Systems

Motts said:
I've been installing for over 5 yrs and have never hooked an amp up through the battery besides the pos +
In which I am actually a certified installer.. I do custom installs, fiberglass, etc... :Beer :Beer
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I've been installing for over five years, and have a degree in engineering.
:Beer
 
yes you can do it.. but you Tend to get engine noise through the speakers, which causes you to have to install a ground loop converter.. I didnt say you were wrong.. its just a pain in the ass.. and the ground wire typically for that size of an amp.. say 500watts shouldnt be longer then 10-12in"..
 
pour me another one said:
Wow, I hope you're not serious. You do realize that the frame of the car is the same as the battery, polarity wise? The only reason people ground their amps to the metal of the car because its more cost effective then buying 17 ft of ground and running it to the battery. The whole car is "-" negative, thats why they ground it. There is no difference if you run a ground to the battery or to the frame, its the same thing, the frame acts as the ground wire, which is connected to the batterr "-". Have you ever installed an amp in a BMW, where the battery is in the trunk? Theres no difference if you connect it directly to the "-" battery post or screw it in two inches away to the frame. Have you ever worked on older Mercedes that have "common ground" systems? Every negative terminal of the speaker is connected to the frame.
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Exactly :Beer
 
Motts said:
yea just didnt want to see your amp go "Boom" lol wouldnt be a good idea.. what type of amp are you gona be running.. what type of speakers, type of box? what guage wire?
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I have two sets of amps/subs. The first set (which I am hoping my brother who is out of the country didn't take) is a 200W RockFos punch amp with 2 12" subs located in a box. The other is just a cheap amp I picked up from a friend at work.......I want to say Lightning audio with a 12" Lightning Audio sub in an enclosure.

The RockFos was used in my Explorer I used to drive and was keeping it at my brothers place. The other unit is in my old 85 Mustang GT convert (not exactly much room in the trunk which is why I went with the cheapo amp/sub. Also, at the time I didn't have a lot of money so it was good enough for the time). They both sounded good though. The way I figure it, I can always upgrade at a later date if I want more sound, right? As for now, I think I will save my money for repairing my car when it decides to break down. As for the gauge of wire.....I'm not quite sure on that. All the wires came with the sub/amp. Thanks for the questions though! :Beer
 
This is an anwser to all of you guys that are talking about a ground issue. I am an MECP certified installer and I just found my MECP study guide book. Here is what it says about grounding the systems componets:

FINDING A GOOD GROUND:
Finding a good ground can be trickey.
  • The best ground point in a vehicle is a place with good physical connection to the same metal that the vehicle battery ground itself shares. Make sure that it has the same ground poential as the battery ground, however it doesn't necessarily have to physically connect to the battery ground point. Think of the chassis and the body metal of the car as one extremely large gauge wire connecting the ground of the battery to other vehicle accessories.
So in the end you ALL are right. I have 3 kicker amps all hooked up to my 2nd battery and have NO ground loops. No engine noise but I have had some problems with this on other amps/ cars.
 
Motts / or anyone else for that fact...

Have you ran the same system with the stock and then gone to an aftermarket. Percent wise, what was the sound difference.

(I know there no mathematical answer).

I've got my complete system out of my last car but would like to keep the stock head it it will sound almost as good.

Asim
 
Asim said:
Motts / or anyone else for that fact...

Have you ran the same system with the stock and then gone to an aftermarket. Percent wise, what was the sound difference.

(I know there no mathematical answer).

I've got my complete system out of my last car but would like to keep the stock head it it will sound almost as good.

Asim
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an aftermarket head unit will make a big difference, i think most will agree with me on this.. your not distorting your speakers by running the LOC off of them... you'll have an actualy set of RCAS, and you can control more wrather then just bass/trebble/fade/balance.. you can control your subs....

aftermarket head unit
AUX inputs in the rear, 3 RCA pre-outs for front/rear/subwoofer, EQ support, all that stuff... there's a lot of MP3 capable decks now so that won't be an issue.
better CD specs can mean better sound quality. For example, the higher the CD signal-to-noise ratio, the cleaner the sound. And a CD receiver with a wider frequency response has more detailed sound. These specs are especially noticeable when using component amplifiers.
High power — with a very few exceptions, today's in-dash CD receivers all have built-in 4-way high power. When reviewing CD receivers, be sure to check the "RMS" wattage; it's a more accurate reflection of a built-in amp's real-world performance
Sensitive AM/FM tuner — aftermarket AM/FM tuners perform better than the ones in factory-supplied radios. Satellite radio controls — for state-of-the-art radio entertainment, look for satellite radio controls. This lets you connect the hardware to receive the digital broadcasts of XM Satellite Radio or Sirius Satellite Radio.
Tone shaping — all CD receivers have some form of tone-shaping, starting with simple bass and treble controls. And most CD receivers offer one or more of these features:
loudness for fuller sound at low volumes
bass boosts or bass enhancers for punchy bottom end
preset EQ curves for one-touch sound contouring
multi-band equalizers for precision fine-tuning
digital signal processing for reconstructing your vehicle's acoustic environments.
Security features — to help protect your investment, today's CD receivers offer many choices in theft deterrence:
detachable faces for take-it-with-you peace of mind
stealth-type faces that disguise the receiver to foil would-be thieves
"smartcards" that must be inserted for the receiver to work
programmable security codes
built-in alarms.
Preamp outputs — multiple sets of preamp outputs make it easier to install component amplifiers and subwoofers.
Many CD receivers have an auxiliary input (or the option to add one), so you can plug in even more sources of on-road entertainment:
a portable MP3, MiniDisc, or cassette player
a plug-and-play satellite radio tuner (some tuner/controller packages also have RCA audio outputs)
the audio outputs of a mobile DVD or videocassette player
the audio outputs of a TV tuner.

I'm sure someone will have something else to say.. :Bang
 
That's what i thought. Just concerned about a clean looking dash.

I've seen a few pics of guys with aftermarket decks and the car still looks good. I'm having the sub enclose built this week and ordered extra carpet so I can build a panel to make it look like the trunk ends at the sub on the left, amp on the right. (will take pics when done). Paying to have the components put in. 6.5 in a 5X7 opening can't be easy, plus I want to put the tweeters in the top part of the door panel and don't trust myself cutting the leather.
 
heres my previous system in the ls.. i know have a fiberglass install. i'll post pics when i have some free time at home..

system16.jpg
 
itsnotmydaddys said:
motts wheres my list
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almost done its at home i'm :Beer :Beer :Beer still at work biaaatch.... you'll have it tonite..
 
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