A little peel and seal? I think I may be going that route as well. Mainly because I want to do it this weekend and Lowes is close.

You ever get any smell?

I used roofing mat from a supply store. I did this several years ago and pulled out the whole enterior. The smell only lasted 3 days. I live in San Diego and its perfect weather for this application. If you live in death valley or Canada then maybe you should consider something else.

brianemc2_42, this is for you.



I would of had to drive from Morgantown to Pittsburgh to buy an amp off a kid that "couldn't get it to work when hooked up to his system" but is new in the box, apparently. And a Pioneer amp.

Would have been 4 hours of my time and $125 with amp and fuel.

Not worth it. This is delivered to my door brand new.

The reviews I have read on the Pioneer were never epic. Of course it has good reviews on sonicelectronixs and Amazon. However searching forums, like DIYaudiomobile never found anything saying the Pioneer is a BAMF.

So what I have so far:

Pioneer 5400T
Alpine MRP300
Kicker CVR 10" DVC 2 Ohm
Polk Db6501 Speakers
DB Link Wiring kit (the speaker wire is a joke that comes with it, going to buy better)

Looking for a box for the sub, gonna take up Nelsonmd and get one from sonicelectronix.

I work nights so im getting some sleep now. I will answer all questions tonight including the one on what music to test with

I guess you can from my last post what I have going on.

Maybe some info as to how to properly "tune" the amp would be good, if you are willing.

Is this the best way to do it?

How to Set your Gains with a Multimeter - YouTube

I am sure those Polk will sound very nice. I think Polk makes pretty good speakers. It is the same company: Polk / Infinity / Harmon Kardon but each product line is different.

Sorry its so late in my response. Had a busy night at work. Still here tho

Ok so I will answer the "what music" question first.
This can be a bit tricky because just like cars, every piece of equipment is different. Something that might work for some might not work for others, what some people think sounds right may not sound right to others etc.

When I am tuning a car audio system, I focus mainly on the kind of sound I want and the music I will be listening to mostly. Now I still use some other tracks of different genres but if your going to be listening to mostly rock, you dont want to use bass heavy rap to tune with.

I usually will do my first tune with a very broad ranged insturmental track of any genre. One track I have found that is a great starting point is called "Requiem For A Tower".(youtube it, you all have heard it, just may not have realized it) It has a very broad range of sound from low bass's, beating drums, violins, horns etc.

Start by turning off or disconecting any subwoofer, then turn the system to the maximum volume that you start to get distortion and then back down 1-2 "notches". Tune your bass frequencys first as they will be what will cause the most distortion. You will likely start to get distortion turning the bass up since you are so close to the threshold so simply tune, turn down, tune turn down etc. Also, if you are running a sub with your system, turn the bass down another notch or 2 from "what sounds right". You want to do this because again, the lower bass frequencys are what cause the most distortion and you will have a sub to "pick up the slack".

Next tune your midrange frequencys if you have this option on your deck. (most new ones do). Again follow the same logic, tune till you get distortion, volume down, etc. If you do not get distortion then you do not need to turn the volume down.

NOTE: You want to tune to where sounds blend and are crisp without overloading or overpowering other sounds. This can be a bit tricky for the untrained ear. Just as a general reference point, I find that with most decks if you are running a sub as a good starting point, set the bass to minus 2-3, the mids to around positive 2-3 and the treble to positive 2-3. Frequency range that is good for 6.5" fronts and 5.25" rears that we have in the 4 runner are between 90-120 hz bass, 500-800hz mid range and 7khz to 12khz for your treble frequencys. Again, its going to come down to blending your sounds for the type of music you listen to.

The next step is to change tracks to a more bass heavy track that utilizes the type of bass you will be listening to. If that is punchy rock type bass, find a good insturmental track that has a good double bass drum "riff" in it. Turn your sub back on and play this track a few times while adjusting gain and eq settings on your amp. Turn the gain/bassboost all the way down on your amp, turn your system till you get distortion, then back down a notch or 2. Now adjust your gain on your sub until it is creating a decent amount of bass but not that it is close to distorting. Around 50-75% of what your sub can handle. Tune your frequency to the desired sound. (Rock tracks around 55-65hz, boomy rap 35-50hz etc. This will also vary greatly on they type of box you have "ported or sealed" the box tune, the size of your woofer, vehicle size etc so again you will have to listen closely to what sounds right for your tastes.)

