# Installed new radio, sub and spkrs... need help



## jcrou82 (Aug 1, 2003)

I'm a newbie at car mods. Not for nothing, but I'm lucky that I know how to shift. 

A few weeks ago, I went and bought a car system for a Nissan Spec V 2003, with the help of a buddy who's big into car mods. All in all, I thought i did pretty good for an audio system, specially on a tight budget and with little intent in drowning myself with sound. But now that I know just a smudgen more about Wattage and electronics a revert my thinking a bit. In any event, I got a:

JVC KDG300 MP3/CD Player ($120) - RMS 19x4 W, Peak 50x4 W
Bazooka ELA3001 Single Channel ($144) - RMS 4ohm 300x1 W, Peak 500x1 W
Alpine 10" SWE1041 Sub ($100) - RMS 200 W, Peak 600 W
2 Polk 6 1/2" DB650 Speakers ($100) - RMS 60 W, Peak 180 W

So I had my buddy's friend do the install with my buddy. So they installed everything and plugged the amp to the sub and the new Polk speakers in the back (I still have my stocks in the front which I will replace soon). All in all it works great, but now I have two small problems.

The first problem is although the bass sounds pretty decent, it's drowning out the voices of the artists singing/rapping. Now the question is, what modifications can I attempt to do to increase the volume on the treble. I've already attempted all posibilities with the radio settings. Two suggestions given to me are: A) get new front speakers and B) thinking it was a 2-Channel amp, plug the sub into one channel and all four speakers into the other channel. I'm not sure if it's wattage on the radio being too low, not that I think of it, or if it's something else.

The second problem is that when they installed the radio, they had to cut the dash kit to make the radio fit. And they also weren't able to get the storage unit by the cup holders to stay in place because they said that they couldn't use the two metal pieces that make up the frame of the stock radio. But now as I've taken apart my center console to attempt to sit the radio right after it has sunk into the console, I'm not sure I beleive in what they told me. Now, has anyone who has replaced their stock radio, found a way to have the radio sit correctly and also have the Storage piece sit tight like when it was stock?

Thanks and sorry for the long post but it's been a couple of weeks and I have finally gotten around to posting this. Thanks All


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Apart from the Bazooka amp it looks decent (I hate bazooka). I'm not surprised the bass is drowning out the highs, I mean you have 300 decent watts going to the bass and maybe 60 clean watts at the very most going to the highs. You also have the upgraded speakers in the back instead of the front (why is it that people do this? I did it with my first system and I have absolutely no idea why because it's the worst idea imagineable). You have a couple options, either buy new speakers for the front and get an amp for them, or move your Polks to the front and get an amp for them  Bottom line, put your good speakers in the front and get an amp for them.


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## jcrou82 (Aug 1, 2003)

Thanks sr20demon. the reason we put them in the back was because I thought that one of the back speakers was blown. After taking the car apart, we realized that it was the stock sub that was actually blown so we left it like that. I am definately going to replace my front speakers soon, but as for an amp....i'm going to save up first to buy a decent amp so that I can pump sound good sound into my speakers. Any suggestions on decently priced good amps somewhere below the $300 range?

Thanks


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Lots of stuff in that range, I hope you're spending that much on the front speakers too, if so that will be a very nice front stage.

Phoenix Gold
Zapco (may be able to find a Reference series that cheap?)
used JL 300/2
I think you might be able to find an Arc under $300 as well, it would be one of their lower lines, but an Arc none-the-less


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## Brandon (Jun 17, 2004)

If you're lookin for a nice amp for your mids/highs on a budget check out some of the mtx stuff. it's not the cleanest ever, but you probably wouldn't even notice unless you had an awesome set of speakers and even better ears. Mtx amps are a great value, and last forever. Also, you can't run your mids/highs off that amp you have, it only makes low frequencies.


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## jcrou82 (Aug 1, 2003)

if i can't run my mids/highs of my current amp, what do I need to look for in an amp when I go buy one for my speakers? I'm not sure if i'm making sense.


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## Brandon (Jun 17, 2004)

jcrou82 said:


> if i can't run my mids/highs of my current amp, what do I need to look for in an amp when I go buy one for my speakers? I'm not sure if i'm making sense.


you're making sense. i would get a 4 channel amp. (an amp with 4 outputs... one for each speaker... makes sense, eh?) also, when buying a name brand amp like mtx, or others, keep in mind that the wattage they advertise is usually true power... meaning that a 50 watt amp is gonna be way more powerful than a 50 watt cd player.


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## darufone (Dec 19, 2003)

I agree ^. Don't believe that 200w that the head unit advertises. It in no way compare with a quality amp pushing 200w.

Get a nice (name-brand) 4-channel amp pushing about 50-100 w per channel. It will sound nice. I started out the same as you--I had my Sony head unit pushing the interior speakers and an amp pushing the subs. It sounded okay, but as you mentioned, it would drown out the highs and mids. I, now, have a four-channel amp pushing 100w per channel and one 1000w pushing two subs and it sounds sick. (oh, I forgot that is all in my Camry). I am just beginning to put a system in my B13. Good luck.


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