Car Audio. Were/Are you an enthusiast?

Messing with this deck sitting in car wash. Angus and Brian are sounding pretty good! Can't wait to get this build completed. Needs Moar subwuffer!!

 

Had to dig up my bin-o-Quart. Hasn’t breathed fresh air in over 20 years! Not as nice as I remembered either. I do remember they sounded very good, for a hard dome system. I always preferred soft.

 

Funny, but as an orion enthusiast, I never felt the PPI were as good as the Orion's. Now, there were 2 different Orion's. After they got old or whatever, they changed and were not as good as the old orion....

 

Same as SoundStream. After the D and MC line, they became stinkers, literally! Orion made some really good stuff in the day, as did many manufactures. I’ve used amps from HiFonics, JBL, Rockford Fosgate, SS, Alpine, PPI and MTX. In the beginning there were the Radio Shack power boosters..
Stuff like this is like crack to a crack head:

 

That's a lot of A1200's!

 

Bahahaha!!1

 

So, I didn't spend what I thought was much on the JVC. I ran into town and got the truck washed and got some food. Messed with it a bit. Couldn't get bluetooth connected at first. This was because I had not paired the phone with the deck yet. (may seem noobish to some, but I don't bluetooth a whole lot) I've been messing with some of the levels a little, trying to set up the EQ to my liking and whatnot. Playing with the fancy lights on the bezzle of the radio. Just feeling the thing out. I get home and decide I'm going to get the manual and get the bluetooth working. Soon, success. Not only can I stream music and use for phone calls...

There's an App....



It does many things





Makes me think I am behind the times. I gave the princely sum of $150 for this head unit. It's not really anything I'd call special when looking at initial spec. I wanted customizable EQ, sub preout and control, CD player, bluetooth playback, greater than 2.5 volt preout (4.0 on this deck), and an aux in on the front. That's how I was specing while shopping. Here is the model...
KW-R935BTS｜In-Dash Receivers｜JVC USA - Products -

So far I am very pleased. It seems like a lot of kit for $150, but again I may be behind the times. Can it be used for Reference...no. Will it rock my little pickup to my satisfaction...signs point to yes.

 

This is just vulgar, by the way.

 

Goodies awaiting install. 6.5s will be here today. Raybestos box is for rear brake shoes, which will arrive tomorrow.




But...Im taking the truck to dealer to drop off for frame replacement. Will have to wait to finish up the audio build. Having brand new strut assemblies, all springs and cab mount bushings done while it's apart. I hope that it'll be riding like new when done.

12 years of junk compilation came out of the truck Sunday. I was surprised just how much crap I had managed to be hauling around. Didn't want any issues of "something's missing" so I emptied it entirely. Been doing quite a few 'spruce ups' besides the new stereo. Refitting for another decade of use...hopefully.

 

Well, build is on pause. Dropped my truck at dealership last night. Was told one week turnaround. I'm expecting 7-10 days. They gave me a 2018 TRD Offroad Crewmax with 7500 miles on it to drive. First tried to give me a Prius, but after informing them of my extra-curricular activities, they found me a truck. For some reason I don't think they wanted me off roading or putting saws and gas (or...whatever) in the trunk of a Prius.

Meanwhile, the 6.5's have arrived and during my ongoing research I discovered this:

Alpine

Considering adding one to my system. Shopping other offerings from Clarion, Kicker and Kenwood in this type of amp. I like that they can be stashed behind the dash and ease of connection to factory wiring. My head unit is only rated at 22wx4, which I suspect isn't going to be enough once the sub is brought into the picture. My old deck was 50x4 rms with a big heatsink on the back of it.

 

Kicker has one of those amp/signal processors. Really good reviews.

New frame is awesome. A few years back they applied a coating to my Tundra frame. Some areas are peeling off now. SMH.

 

I am pleased with Toyota. When I took it for inspection I was thinking I'd just get the spray. Low & behold there was a hole. I am happy with how the dropoff went. I had some reservations about the whole deal, but I think it's going to go fine. Met the Technician who will be doing the work (requested a meeting with him). Went over the finer points of the truck and some of my modifications that he might run into. I liked him. He knows that my truck is more than a means of conveyance to me and can appreciate that. Service writer demonstrated will to go above and beyond for me. Luckily wasn't needed.

The items I am looking at aren't really processors...just tiny amps. They do have low/high pass filters and gain adjustments. Some offer more features than others. MB quart offers one that I think is meant to go into a SxS vehicle...I am considering it for my truck. (if all mids/highs are to be Quart...why not the amp powering them, right?) Size is an issue. I need 4x45w@4ohm with smallest possible footprint. I have some room back there, but not a ton.

 

Check it out.

I thought about getting one for my truck. I have yet to do anything to it aside from an Alpine hu.

 

My home audio system has an eq/spectrum analyzer which also has a pink noise generator and a microphone. So I can eq to the room to flatten response. These little units do it all for you. Really sweet!

 

I ran across that unit while shopping. I don't think it's a fit for my needs though...



An auto tuner would be nice, but have copius amounts of adjustment available from the deck. I'm more so just looking to boost wattage without running a normal secondary dedicated Amp system.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out the wiring for the doors...I think the factory tweeters are tied into the lower door speaker, but have no idea what impedance is.

 

So, I found some diagrams, but this crap looks like Chinese algebra to me mostly...



And this



Research continues.

 

Was told by a vendor that the adapter I purchased from them for the tweeters in the doors, paired with 4ohm SVC speaker in door below will yield a 4 ohm load on the channel. Needing to know this so I am not inadvertently sending out double wattage to the speakers. 6x9 only rated for 50w rms and 100w peak.

I'm still having trouble believing that it will be a 4ohm load, unless I am not understanding the wiring schematics. 4ohm speaker + 4 ohm speaker can only equal 2ohm or 8ohm impedance from my understanding? I am considering just disabling the tweeters and dealing with them at a later date. With the addition of a small amp to put out 45w RMS to all four coax speakers, I'm hoping that they will give plenty of mids and highs. Only one way to really find out though.

I have switched gears a bit on the mini amp.

Now leaning heavily towards a Sony. It is said to be one of the 'cleanest' of the variety available as far as hiss goes. Seems a lot of these little amps don't have a very good signal to noise ratio. The Sony is 100db. The Clarion I had looked at was ~72db IIRC. They have good reviews and are very basic, with limited adjustment which is fine...I'm really looking to just boost the already tuned signal.

Sony Class D 4 Channel Stereo Power Amplifier

Oh...this project has started to expand. I have some sound deadening material on the way.

I recently decided I am gong to pull harness out and solder it, rather than crimping. The crimp caps are great for a good connection, but the balls of wires are unruly and taking too much space behind the deck...I'm about to double the amount of wiring back there. Soldering and heat shrink it is.

 

Check these out. I used some a week or so ago at work and ended up ordering some for myself.

 

Well, now I'm looking at better 5.25" marine speakers for the sides of my boat, and maybe a better head unit, and maybe some tweeters that I can mount in the corners of the windshield.. oh, and maybe a bigger amp for the sub. lol