Once you have found the proper frequency for you, adjust the gain up until you start to hear a slight distortion. This can be very hard with a sub because distortion can be confused with air movement. There isnt a great way to distinguish distortion from air movement and box resonation however, if you listen closely, you will hear almost a "buzzing" from the center of the sub if it is distorting.

When you reach your distortion point, turn it back down slightly. One thing to remember is that subs need to be "broken in". The proper way to do this is on a test bench in an open air enviroment doing frequency cycles however most people dont have the time or equipment to do this. To break in a sub in car, in box, the most efficent way is to play a very bass rich track that ranges in low end frequencys. Play this for around 1-2 hours straigh if possible at around 75% volume. Alot of older blues/bluegrass/funk tracks work well for this because they focus alot on the bass guitar and use many notes on it. (think of the bass rift's in "Play That Funky Music White Boy" or "Low Rider".(the focus of breaking in a sub is to get the voice coils hot enough to "burn off" any contaminates, foregin matter etc, as well as to "loosen up the surround and cone so that they are flexible) again, a subs entire purpose is to move air so the further the cone can travel and the more it can "conform" to different frequenctys, the louder and cleaner it will be.

Lastly, place in the music you will be listening to most commenly. Turn it up to around 75-90% volume and make slight tweaks to accomidate vocals. You should at this point however be very close to where you need to be so if it sounds way off, you missed something somewhere.

Well that actually looks like I covered both questions at once lol.

2 things to remember, if you are using an external amp for your fronts and rears, turn the gain all the way down, the deck to around 75% of maximum, then the gain up on the amp.

Also on your sub amp, if you are having to turn your gain more than around 70-80%, you need to look into a larger amp. Turning the gain to the max to get the sub to peak will cause the amp to work harder than it should and create excess heat and electrical interference/distortion.

If there are any other questions, I will gladly do my best to answer them.

And yes, those polks will do fine also. Didnt see those originaly otherwise I would have stated the should be ok. The only problem with polk is they have 2 "lines" of their products. There average consumer line for you everyday consumer who wants the polk name (they are still good speakers though) and then their audiophile line. They dont tell you there is a difference but walk into any true home theater store and you will see and hear the difference between the ones they have there vs the ones at best buy for half the cost.

man yall posted some long responses. best thing you can do is follow your spec sheet:

and build the box to the EXACT specified volume. it will sounds great. im a JBL/INFINITY/H-K guy, always sound great, and usually pretty cheap for what you get.

Take your time on wiring, solder your connections, use proper heat shrink/insulation. it will pay off down the road.

Put the new Polks in today with the stock wiring. Sounds sooo much better.

Can't imagine what it is going to sound like with an amp and better wiring.

Have to drive to Connecticut first tough. With leaking rear axle seals.

Updates and to cut or not to cut.

Updates first.

Got this stuff in the mail over the last couple days.



Now, to cut or not to cut? I was thinking that I would have A LOT cleaner install if I had both the amps either under the driver seat or in the jack area. To do this I would need to do some cutting. What do you guys think about making the cut? I don't think I will need to cut all of the "beam" in the picture below to fit a Alpine MRP down there, just 3/4 to 2/3 of it.

First, to give reference.



And the cut area.

i would'nt go tearing up your interior for an amp. put it under your seat. i have mine there, its not able to be seen really at all....

I guess I didn't clarify. Two amps. One for components. One for 10" subwoofer. I want the cleanest look possible.

To the point that all I have to do is unclip some Anderson clips to remove the subwoofer box.

I don't really want to attach the other amp to the subwoofer box, but I guess I could do that.

I just feel that it attracts the "steal me" attention more than just subwoofers do.

Put the Alpine under the drivers seat. Only keep one amp under the seat since it will get hot. Put the other one next to the Sub or screw it into the subwoofer box. Alternatively Velcro it onto the backside of the rear seats. You can do any of these and still have it look very clean.

Keep in mind that you must** have a cargo cover or blanket back there anyways covering the rear amp and sub so that people walking by do not see the subwoofers and steal them.

Standard car insurance may not cover your subwoofers but a renters/homeowners policy will. Just make sure you have a $100 deductible on your renters insurance.

My wiring setup:
4G+ run from the battery to the a 4G distribution block located under the drivers side rear** seat.
4G+ from the distribution block to the Alpine amp under the seat (pretty short cable)
4G(-) from the Alpine amp to a separate ground. I used the rear seat belt bolt after sanding the paint off.
4G+ from the distribution block to the sub amp located in the cargo area.
4G(-) from the rear sub amp to a different ground point, again a large bolt (seat-belts are good) with the metal sanded down.

