Thread: So I want to run 5.1 Surround Sound......

are you sure that you have true surround sound from the factory? in my car, the center channel is a combined signal of the left and right channels, and is a 'fake' center channel(using the factory wiring, there is no way to get only the center speaker to emit sound).

the other issue will be getting a 2 channel source to play in a surrround based system-- the sub might not work with some software (there are many variables here so it might or might not work).

if you truly have a 5.1 setup in your truck, than it should be as simple as hooking up the speakers, and enabling the 5.1 sound output in the sound card options.

alpine PXA-H501 good processor. i have one.. but some d-bag thought he would rob me and destroyed the controller.. takes toslink in and has dsp modes out for programs that arent 5.1

i dont see whats so hard. you want 5.1 so you will use three jacks on your motherboard. one for fronts, one for center, one for rears. the outputs will go straight to an amp- those 5ch ones would be nice in your case, that way you just take all three outputs into one amp, and power all your speakers off that.

then, when you get it all in and start listening to it, you can take it all out realizing 5.1 in a car is not good... and 2.1 channel is by far a better way to go- for many acoustical reasons.

Well the PDX-5 won't get you true 5.1. It's a 75x4 + 300x1 amp. Best you'll be able to do is 4.1. If you want 5.1, you'll still need to add another amp for the center.

i loved my 5.1 in my vehicle. plus if there are movies or 5.1audio . there is no comparison. 2.1 is nice. but good balance of 5.1 is noticably better

To get a balanced level of 5.1 audio to each speaker, you should have a 6ch amp that would have specs like 60watts x6, which would be fine for factory Toyota Tundra speakers. Or, you can have a small 2 ch amp to run the front L/R spkrs, and another 4ch amp to run your rear L/R speakers with the front channels, and a 3rd ch running the center speaker. the 4th channel would be left unused, which is no problem, actually serving as a backup "amp" for another device, like a radar spkr. Same goes for the 6ch amp if you decide to go that route, which would most likely be more cost effective, but having the separate 2ch amp will run your front stereo L/R with more power, creating better imaging, assuming your fronts will handle the power(factory, upgraded)

You technically can't use a 5ch amp mainly because, like the pdx5 from alpine, the fifth channel is a subwoofer, mono output only.