rayman4137

This is my first ever post on here as I just bought an '02 Civic EX sedan right out of college. I'm not too familiar with car audio wiring but electronic wiring I'm pretty good with and I want to install a new system myself. I found a good deal from a guy for 2 12" Kicker CVR's, a 1000 watt Xplod Amp, and a Sony CDX GT71 head unit. The person that had the car before me really screwed up some wiring and the existing head unit (aftermarket) as a POS Jensen and I only get sound out of the right speakers, and most of the time not at all. The front panel where the AC and head unit all just pops off (I don't know if this is supposed to happen, or if there's a certain other way that it should come out). Well, I wanna re-wire the car and I'm going to buy a Haynes manual on Friday and hopefully do the install Saturday to really familiarize myself with my car. I guess my questions are:

1. Anything really out of the ordinary or any suggestions that could fix the existing head unit for a few days? The power comes on, and sometimes theres sound, sometimes there isnt. And its only ever out of the left side.

2. I want some good front and rear speakers, any recommendations? And I don't want to spend all that much money, just pretty decent sound.

3. Is the amp gonna be enough to power the whole system?

4. Anything I should be very careful about when doing this?

I have a close friend who I can call for tips and he has the same car with a bunch of stuff he did himself, and a roommate that has a prelude that he does work on, but I figured I'd ask here because you guys are dedicated to this stuff and like I said, I'm brand new and I might sound like an idiot, but I'm completely ignorant to all this! Thanks!

daipergravvy

Ive always liked infinity components...the y have great sound quality and wont bust your wallet

is the amp 2 channel? either way it should be plenty to power both subs

sp4rt4n

any thing sony car audio is garbage... i have always like pioneer, and alpine.. as for the car speakers i would go with infinity reference.. components in the front.

BJanzen

iTrader: (2)

Check the ground for the headunit. That can cause it to kick on/off.

daipergravvy

personally i like sony head units...ive had one in every car i have ever owned and never had any issues with them....but if you wanna spend a little extra cash on components...go with infinity kappa....definately worth it...

DeX

I could write a book just for you, I'll try and keep it to a minimum.

1. Remove the headunit and replace it with something.....anything......go to Wal-Mart and buy a new one for $90 then you know it works properly.

2. When removing the headunit, you'll hopefully find the vehicle harness but if you don't and the idiot before you cut the wires, you'll have to find another harness for your vehicle and bring it back with some solder and heat shrink to be sure it's done right. This is very important and will make your future life much easier.

3. When looking for speakers, make sure they're a shallower depth as there's mounting problems with the Civic and only certain speakers will fit.

4. Grab that Sony amplifier firmly in both hands, open a trash can and dump it in. Then take the entire trash can and throw it into a shredder. Then gather up the shredded trash can, light all the pieces on fire and jam it into a compactor. I'll try and explain this but people don't often listen to me. I don't know if you build computers but if you do, you realize that you can get a good 500 watt power supply and a bad 500 watt power supply. The bad one will probably end up frying your motherboard after a year because it's weak power. Sony amplifiers are the same, your amplifier might be 1000 watts peak but it's likely 300 watts RMS which is what it'll be putting out most of the time. On top of that, Sony Xplod are only A or A/B class amplifiers (look it up) meaning they don't push the subwoofers properly and you're not going to get good sound from them at all. I guarantee (no joke) that you will get better sound from a 300 RMS Alpine amplifier for the same price. Ditch that shitty amplifier as fast as you can.

5. That amplifier will only power your subwoofers, not your speakers. It should sound fine with the built in amplifier in the headunit but if you want to power them with an amplifier (recommended for components) then you can.

I can help you with any questions, just post them here and I'll take you through it.

daipergravvy

this is true, i said i have had no problems with Sony headunits, but amps are another story...my first amp was a 800w Sony 2 channel and it lasted maybe 6 months of pushing 1 12" Infinity Kappa....damn thing just burnt out one day and smelled like burnt rubber or something....so do your wallet right and dont waste your money...spend a little extra cash and buy something that will last....i agree with Dex, Alpine makes excellent amps so does Memphis Audio JL and kicker...they are worth what you will pay, provide better sounding bass and wont drive you nuts by blowing after 6 months...

rayman4137

Thanks you guys, ill keep it in mind. I've been really busy with work and haven't had time to really do anything with it. There was a large red cable attached to the + end of my battery that I took off. The moron who had the car before me just cut this extremely thick wire and didn't bother to disconnect it from the battery. I took out a lot of the wiring but haven't been able to locate where he grounded the stereo. I'm thinking right after christmas when I have some time off I'm going to take another look into it because I have no sound whatsoever now.

I don't need anything extravagant, but like I said before, just want some good quality sound and good bass outta my car. Any recommendations on 1 12", 2 10"'s of 2 12's? Obviously the larger the sub, the louder the bass. I just need opinions on amps and subwoofers. Not sure what will do the trick for me. And anything I should be careful about other than the size of the speakers in the door?

rayman4137

DeX... Just wondering, what sort of set up would you recommend? As far as component speakers and parts I should get? I'm really brand new to this like I said before and is there anything you personally think I should look out for? I have someone with experience to help, but i want to make sure I have all the parts and supplies I need to do this. And what sort of time frame qould I be looking at to remove the old speakers and put the new speakers/amp/woofer(s) in?

daipergravvy

the larger the sub doesnt alway mean the louder the bass...actually larger subs just allow for deeper bass...the loudness comes from the power you supply to the subs...

just some suggestions...

you will need a new headunit...just like DeX said...anything with subwoofer preamp outputs is your best bet...

that big red wire that is attached to your battery is your amp 12v constant...since it was cut just trash it...

you can pick up a decent amp wiring kit from walmart for about $30-$70 that will handle most of the amps you might choose...the lower the gauge wire, the more power it will supply to the amp...if you choose anything over 800w, you'll probably wanna get a capacitor, but thats just to keep your alternator from dying...

with that new head unit, you should get a stereo installation kit, which you can also pick up from Walmart for pretty cheap, and if the other guy didnt screw with anything past the factory connector, that should help...

i wouldnt recommend buying subs or amps from walmart, just because the quality isnt too great, so you'd be better off dealing with somewhere like circuit city or crutchfield, or whatever car audio shops you have in your area...

you dont have to go big to get good sound...1 or 2 12" is generally sufficient to get the job done...12" subs balance pretty well between high and low bass tones...

some good components and 3ways for your doors and back deck and you should be set...

once you get it all hooked up try getting some test tones to work out the kinks...they can help you fine tune the system to what suits you best....

thats all i got enjoy!!!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

its true, i had a single 10 inch that hit harder than two 12s. 10 inch has faster response for most normal music, 12 has lower deeper bass with slower response, almost exclusively for rap music. it all depends how you power them, and ofcourse how you install. dynamat can make a sub sound 2x louder.