Aftermarket Amplifier setup

[deadlast]

I haven't played with it much, only had it a few days. Mirror stays in place but vibrated quite a bit. I'll be out in the sticks tomorrow so I'll see how it goes.

[TheDriver916]

Ya it lasted about a month or so. What kind of box do you have? Sealed, ported, bandpass, custom tuned, prefab.. etc...

[deadlast]

Ported.

[Sterno]

Tinnitus

[deadlast]

Originally Posted by Sterno

Tinnitus

Eh, i had to deal with multiple F-15 and F-16s taking off about 150' from me for 6 months, and that's not including the 747s, 777s, A310s and the Russian An-124 Ruslan and Aeroflot IL-76. The sound sensitivity is pretty much dead for me.


Here are pics of the sound system.

Rockford Fosgate R1000-1D 1000W Class D AMP
Two Alpine Type R 2ohm in a ported box.
View of the Trunk
Top View. Not much space left.

Here's the YouTube Vid

[NJK]

Go for 12s...=]

2 Sundown SA-12s..CRAZY FLEX (LOUDEST FORD FIESTA) - YouTube

[Deadpanic]

Does the factory deck come with outputs for the amps?

[NJK]

No. The only two options for getting an amplifier hooked up to your fiesta is with either a Line Output Converter or get an aftermarket radio.

[Deadpanic]

Do you know where to find one for a mono amp? And I assume you can just spice any given speaker and use that as an output to plug into the input of your amp? Also, how is that going to effect the bass output for songs?

I've only dealt with aftermarket head units.

[Hades16x]

I see the OP hasn't responded, so I dont know if he's already pulled the trigger, or still searching.

Ill list what I have, explain it, and if someone purchased it all from me at MSRP - what I'd change.

Factory Headunit speakers - tapped at door (Yes I ran 2 sets of speaker wire through the factory wiring harness into the doors - need about 100FT)
AudioControl LC8i
Amp for speakers: Alpine PDX F6
Front Doors - Polk MM6501
Rear Doors - Polk MM651
Amp for Sub: Alpine PDX M12
Sub: Rockford Fosgate T2D415 (15inch dual 4ohm VC)

First of all - I'm a big manual person (both shifting and reading). I'm not saying that just because a product comes with a terrible manual its a bad product. What I'm saying is (as an electrical engin3rd) is that when I read through the manual, I fully understand the operating procedures and testing methodology the manufacture went through to reproduce the results. The AudioControl manual is almost as funny as Tucker Max to me(read Ground: Isolated(But not lonely)), and after reading it, I had no further questions. Alpine, let me not bash it, because the amps are both great..... the manuals are very vague and almost just a spec sheet.

When you get your setup, whatever it may be, make sure you have a DMM and a test tone CD to properly set up your amps.
For a quick example lets setup my sub:
1) 50Hz Test tone track 0dB
2) unplug RCA's from PDX M12
3) Flat EQ on headunit (bass 0/mid 0/treb 0) and AudioControl remote to MAX
4) I set my HU at 22/30 because that's where I wanted my "max" volume to be - before any bass rolloff begins to occur, but high enough so you have a fine adjustment of your listening volumes.
5) Start Test tone 50Hz ... you can download them from realm of excursion dot com
6) I connected my DMM, AC voltage, max record. The Alpine can accept two ranges of input voltages .1V-1V or 1V-8V. (side note- written as specified, I understand this voltage will be AC, but is this voltage peak-to-peak or RMS? In contrast, JL audio states .1V RMS - 1V RMS). Since the AudioControl is supposed to output up to 8VRMS, I initially was going to use this setting....but
7) Adjust AudioControl to output as close to max RMS of your target... in my case I got clipping at about 4.5V RMS - so I tuned output to 0.998 V RMS.
What this means is that at 22/30 on the HU, a 50Hz note should push 1200W to my T2. Turn the volume down, shut the car off, connect RCAs to Amp, connect sub to amp.
8) Amp gain setup: Theoretically, we should have 1200W at the sub now playing the test tone.... P=(V^2)/R. In my case the dual 4 is wired at 2 ohms so V^2=2400 or V=48.98V RMS.
9) start car, move HU up to 22/30 and check voltage across the sub. Mine was at 47.62V RMS. Adjust gain and I ended up with 49.92V RMS, any further gain adjustment resulted in no change in voltage and/or sub distortion.... then back it off just a tad. 49.02V RMS.


