Bought some new speakers and a small amp...

[TimmyBigHands]

Well, after 14 years, the speakers in my rear deck DRY ROTTED. I guess the 112 degree heat here in Vegas finally go to them.

I was listening to some tunes at a moderate level and started hearing a rattling/buzzing sound. When I returned home yesterday I took off the speaker covers and found that the cone has completely seperated from the rest of the trim (dont know much about stereo's to explain it right - sorry).

So I took a trip to my local Fry's and bought a pair of Infinity 5.25" 2 way reference speakers. I got home and hooked them up and they sounded pretty good (at least there was no rattling), but nothing louder or more clear than the stock one's had before they died. I was kinda dissapointed - But my room-mate said he had this little Alpine 50W x 2 amp laying around along with the wiring, so I hooked it up to the new speakers. :)

Well, the rear speakers are pretty loud now! I can crank it way up and get *almost* no distortion. I do hear some static though, I'm not sure what I did wrong. I still have NO bass. I plan on buying a set of Infinity 53.25" Reference components to go with them... but I will need ANOTHER amp to run those :( Does anyone have a suggestion for what amp I should get? How about a SUB/AMP combo while your at it?

Thanks guys! I'm not really strong on stereo's, so if you can S P E L L it out for me, that'd be great.

[TimmyBigHands]

Also, if you attempt to power your speakers with an aftermarket headunit without rewiring you will burnout the output stage of the headunits built in amp and completely destroy the headunit.

Also saw Jordan posted this in another thread... I put in my own head-unit. My harness has been cut off (I didnt do it!) So I had to hardware the HU. I'm running the back speakers from the RCA cables, but the front are off the deck. I noticed that the HU was VERY hot when I pulled it out yesterday - it is being hurt from not "rewiring?"

[808BMW]

Re: Bought some new speakers and a small amp...

Well, after 14 years, the speakers in my rear deck DRY ROTTED. I guess the 112 degree heat here in Vegas finally go to them.

I was listening to some tunes at a moderate level and started hearing a rattling/buzzing sound. When I returned home yesterday I took off the speaker covers and found that the cone has completely seperated from the rest of the trim (dont know much about stereo's to explain it right - sorry).

So I took a trip to my local Fry's and bought a pair of Infinity 5.25" 2 way reference speakers. I got home and hooked them up and they sounded pretty good (at least there was no rattling), but nothing louder or more clear than the stock one's had before they died. I was kinda dissapointed - But my room-mate said he had this little Alpine 50W x 2 amp laying around along with the wiring, so I hooked it up to the new speakers. :)

Well, the rear speakers are pretty loud now! I can crank it way up and get *almost* no distortion. I do hear some static though, I'm not sure what I did wrong. I still have NO bass. I plan on buying a set of Infinity 53.25" Reference components to go with them... but I will need ANOTHER amp to run those :( Does anyone have a suggestion for what amp I should get? How about a SUB/AMP combo while your at it?

Thanks guys! I'm not really strong on stereo's, so if you can S P E L L it out for me, that'd be great.

First, ask your friend if your alpine is 2 ohm stable. If it is, that means you can run 2 speakers on each channel (front left and rear left on left channel, front and rear right on right channel). You won't be able to fade between them, but you'll still have stereo.

If you spend money on sound deadening (dynamat or something similar) and some expanding foam, sealing up your doors and stuff will get you some midbass. You still wont have decent bass without a sub+amp, but at least it won't sound "dead".

[TimmyBigHands]

Great, thanks for the post. I'll check into how many ohm's it runs... that'd be nice to have them all run off the amp... I didnt know you could do that.

[colt325e]

My first sub was an Infinity Reference 12, 300wRMS. I think thats what its called, all i know is it was around $70. I would check out cbrstereo.com or millionbuy.com because there stuff is very inexpensive.

[808BMW]

I just went through a kicker comp vr (bridged off a 300a2) and it pounded pretty damn hard for such a cheap sub ($70?)

[DSchultz325e]

JL Audio W0 line of subwoofers and a small Eclipse/Phoenix Gold/JL Audio amp to match. W0 sound excellent for their price/power handling category. About your lack of bass, the high pass might be set too high. I'm only running the cabin speakers (with a Rockford 200a4) and they get a deep response if I turn up the bass.

[TimmyBigHands]

JL Audio W0 line of subwoofers and a small Eclipse/Phoenix Gold/JL Audio amp to match. W0 sound excellent for their price/power handling category. About your lack of bass, the high pass might be set too high. I'm only running the cabin speakers (with a Rockford 200a4) and they get a deep response if I turn up the bass.

DSchultz325e, how do I change the high pass? This amp is pretty old, so all I see is the gain and a switch on there for mono or stereo - I think

[colt325e]

JL audio is WAY, WAY overpriced. There are better things for LESS money.

[808BMW]

JL audio is WAY, WAY overpriced. There are better things for LESS money.

He was talking about JL W0's. A 12 is like $80? I don't really like JL, but my friends 12w0's amaze me.

The best idea for bass is to decide how much you want to spend. Pick a price and it'll be a bit easier to figure out a setup to work with.

[MattE30]

JL is one of the few "name brand," "mainstream" companies I would ever go with. Hmmm...I already did.