Stereo help, need expert advise

Dear car experts, I appologize for the length of this post so i'll try and keep it short. I bought a 3000gt in ok condition a little while ago and it has some weird stuff done to it. The previous owner had an amp hooked up with factory speakers and a cd box set (i was told meant for a truck not additional speakers) and the thing was acting up (wining with a pitch to match the rpms of the engine and shutting off at moderately high volumes). I have since unplugged the stuff and installed my alpine head unit (cda 9830) into the dash with a little trouble only because of different wire colors.
I went to a stereo shop and they said they could get me 4 speakers, a small sub, and hook it all to the amp while getting rid of the extra wiring for $700 so I declined. He said the wining was because of bad wiring (factory not car wires) and the cutting out of the stereo was because of a blown speaker (the alpines will shut off if power output goes above or below a certain level, caused my a malfunctioning speaker).
From what I understand I can buy 4 speakers, 6.5' in the front, 6x9' in the back, and hook up a self amplified sub in the back for not too much money and that will solve all my problems. I know a little about wiring but nothing about stereo equipement. I would like some good sound but don't care about ear blasting volumes. Is one small sub enough and do they even make self amplified subs? Can these be plugged directly in the alpine? Is the cutting out because of the speakers? because it definetly cuts out without the amp or speaker box equiped, but the wining went away... Please anyone, send as much advise/information as possible.
Thank you very much for you're time
-confused and frustrated with a small wallet and lots of ambition-

I had the same noise with the high pitch going up and down with the rpm's.. it was the signal sent from the deck to my amp.. I just used better RCA cables.. as for the sub being self amplified.. I dont think they make car audio subs like that.. I might be wrong.. but I dont think so and if you want good clean sound and not much wait I would just get 1 ten inch and call her good

They do make self powered subs. Check ebay, I know one brand is Bazooka. What I did was put aftermarket Infinity 6x9's in the back and 6.5's in the front which was about $200. I bought a truck sub box and a Polk audio sub on sale for $44 (look around and you'll find great deals on quality subs). I then hooked up a 1000w sony Xplod amp which was about $159. The wiring was about $40. It sounds GREAT and is a lot cheaper than $700. Just do the work yourself, it's pretty simple.

The wining is because the wires that are hooked to the amp, (power and/or the wires from the head unit) are running to close to a high voltage source. most of the tim it is just because the wires from the head unit are laying right next to the power wire, sometimes its because they are too close to the heater core (not your case) or possibly some component of the engine (most likely your cause because the sound goes with the rpms.

In my experience self amped subs dont work that great but you be the judge...

Not sure about the radio cutting out... My gues though is that maybye one or more of the wire connections that you did when you put the new unit in is contacting something it is not supposed to be... did it cut out before you put the new head unit in?

ok that is all

The wining is because the wires that are hooked to the amp, (power and/or the wires from the head unit) are running to close to a high voltage source. most of the tim it is just because the wires from the head unit are laying right next to the power wire, sometimes its because they are too close to the heater core (not your case) or possibly some component of the engine (most likely your cause because the sound goes with the rpms.

That is why my radio made the noise as well. I used the RCA cables that have a protective shield on them.. basicly a 3rd wire that raps around the main wires keeping out other signals.

Ok, the wining makes sense if the wires were too close to a high voltage source in or near the engine, hence rpms. And RCA cables i have heard somewhere before would solve the problem. I will definetly look into those, any idea how much they cost? As for the cutting out. The stereo it came with wasn't hooked up so I didn't test it out, but I don't think it worked anyway (There was a weird looking bubble permanently on the screen and possibly a reason it wasn't hooked up when i got the car) As for the wiring I would like to think that one high school course in electrical wiring would let me hook it up without trouble but I can't say for sure I didn't mess something up. I did pull the bundle back out and look for metal touching and didn't see anything though, I taped everything up pretty nice. If it is from a malfuntioning speaker it makes sense that it cuts out at a specific volume like clockwork, which only varies by cd, but that would also make sense if I didn't get the power wires touching well enough. I very much doubt I didn't get the power wires touching well enough since I installed that same stereo in my staturn when I got it and it worked fine, but if I buy the speakers tomorrow (finding a store that sells infinities might be difficult) I'll let you know if it still cuts out as soon as I get them installed. Any specific types of infinities or are they all good? Thank you guys so much for you're help and I'm going to try and find out what kind of amp I have and if it's any good for what i'm trying to do. Thanks again

two small 350 watt Zeuz subs are in the box, worth hooking up or should I just go to a stereo store and get the good stuff?
the amp is a 200 watt 4 channel Drive Series Crunch or something
is that any good for running a sub or two through it?

Well not to toot my own horn, but I feel, in my own opinion, that I can give you the best advice as I always do my own install work, and have been doing it for years, and my system has been hailed as one of the best they have ever heard.

First of all, I can let you know (this has already been mentioned) that the whine is because your RCA cables are too close to the power cable, causing the whine. Most people wire the power on one side of the vehicle, and the RCA's on the other side.

