Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

ok, i have a problem that im not sure how to address, and im hoping you guys can help. i have an 03 EM2. i have a 50w x 4 (200w?) kenwood head unit, and 2x 300w 6.5" and 2x 300w 6x9" speakers. im preparing to put in an amp to drive the speakers and potentially a subwoofer, but i dont think the stock electrical on the car has enough oomph to push all that. now, i have a Megan Racing exhaust on my car, and its pretty drone-y at highway speeds, so in order to really hear my music, i have to turn up the radio. weeeelll, once i get to a certain volume, it apparently uses too much power, because the head unit will turn off and on, until i turn it down a bit.

now, i dont want to throw a bunch of money at this car, it has 190k miles and i dont plan on keeping it forever, but at the same time, i like to listen to music on my commute to work. i plan on doing the Big 3 upgrade, but could use any suggestions on other upgrades that dont cost a fortune so that i can put this amp in my car to make it sound better.

what do you guys suggest?

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

More likely the head unit is shutting off as an over current protection. I ran 4-150w speakers and a 600w sub, all with amps, and I was fine. Just make sure you grab power straight from the battery (fuse that line, btw) and a capacitor wouldn't hurt (I ran a 1F Monster capacitor for my subwoofer amp power line)

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

how would you recommend getting power straight from the battery to the head unit, and how do you do it switched so that it doesnt stay on all the time?

also, would you recommend a deep cycle battery or some other upgrade?

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

Get a 30 amp relay and wire the coil to an ingintion wire (+) other end of coil to ground. Run a power wire from the positive terminal of the battery through a fuse and into the NO terminal of the relay. Then come off the common terminal of the relay and run that to your head unit power (+). When you turn the key on it will activate the coil and switch the NO switch to closed and provide power to the HU.

How is the HU getting power now? Through the factory harness?

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

yeah, factory harness and kenwood pigtail.

also, what coil and which relay?

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

An automotive style relay that you buy from parts stores. You will have to mount it and run wires to it.

https://www.parts-express.com/Data/D...0-070_HR_0.jpg

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

First, make sure the head unit is rated for the speakers. If you try to drive 4 ohm speakers from a head unit rated for 8 ohms it will run hot and shut down. I doubt this is the case since I would expect an aftermarket Kenwood would be able to handle most speakers but it is easy to check.

Since you mention you are already preparing to put in an amp I would do that. If you run a separate amp for the rear speakers it will reduce the load on the power supply for the head unit and most likely stop the thermal shutdown. The other thing is if the head unit is shutting down it is probably clipping badly and the only way to stop that is turn the volume down and use less power from the head unit. A separate amp should allow the head unit to drive the smaller front speakers without a problem.

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

i forgot to mention they are also kenwood speakers, so i would imagine that they are compatible...

also, i hadnt thought of that. i was gonna use the amp to drive all 4 speakers. i really dont know that much about sound systems and amps and stuff, im learning as i go.

Re: Upgrades in prep for sound system?
 

If you will be running an amp to drive the speakers you just need to run thicker gauge speaker wire from the speakers to the amp, no need to power the head unit straight from the battery because by then you will only be sending the signal from the head unit to the amp and the amp will drive the speakers.

I also think the capacitor inline would be a good idea since you will be drawing more power running the speakers from an amplifier and a subwoofer.