TRACKMKIII

Hey all!! I installed some new speakers a few days and they sound great but today my stock sub decided to finally quit after 20 years. I found a good open air sub on Crutchfield.com for about $90 my question is how can I use it with the stock head unit. I saw a post about using a "HI/LO converter" and a small amp just to power the sub but the description was not very clear. If I can just wire it in using the stock amp that would be cool too. My other question has to do with the front speakers I installed. Once the speakers were installed I lost to the 2 extra prongs that send power to the tweeters so I just spliced in the the wires to power the tweeters in do so I apparently lost the built in crossover in the factory speakers so the tweeters sound horrible now. I guessing my best bet to fix this issue would be to use 2 passive crossovers and a set of new tweeters? Any recommendations for passive crossovers and the sub install would be greatly appreciated!!

S9JZS147

definitely gonna follow with thread - curious myself, when it came time to deal with my stereo I took one look at all the wiring set up and said eff it and ripped it all out and started from scratch with new head unit, speakers, sub and amps - was easier and quicker than dealing with factory set up lol
good luck

houndawgbp

I'm getting set to do the same thing lol after my harness got butchered I'm running all new wires and eventually a new amp to power the door speakers. I'm piecing back the factory harness once it warms up because I don't have a garage any more lol

Nixspeed

You can get an amp or line signal modifiers for high level input to N aftermarket amp just make sure it works with the wattage and impedance levels of you OE and aftermarket setup.

Not sure what all you replaced and with what but if you only replaced the 4" front midrange and left the OE tweeter its all messed up. Stock you have a 4" 8ohm mid and a 8ohm tweeter run in series giving you a 4ohm load to the amp. If you swapped to an aftermarket mid which 99% of are all 4ohm then you'll be running near a 6ohm load which will change the power delivery to the tweeter and make it "quieter". Also different speakers are less/more efficient than others and will vary in volume at any given wattage. So if you have a very efficient mid paired with the not efficient and now incorrect impedance tweet it will greatly overpower it sound wise or vise versa. You must pair similar components together. An all Jensen speaker setup will sound better in some cases than a Kenwood and focal setup due to the efficiency and frequency levels are matching.

TRACKMKIII

What exactly do I need for "high level input to N aftermarket amp"? Is that were the Hi/Lo converter comes into play? I have looks into the HI/LO converters and they seem to just convert the regular wires in the RCA. Would I just cut the ends off splice in the converter and plug the RCA end into the sub? What specs am I looking for to make sure it works with the OE head unit. Sorry if these questions are extremely stupid but I am use to making car go faster, handle better or run better not AV installs LOL!!

I replaced all 4 speaks with Alpine SPS-410 which are 4 ohm like you said they would be. I spliced in the wires feeding the speakers for a signal to the tweeters. The tweeters actually seem to be a lot louder. They aren't very clear because I am getting music and vocals from them.

OGS300

ive replaced my stock sub for a DD sub and aftermarket amp sounds sooo good! got pics if people are keen?

TRACKMKIII

Great!! More pics and more info is always a good thing!! Thanks!! BTW what is a DD sub?

Nixspeed

What I Recommend is just a higher end amp that has high level inputs built in. They seem to be better quality with less interference vs using a separate line converter and rca inputs. It'll be a cleaner install as well. Its all the same basic theory of taking the old wires that went to the sub which are 50-150watts and reducing them to a safer input level the amplifying that signal to your new amp.

So are you using the OE tweeters? I ran a set of focal components and put the separate crossover inline that came with them. Sounds amazing. If you are running the OE tweeter or some other random tweeter and getting full frequency range to it you can get a little capacitor that will filter out certain frequencies. You'll need to find out what's the best range. The inline crossover (capacitor) will block everything below a set frequency and there are so many options. I've been building performance cars for 16years but I started over 20years ago doing stereo installs.

TRACKMKIII

I am using the stock tweeters for now but I want to install a new set along with passive crossovers. I am running 4 Alpine speakers so I want to run Alpine Tweeters too. ( Like these http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPR1...l#overview-tab )

To run those crossovers and tweeters would I just splice in to the wires feeding the front door speakers for a signal/input for the tweeters?

Nixspeed

Yeah those will help your quality a lot. You would just wire them inline spliced into the door speaker. Just make sure all your polarity is correct and in phase. If they are out of phase it'll sound distant and flat.

houndawgbp

Dang I usually rush to answer stereo questions but Nixspeed beat me to it lol

TRACKMKIII

Lol if you have more info or thoughts please share!!

Nixspeed

Lol yeah I was at work all night so I had plenty of time. If you have anything to add feel free. Even if its contradictory to what I said. I've been out of the stereo game for a bit. Hard to keep up on so much new technology but id like to think the basics stay the same.

houndawgbp

Nothing really lol the ohm load is vital and oddly your better to over power than under. Just dial it back.

Nixspeed

Yes under powering them and hitting the harmonic distortion point is bad.