*PICS* Audio system in my Trooper

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Doodoo
Yeah running them on the same side will give u noise....even running em on opposite sides gave me noise. Got rid of it by replacing my RCA's with CAT5. Cat5 makes awesome RCA's.

Yeah, that happens sometimes. A lot of people dont' realize that in mobile audio, there's two primary culprits of noise:

1. Running power and RCA cables next to each other
2. Poor grounding.

All the components in the back are grounded to one central point, via a distribution block.

I took one of the cargo tie-down points/bolt removed it,



then sanded down to bare metal with a grinding wheel on a cordless drill.



there are two of these cables one from ground distribution block, one from the capacitor that go to this ground point. I have zero hum at any engine speed/volume level. Your ground is just as important as your +12V source.

 

[Mucman]

Hehe... I would love to ask a whole bunch of questions, but I got bit by the car audio bug a couple years ago and I
spent too much money

Now I just have a mid-level Alpine HU, MB Quart DSD216s and a 4way Kenwood amp going 2x70WRMS to my Quarts. It's
basic but it fills the cab of my truck just fine.

So please ignore me so I don't catch the bug again... but you're darn slideshow is drawing me in

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Mucman
Hehe... I would love to ask a whole bunch of questions, but I got bit by the car audio bug a couple years ago and I
spent too much money

Now I just have a mid-level Alpine HU, MB Quart DSD216s and a 4way Kenwood amp going 2x70WRMS to my Quarts. It's
basic but it fills the cab of my truck just fine.

So please ignore me so I don't catch the bug again... but you're darn slideshow is drawing me in

[vader]Come back....back, to the Dark Side...you cannot resist..you do not want to resist....feel it calling you....FEEL it....[/vader]

Heheheh. I TRIED to NOT do an install in this truck. Honest. It was just that the stock stereo...well, it sucked ass. I missed the thump. But then, if you have thump, you need a more pronounced midrange...but then...well, you know.

 

[amdskip]

great job!

 

[Mucman]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: Mucman
Hehe... I would love to ask a whole bunch of questions, but I got bit by the car audio bug a couple years ago and I
spent too much money

Now I just have a mid-level Alpine HU, MB Quart DSD216s and a 4way Kenwood amp going 2x70WRMS to my Quarts. It's
basic but it fills the cab of my truck just fine.

So please ignore me so I don't catch the bug again... but you're darn slideshow is drawing me in

[vader]Come back....back, to the Dark Side...you cannot resist..you do not want to resist....feel it calling you....FEEL it....[/vader]

Heheheh. I TRIED to NOT do an install in this truck. Honest. It was just that the stock stereo...well, it sucked ass. I missed the thump. But then, if you have thump, you need a more pronounced midrange...but then...well, you know.

Here's my ghetto install

I want to put 100W plus to my quarts (they love the juice), and I want to get a good class-D to run a 12" IDQ DVC. I also want to get a better HU. I am happy with
the components in the stock locations though. 6.5"'s are in the doors (with some sound dampening material in the doors), and the 3/4" tweets in the dash.

Everytime I listen to Babe by Styx I get distortion during the intro chiming bit and it drives me up the wall! I guess those notes are two low for the tweets to play
and they aren't getting enough juice to play em clearly.

One day... at least I know who to ask for advice

 

[MichaelD]

Hey, that's a start! Your front splits are better than mine...I was kinda on a budget. BUT I wanted splits that could take a lot of juice. I like it LOUD. The Infinity's are rated at 90W RMS. They can take a beating. I currently don't have any damping on my doors...that budget thing again.

My midbass would have a lot more smack if I dynamatted the doors. That's my next major project.

What gauge wiring do you have on that amp? Prolly a piece of 8-gauge from the battery and 8-gauge ground, right? You know that when you add another amp, you'll need to run 4-gauge, right?

I had a buddy chewing me out when I wired my truck with 4, instead of 2/0 gauge. He was thinking along the lines of what if I decided to go to a monster SPL rig...like two 15's in a ported box or something. But, I won't do that...did it in the past and had NO trunk. It got old after awhile.

When I redo this install, it will probably get smaller. Looking to going to a really powerful 5-channel amp. Something along the lines of 75W x 4 + 200W x 1. Then I would only have that amp and the EQX back there. I could conceiveably mount it all on the right, behind the sub box...there's room back there...I currently store my gym bag there.

Man, see!!!!! You've got me thinking! Thinking is bad. Baaad.

 

[Mucman]

Pic that shows other side of the amp

I was lucky with the dampening. My brother works at an automotive shop and was able to get me some Lordco no-name brand material for really cheap. I need
to put some in the back though because I get a lot of road noise through there.

Yes, I am kicking myself for not putting in 4 gauge (I got 8 gauge). I did the same grounding technique as you though. I sanded a part of the frame down to bare
metal and grounded my amp (~2 feet away). I am lucky that my truck comes with a good alternator ('94 GMC Sonoma 4.3L) so I should always have plenty of power. I am
not a SPL guy so 1 sub is probably all I will ever put in there.

Stop making me think about it!!!!