[Duane Bro]

Hello, I just bought a 2012 cruze eco last week. The stock radio makes me want to turn it down. It is just bad. I ran across this thread on my search to find how to replace the radio. I decided to keep the factory radio and go with what xtreme has designed. And now have a PAC on the way to start the upgrade. So thank you XR! (Btw, I have been on techtalk for years and attended InDIYana several times).

I do have several questions that I didn't find the answers to in the last 40 pages.

Any install guides? (How did you mount the tweeters?)

Can I run RCA cables from the PAC to the trunk and install the mini dsp there?

And how long do the RCA cable need to be? Is 12 ft enough?

Thanks,
Duane

 

[akrawtsc]

Not sure if this has been asked here yet, but would you recommend the paper cones over the aluminum in the 180s?

 

[grtpumpkin]

XR, great information . I’m learning a lot. I stumbled upon this thread as I searched for info on car audio.
I purchased a 2014 cruze just 2 weeks ago. I think the Chevy Cruze is a very underated car. I would like to do an upgrade to the stereo system, as the stock system in the LS is lacking. Last time I bought a fairly new car was in 2000 & I installed a system at the same time, which I thought was pretty good. Man things have changed since then. Consider me a noobe. I want to keep the factory head unit, install 2 amps that I have & upgrade the speakers. The amps I have are small. One is a Kicker IX402 & the other is an Alpine 3519. I’ve had these amps for years & haven’t put them to use in a very long time. Was looking for your expertise on a few things. I would like to keep the install as simple as possible. I plan on purchasing the speakers you recommended & also the sound deadening. Do you think the factory speaker wiring would be adequate given the low wattage amplifiers? Although the front speaker channels are wired in parallel so that would be an issue. I’m looking for crisp clean sound, not super super loud. Not sure I want a Sub. I never thought it made sense to have a loud obnoxious thumping going down the road like most of the young kids have. Very annoying.
I recently purchased a Pac AA-GM44 LOC just to get a look at the harness. I did not want to use the LOC in this kit. I noticed the wiring to this LOC is just spliced into the harness & still utilizes the factory speaker wires. In other words, the way it is wired, the head unit still feeds directly to the speakers. Not exactly what I expected. I think the Pac unit was designed as a means for adding amps to the system while retaining the factory speaker hook up. Doesn’t make much sense the way the harness is laid out.
I was looking into DSP’s as I never heard of them before. Apparently these units are the way to go. I have no laptop or any other means to set one up. I was looking at the kicker front stage & the audio control DQ-61. I understand these two do not require a laptop interface to set up & I won’t have to break the bank to own one. I’m leaning towards the DQ-61 from everything I’ve read about it. What I was planning on doing was cutting the wires on the PAC harness & running some 9 wire from the head side to either the Kicker front stage or DQ-61, whichever one I decide on, & then wire up the amps & then more 9 wire back up to the pac harness to feed the speakers through the factory harness. Basically creating one big loop. Does this make sense? Do you see any problems with anything in this set up other than the front channels being wired in parallel?
I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I continue to research this stuff. Your write ups have been a great inspiration. Thank you for that.
Rich.

 

[grtpumpkin]

Also, any thoughts on the JBL GTO 19T tweeters for the a pillars? Noticed it specs out at 3 ohms to work well with OEM wiring.

Also will be looking to purchase some door speaker baffles from you as I just received my silver flutes today. You still making those for the cruze?

Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

XR, great information . I’m learning a lot. I stumbled upon this thread as I searched for info on car audio.
I purchased a 2014 cruze just 2 weeks ago. I think the Chevy Cruze is a very underated car. I would like to do an upgrade to the stereo system, as the stock system in the LS is lacking. Last time I bought a fairly new car was in 2000 & I installed a system at the same time, which I thought was pretty good. Man things have changed since then. Consider me a noobe. I want to keep the factory head unit, install 2 amps that I have & upgrade the speakers. The amps I have are small. One is a Kicker IX402 & the other is an Alpine 3519. I’ve had these amps for years & haven’t put them to use in a very long time. Was looking for your expertise on a few things. I would like to keep the install as simple as possible. I plan on purchasing the speakers you recommended & also the sound deadening. Do you think the factory speaker wiring would be adequate given the low wattage amplifiers? Although the front speaker channels are wired in parallel so that would be an issue. I’m looking for crisp clean sound, not super super loud. Not sure I want a Sub. I never thought it made sense to have a loud obnoxious thumping going down the road like most of the young kids have. Very annoying.
I recently purchased a Pac AA-GM44 LOC just to get a look at the harness. I did not want to use the LOC in this kit. I noticed the wiring to this LOC is just spliced into the harness & still utilizes the factory speaker wires. In other words, the way it is wired, the head unit still feeds directly to the speakers. Not exactly what I expected. I think the Pac unit was designed as a means for adding amps to the system while retaining the factory speaker hook up. Doesn’t make much sense the way the harness is laid out.
I was looking into DSP’s as I never heard of them before. Apparently these units are the way to go. I have no laptop or any other means to set one up. I was looking at the kicker front stage & the audio control DQ-61. I understand these two do not require a laptop interface to set up & I won’t have to break the bank to own one. I’m leaning towards the DQ-61 from everything I’ve read about it. What I was planning on doing was cutting the wires on the PAC harness & running some 9 wire from the head side to either the Kicker front stage or DQ-61, whichever one I decide on, & then wire up the amps & then more 9 wire back up to the pac harness to feed the speakers through the factory harness. Basically creating one big loop. Does this make sense? Do you see any problems with anything in this set up other than the front channels being wired in parallel?
I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I continue to research this stuff. Your write ups have been a great inspiration. Thank you for that.
Rich.

Factory wiring won't work unless you plan on cutting it right behind the trim inside the car. If you plan to do that, and just splice the rest of the wire to the trunk, that would be fine, but if you're halfway there, may as well run it all the way inside the door. You're only running 18 gauge anyway.

A subwoofer provides a musical addition to an otherwise thin sounding system. You can only expect so much bass extension from door-mounted 6.5" drivers. You'll realistically get down to 60hz, maybe 55hz, and will be missing the musical range down to ~29hz. Just because it's a sub, doesn't mean it has to be loud. It just has to BE there if you want the full depth of sound. This is why there are smaller, single 8" and single 10" subwoofers. I'd personally recommend that corner mounted fiberglass enclosure with a nice SQ-based 10" sub for a sleek install that adds the low-frequency extension music needs to sound truly full. Don't have to make it loud.

Yes, the PAC was designed to add functionality to speakers. The benefit here is that you can leave your entire system alone and not splice or cut anything. Simply disconnect the speakers in the doors, ziptie the connectors somewhere inside, and if you ever need to revert your vehicle back to stock form, you can do so without leaving any traces. The only other way to do this is to actually cut wires.

You can tune a miniDSP off of a desktop computer, but you need at least that much. A laptop simply allows you to make adjustments in-cab. Not all DSPs are created equal, and the miniDSP (that's the actual company name) 2x4 is by a long shot the best value on the market for world-class tuning capability.

Due to the complexities of tuning each individual driver in-cab, and adjusting for time alignment, a plug-in solution like Kicker or AudioControl's will provide better results than stock but won't even come close to what a miniDSP can do with a good tune. I've already provided that good tune with two sets of affordable drivers. If you don't use the miniDSP, you can't use those drivers, plain and simple. You'll have to go with a passive component set instead of a 2-way fully active front configuration.

You don't want the front channels being wired in parallel, and your loop idea doesn't really make sense. Here's the signal path you need to take.

1. Head Unit
2. Line-out converter
3. Processor. You have two options here, with (A), or without (B) active crossover capabilities.

3A. miniDSP with active crossover (or a MUCH more expensive alternate option that can digitally tune crossover points and slopes)
4A. 4-channel amplifier
5A. speaker wires to each individual driver (two tweeter and two door woofers, for a total of 4 wires).

