Not sure how to go about upgrading

What vehicle is this going in?What kind and size/make of battery under the hood?have you done the Big 3 yet?

blenahan said:

Right! I thought I was forgetting something... It's going in a 2004 Honda civic EX with stock electrical. As for the battery, I just have a 12 volt Duralast group size 51.

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Gotcha. That battery isnt very big..You may want to look into adding another battery in the rear like a 34/78 to keep up with everything.Do the Big 3(you can view on how to do this on You Tube and do yourself..That Alternator you have may be a 90 amp at best?Kinda like my 99 CRV I had.I took the air box out and did a short air intake and made room for a Group 34/78 AGM under the hood,did Big 3 with 2 ga and 2 ga supply to another group 34/78 in rear and did fine. May look into that ELD By-pass, but you may be fine with power you are looking into.Just need try first before going to that extent. Ive had a few Hondas and acuras and had pretty decent results running a decent system in them without getting to caught up on like an HO alt, and was satisfied.I did the ELD By-pass in my CRV, It took a day to do it taking my time but was worth the effort.

blenahan said:

So you think I would need at least a second battery, upgrading the 3 wires, and probably a new alternator? How powerful of an alternator would I need? And should I just go with 0 gauge wire just to be safe?

If I wanted to avoid upgrading my electrical system, how much more power do you think I could draw from my stock electrical safely? Thank you so much for the help!

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I think you will be just fine with keeping your current battery under the hood and adding the 34/78 AGM battery at the rear alone for your 600.1 and the 4 ch amps.Just get the Big 3 Done in 0 ga, and make sure you get a good ground done(i recommend at the rear axle for rear battery). 0 ga supply  with a fused distro block at the rear, and an ANL fuse from front battery to rear battery, 0 ga ground to a solid distro block for grounding needs for the amps.0 ga on the Big 3. I think you will be fine to be honest.No need for an HO alternator for the power you are wanting to run.

As far as the stock electrical that you have(expecting a 90 amp alternator) I wouldnt go over 500-600 rms to be honest.Thats with pretty effecient class d amps or look into some decent 12v out put amplifiers. Just my experience with several Hondas.That 565cca(assuming/rounding off) battery and small alternator pretty much limits your electrical with possible issues/needs/power struggle/ starvation of what you are wanting with that vehicle.Just my experiences.

blenahan said:

Okay, so I know what I need to do now, now I need the equipment... Since I'm going to have to do more than what I was anticipating or hoping for, I'm afraid I'll have to get the speakers and amplifier at two different times. Do you have suggestions for 6.5 coaxial speakers that would be okay to run off of a DEH 80PRS for a while before I'm able to get the amp, battery and everything else? I'm looking to spend no more than $150 per set.

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or just get a $150 comp set for doors fade mostly to front until u get amp on them., some of us don't even use rears

blenahan said:

Hey everyone, 

I have a Crescendo Symphony 600.1 powering 2 SSA DCONs and am now planning on upgrading my speakers from stock. I want to get a second amp for them, but am unsure of what exactly I need to do. I was looking into getting a Crescendo S4, but I'm worried that would be I'd drawing too much power from my car's stock electrical system. How can I tell when I need to upgrade my the electrical before an issue forces me to upgrade? Additionally, I've been reading about using remote relays, do I need to use one for 2 amps?

If I don't need to upgrade my electrical system, how should I go about wiring the amps? Zero gauge wire from the battery to a distribution block with 2,4 gauge wires to the amps? Thank you all for the help!

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That's the way I did my two amps. 0AWG from the battery + and - to a dist block in the amp compartment then 4AWG to both amps.

Stock electricals in a 2006 Grand Caravan. I ran two 0AWGs to the pos and neg on the battery back to a dist block because of ground loopiong probs with the chassis gnd so I wanted to keep everything as equal as possible electronegatively speaking!!

John Kuthe...

blenahan said:

I like to have some sort of music coming from behind me, would it be a good idea to get comps for the front and coaxials for the rear deck just to put something there? and what speakers would you recommend that don't absolutely need an amp? (at least for a little while)

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i have sound qubed coaz they ok just make sure u have hu that has hp xover on speakers and many will sounds ok alpine, polk, rf, pioneer all have ok speakers for cheap.. look at db rating u want pretty efficient ones for hu power 92db is good.. also get silk dome tweeters u don't want cheaper tingy ones.. for rears u can just get a midrand no twwet don't want trebel behind u anyway.. i use cheap replacement dual cone speakers which means no real tweeter on it.. parts express has some grs  i think the brand is for like $14 each that'll work for rear again u need hu with hp xover to keep speakers from distorting with bass unless u amp them and it has xover but even then hu xover is better and easier

blenahan said:

