What to get....

brettw22

I'm going to be having a system put in my car within the next few weeks. I'm not doing it myself (Tweeter is), but I want to get all the parts necessary to get the install done by mid December.

I'm putting in 2 sets of SR6500's, a 400.4 amp, and (if my dipshit friend will get back to me) a Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP. A sub, as discussed in another thread somewhere, isn't being installed in this car because this sytem will ultimately be coming out when I sell this car within a year or two and at that point I will look into a sub. Because Tweeter is installing the system, they will also return the car to stock when I decide to pull the system out of this car, with the idea being that I'll pay them to re-install it into the new vehicle. Whether I do that or not is yet to be seen, but I'm all for them doing the install/uninstall on this vehicle.

What type of things do I need to get (fuses, cabling, etc etc) for them to have most, if not all, of the parts to complete the install?

neomagus00

yay on the headunit, that's what i have... yay also on the SRs, that's what i wish i had (why two sets, though??), w00t on the 400.4... and you know, if you build a sealed box with a sub in it, it's very transportable...

it may be easier to simply let them use the wiring that they need, with the exception of RCAs/interconnects... they'll use the exact amount of power and ground cable they need, they have the remote wire there, they can cut just the amount of speaker wire they need, they have exactly the right number of wire ties and terminators, et cetera, et cetera...

i would buy the best interconnects you can bring yourself to afford... in MY opinion, and in MY system, they made a huge difference... some people have found no difference in their cars and to their ears... to each his own, but i suggest you get at least above-average cables no matter what, if only for build quality...

brettw22

I'm getting 2 sets because there WILL be rear speakers in this car. Even if they're hugely underutilized on the rear deck, they'll be there and I want them there. I didn't like the sound of the Momo's at Tweeter, but some Boston Acoustic's did sound good, but rather than do that, I decided that nothing would blend better than another set of SR's......

The headunit I was thinking about going with a Navi system, but decided that in the new car, I won't be putting one in (factory features that would be lost if I change the head unit) and I don't want an el-cheapo deck, so I'll go single DIN quality unit.

I don't want a portable sub box (actually hate the idea of a sub in general to be honest......in a car) but if I do it, I'm going to get it installed so it takes up as little space and looks as best as possible. I could totally change my mind and decide that I don't want it alltogether as well, or I could go back and have Tweeter install a sub if I decide I want a bit more bass after I have the current lineup installed. The other issue is I don't ultimately want to get another amp because the plan right now is to have the 400.4 installed under the passenger seat, so finding somewhere else to put the amp seems less likely (don't want a sub box, nor the amp attached to it). Picky, eh?

MacLeod

Tweeter is a good choice for installing your system, they have very capable installers and should do you a good job.

As for what you need to buy in the way of cables and fuses and all that will be covered in the cost of installation. If they quote you $200 for complete install (just throwing that figure out there) that will include RCA's, speaker wires, fuses and everything else you need.

About the only scam they could try and pull on you is the high dollar RCA's. Dont fall for it. Buy a good quality set thats shielded and perfereably twisted and thats all youll ever need.

Other than that, those speakers with that amp will be a great match and Im sure youll love the way you rig sounds and I guarantee you that youll find yourself more and more wishing you had a little further to drive so you can listen longer.

heXtant

two sets of sr's? wow. powered by a c400.4? wow. should sound pretty damn amazing. what kind of car is this going into? (im new :x)

brettw22

Nothin special.........a 2001 Honda Accord.

The dollar amount for the install was just over $300. The breakdown is:
- $100 : Front Speakers
- $50 : Back Speakers
- $70 : Amp
- $45 : Deck
- $40 : Parts for the deck

I need to confirm those prices and get an official price sheet, but I think that I remember the guy saying cables and anything else would be on top of that.

I was thinking abot upgrading the wire instead of using the factory wiring, but I need to weigh the cost/benefit ratio considering that this IS a temporary install.....albeit for up to 2 years possibly.

Are you guys saying I should buy some RCA interconnects before having them install or buy theirs? I wouldn't have the slightest idea what lengths would be needed etc so I'm not sure I want to do that.