3B. Kicker/Audiocontrol processor
4B. 2-channel amplifier
5C. component set with passive crossover

The whole point of the miniDSP is having the active crossover and being able to tune each specific driver individually. With the two options you listed, you can't do that.

The AudioControl DQ-61 is $320 on crutchfield. The miniDSP is about $130 to your door including the miniDC. You could buy a miniDSP, AND a refurbished dell Latitude laptop, for the same price, and achieve notably better results at the expense of a worthwhile learning curve.

 

[grtpumpkin]

XR.
Could you elaborate on tuning the mini DSP with a desktop computer? How is that achieved? Do you remove the DSP from the vehicle & connect it to the desktop PC? WIFi capablty? What software is needed? I really suck at using computers for the most part. With that being said I'm in the market for a new computer as my windows 32 bit vista operating systemis becoming very outdated & giving me trouble. I may decide on a laptop or a smartphone in the very near future. Not sure what fits my needs yet.

I already purchased the silver flutes. You stated I could not use these speakers/drivers without a DSP. Why is that? Is it because they do not have a crossover built into them? I was under the impression that the Kicker front stage & the DQ 61 were DSP's in their own right. Maybe I misunderstood.
You mentioned 4 channel amplifiers. I have 2, 2 channel amplifiers, as mentioned in the previous post. I assume this is = to the 4 channel amplifier. I'm still not sold on a sub woofer but I am open minded on it. Doesn't make sense to me to have a driver in the trunk when I'm all the way in the front. I understand that low frequency's are hard to pinpoint where their coming from. But then again I'm not well versed on the subject.

Also, do you still have the MDF baffles available for the silver flutes for the front doors of the Cruze?

Thanks for your input.
Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

XR.
Could you elaborate on tuning the mini DSP with a desktop computer? How is that achieved? Do you remove the DSP from the vehicle & connect it to the desktop PC? WIFi capablty? What software is needed? I really suck at using computers for the most part. With that being said I'm in the market for a new computer as my windows 32 bit vista operating systemis becoming very outdated & giving me trouble. I may decide on a laptop or a smartphone in the very near future. Not sure what fits my needs yet.

I already purchased the silver flutes. You stated I could not use these speakers/drivers without a DSP. Why is that? Is it because they do not have a crossover built into them? I was under the impression that the Kicker front stage & the DQ 61 were DSP's in their own right. Maybe I misunderstood.
You mentioned 4 channel amplifiers. I have 2, 2 channel amplifiers, as mentioned in the previous post. I assume this is = to the 4 channel amplifier. I'm still not sold on a sub woofer but I am open minded on it. Doesn't make sense to me to have a driver in the trunk when I'm all the way in the front. I understand that low frequency's are hard to pinpoint where their coming from. But then again I'm not well versed on the subject.

Also, do you still have the MDF baffles available for the silver flutes for the front doors of the Cruze?

Thanks for your input.
Rich.

The miniDSP is a little circuit board that is connected via USB cable. You need nothing other than a USB cable to power and run it, so you can technically bring it inside to tune it, then plug it back into the car later. The use of quick-disconnect speaker and power terminals for the car makes that easy to do.

So, check out the first two pages of this thread for more details, but you basically need a crossover. Tweeters shouldn't play low frequencies and woofers shouldn't play high frequencies, for the most part. Car audio oriented component sets, that come with two tweeters and two woofers, also come with two passive crossover boxes that serve that function in a crude, basic manner. The miniDSP has tuning capability that allows one to set the crossover frequency as well as slope very accurately, to perfectly suit the specific driver combination you're using. In order to do this, you need to have two RCA channel inputs (left and right front), and get 4 RCA channel outputs (L/R tweeter, L/R woofer), which are then amplified as individual channels in a 4-channel amplifier. Note, you ALSO need a crossover to separate the low frequency extension you'd get from a subwoofer, from the two front door speakers, but these are usually not as critical and can be achieved with an amplifier's onboard crossover adjustments.

Now, the term "DSP" simply refers to digital sound processor, or digital signal processor. A DSP doesn't necessarily have active crossover capabilities. The two DSPs you mentioned have comparably primitive equalization capabilities and only high/low pass crossovers for subwoofer duty. They do not handle processing for a fully active front stage (L/R tweeter, L/R woofer).