Secondly, you can install aftermarket speakers WAY WAY easily on your own vehicle, plus since you are doing it yourself, you can make sure it's done right. Getting to the back speakers take a bit, but it's no big deal. You simply take off the back seat, and the plastic covers to the side of the rear seat, and the 6x9's are easily replaced. The fronts are even easier. Simply remove the interior door panel and unscrew the old speakers, and screw in the new ones. (obviously you want to wire the speakers up before you screw them in though :) )

With regards to the subs, the type/size depend on what you want to accomplish. I wanted to accomplish the most bass for what space I have, so I went with 2 12" Kicker L7 solobaric subs, and my amplifier is a 1500W Hifonish Brutus amp. My box is a custom ported box. If you want to see what it looks like, check the link in my sig.

If you want something simple, that is fine, however I would recommend you visit www.3si.org/forum and look up smokin-vr4 as he makes custom boxes for the 3000gt/stealth, and they are all done to spec and are perfect. The box I have now was made by him, and there are only 3 in existance :)

BTW, when you choose a sub and amp combo, you want to make sure the subs and the amp will wire correctly for the best load. you want to know the OHM load on the sub, and if it's DVC or SVC (dual voice coil or single voice coil). You also want to know what the max power for your amp is under a certain ohm load (ie my amp is 1500W @ 1 ohm) It's important because if you buy a 2 ohm DVC sub it can be wired into a 1 ohm load (by running parallel wiring) or a 4 ohm load (by running series), and buying an amp that does max power at 2 ohms would not suit you at all. Make sure you get the right combo!!!

Yeah i just looked at the amp that came with the car and its a crunch ds-450 with 4 channels and a miserable 200 watts. Now I'm not looking for volume at all, just quality sound, but I'm guessing this thing is no good for powering any subs worth a damn. As for now I'm gonna go out and get the 4 infinities which were suggested and install them (and wire them) myself which doesn't sound bad at all as long as I can get my hands on a screw driver and a wire cutter. Then I'll go and look at some amp/sub combos and how much they cost. The custom box sounds like a great idea if I can come up with the cash (I was thinking home depot and a hand saw). Also when I do get the amp I'll wire the RCAs on the left side of the car because whatever the guy used is definetly on the right side right now. That will get rid of the wine right? Also, is it easy to run the wires through the car myself without taking off much more than the interior panels? It doesn't look too bad besides getting it through the dash to the door... but I have no idea how to go about doing that.

Thanks everyone for the adivse, in the past hours I've learned so much about how to solve the problems and how I should pick a new system to install. The only question that remains is whether a faulty speaker is causing the shut off but I'll know tomorrow when I install the new ones (if I can find them). Would low level alpine speakers give me the same bang for buck? Because I know those are easy to find if I can't get my hands on infinities. Thanks again, you guys are awsome.

Most all Infinty's are good. I'd either get the reference or kappa perfects.

Thanks dude, which did you put in your car for 200?

I put the Infinity reference series (which work great with subs because they can be very loud without distortion is they are set up correctly with your deck) 6x9's in the back and the 6.5's in the front all for $200.

Excellent, I'm going tomorrow to try and find those exact speakers.

Yeah there nice, but when you install the 6x9's in the back you will have to cut part of that black speak venting tube. No big deal just an FYI is you get those speakers. Good luck.

thanks

Another thing (I know), 3si website has some nice intructional pics on installing these thing along with some useful tips.

ok, i'll check it out

I wouldnt say that the speaker replacement is "easy" especially in the rear, however their isnt anything more satisfying than knowing you did it yourself because you learn alot. Nothing irritates me more than when i am talking to someone about their stereo and they only know the models because the guys at the shop picked the parts and installed them. I can always tell you every spec, detail and pain that went into my systems because I installed them. Next up is my VR4, the door panels are fairly standard in removal but the rear takes some extra work from what I have seen.

Chris Good is right. I didn't think those rear speakers were terribely easy to put in. I had to remove part of the back seat, the side panels, the seat belts, and then but part of the speaker ventilation off so that it would fit. Expect the second 6x9 to go in much faster than the first though just for the fact you know exactly what you are doing and you already have all the right tools in front of you.

Yeah I just started pulling the door panel off to see what was under there and I think I wound up breaking some dumb plastic clip or something, so now I'm gonna see if I can't find some diagrams or instructions online for exactly how to go about doing it just so i don't wind up snapping anything important.

So did you get the Infinity Reference series?

nope unfortunetly, both stores I went to were sold out and the last resorts like walmart didn't even sell car audio. I'm lookin on ebay though and with shipping they'll be around 70 for the 6.5 and 90 for the 6x9s plus some for shipping. Im assuming you got the 180 peak watt references 6012Is? and 9612Is? For a little more I could step up to kappas with 225 watt peak, worth the extra dough?

"Im assuming you got the 180 peak watt references 6012Is? and 9612Is? " Elon
Yes I did. You should be happy with the reference series but it is your choice. The kappa I believe have better bass handling, but if you are getting a sub there is no point. The references go loud and crisp without distortion.

Awsome, references on e-bay it is. Thank you for all the help

No problem.