My car audio..

In Car Entertainment stuff (speakers/stereo/sat nav/etc...).

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neil_lindo
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 1:55 am
Currently Drives:: 2005 Renault Megane II
Location: Bermuda
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Re: My car audio..

Postby neil_lindo » Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:14 am

1/0 gauge for big 3
1/0 gauge to cap
1/0 gauge from cap to ground
4 gauge from cap to each amp as it has a built in distribution block.

That d3100 is a beast and but you do have the 3k amp. d3100 is rated for 5000 watts and the d3400 is rated for 3400 watts. Only differences i see is that you have 2 batteries with the 3100 as nice secondary and i got that 3400 as a primary and the cap as the buffer.
If i do have issues due to wiring the 2things i can think of would be a bad ground but i would think i would have had bigger issues by now if that was the case. I guess an easy test which i can carry out easy would run a 1/0 cable outside the car for the ground instead of the chassy and see what happens.

What do you think?

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neil_lindo
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Re: My car audio..

Postby neil_lindo » Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:33 am

1 more thing i can think of is that the alternator may be comming up short or my car is using up more amperage just to run everything and i'm whats left gets used by the stereo. It does seem like its close to holding it but as i really crank it you can see it start getting closer to 12v. Don't let my 2 air compressors kick in at that time either as basically the outcome is that i drop below 11.6v and the amps start cutting out due to low voltage. Now the compressors are drawing up to 70amp total so that is easily putting me over the edge and the battery and alternator have no way to keep up with the demand.

roganp
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Currently Drives:: Kia Carnival babybus, Megane 2hatch
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Re: My car audio..

Postby roganp » Thu Aug 08, 2013 3:46 am

marshey wrote:Ive got 210amp alternator stock front battery and d3100 in wheel well and my voltage dont drop below 13v with a 3k mono amp and 800rms 4 channel. What size power cable you running


What brand amps? 800rms aren't exactly a normal 4 channel amplifier

And are you guys ware that a capacitor is pretty much pointless in car audio. Ask yourself why nearly none of the mainstream brands have capacitors in their product line-up.

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neil_lindo
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Currently Drives:: 2005 Renault Megane II
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Re: My car audio..

Postby neil_lindo » Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:44 am

My cap is comming out and i'm going to put the 2 smaller batteries in as thats all i can fit. But if you run a stock alternator (small) and a stock battery it solves that dimmimg problem and it does provide that buffer. Not saying that buffer is great as it puts strain on the alternator but lots of people with nice systems actually have space to put extra batteries. If you do not have the space than a cap does do the job with the negative of putting strain on the alternator. In most cases it seems to work fine for average systems and is not completly pointless. If your using a mainstram brand and using one of their high end products i would think at that point they think if you need this much power your then you are most likely running a larger alternator and multiple batteries and a cap is not even mentioned.

marshey
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Re: My car audio..

Postby marshey » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:48 pm

Ive got a Rockford Fosgate T600-4 which is 4x200rms @2ohms and a Rockford Fosgate T2500-1bd which is 3168rms @1ohm which is going up for sale.

roganp
Passed Theory
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Currently Drives:: Kia Carnival babybus, Megane 2hatch
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Re: My car audio..

Postby roganp » Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:50 pm

A cap is really good for dimming headlight but it doesn't do anything for the amplifiers.

Alternator generates power at 14.4v. Battery stores power at 12.6v. Headlight dimming occurs when all alternator power is being used and battery becomes the power source. So you get a 15% fluctuation in in power.

Stereo with engine running:
Adding batteries does nothing for this 14.4 to 12.6 voltage drop. Doesn't matter how many batteries you add. The batteries are actually a drain on the system. If your main listening is with engine on then don't invest in extra batteries; it's the alternator you want to overkill

Stereo with engine off:
Stereo is now running at 12.6v and batteries are critical. The more battery capacity you have the longer you can play music and the more amperage you can pull without the voltage dipping