Yes, you can use two 2-channel amplifiers or one 4-channel amplifier to power a front stage.

As for subwoofers, low frequencies travel much farther, and are not limited by direction like higher frequencies are. Think of bass more as pressure. Although all sound is theoretically pressure, a subwoofer's frequency wavelength is MUCH larger than that of a woofer and tweeter and therefore does not need to be facing you in order for you to hear it. In fact, it is very common for home audio subwoofers to be facing the ground. Placing the subwoofer in the trunk is admittedly not the ideal location for it from an acoustic perspective, but it's the only practical location for it given the size an enclosure would require. Where else would you put it? There are some potential subwoofer designs that can fit in the rear doors, but then you're limiting yourself to two 6.5" subwoofers that are installed in a "very leaky box" that will not hold pressure and therefore will not sound good. Given some adequate acoustic treatment on the doors, I'm sure you can manage it, but you still have to contend with the cost of that acoustic treatment and mounting depth limitations.

For a quick kit, something like this would be appropriate and would meet your needs perfectly. An 8" subwoofer is really not that big. https://www.amazon.com/Package-SWR-...81069942&sr=1-13&keywords=alpine+8"+subwoofer

The alpine 8" kit does not require much power and is quite small in overall size. It is a very underrated subwoofer in the SQ world.

It would take me a bit of time since the garage needs to be cleaned, but I could make another pair of baffles.

 

[grtpumpkin]

Definitely interested in the baffles. No hurry though. Holidays are coming. Will be a long time before I dive into this project. Too many irons in the fire so to speak. My 97' Lumina, 3.1M engine, I will be diving into very soon. I don't have to tell you about these GM 60 degree v6's & coolant leakes. I really should dump the car but I have a love hate relationship with it. I guess I love to hate it. This will be my 3rd time into this engine. First 2 times were intake gaskets now I have to go deeper & do the head gaskets. She's on borrowed time which is why I bought the Cruze.

Let me know on the baffles sir.

Rich

 

[grtpumpkin]

So about the DSP unit. If it has 4 channels of output, how does it control a subwoofer if I decide to add one later on with another amp? I see in the miniDSP manual that it does control a subwoofer but I'm not sure I understand how. I would thinkit would require a 5th output for it to be completely separate. How can it control it seperately without the 5th channel? What am I missing in my understanding?

You have convinced me, along with the price, to go the mini DSP way. I realize I need to purchase 3 items. The MiniDSP, the isolator & the advanced plug in. I'm not sure what the plug in is. I assume the plug is needed software & not a physical item.

This is all brand new to me so there will be a huge learning curve. Hopefully, before this time next year I will have a stellar sound system in my Cruze. I will officially make it my New Years resolution. LOL!

Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

So about the DSP unit. If it has 4 channels of output, how does it control a subwoofer if I decide to add one later on with another amp? I see in the miniDSP manual that it does control a subwoofer but I'm not sure I understand how. I would thinkit would require a 5th output for it to be completely separate. How can it control it seperately without the 5th channel? What am I missing in my understanding?

You have convinced me, along with the price, to go the mini DSP way. I realize I need to purchase 3 items. The MiniDSP, the isolator & the advanced plug in. I'm not sure what the plug in is. I assume the plug is needed software & not a physical item.

This is all brand new to me so there will be a huge learning curve. Hopefully, before this time next year I will have a stellar sound system in my Cruze. I will officially make it my New Years resolution. LOL!

Rich.

In my case, I controlled the subwoofer off of the rear channel fade and disconnected the rear speakers (which you'd want to do anyway or it would destroy your sound stage and sound quality). The front/rear fade then controls subwoofer volume.

Alternately, some amplifiers have an output as well as an input, so you can run the output off of the amplifier you're using on the door speakers into the subwoofer amp and set the gain on it static. This would probably suit your needs best, and you can simply keep the rear speakers disconnected but faded forward when you aren't carrying passengers.

