Another Sound System Thread

[Bodyshield]

ok well let me start off I have a general understanding of what it takes for the sound system as I had on in my old 94 towncar. On this lincoln I'm trying to go clean, custom but stock from first approach. I've been keeping up with the sound project ls thread but have a couple of questions.

I have an 05 V8 ultimate (thx, etc)

1) I'm looking to keep my stock nav unit and I know I can add the ipod hookup and all the but does the headunit have the output for the subs or is it a lost cause (since everyone here goes aftermarket headunit)?

2) for those of you who have sound systems, have any of you had a problem with the alternator (power) or the dimming of lights on high power usage (i know depends on strength of setup). if so who makes a high output alternator?

3) have any of you kept the stock THX sound system (speakers/subs) and added the subs (whether u kept the stock unit or not)?

I was thinking two tens would be sufficient and would point them towards the back of the rear seats. has anyone heard of a lot of headaches due to the waves being directed towards the front rather than the back?

I did a sarch but I can only see so much as I'm on my PPC and the 3" screen sucks on some sites

thanks in advance for any help guys

 

[pelphrey]

1) You can buy a voltage divider which you will use the positive and negative wire for one of the speakers in the car and the voltage divider will change the signal to an RCA output. This is realy easy to do. You will need to either find switched power behind the radio or at a fuse box to turn the amp on and off.

2) I am running a memphis 1100 watt class d amp and I see the occasional headlight dimming going on from time to time. I however have a "cheap" battery in the car for now, replacing that should solve my problem. I haven't researched alternators for the LS so I am no help there.

In my own honest opinion you will want to face the subs towards the rear of the car, its going to have a better sound.

 

[Eric0508]

3) have any of you kept the stock THX sound system (speakers/subs) and added the subs (whether u kept the stock unit or not)?

This is me. I kept the stock subs and added a single 10" alpine. The sub signals come off of the stock sub signals. I put in a switch to allow changing between the stock subs and the alpine.

 

[ChrisTheBest]

Depending on the Power of the Sub (Example. Kicker L7 is 1500 watt's @ 1,000 Watts RMS AMP if you are seeing dimming, you might want to add a drycell battery and a cap. I did that, but im pushing a 5,000 watt 2500 watt RMS sub with a 1440 RMS Class D amp. Also has to do with what guage wiring your using.

 

[Bodyshield]

This is me. I kept the stock subs and added a single 10" alpine. The sub signals come off of the stock sub signals. I put in a switch to allow changing between the stock subs and the alpine.

how many watts r u running and did u do urs as mentioned above?

are the subs in our car really that low of a wattage?

so if you take the signals from the subs, and u adjust the bass on the unit will it adjust on the aftermarket subs?

 

[Bodyshield]

Depending on the Power of the Sub (Example. Kicker L7 is 1500 watt's @ 1,000 Watts RMS AMP if you are seeing dimming, you might want to add a drycell battery and a cap. I did that, but im pushing a 5,000 watt 2500 watt RMS sub with a 1440 RMS Class D amp. Also has to do with what guage wiring your using.

correct me if I'm wrong but one number is the maximum (ie the highest amount of power it could handle w/o blowing) and the other is the optimal/normal rating. so if ur amp can only do 1400 watts then essentially u can't blow ur sub....in my old lincoln I ran a 0 gauge kit.

 

[Eric0508]

how many watts r u running and did u do urs as mentioned above?

are the subs in our car really that low of a wattage?

so if you take the signals from the subs, and u adjust the bass on the unit will it adjust on the aftermarket subs?

Im only running like 250 watts rms, Its not much, but i never wanted brain rattling bass. Yes, when i adjust the bass on the stock head unit it adjusts it for the aftermarket sub. There isn't any dimming with my system.

 

[ChrisTheBest]

correct me if I'm wrong but one number is the maximum (ie the highest amount of power it could handle w/o blowing) and the other is the optimal/normal rating. so if ur amp can only do 1400 watts then essentially u can't blow ur sub....in my old lincoln I ran a 0 gauge kit.

Correct, RMS stands for "Root Mean Square", which means finding the average amount of power an amplifier can continuously produce. The Peak Watt's is always greater and is the max amount of how much juice the sub can handle. The kicker Solo-X is 5,000 Peak Watts RMS is 2500. so I can rig it to have 2500 watt's of pure power to it with out it blowing, But i could rig 5,000 watt amp to it with out blowing as long as its not maxed out all the time.
My point was with more power being drawn to the amp it would steal the power from the battery with out a cap and drycell set up. But with 250 watt's you wouldnt have a problem at all. My old set up was a Kicker L7 12" with a 750 Watt Class D and I had no dimming at all. The LS Alternator handles extra powersource's well.