Review my installation plans?

[laminatedfrog]

Hey everyone, I'm about to wire up a good car audio system for the first time. I've gotten some good advice from my dad, the audiophile, but he knows more about home systems than car audio.

I'm planning on installing a Pioneer Premier DEH-P770MP in the dash, running the line level into a 4 channel amp and then out to 2 sets of Pioneer TS-C160R 6-1/2" Component System. The 6.5" speakers will fit in the doors and rear hatch area of my civic hatchback where the stock speakers were. The tweeters from that set will be aimed directly at the left and right ears of the driver and passenger.

I already have an alpine mono amp and an 8" Q logic subwoofer that will provide bass.

Does that seem like a pretty good plan? I chose to scrap the 6x9 speakers in the back hatch area in favor of cleaner sounding 6.5" round speakers since I'll be getting the bass I need from the sub. So far, this setup is $580 without the needed 4 channel amp and not including the amp and sub I already have.

I'm not sure what 4 channel amp I should get for the system. I don't think the the THD is all that important because of road noise and I can't find any listings of dynamic headroom for car amps. Any suggestions? How much RMS should I look for per channel?

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[zachzchw 5,000+ posts]

How much are you getting the pioneer comps for? Might want to ditch the idea of rear fill.....for a 4 channel amp (if you go that route) Id highly suggest an ED 9.4....

Theres a $50 off coupon code floating around somewhere, and you can pick up some deadening for basically free using the 15% off coupon code...hell, Id go with the ED comps over the Pioneers, too.

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

I don't like those pioneers one bit. I've had two sets before. Both have blown one or both mids. One set was powered off of an amp, the other off of a HU.

I would skip the rear fill as well. get a good set of comps up front and then a 4 ch amp. bridge two of the channels to run the sub and use the other two to run the comps.

 

[laminatedfrog]

If I tossed the rear comps, what would be the best way to add an extra set of tweeters? That was the main reason I was looking at two sets of comps anyways.

What I want to do is put both a left and right channel tweeter on each side of the car. one aimed at the person on that side of the car and one pointed at the person on the other side of the car. That way both people get a left and right pointed right at them.

btw, those pioneer comps were $165

I'm off to get LASIK, so I'll catch replies in a couple days.

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

Why would you want dual tweets? That's just an imaging nightmare waiting to happen. And the fact that you're asking our oppinions on your system probably means you havn't the foggiest on how to set it up so that it actually sounds decent.

What your trying to do with L and R tweets is really not very smart at all, in fact its going to sound worse than just letting one set of comps do its job properly. Skip that idea and invest in a set of GOOD components for the $330 you were going to spend on those Pioneers.

 

[laminatedfrog]

I don't claim to be any sort of audio expert, but I used to drive a van that had been setup with four tweeters like I described. It was the best sounding system I've ever heard to this day. This is in comparison to the next vehicle I drove, set up by the same guy, that just had two tweeters in the doors.

Why do you say it would hurt the dynamics? My understanding is that the high range is very directional, so aiming the tweeters at the listener will define the left and right channels more than unaimed tweeters.

 

[suparunna2000 10+ year member]

lets start on the drivers side. u have a set imaging on the driver but u will get big time cancellation and frequency disturbance from the tweeters on the passenger side hitting a split second later. just aim one comp set at the drivers side and screw ur passenger ... not that they will notice any difference anyways.

and yes if u r going to buy two sets of pioneer u might as well trade those in and buy a nice set of alpines or something. if u r trying to save money, the pioneers will do just fine. i have a set and they work great for me.

 

[laminatedfrog]

You're making a certain sort of sense. I guess it isn't truely necessary to show off to the passenger since it's usualy my wife and she's already rolling her eyes at me....

Thanks for all your advice guys, I'll definately be skipping the rear fill and passing on those pioneer comps.

If I do something nontraditional I'll post it here~

~matt