Stereo advice from some sound guys plz

[USAWEAPON777]

Hey guys, well with summer coming up I'm excited that I'll finally be able to get all my work done on my m1008. One of those things is going to be a sound system install. I have just about NO experience in car audio so I figured I'd bounce my plan off you guys to see what you think about it. Anyways, I figured I'll start with a 4 gauge wiring kit running it from the front battery to get 12v (correct?). From there I'll have that going to a 1000w mono d amp. It runs 1000 watts at 1 ohm resistance. I looked on the internet and it seems to be possible to run my 2 10" 400w rms subs in a way so that the amp receives a 1 ohm load (their DVC). They'll be going in boxes behind the seats. I know just running little 3.5's in the dash with these subs will probably completely drown them out but I figure it will be okay to start with it like this since the head unit I'm looking at has 3 preamp outs. So I have still have room for some decent speakers in the doors in the future. Now for some noob questions. If I were to power the 3.5's of the head unit, how would they be wired? when looking at the back of the head all the outputs are rca. Is there a way to just convert RCA to regular speaker wire? And I guess the real question is should I even go this route? Maybe you guys think I should just go with a multi channel amp that way I'll have a lot more power for full range speakers along with the sub besides the head unit. Also for the cucv's how will the head unit be tied into its wiring? Everyone is always saying run right from the battery to avoid interference is that the same for the head unit as well? If it is how am I going to set it up so it only runs when the truck does? I know this is a lot to read and thanks for any advice!

 

[goodguyzy]

don't forget to run a main fuse on the 4 gauge.

 

[USAWEAPON777]

Yea I completely forgot to mention that it will have main fuse. Last thing I need is a giant smore maker

 

[Tlauden]

As for it running only when the truck runs look around and find a circuit that only comes on when the key is turned. You can tap into that and add a relay so when that circuit energizes so will your radio.

 

[AMX]

RCA preamp outputs are only for a seperate amplifier. There is not enough power output to run speakers.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Is there a way to just convert RCA to regular speaker wire? And I guess the real question is should I even go this route? Maybe you guys think I should just go with a multi channel amp that way I'll have a lot more power for full range speakers along with the sub besides the head unit. Also for the cucv's how will the head unit be tied into its wiring? Everyone is always saying run right from the battery to avoid interference is that the same for the head unit as well? If it is how am I going to set it up so it only runs when the truck does? I know this is a lot to read and thanks for any advice!

You will need a small amp for the fronts if all you have is pre-amp outputs. If the radio is hooked to a switched power and the amp is hooked to the battery, it will only work with the key turned. I used to be big into audio stuff, let me know if you have more questions.

 

[Stalwart]

If all outputs are RCA then there is no amplifier in your head unit, you need an amp for the mids as well.

 

[USAWEAPON777]

Alright guys thanks for the tips. Here is a link to the head unit I was going to use. I was confused with how it gives power ratings but yet all i see is the RCA jacks.

Dual XDMA6415 In-Dash CD, MP3 Receiver with Remote, Built-in

(I'm not buying from here just using for item reference)


Oh yea and If I want the head unit to power on with the truck can I wire directly to a 12v source or do I need to use a relay for that source, concerned about interference.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Audio comes from the wire harness in pic 4. There should be a switched ign port in your fuse box for HU power.

 

[eagle4g63]

The wire you see in the the pic bundled next to the unit has all the wires you need. There will be a black(ground) a red(switched hot) a yellow or orange(constant hot) then their are pairs of colors Grey, purple, white, green are the usual ones one of each color will have a black stripe. These are the speaker wires for front(left and right) mid/rear(left and right) the one with the black stripe is the negative one color for each speaker. The rca's are for if you need a pre-amped output for your external amp for future use(or in the case of wanting mass amounts of speakers)

If you are concerned about interferance than you can just wire in a noise filter on the red wire, or make sure you tap into a wire not used for any motor function.(some fuse boxes have auxilary feeds in them that are both constant and some that are keyed-not sure about the military trucks though haven't looked at them)

P.S. the blue wire is the hook up for the amp!! you need to connect that one to your amp so it will power up when the radio is on.

 

[USAWEAPON777]

lol boy do I feel retarded. Alright guys thanks for the info. looks like I have my list with everything I'll need then. If I were to add some decent mid range speakers where do you think they should go? Just in the doors or?

 

[gimpyrobb]

There is a lot of things you "could" do. For a cucv, I would run something small in the stock location with a bass filter on it, and the subs(not really sure you need 2). If that didn't meet my expectations, I would add on other things.