I like to have some sort of music coming from behind me, would it be a good idea to get comps for the front and coaxials for the rear deck just to put something there? and what speakers would you recommend that don't absolutely need an amp? (at least for a little while)

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/Infinity-Kappa-60-11cs-540-Watt-6-5-2-Way-Car-Component-Speaker-System-6-1-2/201298199146?epid=217345714&hash=item2ede4ec26a:g:MloAAOxy3cJThmqj:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!75189!US!-1

I have a set of these and they sound very nice.Sound so much better with some power of course.With that HU you have, you should be able to tune pretty decent of the HU/settings until you get an amp.I myself like REAR Fill, not much is really needed(20-50 rms at best)I feel like passengers need something too riding in the back.I enjoy the surround effect as well as something across the dash.You can get something simple of a Coax to do rear fill.You can place an inline cap on them and run off HU power or in your case with the HU you have you can tune accordingly more than likely.Something like these should be fine and not break the bank

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kenwood-KFC-1666S-Sport-Series-300W-6-5-6-1-2-in-2-Way-Flush-Mount-Car-Speaker/282934358296?hash=item41e033b118:g:~poAAOSw8Sta23X-

These would sound very nice up front as well.I put a set in my neighbors Eclipse on the PPI Phantom 600.2 and they sound very nice for the money. https://www.ebay.com/itm/POLK-AUDIO-DB6501-COMPONENT-2-WAY-6-5-SPEAKER-SYSTEM-300W-MAX/312252208557?epid=69718392&hash=item48b3ae95ad:g:iwQAAOSwJGdbsQjl

For All 4 Drop Ins for Coax 6.5s, You cant go wrong with Polks in my opinion on HU power or supplying some amplified power.I have always enjoyed the DB series myself,the older 60 rms version and still have them and still run from time to time and sound very nice for the money .https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Polk-Audio-DB652-6-5-DB-Car-Speakers-Marine-ATV-UTV-Certified/302742886966?epid=15019578040&hash=item467ce1da36:g:jFsAAOSwCDZa~xN-

Just what Id recommend for the $150 range off HU power and to add amplifier power to later. Ive used and still have and use every speaker here Ive recommended no hear say or anything else.hertz Energy Coax are not too bad, sound fine and clean but a little pitchy for me. i like the Polks all around for the money though.At least you will get a little more bass response up front with them

blenahan said:

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to take a look at those. I've heard pretty good things about the polks, and they do seem to have one of the highest sensitivity rating so I might hop on those but I'm note entirely sure yet. If I were to get Polk comps up front, would you recommend getting the matching coaxials for the rear? Or should I just get something cheaper?

Now when you mention tuning with my headunit, what exactly do you mean by that? If I'm using a passive crossover for the comps, do I need additional tuning with the HU? Also, do coaxials require any sort of tuning? I didn't think they did.

Thanks for the help!

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The Polks area very good speaker to place as drop ins.With just a little deadening they will perform very nicely.I would go all Polk if it were me.Great price for them and they sound very nice. For the rear?? That Kenwood may be all you need if you are on a budget, and not much is really needed for rear fill lateron when adding subs in rear.You dont want to over power the rear stage to over run the front stage.20-30 rms will be more than you will ever need.You can run those off HU power with a Bass Blocker of which I recommend. Its all you will ever need.Kenwoods do serve just fine for that,but for the money, Id still place a Polk coax in the rear.

blenahan said:

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to take a look at those. I've heard pretty good things about the polks, and they do seem to have one of the highest sensitivity rating so I might hop on those but I'm note entirely sure yet. If I were to get Polk comps up front, would you recommend getting the matching coaxials for the rear? Or should I just get something cheaper?

Now when you mention tuning with my headunit, what exactly do you mean by that? If I'm using a passive crossover for the comps, do I need additional tuning with the HU? Also, do coaxials require any sort of tuning? I didn't think they did.

Thanks for the help!

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Tuning at the HU.. You always want to make adjustments for the speaker off the HU to clean as possible sound( Bass, treble,midrange and Htz settings) to clean things up.You should have some EQ adjustments on your HU and fading ect.Even using the passive x-overs or without.Id place some bass blockers on the rear coax to keep them from blowing/ getting too much bass tones and that way you only have to install one time and not have to pull them again later on to install running off HU power.Example of Bass Blockers..Its cheap and they do work

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XSCORPION-CAR-STEREO-BASS-BLOCKERS-6-5-6-X-8-SPEAKERS-400-HZ-CROSSOVERS-AUDIO/360882576148?hash=item5406471b14:g:StoAAOxy~dNTJCVx:sc:USPSFirstClass!75189!US!-1