New to car audio. help me out and I will buy you a beer

[justice 10+ year member]

Ok I dont want much but I do want cheap. Some of these questions may seem dumb but here goes. I have a very crappy Pyle stario/ CD player in my car that came with 2 6"speakers. The Stario got wet and is now malfunctioning not to mention it was crap when I got it so that will be replaced. When I turn it up very load the sound gets distorted. I asume that is because of the speaker, am I right? I also have two 10400 watt legacy woofers. Should I use both in my 67 beetle or just one? The staio I have has wires for 4 different speakers, should the woofer just conect to one of them or do I need an amp?

I have been looking at starios and amps on ebay and I keep seeing thisngs that say something like "240 watts, four 60watts per channels" what does this mean? Does this mean that there are 60 watts going to each of the four speakers? Is there anything else I should really be concerned about? Do I want an amp? to be honest they look cool. I know that shouldent be a prioraty but hey im a guy. I dont have any idea how an amp works. Do I plug the starieo in to it and then the speakers in to the amp? On ebay I have seen a Legacy 600 watt 2 cannel (300 watts per channel). looks pretty cool to me and it would match my woofers. here is the link if you want to check it out http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001539338&category=4950 so if anyone could fill me in on the basics I guess I can take it from there. Thanks and I am seriouse about the beer.

P.S. speakers? what do I want? what is the difference between a 2 way and a 3 way speaker?

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[Savant 10+ year member]

Originally posted by justice Ok I dont want much but I do want cheap. Some of these questions may seem dumb but here goes. I have a very crappy Pyle stario/ CD player in my car that came with 2 6"speakers. The Stario got wet and is now malfunctioning not to mention it was crap when I got it so that will be replaced. When I turn it up very load the sound gets distorted. I asume that is because of the speaker, am I right? I also have two 10400 watt legacy woofers. Should I use both in my 67 beetle or just one? The staio I have has wires for 4 different speakers, should the woofer just conect to one of them or do I need an amp?

 

I have been looking at starios and amps on ebay and I keep seeing thisngs that say something like "240 watts, four 60watts per channels" what does this mean? Does this mean that there are 60 watts going to each of the four speakers? Is there anything else I should really be concerned about? Do I want an amp? to be honest they look cool. I know that shouldent be a prioraty but hey im a guy. I dont have any idea how an amp works. Do I plug the starieo in to it and then the speakers in to the amp? On ebay I have seen a Legacy 600 watt 2 cannel (300 watts per channel). looks pretty cool to me and it would match my woofers. here is the link if you want to check it out http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001539338&category=4950 so if anyone could fill me in on the basics I guess I can take it from there. Thanks and I am seriouse about the beer.

 

P.S. speakers? what do I want? what is the difference between a 2 way and a 3 way speaker?

Well... where to begin..

Distortion.. when you turn up your volume you are magnifying a 'signal'.. that process messes up the signal on the way out, called distortion. Once that distortion gets too high, you can hear it .. something like 1% as I understand it.. You can be sending a distorted signal to a speaker and there is nothing wrong with the speaker.. That is, if your speaker can handle 50 million watts and you get crappy sound from a typical head unit (stereo in your car), it's not the speakers messing up, it's the stereo.. You can only go about 75% up on volume with most radios before you hear distortion...

Subs... You have 2 10" 400 Watt Legacy woofers? I'd say use them both if you can, Legacy isn't a very good brand from what people around here say.. 400 Watt is MAX.. that means the most it will take in a short burst before meltdown.. it can probably only handle ~150 watts for any length of time, maybe a little less, maybe a little more.. That brings up the question of running subs directly from the stereo in your dash.. No, you pretty much can't do that.. you 'can' but you won't get any good or loud sounds from the woofers.. Given their size, they require more power to move and create the same volume as a smaller speaker.. meaning, 50 watts to your 6" speakers requires (this is a guess..) ~100 watts to the sub for it to be as loud as the rest of the music.. That being said, you probably want an amp..

Amp: There are many ways to run an amp, based mostly on the amp.. Some amps let you put speaker wires from your stereo right into the amp (high level inputs.. that's what that's called).. Others (most) have low-level inputs that are supplied on RCA connectors.. If you have an amp that requires RCAs, you can do 2 things.. 1) get a stereo with pre-amp outs (1 set minimum, more if you want.. depends on application).. 2) you can get a 'line-out converter' that hooks up to speaker wires and turns that signal into the RCA level signal.. If you are only going to be running the subs off the amp, you don't need a 4 channel amp.. 2 channel should be fine.. you could maybe get a 4 channel and 'bridge' them to 2 subs, but that might be a bit more advanced than you need to deal with at the moment.. I'd say get a nice 2 channel amp, something in the range of ~600 watts (normally that would be around 300 per channel (300x2) max, you typically 1/2 that for RMS (sustainable).. so ~150 watts for each sub).. You can go bigger if you like, just be careful when you set it up.. you have to make sure it doesn't run full power or you will overdrive your subs (and blow them).. small won't hurt, just won't get as loud..

