Complete Wiring Demo! Arrghhh

OriginalNick2 · 07-20-2004, 05:44 AM

Hi there....

Just finished building my car-puter, and now need to install, i also have afactory set up audio system in thecar (which is going in the bin) and i need to wire in a sub and an amp, would anyone be willing to provide a walkthrough of how to do this?

I need the output from the CarPuter audio socket to goto amp sub and speakers! totally lost as almost every peice of hardware has a differanttype of socket or plug.

I am using a sony Xlpod amp and sub, standard speakers for the min as they are ok but will be replaced and its all coming from a headphone type jack on from the Car-Puters built in sound card.

Not a clue!!!

On2

JC-S60 · 07-20-2004, 06:09 AM

RCA (headphone plug) to cinch (tulip plug) from PC to amp(s) line-in.

Do you have an amp for all speakers + sub with (builtin) crossovers or just an amp for the sub?

You will need an amp for all your speakers if you are throwing away your headunit, as the signal from the PC is much to weak to drive the speakers directly.

OriginalNick2 · 07-21-2004, 05:37 AM

k - so i have to wire all speakers from the amp.

crossovers?? not a clue mate

but thanks for the starting point!

craigyb · 07-21-2004, 06:29 AM

Are you saying that you have no factory head unit now, just an amp, stock speakers and a SUB.

djmickyg · 07-21-2004, 07:06 AM

u'll need a 3.5mm sterio plug -> 2 RCA's this is from the lineout/speaker out on ya pc..

then u will need fat power cable from the battery.. about 8 gauge will do for one amp.. run this from ur battery to the amp.. make sure to have big fuse within one foot of the battery.. and also run a ground from the amp to some peice of metal in the car, make sure its a good contact.. and also use 8 gauge or what ever size wire u used for the imput on this..

the remote plug on ur amp needs a 12v sigal to switch on the amp.. cus ur not using a head deck ur gona have to get a 12v line from ur acc wire that will switch on with the car and turn off when the keys are out, or u might even wana use a relay controlled by one of the pc's ports so ur amp doesnt turn on b4 there is a signal to preven "poping" but i dont wana confuse u just yet

then u wire up the speakers,, easy..

u dont need a cross over to make it all work. but if ur running component speakers.. eg a mid and a tweater or even a mid-bass driver, u would wont a x-over inline to slpit up the right frequencies. but u will get a x-over with the speakers u buy, if u dont get one then u wont need it..
tooo the subs u dont need a x-over. u can use the low-pass on the amp

i hope thats what u wanted?

OriginalNick2 · 07-21-2004, 11:01 AM

yeah bits and pieces all there!!

got the +12V from the battery to boot today, then earth the amp... got that.
under stood the 3.5 -> RCA bit to cos thats gonna be the main input right? and that goes straight into amp.
sub comes from amp no probs,
i have two outputs on amp and a third (Through Output(?))
i have rear speakers front speakers and tweeters, all these need to be wired from amp to?? do i wire in series?
says wire the rear speakers on one output , and the tweeters andfronts on another??
amp -> speakers is the bit im stuck with!

Nick

bertybassett · 07-21-2004, 12:49 PM

no you need a 5 channel amp for that. Seem like you got a 2 channel amp. More reading is needed you need to match ohms on amps and sub etc. Get your self a simple ICE install book from your local garage and read up.

OriginalNick2 · 07-21-2004, 01:14 PM

it wont work at all?

toadster123 · 07-21-2004, 01:21 PM

if u have a 2 channel amp and 6 speakers total (including the sub).. i dont think the 2 channel amp will do it..

u need a 5 channel amp or a 4 and a mono (1) i think..

1 channel for front (and tweaters i think...)
1 channel for rear
1 channel for sub...

right>?

brandon · 07-21-2004, 02:05 PM

Do your tweeters and front midrange speakers connect via crossover? I hate when the OEM runs them directly to an amp. Also pay close attention to your ohm rating. If the front mids and tweets are 4ohm and do not have a crossover and you wire them in series to the amp you will be presenting a 2ohm load to the amp, which might not be a good idea since usually that means you will be going from stereo to mono, plus your amp and speakers might not be rated for 2ohm.
If you have subs in the rear of the car, then I'd just forget about putting speakers in the back dash. I see you drive a coupe, so is it safe to assume that you never have backseat riders with you?
You can have a great sounding system with just front component speakers and some subs in the boot.
Here is the layout of my car audio system, using my computer for the headunit.

I have 1 sub in the boot and a pair of component speakers up front. My computer also sits in the boot. I am running a 3.5->RCA cable out of my computer and into the inputs of my amp that is for powering my components. Then I am running an RCA cable out of my component speakers amp and into my sub amp.

Connecting everything is the easy part, matching the components is the difficult part. I wish I knew more about your current hardware.
The thickness of the cables (power and ground) are dependant upon how much RMS power you are going to be using.

A few questions please:
How many amps do you have?
How many channels does each amp have?
What is the RMS rating of the amp?

brandon · 07-21-2004, 02:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by djmickyg

make sure to have big fuse within one foot of the battery..

Actually the inline fuse should match the sum of the fuses on the amp(s) that the power cable is running to.

atlharry · 07-21-2004, 02:09 PM

Here's what I have...

Carputer - USB Soundblaster MP3+ (w/ RCA output) to...
4 Channel Kenwood Amp (I don't have a sub so one channel per speaker) to...
Car specific wiring harness (You can get one for pretty much any car). These harnesses have the wiring colors on the package (ie. Front-right speaker - red w/ black stripe). Clip that into the factory harness and viola! You've got sound!

atlharry

craigyb · 07-21-2004, 02:15 PM

I'm totally confused by all thats being suggested here.

We have ascertained that he has no head unit, no 5.1 decoder etc. So if he's only using a stereo output from his PC, these are the options.

3.5 mm to stereo from PC into 2 channel amp phono inputs (set full range).
Front and rear speakers (left together) (right together) connected to amp.
This will give stereo, (speakers in parallel - not serial reduces the impedance)
Most amps will go down to 2ohms so no probs there.

As for the sub, get another amp (mono 1 channel) and drive the sub amp from the through connection on your first amp, set the sub amp crossover (most have them built in) to low frequency.

The only problem is mixing the two (L+R) throughs of the first amp into a single channel amp for the sub speaker. This needs to be done properly to obtain a mono sub signal.

OriginalNick2 · 07-22-2004, 02:47 AM

Yikes, thread hi-jacking confusion but lots of helpfull info!!

Thanks guys,

i think for now i will leave the sub out until i can buy a mono amp to power it.
i will use myexisting amp to power speakers, one chanel left and one right, i then have the Through RCA output to wire to the input of the new amp (yet to be acquired!)

I'mnot to fussedabout the sub anyway, i just like to be able to hear my music, say 5 blocks away!

This should work shouldnt it?