New To Audio, Please help!

[gadejfan]

Hey guys! My name is Chris, and i am new to the audio thing. Being mainly a machanics guy, ive never focused any on audio. I am a junior in highschool and i am currently building a 1969 Ford Fairlane. It has been a project for me, my dad, and my papa for a year and almost a half so far. I am looking towards that car to be my muscle car with a kick *** drivetrain. It has a 460 "racing built" engine going in it soon.

Since i clearly have my "GO GO GO!!!" street car, so now i need something to save gas and something that i can screw around with. Well i am getting a 1990 Bronco II (yeah i know bronco II = the ***** bronco but oh well). So being a highschool student and all of my friends having nice sound systems, I want this bronco to pretty much be a bad *** lil boombox. I have an idea of two 15" Kicker L7 solo barics just because i know those hit hard as hell. And then the box that they make for them.

Well like i said, i dont know much about audio, so im wondering... what else do i need!? Im starting with nothing except a pioneer stereo system i got for christmas that had a head unit, two 6's, and two 6x9's. Then i am hopefully adding the two kickers. I need to know everything! All the way down to the wire... literally haha. Thanks for any help guys!!!

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[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

Hey guys! My name is Chris, and i am new to the audio thing. Being mainly a machanics guy, ive never focused any on audio. I am a junior in highschool and i am currently building a 1969 Ford Fairlane. It has been a project for me, my dad, and my papa for a year and almost a half so far. I am looking towards that car to be my muscle car with a kick *** drivetrain. It has a 460 "racing built" engine going in it soon. Since i clearly have my "GO GO GO!!!" street car, so now i need something to save gas and something that i can screw around with. Well i am getting a 1990 Bronco II (yeah i know bronco II = the ***** bronco but oh well). So being a highschool student and all of my friends having nice sound systems, I want this bronco to pretty much be a bad *** lil boombox. I have an idea of two 15" Kicker L7 solo barics just because i know those hit hard as hell. And then the box that they make for them.

Well like i said, i dont know much about audio, so im wondering... what else do i need!? Im starting with nothing except a pioneer stereo system i got for christmas that had a head unit, two 6's, and two 6x9's. Then i am hopefully adding the two kickers. I need to know everything! All the way down to the wire... literally haha. Thanks for any help guys!!!

Stick around and read here for at least a few months....and you'll be close...to getting started.

 

[Mr.meyhem 10+ year member]

have you looked into other brands besides kicker and pioneer? and what kinda budget are you looking at? because I would recommend some comps which are more expensive and ud need an amp to run them.

 

[esmokah 10+ year member]

a bronco to save on gas? wow!

If i could recommend one thing is to get your vehicle all wired up for power and signal wires so that's all ready to go for when you start dropping in equipment. Get a good run of 0 gauge from the battery to where your amp(s) will be and 3 sets of rcas from the HU location to the amp(s) location. Run good speaker wires to your doors too from the amp location. Upgrade the big 3 in your engine bay too. Then read up and ask questions before you drop a lot of money (better can be had for the price of kicker products)

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Welcome to the forum...you found the best car audio site on the net ......

 

[snyderd758 10+ year member]

you need to state a budget then we can recomment equipement. I know how it is just starting out on a budget of nothing. There is nothing wrong with buying used and there are tons of deals on this site from very trustworthy sellers. I didnt see anywhere in your post mention an amp to drive your subs but you will need one to push them. Also as all the other post pretty much stated there is much better for the money than kicker. There are many knowledgeable persons on this forum more then willing to help you so keep researching and post your questions.

 

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

a bronco to save on gas? wow!
If i could recommend one thing is to get your vehicle all wired up for power and signal wires so that's all ready to go for when you start dropping in equipment. Get a good run of 0 gauge from the battery to where your amp(s) will be and 3 sets of rcas from the HU location to the amp(s) location. Run good speaker wires to your doors too from the amp location. Upgrade the big 3 in your engine bay too. Then read up and ask questions before you drop a lot of money (better can be had for the price of kicker products)

I would rather just wait to have the equipment before I start putting in a bunch of wires. Doesn't seem to be a good idea to have a bunch of loose wires around especially since he will be daily driving it.

But idk, op kinda sounds like a troll...

 

[gadejfan]

My budget is probably going to rest somewhere around $1000. And im kind of stuck on those kickers, but if you guys can prove that there is better for less money, then i can definitely be swayed. But the plan is to find out and know EXACTLY what i need, price everything, save up, and buy it all at once. I really dont want to thave loose wires just floating around in the back of the truck ya know. And yes, i know i have to have an amp, though idk what size and brand would be best for the subs i am getting, thats why im asking for all the info. I need to know what size wire (i seen one person said 0 gauge), and what size and brand amp, a battery conserver?, and anyhting else. Thanks for the replies guys, keep em coming!!

Thanks for the welcome as well!