If the stereo you get doesn't have pre-amp outs, you will have other issues to deal with when trying to get the factory signal to keep bass for the subs but not have bass on the rest of the speakers (when you try to have a speaker do to much, it will distort as well, removing the bass that the subs play from the rest of the speakers lets them go louder .. as long as they have the ability to run at that wattage).. My suggestion would be to try and get a stereo with pre-amp outputs.. will make your life easier..

Hope that helps.. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[fantomas 10+ year member]

Originally posted by justice P.S. speakers? what do I want? what is the difference between a 2 way and a 3 way speaker?

the difference is basically the number of speakers that are there. um... a two way usually has a woofer and tweeter. a three way has a woofer, midrange, and tweeter (i think) and a four way has a super tweeter added to that. which ones the best? none, lol.

because of the fact that they are all located in the same position, they sometimes cancel out eachother........so the answer? get components. that is, if you have the space/money. components have the seperate drivers, as in the woofer is seperated from the tweeter.

i dunno if all i have said is correct, but then again i said more than you asked.

now that i ponder some more of it... a 3 way is better because it can handle a wider range of frequency.

im tired //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[justice 10+ year member]

ok so are these really just total crap? or is the truth that they are ok but for you audiofiles they arnt worth it. I am on a budget. I dont play my music that loud. im not going to be doing any compations or anything. So really are these ok for the avrage person?

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by justice ok so are these really just total crap? or is the truth that they are ok but for you audiofiles they arnt worth it. I am on a budget. I dont play my music that loud. im not going to be doing any compations or anything. So really are these ok for the avrage person?

They are ok, but upgrading alt/battery is better...

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

ok, to be honest with you...i mean 4 real!!!......they are trash! i'll tell u bluntly, don't waste ur money on pyramid, pyle, legacy, etc....basically flea market stuff. It's better off saving a little more money and getting a better quality system that will last longer! those other brands are lucky to last a year. Trust me! ur better off spending a little more in the beginning to actually save urself money in the long run! just tell us what ur looking for in a system...and we can help ya out here! SQ or SPL (SQ=sound quality, SPL=sound pressure level...loudness) and the max ur willing to spend! (not how much u have now, but the most ur willing to spend and can reasonably earn in the near future) a well planned out system is the best system! then if u get what u want in the beginning, u won't waste money on upgrading in the near future like me! so answer some questions and we can help u build the best system in ur price range! hope this helped, peace

NG

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by snova031 They are ok, but upgrading alt/battery is better...

just wondering snova.....what are u talking about? lol, peace

NG

 

[justice 10+ year member]

ok well here is what I have. 67 beetle. BOSS Audio AVA-2680R 240w CD player. 2 pyle(of ****) speakers in the front kick pannels (these will be replaced one is already busted). I also own 2 legacy 10" 400w woofers (not installed) and a pair of Koiler XM 6623 little one inch tweeters wich I will be installing in the front door pannels.

I want to get an amp and 2 3way peakers in the rear shelf and right now I am looking to put 2 2way speakers in the fron kick pannels to replace the pyles(of ****). I cant see my spending more than another $200 on the stario at the most.

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by ngsm13 just wondering snova.....what are u talking about? lol, peace

 

NG

I'm saying that upgrading your alt/battery will help more than a cap will...

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by ngsm13 just wondering snova.....what are u talking about? lol, peace

 

NG

Oh ****...I thought he was talking about caps lol...I'm slow, so excuse me...

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by snova031 Oh ****...I thought he was talking about caps lol...I'm slow, so excuse me...

yeah, i thought u just had tourette's or something! lol, peace

NG

 

[CarAudioAddict 10+ year member]

OK, you want cheap, but "good enough" for the basic audio system.

This

Boss deck - Keep it.

Pyle speakers - Replace with Pioneer or sony Xplod components (should be $50-$80)

Rear deck - Do absolutley nothing, putting speakers in the back (except subs) will ruin the sound image (without precise aiming and time control but you are looking at multi-thousand dollar systems there)

Legacy Subs - Sell these to some ricer and get something like Jensen (for under $200 you are very limited), they'll pound harder and sound clearer (than legacy anyway)

Amplifier - There is a really diverse choice here, Basically, get the most expensive amplifier you can, without overpowering your subs (look at RMS values, not MAX).