new car

Wesmo

Ok so i just got a new car (well new for me...a 2000 Honda Civic), and I'm trying to decide how to set up the audio. I have an Alpine deck (4x50 watts) from my old car, and my uncle just gave me a JVC amp (2x50). my car has component speakers up front and 6x9 2-ways in the back. I was wondering if it would be worth the trouble of rewiring my car so that I can run the the tweets and mids separately from each channel of my Alpine and then run the 6x9's from the JVC. I haven't upgraded the factory speakers yet, but i know i'm going to in the near future.
wes

PoweredByDodge

its not worth the time.

however it is worth the time to gut out the facotory comps and rears and replace them with better stuff.. use the JVC for rears and get a 75 x2 or better for front comps.

just my op. tho.

CPHILHOWER

PBD, Why does everyone sugest doing that? Using a Smaller amp for the rear and a Larger for the front? I found that doing that, You loose a little Bass sound in the Driver seat. I always thought it better to use the same wattage and as close to the same speakers in both front and rear. My Escape is set-up with a Power 550x running the same speakers in each door. kenwood KFC T204 tweeter and KFC 6889ie 6*8 3 way. I found I can cruise higway with windows down, And everyone can hear my radio.
Chris

PoweredByDodge

sound should - ideally - come from the front.

the rear is a fill ---- a perfect audio system would not have rears.

but nobody's perfect and unless you're running a 900 dollar 3 or 4 way comp set up front, chances are you're gonna want rear fill. also -- the larger the vehicle, the more of a need for rear fill... Standard cab pickups can get away with a cheap comp set in front and nothin in back -- small cab. Suv's -- gonna need somethin in back no matter what.

for most normal size cabs (4 dr. sedans, x cab pickups, hatchbacks) i've found a 3 to 1 ratio is good --- 150 front / 50 rear .... 100 front / 30 or 40 rear.

that's nothin specific, just trial and error and seein what sounds good.

it absolutely demands a good component set in front.

without that, you end up wanting to replace depth and quality of sound with more volume and loudness... run coaxials all around and you'll certainly want a more evenly balanced wattage.

50 x 4 --- 75 x 4 --- 100 x 4 is about straight for a coaxial system, and often even then you'll find a slight fade to the front -- where u end up with like 10 - 15% more power in front than back...

if a car's got little speakers up front (like these damn 3.5's i'm dealin with now) i may end up putting like 30 or 40 on them and 50 or whatever the amp tops out at (prolly 55) on the rear 6x9's... its relevant to the car.

but in general - given a good component system, an adequate non localized subwoofer that will fill the cabin, and sufficient power, a 3/1 font to rear ratio pans out best.

even given great speakers, if power is short -- that may come closer and closer to 2 to 1.

note - this is all assuming your rear's are coaxials and having a sensitivity of at least 3 but not more than 6 db's higher than the fronts.

one of the reasons u may like it better with it more even is because 1) u've got coax all around with separate tweets 2) you've got a larger cabin - suv... and 3) you're working with around 75 - 80 w x 4 ...

get a true comp set up front and dump 150 x 2 on it and i'll bet you a dozen krispy creme donuts that while u may still run 75 or 80 watts to your rears, you'll notice the difference in staging, while still enjoying the rear bassy fill from the 80 watts in back.