Ok i need some sound system advice (paging Luke)

[StereoInstaller1]

With that woofer, just make a panel that fits between the vertical braces in the trunk, with an appropriate mounting hole for the woofer.

When you run your wires, run them through the factory grommet on the upper left side of the car. Try to get 3 sets of RCAs, 1 remote wire and 2 pair of speaker wires, unless the car started as premium sound.

Bridging half of that amp is really simple: use the left positive and right negative to the 2 terminals on that woofer. All you are doing is combining the 2 channels into one, we will leave the tech shit out for now.

Your amp has crossovers built into it for the sub: you wanna set that to "Low Pass" for the woofer, and adjust it to about 75Hz or so.

You wanna connect the front speakers to the other 2 channels of that amp (thus the 3 channel description) and set it to "High pass", at about 120Hz.

If your deck has "HPF" or "HIGH PASS" settings, turn it on and set it so about 120Hz or so.

Let us know when you get this up and running so we can help you set the gains and crossovers.

Luke

[iamsam]

Sorry to heat about your amp.
I don't think you will be happy with your sub decisions.
Don't know much about that box, but my first impression is that it's a waste of time. You can always try, and if YOU are happy, then we can just be ignored. Putting an ib sub in a sealed enclosure, INSIDE a sealed trunk, firing at the rear....you won't hear it and you'll irritate your auto neighbors on the road with rattling license plate.
Again, if you hope to have a nice sub one day (like lukes box and a new sub) you should go ahead and fire that 8" through the ski hole. Them you will hear sub ALOT better than your proposal above.

Your amp should show wiring for "bridging".
If you use 1 amp for front and sub you'll have to run rear(if you still want to do that) off the hu.

yeah, see, that's what the guys at Car Toys said, to just have the sub firing to the rear, but my gut was telling me that that would be useless. I was thinking that i wanted the sub mounted in the ski hole.

So what should i do?

1. put the sub in the box i bought, mount it so its firing to the rear
2. put the sub in the box and mount the box to the back of the seat so that the sub is firing through the ski hole
3. just get one piece of flat board, cut a hole in it and mount the sub in it and mount the board against the back of the seat to have the sub firing through the ski hole (and seal around the ski hole with foam of course)

yeah i think for now i will just wire up the amp to the sub, and leave the speakers alone, and see how everything works out, and then think about amping the front speakers with the remaining two channels.

thanks again

[Serious Sam]

Sorry to heat about your amp.
I don't think you will be happy with your sub decisions.
Don't know much about that box, but my first impression is that it's a waste of time. You can always try, and if YOU are happy, then we can just be ignored. Putting an ib sub in a sealed enclosure, INSIDE a sealed trunk, firing at the rear....you won't hear it and you'll irritate your auto neighbors on the road with rattling license plate.
Again, if you hope to have a nice sub one day (like lukes box and a new sub) you should go ahead and fire that 8" through the ski hole. Them you will hear sub ALOT better than your proposal above.

Your amp should show wiring for "bridging".
If you use 1 amp for front and sub you'll have to run rear(if you still want to do that) off the hu.

[iamsam]

Ok guys so i did 2 things today. First, I brought the small amp to Best Buy (sorry...) and the guy tested it and said it was definitely bad. So this means I am just going to use the 4-channel.

Second, i bought a generic sub box from Car Toys: http://www.cartoys.com/Default.cfm/p...es_8in_Single/ so i am going to find a way to put in in my trunk. The guy at Car Toys said that it would be the best to mount the box with the sub firing towards the rear of the car, rather than through the ski hole.

I also started my research online to educate myself on how to set up this system.

So far I have a few questions outstanding. can i set my system up and just use the two rear channels of the amp to wire in the sub with a crossover and leave the other two channels alone for the time being?

Where do i plug everything in?

and how do i bridge two of the channels for the sub?

Thanks so much guys.

[iamsam]

thanks so much for the help guys.

But i really need to get up to speed on these technical terms, what is "rear fill"?

and as i am trying not to spend much money at all at the moment (i am broke, i have medical bills, and my job sucks), i am trying to make do with what i have, so do you guys recommend me just stick the sub in the ski hole (with a board) in the open air and then wire it up?