MacLeod

They carry Monster so if you dont like them you may want to try some others. Hit your local stereo shops and pick up something along the lines of Stinger or, my favorite, Streetwires.

Here is a link to a great online dealer so you can get an idea on pricing. If you cant find any good local shops then order off of Sounddomain. Its about the best dealer online and fully authorized.

Definitely use aftermarket speaker wires. The stock crap is awful and youll notice an increase in signal strength instantly. Also make sure you tell them you want the aftermarket wire ran ALL THE WAY to the speaker. A lot of times theyll run it to the door and then splice into the OEM wire leading up to the speaker.

You wont need more than 20' of any wire.

Browse around here for an idea of all the cool gadgets available out there and get an idea on pricing.

brettw22

One problem I have is that in the stock locations, the tweeters are at the corners of the dash/windshield with the mid on the door. I don't know if I want to have them install the tweets up top because of the mods that would DEFINITELY be required for that one. I'm contemplating having them put the tweet in the cap cover with the angled bezel and having the factory tweets just disconnected. I want to keep this as simple as possible with these speakers.

As sad as this is to ask......are the interconnects to run from the deck to the amp for each of the channels? So with 4 speakers I need to have 4 interconnects for the install, right? or more?

MacLeod

Yup you got it. Just like in HA. RCA's connect the head unit to the amp and youd need a pair of RCA's for each set so that would be 2 pair for all 4 speakers.

That wouldnt be a horrible idea of mouting the SR's coaxially. The only thing that would really suffer would be you stage would be substantially lowered but it would cut down on installation hassles so I say its not a bad idea.

brettw22

I can always go longer and have them tuck the extra somewhere under the dash, right? I don't want to risk ordering something too short.

exalted512

Everything that you listed is really killer gear.

SR's are fantastic drivers and you'll be nothing short of amazed with the clarity from them in a car.

400.4 is a great amp. When Polk first came out with their amps I thought they were a little on the expensive side but with a little hands on experience with them they were better than I originally thought. Its ashame they havent become more popular.

The 860 is an awesome deck. Pioneers best deck IMO. It will have better SQ than the 960 and looks a helluva lot better too. The features and controls it has are nothing short of amazing. The frequency and slope settings on it are very expensive. If I was getting a new deck for my truck, behind the P9(which is quite a bit more expensive), my choice would be the 860. Awesome deck.

As far as parts:
youll need an amp kit which will have everything you'll need. A 4awg amp kit will run you about $50. I'd also get some Streetwires ZN3 cables. Make sure its for a 4-channel though. It'll run you ~$50ish, but I wouldn't go with anything less. I would also get an amp kit with an ANL fuse as opposed to an AGU(the glass ones) if you plan on using the same wire when you put it in your new car and add a sub. It might make the kit like $10 extra, but worth it.

As far as labor goes, this is what my shop would charge you:
$90x2 for the SRs
$90 for the amp
$45 for the deck if you got it from somewhere else, $35 if you bought it from us.

So around ~$315 for labor, $30 for parts. Amp kit would be extra as well as RCAs. Most amp kits come with RCAs so make sure you get your RCAs that came with the amp kit back if you buy seperate ones. Just to give you an idea what another shop would do it for. Tweeter is actually a little cheaper than us.

Tell them you want all new wires. If you dont, they will tag on to your existing wires and you'll lose a lot of potential of your setup. We don't charge extra for that, but you do have to ask or we'll tag onto the stock wires too. They will probably have to drill a small hole in your door under your grommet because Honda is **** and they have a plug on each side of the grommet instead of just having wires go through. Also, if its anything like my g/f's 04 civic, there will be some metal cutting for the front doors. Honda's stock speakers have a magnet the size of a coke bottle cap and they dont leave much room for anything else besides their stock speakers in the door.

You're not going to need anything else besides what I listed. If they try to sale you anything else, I'd run it by here before you go ahead and buy it, chances are youre not going to need it.

I can look up the kit and harness you'll need if you want me to. You could get it on ebay for much cheaper than $40. I want to say the harness is Metra's 70-1721 but I don't know for sure. I'm not sure what the kit is.

