Finally starting install!!! HELP!!!

[insanepagen]

Hello everyone! I am finally starting my install after many many weeks of wanting to but thing kept happening. But now I am starting and I have , in my opinion, a few MAJOR questions.

1.) I have totally confused myself on grounding. I have done the "Big 3" upgrade and I know I supposed to ground my amplifier and hybrid cap to bare metal. But I have read too many threads on hyper grounding and from what I got out of it, I am supposed to run a wire from where I ground my amp and cap in the trunk to the negative battery terminal. Is that right or am I OK just grounding the amp and cap in the trunk?

2.) If I am supposed to run a wire from my ground in the trunk to the negative battery terminal, do I also run a wire from the negative battery terminal to the negative wire on my head unit?

3.) After gutting my car and putting sound deadening down, do I tape my wires down with aluminum foil tape or with regular tape?

4.) When installing my component speakers in the front do I need to make some type of aluminum case for the crossovers?

I think that about covers my questions. Any help will be greatly appreciated! I have installed car stereos, amps, and speakers but nothing this major! I have always wanted an audiophile grade car stereo and my dreams have come to fruition!

Thank you!!!!

[Kawizx9r]

Answered below in bold red lettering.

Originally Posted by insanepagen

Hello everyone! I am finally starting my install after many many weeks of wanting to but thing kept happening. But now I am starting and I have , in my opinion, a few MAJOR questions.

1.) I have totally confused myself on grounding. I have done the "Big 3" upgrade and I know I supposed to ground my amplifier and hybrid cap to bare metal. But I have read too many threads on hyper grounding and from what I got out of it, I am supposed to run a wire from where I ground my amp and cap in the trunk to the negative battery terminal. Is that right or am I OK just grounding the amp and cap in the trunk?

You're ok just grounding things in your trunk, as long as you're using bare metal IE paint/rust sanded off.

2.) If I am supposed to run a wire from my ground in the trunk to the negative battery terminal, do I also run a wire from the negative battery terminal to the negative wire on my head unit?

Use the same ground as you normally would where you install your head unit.

3.) After gutting my car and putting sound deadening down, do I tape my wires down with aluminum foil tape or with regular tape?

Up to you, but I wouldn't use regular tape. My trim panel+carpet has always held any and all wire down. I just make sure to get rid of any and all slack and zip tie it all every foot or so.

4.) When installing my component speakers in the front do I need to make some type of aluminum case for the crossovers?

This is all a personal preference and really depends on where you plan on installing your crossovers. I've done things from creating enclosures/racks where both my amps and crossovers sit to a makeshift bracket within the door underneath the door panel and such.

I think that about covers my questions. Any help will be greatly appreciated! I have installed car stereos, amps, and speakers but nothing this major! I have always wanted an audiophile grade car stereo and my dreams have come to fruition!

Thank you!!!!

Audiophile grade huh?

If that's your goal, then why use the passive crossovers at all?

Go active, you'll greatly improve sound quality since your signal will have less to go through.

Utilize time alignment to the max, I had it on both my head unit as well as my 4-channel amp when I was bi-amped and actively crossed over.

You should go 3-way for even better quality. Mid-bass driver covering 40hz-140hz+, midrange driver covering 140hz-3khz+, tweeter covering 3khz-20khz+ and of course your sub performing subwoofer duty at 40hz and below.

[insanepagen]

My head unit is the pioneer premier deh-p960mp. It has auto eq, time alignment, and has the ability to run in network mode.

[xwing777]

Kawizx9r covered it and heres some more ideas. The bolts that the rear seats latch to are excellent grounding points. Just grind/sand/etc..to bare metal before you bolt back up. The double loop metal pieces unbolts off. Theres room under the plastic cover for 0gauge to fit and snap back on again. You can run the wire under the carpet to either side to the plastic side panels.



I always follow the factory wires and tie wrap to them same path. If you have enough wires, its better to run power lines on one side, audio (speaker and/or rcas down the other side (less chance of introducing noises in audio that way)

[lowpt]

I think k9 and xwing covered all of your questions very well. One of the reasons people suggest the ground going back to the battery is to help reduce the chance of you having "altenator whine" from poor grounding. If you find a good ground point as they have suggested this shouldn't be an issue.

[WolfmanG]

Originally Posted by lowpt

I think k9 and xwing covered all of your questions very well. One of the reasons people suggest the ground going back to the battery is to help reduce the chance of you having "altenator whine" from poor grounding. If you find a good ground point as they have suggested this shouldn't be an issue.

thanx for helping out bud.

[turbo1013]

Originally Posted by Kawizx9r

Audiophile grade huh?

If that's your goal, then why use the passive crossovers at all?

Go active, you'll greatly improve sound quality since your signal will have less to go through.

Utilize time alignment to the max, I had it on both my head unit as well as my 4-channel amp when I was bi-amped and actively crossed over.

You should go 3-way for even better quality. Mid-bass driver covering 40hz-140hz+, midrange driver covering 140hz-3khz+, tweeter covering 3khz-20khz+ and of course your sub performing subwoofer duty at 40hz and below.
ps thats 4way

active is the way to go,,
way better,
crossovers points are selective though,,
i like getting a bass bump , i run the subs right to 100 hz,
unless they get sloppy then i pull them back,
you dont know how it will sound unless you play with it
mid bass i run a bit higher so it sounds cleaner,
at about 45-50 to 300-400 range
the mid basses tend to really flutter at 40 and below,
and i cant stand any distortion.
so you get a bump in the 45-55 that both speakers are working,
and since the majority of voices fall in the 60-7000 hz range
most conversation talk is in 80-800 hz range,
i like to double thouse up as well
so mids i run 200-1000,, so you get a extra bump in the 200-400
but you want to try to elimate voices from the subs ,
so you can see why
its selective,,
and tweets 1000-20,000,

3 way system is much more comon,,
and since most crossovers are adjustable,
starting with straight cuts ,
and no overlaps,
is a good base line,
like kawi said
but, dont be afraid to tweek it,
i never stoped tweeking my old sytem,
untill i upgraded to a sony fiber optic set up with a sound processor,
perfect clean sound,,

[Kawizx9r]

Average time to really get a system tweaked out and tuned is roughly about a year...and even then I kept messing with things from time to time (with no change in gear throughout that year).

I like crossing over my sub and midbass drivers much lower so that the sub blends in better with the remainder of my system.

I've found that at frequencies above 70-80hz, it's easy to 'pinpoint' where the subwoofer is whereas@60hz and below, those sub frequencies are harder to pinpoint due to the fact that they are much more omnidirectional.

But yeah, turbo1013 pretty much reiterated the above. Listen to him too

[insanepagen]

Hey thank you all for answering my questions! I will be investing in an active crossover eventually. But not for a while I have to pay my credit cards down first!!! I have downloaded several test tone CDs to tune in the system. I am sure I will be asking more questions as the install progresses.

Thank you all once again.

[Kawizx9r]

Here's my thread, it includes a walk-through for setting those gains on your sub amp as well as a link to free test tones - How to: Setting gains for your subwoofer