[Serious Sam]

I should not have corralated 5x w as being 5x the loudness. It was a poor example as it takes ALOT more watts (everything else equal) to increase loudness 5x.

[Serious Sam]

If you feel that you cant upgrade via Lukes recommendation, then what you mentioned might work in the meantime and give you a chance to raise some funds and get something better.
One of Lukes Boxes with a new 10" sub (ask his recommendation for whcih sub) will perform SOOO much better that the IB 8".

DEfinately get that amp looked at, cause it opens up some options if it does work.

I say dont go rear fill, cause SO few people have the ability to correctly run 40w to the rear and 200w to the front. Rear fill can work exceptionally well (some early SQ cars executed this well) but is very difficult to setup, and usually works best when very high volumes are sought and its harder to tell speaker locations.
It also frees up funds for better fronts. You'll appreciate a nice set of components up front only than 2 sets of coaxs front and rear.

[AndrewBird]

I'm pretty sure that's what he meant, just said it backwards.

Oh, and take the amp to somewhere other than Best Buy. Those guys rarely know what they are taking about. Try a local car audio place. or better yet, send Precision a message and see how much it would be to have it looked at:

http://www.precisionpower.com/contact/contact.htm

[iamsam]

You need to make sure the rear has about 5X the "loud" that the front has, and this generally works out pretty well. The real goal is adjustability, so having the 4 channel just for mids/highs would be a good idea.

why do the rear speakers need to have 5 times the "loud" as the front? i thought it was the other way around? right now it sounds like all the sound is coming from the rear as it is...

[iamsam]

IMo, a single 8" in infinite baffle is worth spending maybe $10 to get up and running...with the issue that poor old Kappa is like 1992 or so (maybe newer, really does not matter) and while it is a great woofer, even sitting in a box it has degraded significantly.

Personally, considering the time/hassle that it would be to install it and the fact that there is basically nothing like it to replace it on the market today, I would not spend any time building something cool based on it...likely, it is not gonna last.

The PC450 is a great amp, as is the PC250. The whole reason I told you to get it tested is that 99% of the fools out there who "know a lot about stereos" basically know dick.

IF you had both amps to work with, it would potentially sound better.

What Sam said about rear fill is only partially true. You need to make sure the rear has about 5X the "loud" that the front has, and this generally works out pretty well. The real goal is adjustability, so having the 4 channel just for mids/highs would be a good idea.

ok i may as well get the amps both tested, the reason i say that the small (2 channel) amp doesn't works is because when it was hooked up in my other car, the sub just "popped" at a steady rate no matter what music was playing, and the power light on the amp flashed as the sub popped, and the guy at Best Buy said the amp was bad.

So since this sub is old and i am on a budget, i guess the consensus (read: Luke's opinion/law) is to not bother with a box, so i will just get a piece of pressure board (or whatever that's called), cut a hole in it to bolt the sub into, and bolt the board to the back of the seat in the trunk to have the sub firing through the ski hole, and have the 4-channel amp powering the sub and front speakers (if the 2-channel is shot).

yay? nay?

[StereoInstaller1]

IMo, a single 8" in infinite baffle is worth spending maybe $10 to get up and running...with the issue that poor old Kappa is like 1992 or so (maybe newer, really does not matter) and while it is a great woofer, even sitting in a box it has degraded significantly.

Personally, considering the time/hassle that it would be to install it and the fact that there is basically nothing like it to replace it on the market today, I would not spend any time building something cool based on it...likely, it is not gonna last.

The PC450 is a great amp, as is the PC250. The whole reason I told you to get it tested is that 99% of the fools out there who "know a lot about stereos" basically know dick.

IF you had both amps to work with, it would potentially sound better.

What Sam said about rear fill is only partially true. You need to make sure the rear has about 5X the "loud" that the front has, and this generally works out pretty well. The real goal is adjustability, so having the 4 channel just for mids/highs would be a good idea.

