What should I do?

[vlad335 10+ year member]

Greetings.

I got almost everything for my install in a Chevy Venture Van. Working with a budget but wanted to get the best I could for the money I have. The install is set up for Tuesday.

Here is what i have so far...

Hu: Panasonic CQ-C8803U. Got this for $299 from Crutchfield. I wanted to spend the most money on HU and get a reliable warranty. Crutchfield's not cheap but they are awesome regarding customer service in my experience. (home theater)

Amps and Sub: I bought a used oldschool Rockford Fosgate 55.2 and a used Profile 400watt mono amp for subwoofer. Paid about $100 from a local stereo shop for both. Plan to run the RF 55.2 in 2 ohms running four 6.5's, front and rear. For the sub I bought a 2-15" sealed box from Ebay ( Will be here tommorrow) and plan to use a couple 15" 8ohm Peavey Black Widow speakers I have already wired for 4 ohms.

Speakers: I bought one set of pioneer coax 6.5 revs that I planned on putting up front. I can't afford another set of REV's right now and was thinking of getting a cheaper set of fairly smooth sounding warm 6.5's for the rear.

OTOH... After reading this forum and others, I am thinking I should maybe go with 6.5 component speakers up front and stick the REV's in the back. Should I just get the installer to wire up the factory 6.5's in the front and wait till I get the money for a good component set? What would be a good component set for cheap?

What do you guys think of my plans and the gear I put together? Sorry for the long winded post but I want to do the best thing for what I have so I'm bouncing this off you people in the forums.

Looking forward to recomendations from here.

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[crow 10+ year member]

I'd run the pioneer 6.5's up front with the amp and listen to them for awhile. If it's a factory 6.5 location, it should be pretty easy to switch them out later if you decide to upgrade later on. I would run the fronts on the amp and leave the factory rears on the head unit. Opinions on rear fill vary so it really depends on the sound you prefer.

The Black Widows are great instrument speakers but I'm not sure they will play low enough to make good subwoofers. I'm not saying they won't fill in some of the bass, but they will be missing the lower frequencies that really make a subwoofer system effective.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

I'd run the pioneer 6.5's up front with the amp and listen to them for awhile. If it's a factory 6.5 location, it should be pretty easy to switch them out later if you decide to upgrade later on. I would run the fronts on the amp and leave the factory rears on the head unit. Opinions on rear fill vary so it really depends on the sound you prefer.
The Black Widows are great instrument speakers but I'm not sure they will play low enough to make good subwoofers. I'm not saying they won't fill in some of the bass, but they will be missing the lower frequencies that really make a subwoofer system effective.

Good idea with the 6.5 speakers. If they sound crappy I could just fade their level down until I get something better.

I'll have to see how the Black Widows sound. I don't listen to rap, mostly just rock and metal so they might work. I am doing the same thing in my wife's car but I am using a Black Widow 18". It goes low and hits incredibly hard. One good thing about these subs are they are essentually free so i am giving it a go.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

The Black Widows are great instrument speakers but I'm not sure they will play low enough to make good subwoofers. I'm not saying they won't fill in some of the bass, but they will be missing the lower frequencies that really make a subwoofer system effective.

You were right! Crap!

These things can barely even be heard. The woofers are moving slightly but the highs are drowning them out with the sub amp on max. It's seems they want 1500 watts to even play!

The 18" in my wife's car is in a ported cab so that may be why it kicks.

I was wrong... thought I could put together a sub for free. Now to find 2 15"s since I already have the box.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

Well my budget is kinda low right now since I already spent a shitload of money I didn't really have in the first place.

BTW. I am looking at these... http://www.millionbuy.com/pakbm15w.html

I am such a dumbass! I am waiting for the Vonage Van to pull up and smack me in the head with a package.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

edit: just completely forget the pa's. save up for a while and get something quality.

What would you recommend with a sealed box.

The installer guy said I should pick up something cheaper from Rockford or Memphis that doesnt require a ton of power to play them.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

Thanks Man!

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

Well this has taken a turn for the sureal...

I went to a local shop and asked the dude if i could borrow a sub to see what it sounds like.

SAME THING!

A 12" JL sub box playing the same volume as the two 15's. Somethings wrong with the amp. WTF!

What can I troubleshoot?

 

[Notwerk 10+ year member]

Check the crossover settings?

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

Did alot of troubleshooting last night with the installer.

Amps OK, RCA cable to the amp is OK. took the HU out of the dash and was switching inputs from RCA's and doing whatnot and bass came out of nowhere.

The HU is doing weird things so i am afraid that its on its way back to Crutchfield.

 

[crow 10+ year member]

The Panasonic has adjustable internal crossovers for each set of outputs. A bad crossover setting could cause the problems you describe. It may not be that the head unit is defective, but that it was not adjusted properly by the installer.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

The Panasonic has adjustable internal crossovers for each set of outputs. A bad crossover setting could cause the problems you describe. It may not be that the head unit is defective, but that it was not adjusted properly by the installer.

Yeah, I found all the settings while reading the manual. There are the regular LP/HP controls ( Set correctly) and SW output controls. (Maxed) There is a control called SW-SBC that you can turn on and off with no noticable difference whatsoever. This is supposed to turn the sub on and off but it just keeps playing the same weak bass. A completely different setup comes up if you hold down the volume called CS Auto where you can set Tru-bass and Focus for all three outputs. True bass does nothing at all on any setting and focus just adds nasty highs while cutting midbass.

Problem is the sub output on this HU is very weak. Its putting out very little signal and all the sub settings are maxed. Somethings wrong...

I don't like this unit at all. Sure, you can play with the sound a hundred different ways but most of it sounds like ***.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

try hooking up like a portable CD player to the amp via a 3.5mm jack to RCA cord and see if its the amp.

Thanks for the replies.

Didn't think of that but me and the installer hooked up another amp ( Pioneer ) bridged using the connections and it played just the same, actually alittle weaker cause its not quite as much wattage. The installer says he knows the amp works.

I am leaning towards something wrong with this HU, simply because the TRU bass and the Sub on/off controls do nothing. However, I will try the CD player thing...

BTW. I bought those subs you recommended. Looks like it will be awhile before I hear them though...

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

I grabbed an old portable CD player and gave it a try. I had to go to walmart and buy a cable though, couldn't find one. ( Why is everything so difficult lately?)

Nothing wrong with the amp. Speakers played loud with the Cd player! Thanks for the idea!

Going to call Crutchfield. I don't want another of these HU's though.

Wonder how thats going to fly.

 

[vlad335 10+ year member]

Crutchfield's going to ship me another HU free and I can send back the other HU free as well.

Man I hope this ones OK.