The Story of My Cars stereo
06-04-2005, 12:07 AM
#1
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
Well I've had my Corolla for just under a year now. When I first got it I didn't want a system in it, so I went with a Kenwood Deck, Kenwood 12" sub, and a Kenwood amp to match.
Then I needed to upgrade the interior speakers because they just weren't good enough, so in go the eclipse components up front, Kenwood 6*9's in the back and a small 4 channel Kenwood amp to power them
I was really happy with this system till about 2 1/2 months ago, when the subs amp overheated, and started popping fuses. out it comes to get warranty work done. I get it back its still popping fuses (but it worked for about 2 - 5 minutes.) I go to a shop and get all my wiring tested because they said that it was the wiring (which was all professionally installed). Well my wiring ended up being fine. Now I’m pissed off with this shop and looking to spend money.
I go down the street and one of my friends is still working at this audio store out here (i hadn't seen him in about 2 - 3 years. He sells me on an Alpine SW something 1001. A huge mono block amplifier... He sells it to me for a steal of a price also.
I know my little Kenwood sub isn't going to withstand the pounding that this amp is going to do to it so I'm thinking about getting new sub/subs.
Well now I'm doing some fiberglassing in the trunk of my car, because i don't want my system to take up too much space.
I go down the street from my shop to buy a speaker ring (because i don't own a router and I am truthfully just a really lazy guy.) Low and behold the shop is liquidating its inventory and changing company names. I look under the counter and there lays an Alpine X12 sub... I ask the guy how much and he quotes me $100 including taxes LESS than another store not including taxes (so he saved me like $150ish dollars). Needless to say I bought the sub and speaker ring.
All that is left to do now is:
Just about finished building the box (still need to do another 3 or 4 layers of fiberglass), then sand, and fill and paint/upholster (I'm not sure which one)).
Build something to hold my amps
And run new power wire through my car (My car was run with 4 gauge, but now because of the size of amp, I have been informed I need to go to 0 or else run another 4 gauge wire).
Get a new distribution block (I found one that takes 0 gauge down to 4 gauge) and is digital for $50ish dollars.
Either get a new alternator or get a cap… Everyone at the audio stores are trying to sell me on the cap, but I don’t know if this is a Band-Aid or a solution to the problem of dimming headlights which I definitely will have (my smaller system dimmed my lights) I’m almost sure my new system will shut the car off [img]smile.gif[/img]
Then installation and tuning of the amp.... It came with a booklet for setting it up... I might have to get someone else to do it for me because it looks really complicated, especially since I’m not a car audiophile
I hope to post some pictures this weekend, when i head out to the shop to admire my handiwork. (It’s my 2nd attempt at a sub box made using fiberglass.)
My first attempt was good but took up WAY too much room.... I guess i did some bad math [img]smile.gif[/img]
This second attempt seems to be coming along pretty good now, and looks like it is going to be around the size that I want it to be. (Now hopefully it’s big enough)… I know its deep enough to fit the sub, it clears the trunk hinge, and is about 1.25’ * 1.25 * 11”(ish) because it is a completely fiberglass box… I’ll have to use packing peanuts to find out its actual size.
Then I needed to upgrade the interior speakers because they just weren't good enough, so in go the eclipse components up front, Kenwood 6*9's in the back and a small 4 channel Kenwood amp to power them
I was really happy with this system till about 2 1/2 months ago, when the subs amp overheated, and started popping fuses. out it comes to get warranty work done. I get it back its still popping fuses (but it worked for about 2 - 5 minutes.) I go to a shop and get all my wiring tested because they said that it was the wiring (which was all professionally installed). Well my wiring ended up being fine. Now I’m pissed off with this shop and looking to spend money.
I go down the street and one of my friends is still working at this audio store out here (i hadn't seen him in about 2 - 3 years. He sells me on an Alpine SW something 1001. A huge mono block amplifier... He sells it to me for a steal of a price also.
I know my little Kenwood sub isn't going to withstand the pounding that this amp is going to do to it so I'm thinking about getting new sub/subs.
Well now I'm doing some fiberglassing in the trunk of my car, because i don't want my system to take up too much space.
I go down the street from my shop to buy a speaker ring (because i don't own a router and I am truthfully just a really lazy guy.) Low and behold the shop is liquidating its inventory and changing company names. I look under the counter and there lays an Alpine X12 sub... I ask the guy how much and he quotes me $100 including taxes LESS than another store not including taxes (so he saved me like $150ish dollars). Needless to say I bought the sub and speaker ring.
All that is left to do now is:
Just about finished building the box (still need to do another 3 or 4 layers of fiberglass), then sand, and fill and paint/upholster (I'm not sure which one)).
