Total Newbie!!

jsnyder

Alright, here is the deal. I have an old '79 Chevy pickup. After deciding that the k-mart radio and 2 inch speakers were not enough for me, i thought, hey i'll buy some speakers, that will make it all better. NOT. so i bought a set of 6x9 dual (I know, i know, not the best choice, but i think they will do the job. they are 150 watt.) speakers and boxes to put them in. when i got home and started to install them i realized what a mess the back of the radio was. most wires where rotten, there was no wire harness, only a ground, hot, and right and left wires. just loose, no connections. so i put my speakers in and rewired. after this i hooked them up, and cranked it, hoping for a better sound. what i got was something about as powerfull as my laptop speakers.
What i need to know what i should do about the wire harness predicament, and also if amping the speakers would do anything for me. I plan to buy a new deck. at the moment i am planning on buying a jvc.
I just want a good sound. i dont want something that will blow my neighbors away.
Like i said i am a complete newbie at the whole car audio thing. i am pretty farmiliar with car wiring and basic stuff, but this is not my thing.
Please help, anything would be of assistance. thanks.

MacLeod

Your head unit doesnt have enough power for those speakers so they sound like laptop speakers. Getting a real, aftermarket head unit will help tremendously.

If those wires are rotten then youd be doing yourself a huge favor by spending a few hours one Saturday and rewireing the whole thing. Shouldnt be hard since its only got 3 wires (ground, hot, ignition) and the speaker wires. Run down to Radio Shack and buy some wire and fix that mess.

jsnyder

ok, i did all the rewiring, do you have any suggestions on what gauge wire i should use? if i did get that head unit, could i amp the speakers instead of spendins so much on the head> if not, do you have any suggestions on head units?

jsnyder

ok, i did all the rewiring, do you have any suggestions on what gauge wire i should use? if i did get that head unit, could i amp the speakers instead of spendins so much on the head> if not, do you have any suggestions on head units?

MacLeod

Yeah you could get good results just by amping the speakers but I would feel better with a new head unit. If that one is that old with rotting wires, I wouldnt trust it. As for which brand, Ive always been partial to Alpine myself but Kenwood, Clarion, Eclipse and Pioneer all make good CD players. Find the one that best meets your budget and has the features you want.

As for which gauge, you wont need anything that big. 14 gauge at most for the battery wire and ground, 18 for the ignition wire and 16 for the speaker wires.

jsnyder

so what wattage do i need with just the head? or if i was going to amp it, what do i need?

Would an alipine CDE-100 do the trick?

Here are all the tech details. my speakers are dual 6x9s, 50w RMS, 150w peak.

The Alpine CDE-100 says it has an 18w x4 output. im still kinda unclear on what that means. if i got this would i still have to amp them? i just dont want to underpower my speakers and screw them up.

bighorsietoe

Hi,

I received a pair of floor standing Polk Audio Monitor speakers, labeled 8T 28528 and 27229 to satisfy a debt. Anyone care to comment on them ?

tk421

amping an old crappy head unit will only send a louder crappy sound to the speakers. the frequency range that is output by a newer head unit will be wider (ie - more bass and treble)

jsnyder

K. I understand that. what i want to know is if i buy the new alpine head, do i need to amp it, or will it power those speakers sufficiently alone. i threw the old head out. so we dont need to worry about that.
if i do need to amp it, how many watts would i need?

jsnyder

k thanks.

jsnyder

yeah i got yah. now that i have done some research, i realize that sixty bucks is pretty cheap. thanks for the help.