[iamsam]

These are the specs for your sub pulled from Infinit's website.
You have an Infinite Baffle, which should work well in your car.
Do a search for infinite baffle firing through ski hole.
Or you could probably mount the sub under the rear deck (making sure to avoid the trunklid spring rods. Secure it well. Deaden the rear deck, and your in business.

Also, dont worry about rear fill unless YOU ABSOLUTELY GOTTA HAVE IT.
There are literally 100 instances on this forum that talk about the adverse effects of rear fill in e30's. I am one that has expereinced it.

Run the fronts off 2 CH, and use the other 2 CH's to bridge on you sub (as mentioned above). this should give you pretty good sound.

Are the pioneers coaxs?
If they are super cheap (blue cones), they sound terrible, IMO. I had the same. Absolutely no midbass, with thin mids, and screaching highs. They suck. Return them, and get some used components for a few more bucks, and you'll be happier.

Running stock HU? No, I see. Run RCA's to amp. from HU.

SPECIFICATIONS
General
Drivers 8" woofer, infinite baffle
Power Handling, RMS 175 watts per channel
Sensitivity 93dB (2.83 volts/1 meter)
Frequency Response 40 - 1.5KHz
Mounting Depth 3.75"

ok in all my n00bidity i must ask a few more questions: isn't my sub an Infinity Kappa? and when i mount the sub in the ski hole or rear deck, do i need a box, or do i just bolt it in boxless? (note: it was professionally installed in my other car by the PO without a box, firing through the ski hole). and by "rear fill" do you mean amping the rear speakers?

they are Pioneer coaxials, they are grey (not blue) but they don't have an ounce of bass. When i get more money eventually i will replace them with Infinity Reference speakers (which i keep reading are really good), but for now they will work, as i am on a serious budget. (so far i have spent $92 on the whole system). And what are RCA's?

So what i am getting is pretty much i will wire the front 2 speakers into 2 channels of the amp and the sub into the other two channels.

[Serious Sam]

These are the specs for your sub pulled from Infinit's website.
You have an Infinite Baffle, which should work well in your car.
Do a search for infinite baffle firing through ski hole.
Or you could probably mount the sub under the rear deck (making sure to avoid the trunklid spring rods. Secure it well. Deaden the rear deck, and your in business.

Also, dont worry about rear fill unless YOU ABSOLUTELY GOTTA HAVE IT.
There are literally 100 instances on this forum that talk about the adverse effects of rear fill in e30's. I am one that has expereinced it.

Run the fronts off 2 CH, and use the other 2 CH's to bridge on you sub (as mentioned above). this should give you pretty good sound.

Are the pioneers coaxs?
If they are super cheap (blue cones), they sound terrible, IMO. I had the same. Absolutely no midbass, with thin mids, and screaching highs. They suck. Return them, and get some used components for a few more bucks, and you'll be happier.

Running stock HU? No, I see. Run RCA's to amp. from HU.

SPECIFICATIONS
General
Drivers 8" woofer, infinite baffle
Power Handling, RMS 175 watts per channel
Sensitivity 93dB (2.83 volts/1 meter)
Frequency Response 40 - 1.5KHz
Mounting Depth 3.75"

[iamsam]

Another option instead of running the rears off the head unit you can run them off the 4-ch amp & just turn the Gain down on the rears to even out the sound F-R.

and the benefit for running the rear speakers off the amp is that its just easier to run wires, right?

And what is Gain?

You want to use both of those amps.

Get your gear tested, as you are gonna wanna use the 2 channel to run a sub, and that 4 channel to run the mids and highs.

Do you have a deck?

And yeah, a single 10 in one of my boxes, those 2 amps, a decent deck and 4 speakers and you will be happy forever.

both amps would be ideal, but i think the smaller amp does not work, and i am not sure if it can be fixed. (can it?)

I do have a CD deck, its a Kenwood. And my sub is an 8" not a 10", do you make an 8" box?

[StereoInstaller1]

You want to use both of those amps.

Get your gear tested, as you are gonna wanna use the 2 channel to run a sub, and that 4 channel to run the mids and highs.

Do you have a deck?

And yeah, a single 10 in one of my boxes, those 2 amps, a decent deck and 4 speakers and you will be happy forever.