Thread: carputer to car speakers

I dont believe in subs in a car. 2ch coming from 4 speakers sounds great. All a sub does is distort the way the music is supposed to be in the first place, and annoy everyone around your car.

OMG I disagree with you guys. I had a 5.1 setup and it sounded amazing. It took alot of tweaking, but it sounded good. When I upgraded to the 7.1 setup the sound was mind blowing. I was so happy with the setup that now i am in the process of ripping out all the original speaker wire with 12 gauge wire, updated speakers, and beefy amps. Now to get 5.1 you would need a 4 channel amp for front right/ front left/ rear right/ rear left, then a dedicated amp for the sub. If you want center speaker then you may need another amp. Most people simply redirect center to the front speakers, which is called a phantom speaker, it sounds like its there but it really isn't. You will have to update your sound card, best thing to do is get a USB sound card, if you don't want a PCI based card, although PCI is better hands down. Search for a Sound Blaster Live 24bit USB card. I have used one in the past and they work great and you get 5.1 out of them.

It requires alittle bit more work, but you will notice a difference in the end. Just be glad your setup isn't like mine, it requires two 4 channel amps for all 8 speakers, one mono block amp for sub, and a small amp for the headphone ports.

The problem is most people are perfectly happy with a HU's output. You may be able to tell the difference in a tiny cramped cube with wheels, but the majority of the world cannot and frankly doesnt care.

So it is ridiculous to spend obscene amounts of cash for something that goes to waste. Just like it is ridiculous when people buy a quad core desktop with a 512Mb dedicated graphics card so they can play solitaire and check email. Complete waste of money and when the end user cant tell the difference, it doesnt make logical or fiscal sense to do so.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

The problem is most people are perfectly happy with a HU's output. You may be able to tell the difference in a tiny cramped cube with wheels, but the majority of the world cannot and frankly doesnt care.

So it is ridiculous to spend obscene amounts of cash for something that goes to waste. Just like it is ridiculous when people buy a quad core desktop with a 512Mb dedicated graphics card so they can play solitaire and check email. Complete waste of money and when the end user cant tell the difference, it doesnt make logical or fiscal sense to do so.

Well i agree on some points, I do drive a very large car, its literally a big box, so maybe it would sound different. In defense though, Kimota has a small RX8 with a nice system setup for 5.1 and you could really tell the difference, especially with movies.

ph7ryan car was setup for better audio, because of the fact the front has component speakers, which is for front staging. Its like going backwards. You have a awesome system and you go from 4 channels to 2 channels and you don't think there will be a difference? I honestly don't know what to say. I honestly think ph7ryan will notice a difference, and it doesn't cost that much extra. i think you explained that he can get a amp for 19.99, so it would simply be double, because you need a second one.

i will add it also depends on the sound card, thats why i suggested the SB LIVE. Alot of sound cards will not split the line in into all 4 speakers. It will only play them on the front speakers. SB cards though have a setting to equally split the line in into all speakers connected to the card.

Well I have driven/been in/owned many various cars with various sound systems and they good and bads, but personally the extra good is so minimal it doesnt dictate a bunch of money.

The Lexus sound system (Mark Levinson or something like that) in my moms RX350 and in the IS250 I got as a loaner for a while sounds great with everything except high-bass music which is great because I hate high-bass music. It does sound better than my system, but considering we payed upwards of $2000 for it, it better beat my $20 amp and stock speakers. I have been in my friends Audi Q-something Special Edition with the extra special system (Bose I think), and it was good for really heavy bass but sucked for just listening to real music and I think it sounded worse than my car.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes cheap chinese things pleasantly surprise you.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Well I have driven/been in/owned many various cars with various sound systems and they good and bads, but personally the extra good is so minimal it doesnt dictate a bunch of money.

The Lexus sound system (Mark Levinson or something like that) in my moms RX350 and in the IS250 I got as a loaner for a while sounds great with everything except high-bass music which is great because I hate high-bass music. It does sound better than my system, but considering we payed upwards of $2000 for it, it better beat my $20 amp and stock speakers. I have been in my friends Audi Q-something Special Edition with the extra special system (Bose I think), and it was good for really heavy bass but sucked for just listening to real music and I think it sounded worse than my car.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes cheap chinese things pleasantly surprise you.

HAHAHAHHAHA, you are right about that though. Factory so called "premium systems" are never really all that. Thats why audio people pull all that cr@p out and install something better. In the end though it all depends on the ear of the driver. Me, i am very picky, I want to hear every little sound, so thats the reason for my setup being overboard. When i did the 5.1 setup though, I did go cheap with the amps.... I think mine were $25.00 with shipping, so $50.00 total, and that was all i spent, and the system sounded good. Of course my psychotic mind decided to just go crazy and now Ive ripped out all factory wiring and speakers, because I want more power and better sound.

I love China stuff!!!!!!!! Alot of stuff i use to order from them, but then alot of packages would get lost and the battles you have to go through to locate the package and or get your money back aren't worth it. Plus I wanted to support USA companies. For small cr@ppy little things though, I still order from China....

Originally Posted by ph7ryan

Ya like that hooker in Hong Kong....oh wait...off topic...

But ya even though it is a factory premium sound system, I never actually paid for it (I bought the car as a 3rd owner), but I would just feel more comfortable using all of the speakers....now the one thing about it that has confusedme to all get out are the tweeters. When I hooked up my jensen VM9312, there were only 4 sets of speaker wires that I hooked up from each harness....When everything is finished, the tweeters are playing?!? how are they hooked up...I know very little about tweeters other than they play high frequencies...I know a lot about door speakers, and subs, but very little about tweeters...

I already have the sub and I like it so no use getting rid of it...

There is no problem with, and I would actually prefer a pci sound card, the problem is fitment, and I have yet to find a solution. USB sound cards are significantly more expensive for the same quality.

I would like to start off with just converting my on-board audio to no input 5.1 audio. Then run that through a 4 channel amp to speakers and tweeters, and my mono amp to the sub. does anyone know exactly what I would need to do to convert the on-board audio...

Thanks for all your help btw again...you guys have helped me out a lot...

+ rep for all of you

OK, I know this, I got schooled on tweeters, woofers, when doing my speaker selection. Basically your front speaker are components. They should have a tweeter, woofer, and a crossover. Basically the crossover is what splits out the highs (vocals) from the bass. From the factory stereo should come a pair of wires to the crossover and from the crossover 2 pairs come out. So 1 set go to the tweeters and the other set to the woofer. I think your confused like I was and think that 4 wires would have to come out the amps to the speakers. Its not the case. 2 to the crossover, then from the crossover comes out 4. Here is a crued paintshop drawing and a helpful link.

http://www.caraudiohelp.com/componen...t_speakers.htm



For PCI placement, remember its a car pc, meant to be custom so you can simply mod the case. On the case, cut a little slot over the PCI card. That way you can put in a riser like this:



Then simply lay the soundcard ontop of the case. Then make a cover so the soundcard isnt exposed, or you can just buy a new case.....





http://www.logicsupply.com/products/c158b_120w

If you dont like that one, just shop through Logicsuplly's store. Just make sure you find one that says PCI card, under expansion slot. Dont get one that says 2 expansion slots because the riser card that comes with those may not be compatible with your MoBo. So look for 1 PCI slot.