Another way is to buy the miniDSP 2x8, which gives you 8 output channels, but costs nearly 3x as much. I went with the 2x4.

The miniDSP is actually just a processing board. The plug-in is the software. You can buy a variety of plug-ins that allow you to do something different with the miniDSP. The 2-way advanced is the one we use for this application.

It took me a year, between gathering Parts and learning how to use the miniDSP, before I got the results I wanted. Well worth the effort. I have yet to see any audio shop that can get these results without charging 10x more.

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

 

[grtpumpkin]

Ok. So here is where you lost me. I thought that the tweeters in the A pillars were designated as the left & right front channels & the left & right front door speakers were now designated as the rear channels. This would account for the 4 channels. What did I miss? I believe you do not have your front tweeters & front door speakers connected in parallel on the front channels like the factory has it. I'm assuming the MiniDSP only has 4 channels of output. Left & Right, Front & Rear. This is how I'm picturing it. If the door speakers & tweets are connected in parallel on the front channels only, then I don't understand how it would be possible to cross them over independently. But then again I can't see running the sub off the left & right rear channel all by itself. I Would think you only need 1 channel for the sub. Hope I'm making sense. I hope I can do this in less than a years time, but I can certainly understand how it may take that long.

Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Ok. So here is where you lost me. I thought that the tweeters in the A pillars were designated as the left & right front channels & the left & right front door speakers were now designated as the rear channels. This would account for the 4 channels. What did I miss? I believe you do not have your front tweeters & front door speakers connected in parallel on the front channels like the factory has it. I'm assuming the MiniDSP only has 4 channels of output. Left & Right, Front & Rear. This is how I'm picturing it. If the door speakers & tweets are connected in parallel on the front channels only, then I don't understand how it would be possible to cross them over independently. But then again I can't see running the sub off the left & right rear channel all by itself. I Would think you only need 1 channel for the sub. Hope I'm making sense. I hope I can do this in less than a years time, but I can certainly understand how it may take that long.

Rich.

Nooooo. The tweeters are wired in parallel to the front door speakers but have a capacitor on them as a high pass 1st order filter. They're basically an extremely cheap component set. The 2 tweeters and 2 woofers up front account for two channels. When factoring in the rear speakers, you have 4 channels coming out of the head unit.

You take those first two channels and use them as inputs into the miniDSP using a line out converter.

Then, the miniDSP produces the crossover function, equalization, and time alignment for two tweeters and two woofers wired independently. That's part of the role of the miniDSP; independent driver crossover. If you need more details on how this works, check out my website at xtremerevolution.net and find the four audio 101 articles.

You can do it in shorter time for sure. I've seen people build it in 3 months, but I waited to accumulate parts and get good deals on everything.


Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

 

[grtpumpkin]

Thank you. I did read your 101 tutorials on your site. Also been reading through the MiniDSP manuals. What I still kind of not understand is how the hi pass & low pass can work with the speakers connected in parallel on the same line with the same signal at the same time. My understanding is the MiniDSP sends the altered signal to the amp and then the amp sends that altered signal to the speakers. If you have 2 speakers, a woofer & a tweeter, on the same line, then both of these speakers will receive the same altered signal. NO? So if that altered signal was altered for the tweeter I don't understand how it can be altered for the woofer at the same time. This is me assuming that the woofer & tweeter on the same line are both unfiltered by a crossover after the amp. I was assuming that there was no crossover on either speaker & that the MiniDSP was performing as an adjustable crossover.
You mentioned a capacitor.
"Quote :
"The tweeters are wired in parallel to the front door speakers but have a capacitor on them as a high pass 1st order filter." End Quote.
If the tweeter has a capacitor then I don"t understand how we're able to adjust the crossover point for the tweeter. I'm assuming that the capacitor is the filter/crossover & that it a is fixed & non adjustable point. I know you talked about adjusting the crossover point of the tweeters through the DSP in your install which is why I was assuming there was no physical crossover attached or in line to the tweeters after the amp.

