• 5
    Participant count
  • Participants list

BigSachsy1
10+ year member

CarAudio.com Recruit
So I have 2 12s in my 01 suburban and my midbass is ****. Everything else is pretty good. No tweeters except in the 2 coaxials in my front 2 doors. 2 skar fsx65s in the rear doors.

After I do the big 3 (current alt is 130 amp) and (maybe) a HO alt, I need to do a 4 channel (I think) to my doors. So what I'm asking is:

Do I need a HO alt after I do the big 3? Current amp is 1200 watt rms, the DC 1.2k. 

Was planning on running 2 more skar 6.5s up front, so would be 600 more watts rms. Each 6.5 is 150 watts rms and I've got my kenwood Kmm-bt325u head unit running all of my door speakers. I disconnected all of my tweeters. Can I use a 2 channel for my door speakers or does it have to be a 4 channel? How do my tweeters fit into all of this? My head unit has crossover settings, so would I still need a signal processor?

I have some epdm-1034 pond liner, 45 mil, unused from a jobsite that I was planning on using as MLV in my doors, good or bad idea?

I have some pictures of what my system looks like on my page.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
So I have 2 12s in my 01 suburban and my midbass is ****. Everything else is pretty good. No tweeters except in the 2 coaxials in my front 2 doors. 2 skar fsx65s in the rear doors.

After I do the big 3 (current alt is 130 amp) and (maybe) a HO alt, I need to do a 4 channel (I think) to my doors. So what I'm asking is:

Do I need a HO alt after I do the big 3? Current amp is 1200 watt rms, the DC 1.2k. 

Was planning on running 2 more skar 6.5s up front, so would be 600 more watts rms. Each 6.5 is 150 watts rms and I've got my kenwood Kmm-bt325u head unit running all of my door speakers. I disconnected all of my tweeters. Can I use a 2 channel for my door speakers or does it have to be a 4 channel? How do my tweeters fit into all of this? My head unit has crossover settings, so would I still need a signal processor?

I have some epdm-1034 pond liner, 45 mil, unused from a jobsite that I was planning on using as MLV in my doors, good or bad idea?

I have some pictures of what my system looks like on my page.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks!
i'd move the coaxials to the rear, leave them on head unit power. Get a 4 channel amp something like a pioneer gm 8704 or taramps ds 1200.4. Put all the power to the front.  tweets on channel 1 and 2, mids on 3 and 4. If your head unit is a pioneer with network mode then you dont need a DSP, just run active from the head unit.  

Add a voltmeter and monitor voltage drops before you upgrade any electrical. 

 
Yes a HO will help muchly. Think of it as the main source of your electrical.

What HU do you have?

Take Jeff's suggestion.

 
i'd move the coaxials to the rear, leave them on head unit power. Get a 4 channel amp something like a pioneer gm 8704 or taramps ds 1200.4. Put all the power to the front.  tweets on channel 1 and 2, mids on 3 and 4. If your head unit is a pioneer with network mode then you dont need a DSP, just run active from the head unit.  

Add a voltmeter and monitor voltage drops before you upgrade any electrical. 
Im going to have to replace the coaxials or build gaskets to do that, I tried but the magnet causes my rear windows to only go down half way. I have a stinger voltmeter I need to install one of these days. My voltage stays around 13.8-14 on my dash, but drops close to 12 when I have deep bass hitting for a little bit. 

So get a 4 channel and aftermarket tweets and run them up front with the skars? I have my door tweets and rear tweets disconnected. I have a kenwood head unit 

 
Im going to have to replace the coaxials or build gaskets to do that, I tried but the magnet causes my rear windows to only go down half way. I have a stinger voltmeter I need to install one of these days. My voltage stays around 13.8-14 on my dash, but drops close to 12 when I have deep bass hitting for a little bit. 

So get a 4 channel and aftermarket tweets and run them up front with the skars? I have my door tweets and rear tweets disconnected. I have a kenwood head unit 
buy 1 to 2 inch spacers or make MDF bafffles or say f**k you to rears completely.  You dont need rears when your fronts can be heard several football fields away. Fully powering your mids is way more important than trying to run extra speakers and splitting the amp power, your overall sound quality and loudness potential just tanks hard if you do that. 

Saw a bunch on Amazon for under 200 bucks and claiming amperage of around 250. Want to do that here in a couple of weeks. I have a Kenwood head unit, Kenwood Kmm-bt325u 
garbage alts, buy from trusted companies that are known and tested to make proper amperage with good customer service and longevity/reliablility in their products.I'd say big 3 and 2nd agm battery to the rear would be an alternative option to the alt if budget is an issue. 

I'd say big 3 and 2nd agm battery to the rear would be an alternative option to the alt if budget is an issue you can get a really good group 31 duracell platinum from sears which is a rebadged deka for 189. 

Your head unit is not active capable. You'll need to buy tweeters that come with an inline crossover. I'd recommend massive CT2s avoid any skar tweeters, they sound horrible i've heard almost every line they have all junk. 

You might also want an adjustable low pass capable amp. Those skars play higher frequencies and sound absolutely nasty when you go louder without any control. You need to basically say stfu stupid fsxs and play only midrange/midbass. I've tuned like 5 setups with the FSXs. All of them needed from 2500hz low pass to 4000hz low pass at various slopes to sound good its different with each vehicle.  I'd highly recommend swapping your kenwood for a pioneer mvh- S512BS Its the same price bracket as your kenwood but is 1000x better, 4 volt pre-outs, network mode capabilities and with the smart sync app you have a 30 band EQ you can work with if you wanted. Thats definitely what you need in the future if you want any resemblance of sound quality/loud and clean in your setup.   

