vary so I'm not a pro in that area.

 

[roper 10+ year member]

Awesome, that was extremely helpful accordalpine. I seem to be understanding everything a bit better now, but I am just a bit sketchy on the wiring. Your post cleared most of that up, i'm just going to continue researching so I don't mess anything up. Is there a wiring diagram anywhere for this kind of setup? (Including the component set, subs, amps, d-block, etc.)

 

[97accordalpine 10+ year member]

I tried better answering your questions by editing my last post. Id imagine that there is a diagram out there somewhere. Sounds like alot but it is rather simple. Ill see if i can come up with anything

Battery----4guagewire----(into&gt--dist. block==(2 8 guage out)==(one 8 to one amp another 8 to the other amp)

Remote wire------------------(straight to the remote input on your amps)

Rca's--------------------------(straight to your amps)

Ground Wire -----to chassis(frame or sheet metal of the car)
Wiring the subs and speakers gets a bit more complicated but I wanted to clear up the basics.

 

[roper 10+ year member]

4. A dash kit consists of plastic pieces that allow the dash to accompany the aftermarket HU and yet look nice. It give the HU a place to slide into and fills the gap difference in size between the factory and aftermarket. A wiring harness is a plug that plugs into your existing wires that plug into your factory unit. The use of this is to not cut the original wiring. You plug the harness into the original plug then wire the HU up to the harness.

Alright, that post was extremely helpful accordalpine, thanks. In response to the question above, I already have an aftermarket head unit. In fact, I think i'm going to go outside and take a picture of my dash to give everyone a better idea. I'll be back in 2 minutes with pictures from my badass 20$ camera.

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

Awesome, that was extremely helpful accordalpine. I seem to be understanding everything a bit better now, but I am just a bit sketchy on the wiring. Your post cleared most of that up, i'm just going to continue researching so I don't mess anything up. Is there a wiring diagram anywhere for this kind of setup? (Including the component set, subs, amps, d-block, etc.)

Pretty much, you'll run the initial large wires from the battery, through the firewall, and down along the side of the car, hiding it in whatever manner you want - under the carpet, or fancier and nicer. You'll run it to wherever you mount the amplifier. From there, you'll put in the distro block, and run the short strand of wire from the block to the wire. In the future, you'll run a second strand of wire from the block to the second amplifier.

For the other wires, you'll be running the remote turn on leads, and the RCA cables. How you'll run those will depend on the car, I don't know the model well enough to tell you that. Those will come from the back of the head unit, and you'll want to run those to the amplifiers, on the other side of the car, until you get close to the amp, you'll want them at least 18 inches away from the power cables.

For the second amplifier, you'll want to make sure to have two sets of RCA cables. For the remote turn on, you can probably just split it off into two cables after running the initial one for the two amps.

The other parts you'll want to do are to run the power wires to the actual speakers - that will also depend on the model of the car, and how much work you want to do. And that won't require pulling out the HU at all. The main thing is doing two sets of RCA cables. Almost certainly, the shop will do this for you when they install the comp sets.

You can probably google up a few general diagrams of how to do it ^^ I'll check later, if I find one, I'll post it up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Hope this helps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[roper 10+ year member]

Ahh I see, thanks pluto. That clears a lot up. By the way, took a few pics of my dash and doors, and suddenly it hit me. How in the hell am I going to install a 6.5" speaker in this door.