Build something to hold my amps
And run new power wire through my car (My car was run with 4 gauge, but now because of the size of amp, I have been informed I need to go to 0 or else run another 4 gauge wire).
Get a new distribution block (I found one that takes 0 gauge down to 4 gauge) and is digital for $50ish dollars.
Either get a new alternator or get a cap… Everyone at the audio stores are trying to sell me on the cap, but I don’t know if this is a Band-Aid or a solution to the problem of dimming headlights which I definitely will have (my smaller system dimmed my lights) I’m almost sure my new system will shut the car off [img]smile.gif[/img]
Then installation and tuning of the amp.... It came with a booklet for setting it up... I might have to get someone else to do it for me because it looks really complicated, especially since I’m not a car audiophile
I hope to post some pictures this weekend, when i head out to the shop to admire my handiwork. (It’s my 2nd attempt at a sub box made using fiberglass.)
My first attempt was good but took up WAY too much room.... I guess i did some bad math [img]smile.gif[/img]
This second attempt seems to be coming along pretty good now, and looks like it is going to be around the size that I want it to be. (Now hopefully it’s big enough)… I know its deep enough to fit the sub, it clears the trunk hinge, and is about 1.25’ * 1.25 * 11”(ish) because it is a completely fiberglass box… I’ll have to use packing peanuts to find out its actual size.
06-04-2005, 12:28 AM
#3
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
ohh yah... Its been fun. I just don't want the wife to see the receipts... J/K.. I've always loved stereos... I used to have a killer house system, then my house got B&E'd and i got married, so I haven't been able to update that, and my cars always had small small systems in them, ussually a deck an amp and 2 jl audio subs or something along those lines.. This car I think I've kind of gone overboard, but my thought is I'm in my car for atleast 2 - 3 hours a day, I want to listen to music and have it sound good, so I need to spend the money to be able to enjoy it. Ok... well maybe i caught a little bit of the disease that most of you suffer from [img]smile.gif[/img] I swear this is the last sub and amp I'm going to buy for atleast the next year... I might need to get a new deck though, cause i'm kind of sick of mine now j/k....or am I [img]smile.gif[/img]
06-04-2005, 12:39 AM
#5
50 Watt CAFz'r
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
I will defianetly get some pics... Probably tommorow, sometime... I even have my camera sitting in my car for when i go to the shop.
you will have to realize that it is still a work in progress when you see the pics though, cause my trunk is kind of messy, the box, is kind of not totally finished yet, and there isn't an amp rack/distribution block/cap or 0 gauge wire yet. I'm guessing over the next 2 weeks is how long it'll take me to get all my plans completed (which is really good for a procrastinator like me)
you will have to realize that it is still a work in progress when you see the pics though, cause my trunk is kind of messy, the box, is kind of not totally finished yet, and there isn't an amp rack/distribution block/cap or 0 gauge wire yet. I'm guessing over the next 2 weeks is how long it'll take me to get all my plans completed (which is really good for a procrastinator like me)
06-04-2005, 01:07 AM
#6
50 Watt CAFz'r
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
06-04-2005, 03:06 PM
#7
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
Well I've updated my cardomain site now, with some progress pics which are about accurate up to an hour ago.
www.cardomain.com/id/mmartin1874
Still lots of work to do but I hope to have it done in the next 2 weeks
www.cardomain.com/id/mmartin1874
Still lots of work to do but I hope to have it done in the next 2 weeks
06-04-2005, 11:50 PM
#8
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
So today, I layed down a couple more layers of fiberglass, bought a digital inline fuse for 0 gauge wire, and bought a digital 0 gauge to 4 gauge distribution block, and I've also layed down some fiberglass bondo stuff, and sanded it.. One more coat of that and then the hand off to my little brother to finish off the prep and paint work or carpet work (which ever i decide on) This is turning out real nice... I just hope it sounds good (cross my fingers)
06-05-2005, 01:15 PM
#9
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
Either get a new alternator or get a cap… Everyone at the audio stores are trying to sell me on the cap, but I don’t know if this is a Band-Aid or a solution to the problem of dimming headlights which I definitely will have (my smaller system dimmed my lights) I’m almost sure my new system will shut the car off
As a rule of thumb - if your battery is less than three years old, buy the cap, as you won't need to replace your battery for a couple more years.
If your battery is 3 to 5 years old, or more, then spend the money on a new battery, and get a cap when you're feeling rich again. Get a battery designed for extreme use, like Optima, Orbital, or other "super-batteries".
More info on batteries etc. here: http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/cgi/...3;t=010620;p=1
06-05-2005, 03:45 PM
#10
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
sounds good to me... So a cap isn't just a bandaid then... I was just worried that they where trying to sell me something that wasn't going to fix the problem, properly... If the proper fix was a better alternator (being as my battery is only 9 months old or so) I would go that route instead