What the low pass would do is let you play a lot louder, your mids, instruments and male vocals will be stronger and louder, your female vocals will be just as loud(vs overly loud sharp and blaring with weak male vocals) There will be an overall smooth blend between mid and tweeter which is key. You'll also be able to throw a lot more power to them and get really loud while sounding really good. Vs just loud and sound like total ****.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Went ahead and copped the pioneer mvh-s512bs. Gonna be here Wednesday, cant wait to install. Hopefully i dont need a new wire harness, doesnt look like i will. I installed my stinger voltmeter in the blank spot beneath the onstar(pics coming) and i put 5 amp fuses on the ground and power. Tapped all three to the power, rmt and gnd on my amp. Will probably connect the rmt to the pioneer when i swap it in for the kenwood.

Working on the new alt. Might just do another battery as i have plenty of space in the rear.
 
Also, something has been draining my power...when i turn it on its barely above 9 or 10 volts..started recently after i put in the VM..could be anything tho
 
I have this same hu pioneer you just ordered, upgraded to the massive ct2’s and running active in the front on a similar 4 channel and completely disconnected my rears.
The outcome is gnarly better and light years louder.

I think suburbans come with bigger factory alts right...150 or so right? That said, do your big 3 first and grab an agm battery before you go the alternator route. Musically, you may not need one. Big three and a primary agm will be vital upgrades alternator or not so might as well do them first
 
20190812_112810-jpg.18019
 

Attachments

  • 20190812_112810.jpg
    20190812_112810.jpg
    408.3 KB · Views: 488
  • 20190812_120220.jpg
    20190812_120220.jpg
    503.2 KB · Views: 304
  • 20190812_120117.jpg
    20190812_120117.jpg
    552.7 KB · Views: 274
I have this same hu pioneer you just ordered, upgraded to the massive ct2’s and running active in the front on a similar 4 channel and completely disconnected my rears.
The outcome is gnarly better and light years louder.

I think suburbans come with bigger factory alts right...150 or so right? That said, do your big 3 first and grab an agm battery before you go the alternator route. Musically, you may not need one. Big three and a primary agm will be vital upgrades alternator or not so might as well do them first
The stock output is 140 for the 2001 year iirc. The only reason im at 130 is cause i scewed mine up switching out amps (the pwr and gnd touched, sparked, caught onto a screw and were connected to each other by way of dryway screw for like 2 or 3 seconds.)

Im wondering how much wire connecting im going to have to do on the new HU or if it will plug in with the current aftermarket harness.

I have all of the 4ga to do it (stinger and jl, abour 10 or 12 ft) the 100 amp fuse, just need a fuse holder, some replacement battery posts, terminal connectors, ect

Was about to get the massive ct2s and run them with my skar fsx's but these massive audio component sets caught my eye, as well as some ct sounds sets and a few others.

I never realized how important mids and highs were til they were gone.

I was (blissfully ignorantly) spoiled in my first setup: jl 2 8w3d6's [40$ from a friend] 1 600 watt sony xplo 4 channel [60$ from the pawn shop] a sony deck [10$ from a friend] and the employee discount on install at car toys. Man it was a sq system for the ages. But until about 6 months ago, i had never known why and still wouldnt
 
-U just bought a network capable hu, if you were gonna buy a Comp set u coulda kept the Kenwood

-Use a four channel. Significantly smarter than a two channel. Tweeter on fronts mid drivers on rears

- no comp set or the fsx reuse . Ur paying for a passive crossover you don’t need. Also the FSx is a coax so no you’d want a dedicated midrange driver

Pay attention to the feedback ur getting and quit jonesing to buy the wrong gear. We’re helping you optimize $mart
 
Yeah i was gonna say forget the skars and get the comp set. They were only 20 a piece. I didnt know that or i SURELY would have gotten the comp set instead and kept the kenwood. I will probably do that. Just did all of my DTA settings and threw some more deadner on my doors. It sounds alot better.
 
The plan was get the CT2s and run them with the skar on a 4 channel. Then i saw all of the comp sets and figure they probably sound better anyway.
 
-U just bought a network capable hu, if you were gonna buy a Comp set u coulda kept the Kenwood

-Use a four channel. Significantly smarter than a two channel. Tweeter on fronts mid drivers on rears

- no comp set or the fsx reuse . Ur paying for a passive crossover you don’t need. Also the FSx is a coax so no you’d want a dedicated midrange driver

Pay attention to the feedback ur getting and quit jonesing to buy the wrong gear. We’re helping you optimize $mart
I got the HU cause i figured it was the most important piece of what was said to me minus the big 3 and new alt
 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...
Old Thread: Please note, there have been no replies in this thread for over 3 years!
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Similar threads

First of all you would want to verify that it works. Next, don't expect to get much out of it. There's a rather finite life expectancy on...
3
1K
Is the battery terminal clean? You have refreshed fuses and connections so only thing left is that terminal and ground point. If it is a car/suv...
8
1K
Thanks for the input. Much appreciated. The dsp is an afterthought. I haven't installed anything yet but I put a budget system together. I already...
2
120
I have a bunch of amp but the sundown and the skar are two highest wattage ones. what amp would be needed to be enough for that skar 15" i thought...
18
428
That is correct. I like these as they are twisted pair and the RCA ends are thick and grip quite nicely...
9
321

About this thread

BigSachsy1

10+ year member
CarAudio.com Recruit
Thread starter
BigSachsy1
Joined
Location
Centennial, CO
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
32
Views
3,518
Last reply date
Last reply from
BigSachsy1
Screenshot 2024-03-07 184329.png

Doxquzme

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
IMG_3075.jpeg

Daniel Lee

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top