Here it is for $8
http://cgi.ebay.com/BHA1721-70-1721-Honda-Acura-Radio-Wire-Harness-Plug_W0QQitemZ5834998313QQcategoryZ32812QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm sure you could get the dash kit for about the same and save you $20.

-Cody

neomagus00

yeah... you don't want hugely long cables, obviously, but rather too long than too short...

exalted512

RCAs:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/STRZN3504
exact cable/length you'd need
-Cody

brettw22

I'm hoping that with the somewhat shallowness of the SR's (small magnet as well) that they won't have to cut metal on the doors. Otherwise I don't see how they could 'return the car to stock' like they will be at the end of this vehicle's run under my ****.

I see no specific information on that link that you gave me to streetwires as to how many actual cables come in that $50 item. Is that per cable or for all 4 of them?

What's the purpose of putting an additional battery in the mix? I've seen some pics of them arond, and I'm assuming for additional power, but how do those typically get hooked up and at what point are they necessary?

The Metra kit is 70-1721 but I also found (also a Metra item) a Pioneer receiver harness for Honda (p/n PR01-1720). What's that?

Where do you suggest getting an amp kit from? I have access to a Monster amp kit, but the only choices they have from this distributor are a 10 gauge 100 watt amplifier kit for $14.99 or an 8 gauge 200watt amp kit for $19.99. If an amp kit is mostly made of interconnects, why not just buy things individually since recommending the is to buy the Streetwires?

exalted512

they are shallow, but the basket is fairly wide whereas the opening in the g/f's civic was not. I'll still be able to put her speakers back in but there will be space around the speaker, which no one will ever see anyway.

The link i gave you is the only RCA youll need. Its a single cable with 4 different plugs for front left/right and rear left/right. Its in the length you need and its designed for a 4-channel. That is THE rca id get in your situation. If youre not comfortable buying online and have a streetwires dealer near you, tell them you want the SW ZN3504, the model number for that RCA.

Extra batteries are for extra power, usually with 1kw+ systems. They get hooked up in parallel(+ to +, - to -) or just connect the + together and ground each one. You wont need it, especially with no subs. You can also run an isolator where you can have 1 for the vehicle and one for the stereo. Isolators run 25-100 bucks depending on features/quality.

Im sure the second plug you found is a plug that has the pioneer plug on one side to plug into the radio and the honda 70-1721 on the other side. Instead of having to connect the pioneer plug that comes with the radio and the seperate harness(70-1771), its already connected. Theyre a little more expensive but make installation easier. Youre paying the same price either way, get the cheaper one.

Its still usually cheaper to get an amp kit and rca's. When it comes to car audio, as long as its car audio wire...wire is wire. No matter if its POS monster or stingers TOTL. The only difference is strand count which doesnt matter as far as current is concerned(at least not in DC), it only matters in flexibility, which is the main difference between the brands. I get all my power wire from www.knukonceptz.com. They actually have pretty good RCAs as well. I'm not sure if theyre as good as SW, but a friend of mine used their $19 RCAs and sounded just as good as his stinger $120 RCAs. I wouldnt hesitate to buy a 4-channel amp kit from them and use their RCAs. It would be this kit:
http://knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KOL-AK44

For your system, dont get 8awg, get 4awg.
-Cody

brettw22

oh......one thing I forgot to ask. Will the deck that I'm looking at allow for an aux connection to where I can have an RCA to 1/8 connector kinda hanging out of the dash so I can connect it to either something like an Ipod or my laptop?

You mentioned the Isolator, but is that only if I'm installing the extra battery? or something I should look at for the system I'm planning? What's the purpose of them?

exalted512

Yes it does have an auxilary adapter. Im not sure if they have one that goes straight from pioneers bus cable to 1/8" connector, but i know they have them that go from bus cable to rca, then rca to 1/8" connector. If youre wanting to do this for an ipod, pioneer makes an ipod adapter kit thatll run you about 150 bucks at a shop, about half that on ebay. It has everything youll need and even charges it for you.

An isolator is only for using an extra battery. I dont use one because I bought both my batteries from the same place, same time, theyre as identical as possible. If youre using 2 different batteries is when I'd suggest using an isolator. What they do is just charge one battery at a time, or distribute an even amount of charge to each battery, depending on the isolator and how you want to use it.