 

[brandinooooo 10+ year member]

You need:

Amplifier

Sub(s)

Wiring - Power, Ground, RCA, Remote, Speaker Wire (All comes in an amplifier wiring kit found at Best Buy/Walmart) Buy size based on power example 1000 RMS - 4 guage, 600 RMS - 8 guage. You can always buy bigger wire (smaller number = bigger wire) so you don't have to rewire if you choose to upgrade to more power.

You will not need a capacitor. They are just a waste of money.

Wiring kit is around $70 depending on guage.

A good amp for you would be Audiopipe AP15001d. $160.00

Amazon.com: AUDIOPIPE AP15001D 1500W MONO D Car Audio Amplifier: Car Electronics

You can get louder and better subs for the same price or cheaper. Some are:

Sundown SA-15 $235.00 each

Audioque HDC315 $279.00 each

Skar vvx 15" $219.00

2 of any of those will be just as loud, if not louder and will sound substantially better.

 

[esmokah 10+ year member]

I would rather just wait to have the equipment before I start putting in a bunch of wires. Doesn't seem to be a good idea to have a bunch of loose wires around especially since he will be daily driving it.
But idk, op kinda sounds like a troll...

He can do it however he wants. A lot of people when building their first system don't think/budget for the wiring too much leading them to undo/redo/over budget when they figure out what needs to be done. There are also these things called zip ties that are for keeping loose wires in check. If you wire it up first then you can just drop your goodies in when you have them. There's a method to my madness, not everyone will see it. idc

edit: when i was thinking about putting a system in my car, i got all the wiring i would need first and tore my interior apart getting it all wired up properly. all the stock stuff is left alone, still intact for when i sell the car. I got this done months before spending money on the equipment that i would be dropping in.

 

[RangerDangerV2 5,000+ posts]

1 sa8 in the right box will sound better and be much louder than an l7 15... I had an l7 15 and I did not like it very much, wasnt loud at all and to add another 15 would only add around 3 db's....

 

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

He can do it however he wants. A lot of people when building their first system don't think/budget for the wiring too much leading them to undo/redo/over budget when they figure out what needs to be done. There are also these things called zip ties that are for keeping loose wires in check. If you wire it up first then you can just drop your goodies in when you have them. There's a method to my madness, not everyone will see it. idc
edit: when i was thinking about putting a system in my car, i got all the wiring i would need first and tore my interior apart getting it all wired up properly. all the stock stuff is left alone, still intact for when i sell the car. I got this done months before spending money on the equipment that i would be dropping in.

I didn't say anything about not budgeting for wires, I'm saying it doesn't seem like a good idea to have loose wires ran like that, especially when hes new to audio and is daily driving the vehicle. Its cool for him to get the wires first, but installing them with nothing to connect them too just seems like a safety hazard.

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

Well, I guess I'll be the first to say it:

DO NOT GET THOSE KICKERS. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO.

What is the point of this system? Do you care at all how your subwoofers sound, or are you just trying to make people hear you? If you're just trying to make people hear you, that's perfectly fine; many people here only care about how loud they are. We just need to know either way so we don't recommend the wrong thing. You wouldn't recommend snow tires to someone if they've never seen snow in their life. The same applies here.

What is the model of your head unit? Knowing this is also fairly important. If you end up having 1.5-2kW for subs, you'll probably need to amplify your speakers if you care about hearing your music. Because you'll need to amplify your speakers, you'll have to make sure they will handle the power. Because of this, you might also need to upgrade the speakers themselves. Now that you've got upgraded and amplified speakers, you'll probably need to add some weight to your doors so they don't vibrate back and forth creating unwanted noise(this will distort the way you hear your speakers).

I'm sure other people will go into much more detail about all of this, but if no one has given you a comprehensive idea of what you're looking at in the next few hours, I'll be back.

 

[orphe 10+ year member]

Start with supplying power 1st!!

A high output alternator should be the 1st thing you get.

as someone mentioned before, use 0 gauge wire and good rca cables.

start off with the basics 1st and you will be set in the future no matter what you drop in.

stick around here for a while and read up on how to build your own box for your vehicle.

 

[esmokah 10+ year member]

I didn't say anything about not budgeting for wires, I'm saying it doesn't seem like a good idea to have loose wires ran like that, especially when hes new to audio and is daily driving the vehicle. Its cool for him to get the wires first, but installing them with nothing to connect them too just seems like a safety hazard.

That's why you ziptie them and keep them in check. it's a ford bronco ffs, i'm sure there is plenty of room. I deal with wires every day.

By your logic, lets say you build a house. you wouldn't put in a toilet or plumbing until you have to take a ****. that's the wrong way to do it! Wiring is the foundation of a car system and if he can't do that right (which i'm sure he can if he's rebuilding an old car) he might as well not even put in the system. We're just going to have to disagree on this. He asked for help so I gave him my advice. He can do what he will with it, idc. It's possible, but it takes half a brain cell, to pre-run wiring and not let it get in the way of your day to day driving habits. Creating a safety issue is something I try to avoid as well. That's why god invented zipties.