$29 4 Gauge Distribution Block (put this under the rear seat)
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_211DBX3...4.html?tp=3001

*** I am running 900W RMS between my two Amps ***



Rules:
* Always sand the paint off making a clean ground connection
* Separate grounds for each amp (don't cross the streams)
* Run each cable from the D-block keeping them as short as possible +/- 6 inches
* Each ground wire must be the same gauge as the (+) wiring. Don't ask why just Google Ohm's Law.
* Install a cargo cover or put a blanket over your subs; cargo covers look very clean
* Use 4G wiring for your cable kit to and from the D-block.
* Note that not all 4G wiring is truly 4G. Be sure to check the reviews on ebay or Amazon or Crutchfield for any wiring kit you buy.
* Use a separate power line to power the aftermarket stereo. I use a totally separate (10 or 12G) positive wire from the battery straight my head unit. I have a separate ground as well ran back to the battery.



Some Advice

*** If you have to use 8G (because you already bought it) then plan on the 4G upgrade soon. With those two amps you will really need to upgrade to 4G.

*** I do not have any loop-back issues. The only time I have experienced loop-back is when I plugged my phone charger into the phone and the aux-in 2.5m cable into my phone at the same time. Without the charger no loop-back. With only the aux-in plugged up then no loop-back. If you want to avoid loop-back then follow my install setup and don't use the Toyota factory power & ground (just my belief, not proven).

*** Don't get a CAP. I recently removed mine from my system because I installed an Optima battery and figured let the Optima do its job. Before even considering a CAP you should upgrade to a true 4G wiring kit.


Here is my cargo setup with the subwoofer amp under that towel. I normally drive around with the cargo cover so it looks very clean.

Can you extrapolate?
Ohms law makes me sick after EE.

Maybe I will (and probably should) do this when I have everything torn apart.

Loopback is noise? Didn't find much on a Google search. Will continue looking.


Hopefully after a few more posts, the install will be what I am doing not bull****ting on here.

I bought a "4" gauge amp wiring kit from Amazon. Overall people said it is good, and it is a lot beefier than an 8 gauge I saw. (The inners not the outers).

However, just to clarify a few things.

So what I have decided to do, for my own cleanliness, and due to the fact that selling that **** Pioneer amp is impossible, is install the Pioneer under the driver seat and then the Alpine in the jack area. (Some sawing will be required, however only a little due to Alpine amp footprint.) I would put the Pioneer there, however it won't fit easily.

I bought a distribution block from sonicelectronix last week. I will run the + from the battery to under the seat. After looking at your post I could run it the same way you did (rear seat).

I will run 10 gauge wire from the drivers seat to the subwoofer box in the back. (Reminds me, I need to build that.)

Then from the D-block (good term, better than a C-block), I will run to the Alpine amp in the jack area.

Both will have their own grounds, pretty easily. Front I am imagining the seat mount back it will be easy as it is all sheetmetal in the jack area.

From here I have a couple points that clarification would be nice.

First, see the diagram below. It says that I need Y cables to properly connect the Alpine. Is that true? See below. (I am going to run bridged bc I am not running rears.)



That leads into my second question. My HU has subwoofer pre-amp outs (correct terminology?). So should I do the Y cables to the Alpine amplifier, and then run another set of RCA cables to the Pioneer amp from the subwoofer pre-amp outs? Or should I do the Y cables and then run from the Alpine to the Pioneer?

The latter option would be a little cumbersome, because I would then have to run the RCA cable from the Alpine amp to the Pioneer alongside the power cables. Would this matter as far as noise goes, for a subwoofer?

I am guessing all those subwoofer pre-amp outputs do is us a LP filter? See diagram from below for my HU.



Also, as a side note, the Pioneer amp I got says it was manufactured in Dec 2008 at the bottom. Does this still qualify as new? Seem fishy?

I can't explain further. It is just my personal opinion that you should not "share grounds" on car audio amplifiers. I don't have the links I just believe I am right.

As far as the loop-back noise what that means is a high pitch sound that rises with the RPMs of the engine. I do not have this sound but on my previous vehicle I had the issue.


My 4 channel amplifier has two "gain" settings. I only ran a single L+R audio cable and a separate cable for the subs. I then used the y-connectors so that the sound went into the rear and front channels.

The L RCA cable goes from the head unit to the Y connector which goes into L-front and L-rear. The opposite for the other side.

If you have rear speakers then this will work well for you. Yes, you will not be able to "fade" via the head unit but you can do it manually on the amp. I don't have kids and rarely have passengers so I never use the fade.