What I would do different... and what I'd recommend....
Don't get me wrong - I'm happy with my setup... it works great and sounds phenomenal.
Speakers: Keep em, I love my MM's
AudioControl: Must, works as good as the manual specified it did, exactly how the manual specified it it. Love it.
Amps: Great amps, they perform perfectly but I hate the manuals and I feel the documentation is very poor. Examples vs what I would replace my M12 with... JL's HD1200/1

Alpine: 1200 W into 2 or 4 ohm @ 14.4 V DC (11-16V)
JL: 1200 W into 1.5-4ohm @ 14.4 V DC (11-16V)
+1200 W into 1.5-4ohm @ 12.5 V DC

the addition of that line was explained testing done at both voltages for power ratings.

Next documentation issue: 2ohm.... what is 2 or 4 ohm. I understand thats the static DC impedance of the sub, but its not exactly 2.00000 ohm... as a matter of fact, not even close. For my sub wired at "2ohm" I measure 1.7ohm, each VC is 3.4ohm. Is this too low of a load for the alpine? It sure isn't for the JL. (I understand JL's W7's are Dual 3ohm VCs so that's why their amps will handle 1.5ohm)

Sub: The 15inch was a mistake- and I was impatient. I ordered a T2D212 (12inch Dual 2ohm), waited nearly 2 months and it didn't come in. To keep the business local, the guys sold me the T2D415 they had New in box for the same price (429.99). I feel the T2 is a great sub, but for the size of the 15, box required, and WEIGHT (box + sub is around 110 pounds)... its too much to be placed behind the fiesta's rear end. It squats the rear. If I were to do it again(well im going to replace the sub anyways soon) my choices would be:
A) Sundown SA 10/12 D2
B) The NEW Alpine Type Rs (note higher powerhanding)
C) Fi Audio "Q"
In no particular order - that's one reason I haven't settled yet. The other is I don't have the time to build another enclosure.

My recommendation to you is this:
Get the AudioControl LC6i or LC8i.... I got the 8i because I may add another amp for midbass drivers(probably be a huge project)

JL makes fantastic products, but just like with Nike - you pay for the name also. Going with more "underground" products like Fi/Sundown has some benefits. While they don't have the raw production in units to bring the cost per unit down, they tend not to be much cheaper than JL's stuff for comparing quality, BUT if you look at Fi's lineup - they're all made-to-order so to speak and you get some nifty options. Pricewise, Mickey Shore stores should be able to sell you a JL 12W6 for $276 + tax

Speakers: I cannot comment, I got a hell of a deal on my Polks. I paid ABC Warehouse's COST for the Polk dB series - but got the MM's instead.

Lastly: amp... Do not get me wrong - I think Alpine makes an amazing product, I love how my PDX's can stack to save space, and had a terrific experience with their Tech Support. I had an older PDX 1.1000 that was giving me trouble. I bought this amp 6 years ago for my 83 Capri, but used it in my Fiesta to save money. I called their tech support and the gentleman had me send my 1.1000 in + $70 and in turn he 2 day shipped me back (going to Chicago from Ann Arbor tomorrow) a PDX M12 as a "replacement"........

But going off what I said, right or wrong, flame me or agree with me.... one of the first things you learn in a science class in grade/middle school is the scientific method. The main goal with that is to document what exactly you're doing, exactly how you're doing it, what conditions it was done under, so that anybody in the world could recreate the environment you were working in and expect to see the same results. Because JL documented these conditions, had a person who spoke/wrote English fluently - the finished product is complete. The manual feels like a book - and it's worth reading. This attention to detail leads me to believe that JL takes pride in what they produce and personally(as the customer) ... I see that pride.
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the quality of JL amps since I've never used them before - but by inspection I would expect them to work as well as the Alpine you have suggested.

If I did your setup, I'd probably end up with the HD900/5 (although Id still get an sub amp and a 4ch amp), but on budget constraints - do some research on the XD700/5. Note the HD series has the RIPS power supply and thus the RMS at 12.5 & 14.4V are the same, the sub output is 500W RMS at all supported impedance, the XD doesn't.
In order to get max ouput from the XD, youd have to have 14.4V at the amp, all door speakers would have to be 2ohm(100Wx4 and arnt most component/coaxial speakers 4ohm?), and the sub would also have to be @ 2ohm (300Wx1)
Meanwhile the HD, your vbatt could fluctuate between 12.5 and 14.4, speakers would have to be 4ohm to get 100Wx4, but sub could be 1.5/2/3/4ohm thus allowing greater flexibility if you ever decide to replace the sub. Pretty much any subwoofer - dual voice coil, single voice coil, 2ohm, 3ohm, 4ohm - will work. With the XD or the alpine you specified, in order to get 300W out of it, you're pretty much limited to SVC 2ohm, or DVC 4ohm.

Just my $0.02
-Michael