The only reason you'd need one is if youre going to be running dual batteries and they are different(even if theyre the same battery and one is a year old and one is brand new, theyre considered to be different)
-Cody

brettw22

I like the look of the StreetWires, and am probably going to get the amp kit and interconnects from them. I'm one of those crazies that likes things to be the same brand, etc......

EDIT: If there's even a chance that I decide to add an additional amp later, should I not just buy a multi-amp kit just to save the money involved so I don't have to spend more buying a single amp kit?

EDIT EDIT: Streetwires doesn't have an AGL fuse in the amp kits unless you're getting the 1/0 gauge, and it looks like (in all the pictures) that the fuse holder is already connected to the cables. If I get an ANL fuse in addition to the amp kit, they can cut the existing AGU fuse out of the kit, right? That sounds like a dumb question, but just want to make sure. If I understand correctly, the difference between the two is just more power handling from the ANL, right?

brettw22

My friend isn't gonna help with squat on the Pioneer deck, so what do y'all think about getting it on Ebay for $250-300 instead of the $500 street?

neomagus00

depends on the multi-amp kit... i, for example, am piecing together my wires as needed, because that saves me money over an amp kit... i'd say get a single-amp kit now, because all you'll really need to add is a d-block and interconnects for the second amp...

and yeah, they can remove the agu fuse and holder, but it's probably a good idea to have the anl fuse and holder in hand first...

brettw22

I didn't even see that I'd have to buy the fuse seperate.....sad.

Should I get a 100, 150, 200, or 300 amp fuse? The bigger the better so it doesn't pop, right?

exalted512

You might just want to stick with the agu fuse to save some money if it already comes with the kit. ANL just allows for more current to go through for larger amperage systems. The kit comes with fuse. If you do want to get an anl fuse, then get a 200A fuse for it and call it a day. 99% of the time if you buy the fuse holder seperately, you will have to buy the fuse

Ebaying the radio is up to you and if you want to chance it. Look up onlinecarstereo.com, they might have what you want. EndoAudio on ebay seems to be pretty good. IM djdilliodon on AIM, he might carry pioneer, im not sure.
-Cody

brettw22

I'm gonna get the ANL and the 200 amp fuse. I'm one of those that would rather overbuy something than underbuy it so I don't have to re-buy things that I've already bought.....

I'll check out the radio when I get back from work......thanks for all y'alls help!!!!

audiobliss

exalted512 wrote:

The 860 is an awesome deck. Pioneers best deck IMO. It will have better SQ than the 960 and looks a helluva lot better too. The features and controls it has are nothing short of amazing.
-Cody

I'm gonna remember that forever!! :D

exalted512

yea, it has a few more features than my 940, but my 940 is a much different deck from the new 960. The 960 is a pos IMO. But someday ill have the p9, and ill get it for employee discount:D
-Cody

MacLeod

brettw22 wrote:

I'm gonna get the ANL and the 200 amp fuse. I'm one of those that would rather overbuy something than underbuy it so I don't have to re-buy things that I've already bought.....

I'll check out the radio when I get back from work......thanks for all y'alls help!!!!

Whao! 200 amps for a single 4 channel is way over the top. Thats like using a fire hydrant to brush your teeth in! Just stick with the 4 guage wiring and 80 amp fuse. 80 amps will be more than youll ever draw.

A 200 amp fuse on a stock charging system might also increase the chance of a fire.

audiobliss

MacLeod wrote:

Whao! 200 amps for a single 4 channel is way over the top. Thats like using a fire hydrant to brush your teeth in!

That's funny! I might hafta add it to my sig!

neomagus00

MacLeod wrote:

A 200 amp fuse on a stock charging system might also increase the chance of a fire.

that would be bad, seeing as i'll have a 250...

brettw22

Changing the fuse order to a 100amp.....to have at least a little room for when/if I add another amp down the line.....

neomagus00

yeah, you can always simply put in a larger fuse, no biggie...

exalted512

the fuse in the front has absolutely nothing to do with the size of your amp. Youre more likely to start a fire with an 80A fuse in the front than a 150-250A fuse in the front when using 4awg. Get the 200A and dont worry about having to buy another one later.
-Cody