On to capacitors. Caps were all the rage about 15 years ago. Salesmen used to fleece them onto unwitting customers and even JL suggested you needed 1F for every 500rms on their websit e(Thankfully they're removed that piece of rubbish advice). Pull a high end amplifier apart and count up the capacitance in there. My Alpine MRV-F900 had 0.05F total. If that needed more capacitance then Alpine would have sold a gold plated add on at some enormous margin and they would have sold 1 per amp. Of the higher end brands, Focal is about the only one that has capacitors but check the specs and they're 0.013F. In a nutshell, higher end amps have internal power supply sections that are robustly built and will not cause dimming if there is sufficient alternator power. Cheaper amps cut corners to reduce manufacturing costs and the internal power supply section can get quite flimsy and dimming is much more likely. Throw a cap on and you can bandaid the headlights from dimming but you still don't get around the issue that the amplifier's internal power supply isn't up to the job. Now this all sounds like electrical gobbledegook so the proof is in their practical use. Go along to a SPL comp and look for a capacitor in the systems of the loudest cars. Then go along to a SQ compettion and look for one in the top cars. You'll be unlikely to find one. I used to judge SQ comps and can't remember the last time I saw a cap in a serious competitor's car.

On another note, excellent work on that car. Really loving the attention to detail and skills used. Have heard great thing about pwk enclosures. One thing though, why all the speakers in the back? they would destroy the soundstage; great for car park listening but not for driving. Why not go overkill in the front instead?

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neil_lindo
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Re: My car audio..

Postby neil_lindo » Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:36 am

Good bit of info.. thanks
If i could go bigger with the alternator i would but my little 1.6 alredy takes a beating at idle to keep the alternator going. I believe it was rated at like 160 at idle but i never tested it to see what it could do. Bigger could be possible if i keep the car reving higher when i really want to play it loud, i also could expieriment with different pullys and talk to excessive amperage about what else can be done to the alternator. I think the largest they said i could go with the same housing was like 260 but my motor may take a beating with that.

The PWK box defiantly sounds better than the old box i built and both ports have function now.
Image


I was thinking about putting 3 6.5s in each door up the front but i didn't feel like distroying my door to that extent at that time. The shelf speakers actually do sound nice in the car when driving, i think without them the bass would overpower everything. I have a bit more control over them as i have the 300/4 hooked up to them but its really not too bad. In bermuda there really isn't any big sound competitions, most people around here pay to have their system installed and hardware and labor is expensive. That really keeps people's budget low on their car, you also have to keep in mind that cars are expensive, mine brand new was 36k... Remember everything here is expensive with shipping and duty.

marshey
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Re: My car audio..

Postby marshey » Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:55 am

Thats the setup you want in your doors only had to cut up a bit of the doorcards.

Image

roganp
Passed Theory
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Currently Drives:: Kia Carnival babybus, Megane 2hatch
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Re: My car audio..

Postby roganp » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:12 am

My solution is to get a pair of Image Dynamics X69 (the midbass driver from the XS69 component set), MDF & dynamat the bejesus out of the door, feed them gobloads of juice (about 400rms each side should do it) and enjoy.

I had them in my previous car and they were devastating. If installed properly they'll keep up with a 13w7. I had mine crossed at 70hz on 24db slope and I'd highly recommend them.

ladinator
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Currently Drives:: 2003 Renault Megane 1.6 16v

Re: My car audio..

Postby ladinator » Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:37 pm

Hi, last week I bought 03reg Megane 5door and the stereo was awful so I decided to upgrade all the speakers, HU + sub & amp.

http://dynamicsounds.co.uk

Pioneer TS-E1302i - 13cm 2-way Coaxial Car Speakers 180W £54.99

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Pioneer TS-E130Ci - 13cm Separate 2-Way Speaker System 180W £79.95

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Connects2 CT24RT08 - Renault Megane II Double Din Fascia Surround Panel £9.99

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Autoleads PC5-83 - Renault Megane Laguna Clio MK2 Stereo Release Keys £2.99

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https://www.caraudiosecurity.com

Vibe Space 12" 1000W RMS sub & Infinity Kappa 800W RMS mono amp Deal £299.99

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Pioneer AVH-X8500BT

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Rear speakers

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4AWG cable (very easy to do - 30min max and without a stiff wire or straightened out coat hanger)

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more pics coming soon


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