 

[sierrajcharlie]

If you do go to the fuse block, it does have a couple of places to grab 12 volt keyed and constant. BUT there are a couple of spots that ARE 24 volt, don't ask me how I know. A test light will last about 1/10 of a second on those. So use a voltmeter before you just use your test light to find out which are which. And especially before you plug in something you really want the smoke to stay in. Another thing I found out in mine, the switched spots will go dead if you switch to the blackout lights. Sounds like you'll be rattlin' the windows up and down the street!

 

[skysix]

Why not install an aircraft 2 to 4 station intercom system and wear noise cancelling headsets? Most of these allow Ipod etc inputs to be fed in and some even cell useage (if you have mikes on the headsets)

 

[USAWEAPON777]

Thanks for all the great info guys. So I think I'm pretty much ready to order everything. I don't need a headset in my truck its pretty quiet compared to most cucvs I've heard. Besides I'm putting in 800w worth of subs for a reason

 

[cucv1833]

Sounds like you'll be rattlin' the windows up and down the street!

SJ.

Thats what im thinking. I had 2 -6.5" and 1-8" sub in my M1008 and i took it out after a week. All I heard was the engine noise and alot of rattling. I will attept to reinstall this setup in my new M1009. I ran a new 4 Ga. wire from the Front batt. To a new 12volt juntion box and ran all my 12 volt components from there and had my radio on a seperate toggle switch.
Good luck

 

[USAWEAPON777]

Hey guys heres an update, well school is officially out for summer and I came back home from a friends wedding to boxes full of goodies. I'm getting ready to drop the subs in the enclosures and now am concerned on whether or not I have low enough gauge speaker wire for the subs. the wiring kit I received came with 16gauge speaker wire. I will be running 2 DVC 4ohm subs to a mono 1000w amp at 1ohm. Do i need to buy lower gauge wire? double up on the 16gauge and run it? or just use what I have. This is my first encounter with stereos so I'd like to take it one step at a time without making things go poof lol.

 

[BadMastard]

Welcome back. Ok, I still do audio, so I'm going to suggest a couple of things for you, and why.

Consider a 12" sub if it fits. You will get bigger boom, and you certainly have enough power going to it.
Definitely don't bother with the 3.5" in the dash. You're going to drown them out with bass. My favorite ratio of power is about 3 to 1 for sub to speaker wattage, so I'd look for some door speakers and a strong amp to drive them. If only two door speakers, probably 150 watts per channel. If you squeeze four in, then 75 watts per channel. I strongly suggest listening to speakers at your local best buy/ stereo store as their output per watt varies vastly. I've had 25 watt rated speakers louder than 150 watt rated, so efficiency is important.

My current setup uses an alpine deck rated at 25 watts per channel (pretty close to that), 6.5" speakers in the back, 5" speakers in the front and a 300 watt 12" sub in a box in the back. It's hard to sit in the jeep when it's all the way up.

Speaker wire- lot's of choices here. High end speaker wire usually is more pure copper, so you can drive more wattage through it cleanly. I run 14 gauge to the doors, and 12 gauge to the sub. The most critical part though is clean connectors to the speakers. Push in connectors, crimp on and etc tend to be the most restrictive part of the connection, I usually solder them in. If you are pushing 1000 clean watts to your subs, you'll want 8 or 10 gauge to keep your amp healthy. Again, good end connections, and quality speaker wire. The more strands in the speaker wire, the better it will conduct, generally.

If you are going with the two 10", there are a couple of tricks you can use to test your best config. If they are in separate boxes, wiring them up in series or parallel is fine, based on the impedance your amplifier likes best. Never wire below the amps minimum impedance. The rate of response for bass will change based on impedance, generally. That means it will be clearer at lower impedance. So if you wire in parallel and drop your impedance to 2 ohms, it SHOULD be ok for your amp rated at 1 ohm, but check your amp's manual. In series, it will be 8 ohms, again check your manual. If you are using one box for both speakers a trick that CAN help is to wire one speaker backwards in series with the other. What happens is the one speaker travels out while the other travels in. I can make a smaller box sound much bigger! If your bass doesn't sound right add baffling material to the box like fiberglass insulation, or I have used beach towels to reduce the "echo" in the box.

Ok, that's all I got for now, if you have specific questions hit me up and I'll answer what I can.

 

[USAWEAPON777]

Alright well thanks BadMastard, I already ordered everything so I'm running with the 2 10's for now. I figured i will utterly drown out the dash speakers but I'd like to start with them for now and then add the doors as funds become available. Well the wiring kit I received came with 16gauge speaker wire and so I'm going to assume that they are not going to fly with the subs. So would you recommend 12 gauge for the subs then? Yes I was going to run the subs so as to achieve a 1ohm load at the amp for best performance. Also thanks for all the little tips on connections and insulation.

 

[mistaken1]

So what kind of db's are you talking about in order to drown out the truck/road noise with the stereo?