Wow, my head is spinning.
Grasshoppa want to learn.
Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Thank you. I did read your 101 tutorials on your site. Also been reading through the MiniDSP manuals. What I still kind of not understand is how the hi pass & low pass can work with the speakers connected in parallel on the same line with the same signal at the same time. My understanding is the MiniDSP sends the altered signal to the amp and then the amp sends that altered signal to the speakers. If you have 2 speakers, a woofer & a tweeter, on the same line, then both of these speakers will receive the same altered signal. NO? So if that altered signal was altered for the tweeter I don't understand how it can be altered for the woofer at the same time. This is me assuming that the woofer & tweeter on the same line are both unfiltered by a crossover after the amp. I was assuming that there was no crossover on either speaker & that the MiniDSP was performing as an adjustable crossover.
You mentioned a capacitor.
"Quote :
"The tweeters are wired in parallel to the front door speakers but have a capacitor on them as a high pass 1st order filter." End Quote.
If the tweeter has a capacitor then I don"t understand how we're able to adjust the crossover point for the tweeter. I'm assuming that the capacitor is the filter/crossover & that it a is fixed & non adjustable point. I know you talked about adjusting the crossover point of the tweeters through the DSP in your install which is why I was assuming there was no physical crossover attached or in line to the tweeters after the amp.

Wow, my head is spinning.

Rich.

In Stock form, they are wired in parallel. The tweeter has a capacitor on it which serves as a primitive crossover. The door speaker is run full range. No crossover.

With the miniDSP, the 4 outputs for each of the 4 individual drivers go to 4 separate amplifier channels. Nothing is wired in parallel there. You have to run 4 speaker wires from the ampifier(s) to the speakers. I

This all assumes that when you install the miniDSP, you install new door speakers, new tweeters, and new wiring.

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

 

[grtpumpkin]

So in simplest terms. If I disconnect all factory speaker wires at the speakers & run new wiring to each new speaker, front doors & A pillars, from the 4 channel amp then that acounts for all 4 channels. So in this configuration we would be losing the front to rear fade option which we don't want anyways for the front stage, which is the actual goal. My confusion was lying in the fact that the PAC unit has 4 RCA outputs & the DSP has only 2 RCA inputs. We will be using only the 2 front RCA outputs from the PAC to the DSP. We leave the 2 rear RCA's from the PAC disconnected. We can always use the rear RCA's from the PAC for future expansion if decided. Think Subwoofer here. I believe this is correct. Correct me if I'm wrong please. Sometimes I overthink things.

I should be ordering the DSP & tweeters soon.

I know this thread is old. Are you still recommending the vifa tweets? Was wondering if a different tweet has been recommended. The a pillar trims are not too expensive. I may buy a set and modify them with some home brewed pods.

Later,
Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

So in simplest terms. If I disconnect all factory speaker wires at the speakers & run new wiring to each new speaker, front doors & A pillars, from the 4 channel amp then that acounts for all 4 channels. So in this configuration we would be losing the front to rear fade option which we don't want anyways for the front stage, which is the actual goal. My confusion was lying in the fact that the PAC unit has 4 RCA outputs & the DSP has only 2 RCA inputs. We will be using only the 2 front RCA outputs from the PAC to the DSP. We leave the 2 rear RCA's from the PAC disconnected. We can always use the rear RCA's from the PAC for future expansion if decided. Think Subwoofer here. I believe this is correct. Correct me if I'm wrong please. Sometimes I overthink things.

I should be ordering the DSP & tweeters soon.

I know this thread is old. Are you still recommending the vifa tweets? Was wondering if a different tweet has been recommended. The a pillar trims are not too expensive. I may buy a set and modify them with some home brewed pods.

Later,
Rich.

Bingo. Now you're getting it.

The rear channels, I use for subwoofer duty, which allows me to adjust the subwoofer volume by fading between front and rear on the factory radio.

I really think you should plan for a small 8" subwoofer. You'll definitely notice it missing if you don't and it will add depth of sound while sounding musical and natural, not obnoxious. Bass exists in natural instruments at frequencies you won't be able to play with front speakers. In addition, you'll need to figure out power delivery and run a second set of RCAs to the back for the subwoofer signal so you may as well do it all at once instead of pulling up the trim again when you realize I was right and the sub will add a very nice musical complement to your fantastic front stage.

