car stereo stuff

wookiesZ28 · #1 02-17-2004, 09:40 AM

this car stereo stuff is a total head scratcher and shoulder shrugger to me. All I know is that an amp amplifies the bass. But here's my situation.

I have a 98 Z28 with the monsoon sound system factory installed. I have on the way a 10" JL sub with a custom box for the space in the left quarter panel. Do I HAVE to have an amp for this? if so how do you wire it into the system. (the previous thread about that subject baffled me). If I don't HAVE to have one, how do I wire in the sub? Doesn't the monsoon system already have amps? Is there already a sub with the system that I can't find? How else does that system get such good bass. From what I can tell all the speakers are only 4" speakers. Please someone help me out.

Oh, and on the subject what would be a good but affordable amp for the one sub? I don't need anything overpowering, but I like to listen to a good system if you know what I mean!

Thanks for the help fellas/and ladies! (See I remembered)

Dan

Chevyracincamaro · #2 02-17-2004, 04:01 PM

you will need an amp to power the sub. generally what i recommend is get an amp that is made by the same people that make the subs, equipment generally works best with its own kind. however, since you got a JL and their amps are pretty pricey id go with what i think is the next best thing, alpine. check out www.etronics.com and you can find a nice alpine amp for pretty cheap. good rule of thumb with car audio: if they sell it at best buy, dont buy it!

Genopsyde · #3 02-17-2004, 09:51 PM

alpine??? pew, get a fosgate.

Chevyracincamaro · #4 02-17-2004, 11:15 PM

rockford stopped knowing what they were doing back in the 90's. they used to make really good product but now their quality has gone down and the only reason why their stuff sells is because of the name brand. alpine has better technology and better power ratings for the money. just my three cents...

i just realized that this guy wanted to know how to wire the system and no one has said anything, sorry. its pretty simple, not too difficult. you run a power wire from the battery back to your amp. whatever store or shop you go to to get the wiring kit will be able to tell what gauge you need if you tell them how many watts you intend to push. run the power from the battery, then find a good, bare metal ground in your truck somewhere. the ideal situation is to run the ground wire back to the engine bay and ground the system to the engine block, but its not necessary. if you need to, grind off some paint around a steel bolt in the trunk. once you hook that up, pull out your head unit and splice the blue remote wire into the remote acc wire on the back or your unit. your also going to need to plug a set of R/C cables into the head unit and then into the amp. all this stuff is described in paperwork with the amp, and all the cables should be included in an amp wiring kit...with the camaro, i have found that the ideal route to run the wires is on the passenger side, under the floor trim. you have to partially pull out the carpet and reach you hand way up under the dash to get to the firewall port, but i dont really think there's a better way. its a little easier if you pull out the ECU from the engine bay cause the firewall port is right under it.

important:
disconnect the battery before you even think of doing any work, im sure you know that but just want to make sure
make sure that when you are connecting the wires the amp itself, that you touch bare metal to ground any static electricity that you have charged up, it can do some nasty stuff to your amp

sorry for the length and the briefness (dont know how i pulled that off) come back if you need more...

Hypsi87 · #5 02-18-2004, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chevyracincamaro

rockford stopped knowing what they were doing back in the 90's. they used to make really good product but now their quality has gone down and the only reason why their stuff sells is because of the name brand. alpine has better technology and better power ratings for the money. just my three cents...

.

Yea I have an old school fosgate power series class-d monoblock 1000w RMS for my one boston acoustics 12" pro-series and a Old school 924w RMS 4 channel amp for my 6x9's and for my door/ dash speekers. The new fosgate stuff can't compete with the older ones. Allthought the older ones were alot more expensive.

Zwrangler · #6 02-19-2004, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genopsyde

alpine??? pew, get a fosgate.

scratch that, get Fusions

Genopsyde · #7 02-19-2004, 08:25 AM

there's always good ole Crossfire.

burnM · #8 02-19-2004, 07:54 PM

Check out fcsurplus.com- it's where I get all of my car audio. It may not be the best equipment on the market, but if you really look at the bang for the buck you might like it.
I currently run a JVC kameleon head unit, Legacy 1200 watt amp, stinger wiring, 400w 4 way Pyramid gold 6x9 rear, 160w 4x6 Pyramid gold 3 way front,and 2 Legacy 600w subs in a bandpass box.
It is not the newest technology, but I think I get some nice sound from it.
The amplifier I picked up for around 300 bucks cdn.
The box and subs came out to about 150 cdn. That's a damn good deal imo!
Check out the site guys, it may be worth a look!

Chevyracincamaro · #9 02-19-2004, 10:30 PM

my amp is an alpine class d sub amp and i paid 150 for it (retails at 350, i love the internet). just cause to dont have much loot doesnt mean you have to buy a cheap product. www.etronics.com is an awsome sight to go to for pretty much anything, particularly car audio...

wookiesZ28 · #10 02-21-2004, 07:25 PM

Thanks for all of the info! I was going to ask, then I saw someone already mentioned the crossfire amps. My friend has a 300W 2-way crossfire amp. He said it retails for 700 or did retail. But he'll give it to me for 150. Anyone think this would be a good deal? I know he took good care of the amp. He never overpowered it. And he used it for a 15" Kicker (Which by the way is for sale also if anyone wants it)

Genopsyde · #11 02-22-2004, 01:56 AM

i was very happy with my crossfire amp, wish i still had it

wookiesZ28 · #12 02-23-2004, 12:52 PM

Hey..check out ebay for the crossfire amps. I know it's iffy for buying amps, but there's a few on there that's about 50 bucks each. worth taking a look (supposed to be brand new too).

Another question for this stereo thing! I took off (don't know what to call it) the inner panel on the left quarter panel in the trunk in my 98 Z28. It's the panel with the speaker in it. But I noticed that there's more wires ran with the speaker wires with a connector at the end of it. I have no idea what they are for. There's six wires going into this connecter, three a little bigger than the other three. the three big ones are orange, black, and...dang..don't know, but the three small ones have the colors with the white stripe down one side, like the speaker wires have. Is this already set up for an amp? I know it won't be able to handle a powerful amp because the wires are too small....but what are these for?!

Chevyracincamaro · #13 02-23-2004, 01:06 PM

they are prolly run from the factory amps in the monsoon system. if you put in an aftermarket head unit you will have to get a converter that will allow the head unit to work with the factory amps. ive been told that if you dont get the converter than you have to rewire the speakers to the new head unit. not too sure about how the monsoon is setup, never had to deal with it, but if you want to put the system in you might want to look into getting the converter so you wont have to worry about buying amps for your speakers. i have the bose system that came in the 94s and the amp pushes my 3-ways very well, i would imagine that the monsoon would do better...

wookiesZ28 · #14 02-23-2004, 01:26 PM

no no no no no no...I aaah....everything is the factory monsoon system. the speakers, the head unit, the wires. These wires are ran with the left rear speaker wires, but the connector at the end isn't connected to anything. I have no idea what it's for. I'm putting in a sub and amp though, I'm wondering if this connection is for an amp of some sort..just not sure what these wires are for.

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