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Thread: Newbie to audio/electrical (NEED HELP)

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    Newbie to audio/electrical (NEED HELP)

    to put it blatantly, i have no idea what i am even looking for when it comes to audio. i know what a speaker is and i know the idea of how it works and i also know the idea of wiring and some what how power works. my problem is i have no idea what all the measurements are and what they mean...

    i have always wanted to put a new, modest yet spirited, setup. i have the car to do it and almost the money just not the know how. i know that i want to have all ranges of sound including tweeter, mids, and sub. i do not want a huge box in my trunk. it would be preferred to replace the door speakers only, but mounted tweeters or small sub would work eventually. i have had battery issues recently until i replaced the battery. my friends have warned about too much power for the current battery and to make sure that i have a capacitor for my power output from the battery. i would like to do it all myself and not have a rumble of parts shaking everywhere or wires sticking out everywhere. i also do not like the idea of wiring directly to the battery, not even sure if that is accurate. i would prefer to have everything wired through the current cables and look like stock. also not sure if possible. i do not know what amp or speaker size, watt, ohm, voltage or whatever i would need. i have heard of a combo speaker that provides adequate bass and mid range sound. also the other way around with tweeter and mid.

    i am pretty handy just don't know what to put in. does anyone have any place to start? i tried reading all the posts i could handle on this site but could understand the lingo used and confused myself even more.

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    Re: Newbie to audio/electrical (NEED HELP)

    1st things first. Which generation / trim Legacy do you have?

    1) OEM Tweeter kits clip right into your door mirror triangles and the wiring is 90% pre-run from factory so simply clip and you got tweeters. This is must for the poor design speaker location.



    2) If you plan on running any subwoofer larger then 6" its recommended to have a stand-alone amplifer. Some people mount them under the seat.. Some mount them on the back of the subwoofer box. Some mount them to the back of the rear seats. some mount them to the rear speaker deck (sedan only)

    2a) If you plan on running a stand-alone amp then YOU MUST run direct fused power from the battery. The stock body harness is not rated for that much current / amperage. So to sum this up you will burn your Legacy wiring if you try to run a 500+ watt amp .

    2b) Direct fused power is simply this ' Battery (+) terminal --> fuse --> wire run through firewall , down door sills, into the --> amp



    3) Now that you have settled with your choice of amplifer.. You will need to power it and feed the wiring.
    --> Buy a kit and save yourself some time and money

    Kit includes
    1 x 4 to 0 gauge (red) power wire
    1 x 4 to 0 gauge (black) ground wire
    1 x Fuse holder (with fuse)
    1 x 26 gauge (blue) remote wire (used to send 5 volt from your stereo to your amp, since amps don't have an on/off switch)
    1 x Set of RCA (audio L + R) cables
    1 x Set of various gauge speaker wire
    1 x Set of all crimp style connectors
    ---
    black wiring loom is optional
    zip ties are optional
    rubber grommets (rubber rings) to allow passing wires through metal holes while not damaging the cable

    4) Here is a very crude mock up of a general sound system


    5) Aftermarket stereos / head units.
    -- whatever fits your needs.. same garbage.. some have AUX input in the front/back.. some have USB.. but all of them have the 5 volt Remote wire on the back and the Sub Out RCA's to support sending a MONO crossed over LOW frequency signal.

    6) Capacitors. You don't need this unless your pushing lots of power.. 2 x 10" subwoofers and 800watt amp wont kill your battery or overwork your alternator unless your using it with the car off. Capacitors are just large temporary batteries.

    With the above info you should be able to do more research and pick and choose the items you can afford and need.

    http://www.crutchfield.com is a great site to buy/learn/etc..

    ..

    Hope that helps
    Sorry I am in a rush today
    -Chuck

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    Re: Newbie to audio/electrical (NEED HELP)

    thank you for the input. those tweeters would look nice if they fit...2000 L wagon (BH)
    i should not need anything above 6" sub. i was reading online that they have replacement door speakers with a decent amount of base as well as a separate tweeter built on the front...not too sure where to go with it yet, but very good information

    thanks again

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    Re: Newbie to audio/electrical (NEED HELP)

    Quote Originally Posted by stiburu
    thank you for the input. those tweeters would look nice if they fit...2000 L wagon (BH)
    i should not need anything above 6" sub. i was reading online that they have replacement door speakers with a decent amount of base as well as a separate tweeter built on the front...not too sure where to go with it yet, but very good information

    thanks again
    For a 2000 L Wagon you should be able to find a set of those tweeters cheap at a salvage yard. I got a set for my 04 Sedan (BE) and pulled the stock tweeters out, put in aftermarket tweeters, and put it all back together with the new woofers in the door and mounted the crossover for the woofer/tweeter in the armrest and it sounded excellent! I recommend running a separate amp for the speakers if you are going to go with the components (separate woofers and tweeters in the doors) because it will allow them to work at the power levels they were built to run at and it will sound better than running straight off your CD player.

    I would start off with a new head unit running through the stock speakers (if you're on a budget and doing this one step at a time), then go with the new speakers, then the amplifier can come later. I run this amp (click) and am very happy with it. Even with a decent set of components in the front and some reasonable coaxial (typical one-piece speakers) in the back you should be able to do all of this for $500 if you aren't too picky. Definitely run an independent power wire from the battery for any amplifier and always make sure the wire is fused (closer to the battery the better) with a solid ground.

    Once you're this far along you should decide if you want to go further. If you shop around well for your speakers you should have excellent highs, mids, and even a fair bit of bass. If you want more bass and better sound quality you can set up your head unit or amplifier to not run any bass to your speakers (let them focus on the higher frequencies that they're good at) and run a subwoofer. The saying is "air space makes bass" so a wagon will definitely make a lot of thump if you want it to. Subwoofer sizes are generally based on what kind of bass you want. Generally speaking the larger ones respond slower but make more noise (generally better for electronic music, rap, hip hop, etc.) and smaller ones produce more defined bass (rock, jazz, etc.) If you don't want to take up too much of your space or rattle your ears out I'd try a single compact subwoofer between 8" and 12" depending on your music tastes.

    P.S. you may want to print Chuck's post for future reference, very good information in there!

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