For power, you have two options. Either you get a distribution block that allows you to split one 4 gauge cable into three or more 8 gauge cables, or you sell your amps and get a nice 5-channel amp that does everything and forego the distribution block. Really up to you there.

The vifa tweeters are an amazing value for their price point. I really like them in both home and auto applications. However, the Seas Prestige, for about $50 more on the pair, will give you a better sound stage and will sound smoother. You'll just have to load both miniDSP tunes and pull the values for the drivers you're using so it adds an extra step. I can walk you through all that.

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

 

[grtpumpkin]

Thank you XR.

Can you give recommendations on quality budget friendly RCA (patch) cables & speaker wire. I want absolutely no floor noise or buzzing other than what's in the recordings of the music. As far as wiring it all up I have a good handle on that. I do plan on running extra cables for future expansion. I'm liking your recommendation on a small conservative sub.

Here's some food for thought. How about 2 front stages? We can create a front sound stage for our rear passengers. We can put some tweets in the back behind the driver & in front of the rear passengers. We can isolate the back from the front with some sound barrier. Think plexi glass here. Just kidding.
Thanks.
Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Thank you XR.

Can you give recommendations on quality budget friendly RCA (patch) cables & speaker wire. I want absolutely no floor noise or buzzing other than what's in the recordings of the music. As far as wiring it all up I have a good handle on that. I do plan on running extra cables for future expansion. I'm liking your recommendation on a small conservative sub.

Here's some food for thought. How about 2 front stages? We can create a front sound stage for our rear passengers. We can put some tweets in the back behind the driver & in front of the rear passengers. We can isolate the back from the front with some sound barrier. Think plexi glass here. Just kidding.
Thanks.
Rich.

My "go-to" place for buying all cables has been KnuKonceptz - Home and Mobile audio accessories, including amp installation kits and speaker wire

I would start with an amplifier wiring kit and add any additional RCAs you need from there. Be sure to run their OFC (oxygen-free copper) cable, not their CCA (copper-clad aluminum). CCA does not hold as much current unless you go two sizes up (4 gauge copper is about equal to 1/0 gauge CCA). One single run of 4 gauge will be plenty for you.

 

[grtpumpkin]

Any problem with running their kits with the Bassik RCA's? Their higher end kits, such as the KFX-AKF4-4 and the other KFX kits are out of stock. Looks like they've been out of stock for a couple years judging by the expected delivery date. My guess is they're discontinued. The available in stock cheaper kits only come with the Bassik RCA's. Possibly could purchase the better RCA's seperate.
Any thoughts on this?

Rich.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Any problem with running their kits with the Bassik RCA's? Their higher end kits, such as the KFX-AKF4-4 and the other KFX kits are out of stock. Looks like they've been out of stock for a couple years judging by the expected delivery date. My guess is they're discontinued. The available in stock cheaper kits only come with the Bassik RCA's. Possibly could purchase the better RCA's seperate.
Any thoughts on this?

Rich.

I haven't used their RCAs for a while. I would just piece together the kit as you see fit. You'll need approximately 17 feet of red power cable, 6 feet of ground, three RCA pairs, a fuseblock, and, depending on how you plan to amplify the whole system, a couple of distribution blocks and 8-gauge cables.

If you run 3 amps, you'll need 6 lengths of 8 gauge (3 red, 3 black), for power and ground, and 2 distribution blocks. This is one of the reasons I recommended selling those amps and getting a good 5-channel; it greatly simplifies power wiring.

You'll need a single fuse block for the power run to prevent an electrical fire in the event of a collision. You'll also need a length (about 20 feet), of remote wire (a single, usually blue wire), as well as some generic 16 or 18 gauge wire to power the miniDSP and miniDC.

I would also grab a couple of 4-gauge closed terminals. I believe they sell some with an allen wrench screw on it. Don't forget the loctite for that screw.