Need advice on building exterior vehicle system...

[SCHawks73 10+ year member]

Hey guys, I went to a truck show a few months ago and saw a guy with some PA speakers underneath his truck and he would flip a switch and the music on the inside of the vehicle would blast on the outside speakers (along with the inside blasting as well) and it was simply BADASS! He said one of the things he didn’t like about it was that he was not able to turn down the inside volume while keeping the outside volume up. I don’t think there is a way to control the volume on 2 sets of amped speakers coming from the same H/U so I was thinking about just turning the inside speakers OFF when I have the outside speakers on. Here are a couple questions I have…

1. Is there a switch available at Autozone or the like that I am able to have the ability to turn on 2 separate devices (such as amps) separately, using, say, the remote wires? So it would have 2 (or 3 with a neutral middle) positions, flip it up to connect the circuit for the remote wire from the H/U to the amp powering the outside speakers, then flipping it down to connect the circuit for the remote wire going to the amp for the interior speakers?

2. Anyone recommend any speakers/amps that would be good for a 4 speaker, 50-100w per channel setup. I also live in Central Florida so there will defiantly be a lot of water/mud being splashed up under the truck so I need these speakers to be sturdy too… I have used the $30 Radio shack speakers for my PA that is 100w max but after one trip to the local mud hole, it got pissed at me and only works like 20% of the time… plus they are big as hell… I would like something more like a 4x6 size but if the Radio shack speakers are the best bang for the buck ill go that route again since I think my mudding days are over lol

3. Anything else I should know, even if every noob should know X already, please let me know. I want to make sure and do this right the first time //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Thanks in advance everyone!

-David

PS: this is what I'm working with...

Click to read more...

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

1. Buy a gun

2. load with ammo

3. put gun to your head

4. pull the trigger

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

you will need a separate amp for the outdoor speakers, then you can buy a "Gain Knob", like a PAC-LC1 to control the volume of the outdoor speakers and/or the indoor speakers. Where do you live in central FL, I have 3 sets of outdoors under my truck, and another set im not using. Im willing to sell, i dont have any use for them any more (getting another vehicle).

heres a vid of mine, they are wayyyy better than PA's and horns outside. these are actual "outdoor" speakers, not some ghetto rigged shit.



crystal clear. my speakers are built for outdoor abuse, water, dirt, etc. PA's will shit out on you if they get wet.

This is the PAC-LC1 device i was talking about, it controls the RCA's so you can buy 2, one for the outdoor speaker amp and one for the indoor speaker amp. that way you can adjust them individually.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-Remote-Level-Conrol-PAC-LC1_W0QQitemZ280279224943QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Electronics_Parts_Accessories?hash=item280279224943&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50#ebayphotohosting

 

[SCHawks73 10+ year member]

you will need a separate amp for the outdoor speakers, then you can buy a "Gain Knob", like a PAC-LC1 to control the volume of the outdoor speakers and/or the indoor speakers. Where do you live in central FL, I have 3 sets of outdoors under my truck, and another set im not using. Im willing to sell, i dont have any use for them any more (getting another vehicle).
heres a vid of mine, they are wayyyy better than PA's and horns outside. these are actual "outdoor" speakers, not some ghetto rigged shit.

Yes I was planning on getting another amp for these speakers.

How do I plug that PAC-LC1 in, it looks to short to run from HU to Amp, is it something that I connect to the HU and a set of RCA wires which then runs to the amp? Is this adjusting the Gain on the amps? I dont know if I want to be messing with that since Gains have to be tuned to a certain level without blowing...

What brand and what are the specs of the speakers you got, they sound real nice! This "set" that you have for sale, is it a set of 2 or 4 or 8 or what? my truck is like 2x the size of yours so if you are using 2x sets, I dont know if 1x set will be enough ya know? I frequent the UCF area but im actually on the east coast of Central Florida.

BTW thank you for actually adding something useful to your response //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

-David

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

The PAC-LC1 has RCA inputs, then RCA outputs, both FEMALE plugs. so you run a set of RCA's to it's inputs, then another set of RCA's from the OUTPUT to your amp. Set the gain properly, and the PAC-LC1 goes from zero volume up to the level you set your gains at, no higher. I have 4 sets of outdoors, 8 speaker pods total. each speaker pod houses a 4" woofer, 2" midrange, and a tweeter.

PM me for more details

 

[SCHawks73 10+ year member]

The PAC-LC1 has RCA inputs, then RCA outputs, both FEMALE plugs. so you run a set of RCA's to it's inputs, then another set of RCA's from the OUTPUT to your amp. Set the gain properly, and the PAC-LC1 goes from zero volume up to the level you set your gains at, no higher. I have 4 sets of outdoors, 8 speaker pods total. each speaker pod houses a 4" woofer, 2" midrange, and a tweeter.
PM me for more details

You lost me here... When you run a normal RCA you go from your H/U OUTPUTS to your amps INPUTS, why when Im just adding a volume nob I am now going from my amps INPUTS to using it's OUTPUTS? how will the amp get the signal from the H/U if I am using the ports that sends the signal FROM the amp and not TO the amp?

Also, except a PM soon about the speakers.

-David

 

[Corey69 10+ year member]

Buy marine speakers if you want to do something this stupid.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

alright first off this is an extremely dumb thing to do. okay not I got that out, I did this on a few cars down here when I worked at a shop and this is how I did it. I hooked up the amp as normal except I put a toogle switch on the remote wire. I just used the pass through RCA on the Highs amp. I ran in-wall home theatre speaker wire to the speakers. I made wood box with 1/2in MDF, after the box was made I made around 4 coats of fiberglass. you can finish the box however you want. after that I made mounting brackets out of 1/2in thick metal brackets to mount speaker in the bumper pockets. I coated all the boxes with bed liner. enjoy.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

1. Buy a gun2. load with ammo

3. put gun to your head

4. pull the trigger

X2

For the OP: