Thread: School me on amp knowledge

Also, I had a 'next-level' question, which I originally had in the very first post, but got confused due to how the amp was supposed to be wired..

Since the external amp will be feeding the fronts, I'll have open/available ports on my HU where the stock front speaker wire USED to go...can I solder a wire from that outlet on the HU, to the speaker wire going to the rear speakers for extra power from the HU to the rear speakers? I have no idea if this is possible, but maybe someone knows.



Agreed, but for example, the stock bose system in my Maxima w/a Sony HU only, sounds pretty damn good imo. In fact, it's probably one of my favorite things about that car(which I'm selling). I only have the bass gain at +1 on that w/no bass boost or anything, this is why I know I don't need/want a sub. I know it will never get to headphone quality unless I spend a ton of $$, but it'd be nice to get it as close as possible with as little $$ as possible and I thought the best way to do this was get cheap rears and expensive fronts with an amp powering only the fronts. (this is for my b15 sentra btw that I'm talking about putting the amp and such in).

-G

No.

why?

G, the videos and article found here, Car Amplifiers: Articles & Videos should answer some of your questions. As far as trying to parallel your front source signal to your rear I doubt the $2 internal amp in the HU has sophisticated enough circuitry to put up with that and you may just cause a fire. If you are going through the effort of putting in a 2 channel amp, you may as well do a 4 channel. It will take a whole hour or so more for the rear speakers and you will be closer to getting the sound you're looking for.

I would also suggest component speakers as the frequency response is typically better and the isolation due to the crossover keeps things in their place.

Be advised, in the car audio realm Quality=Money... You gotta pay to play. Headphones are easier to design well for sound as that is their sole purpose in life. A car however, acoustic design takes a literal back seat.

EDIT: Just read that you already have components.

Some other ways to help you sound quality is sound dampening, baffling, sealing between the speaker and the mounting surface, upgrading (0 Oxygen copper and larger gauge) speaker wires and also make sure your grounds are good and conductive. This will add weight to the car though. Also look at tweeter placement. You want both drivers (speakers; woofer and tweeter) to be the same distance from your ears as possible. The most ideal speaker location in 10 degrees above your ears. This is not always possible in a car. There are HU made that can manipulate the signals to compensate for less than ideal driver distance but they typically hover around the $1k mark.

Awesome! Thanks for help everyone! I think all my questions are answered.

Cheers

12^2=144/6.54=22Watts from head unit
12^2-144/.480=300Watts from AMP

This would be considered a parallel circuit and the resistance would divide. So 6.54+.480=7.02+6.54=13.56, 6.54/13.56=.482Ohms. Now to find the Watts 12^2/.482= 298 watts. You would blow shit up.

I knew I should have went with my usual rule of not replying to audio on a car forum.

You will NEVER EVER EVER EVER......reproduce the sound of even shitty 2 dollar headphones in a car with SERIOUS investment.
This is one of the main reasons I stopped messing with car audio many years ago on a high end level.

Why??? because the automobile is one of the worst acoustic environments there is to try to get good sound.
If you are driving down the road...then it gets even worse as your car is sending a constant 120 hz or so in road noise.....so anything around that frequency range is cancelled out.
Think about it...headphones are not only right on your ear with NO reflections off glass,seats,people,etc....as well as blocking any outside noise.

So that being said,If you or anyone else can make a car system sound like a good pair of headphones(for a reasonable cost)....they will be a VERY RICH person.

As for the using the internal amp in the HU...they all suck .period.Forget about trying to use the speaker wires for anything more than "rear fill"

My advice and some basics
-get a good 4 channel amp.Forget the speaker level connections totally.
-get some decent sound deadening material for your doors at the very least .There are some lightweight easier to apply materials than dynamat available these days. I have been using this Cascade Audio Engineering – Sound Damping and Sound Blocking – Anything Else is a Compromise I like it because they have alot of easy to use and lightweight options avaiable at a reasonable price for everyday use.Butyl and tar based deadening materials can be heavy,messy,and expensive to use in my experience.
-Make sure the front of the speaker is sealed from the back(google"infinite baffle") for more info. This will allow the speaker to perform properly any leaks front to back around the speaker is detrimental to performance...especially lower frequencies.
-make sure your amp wires for power go down the opposite side of the car from speaker and rca wires as much as possible to avoid engine noise(whine)
-all grounds should be sanded to metal as well to also help avoid engine noise.

once those things are done you are ready to take it to the next level.

Typically its hard to have good low bass reproduction without a subwoofer.You dont need a trunk full of subs and a lotta boom to accomplish this.

well thats my opinion. Take it for what it is.....you will find some people agree others may not. I am just going off my past experiences ,and its possible there are some new practices that i am not aware of.

I hope this helps,good luck.

That's why I just said no. Too much info to cover @eggman. LOL

Got speakers and amp installed. Turned out exactly as I had hoped. Just the right amount of bass. Took some fiddling w/the amp and receiver to get the combo where I wanted it between the non-amped rear speakers and the amped fronts. Sounds great! Sound deadening door helped as well.

-G