Hey audiophiles

[sethfry]

Hey, any info you guys give will be appreciated. Nothing is installed yet, and this is my first true install (w/ amps and the likes). Please note the following:

fronts: boston pro60's comps (125 @ 3ohms)
rears: boston sx50 comps (65 @ 4ohms)
hu: eclipse cd8445 (14x4) & 3-8v preouts

sub not related (10w6 & jl 500/1) this one I think I can handle ??

1. Would it be better to use the 300x4 for the fronts ONLY and the head unit for the rears??

2. Should I split 75W x 4 - front & rears??

3. Should I leave the rears out, and just hook up fronts only (sell rears)??

4. Should I have my as* kicked for not getting a 450/4 and giving everything the power it's really asking for??

Thanks,

 

[raypla]

Put the boston pro 50s in the front and sell me the pro 60s.

I have the Pro 5.5 components in the rear and plan on getting a 6.5" component for the rear.

 

[krakhedd]

More power = cleaner sound @ same/higher volume/SPL.I've heard rear speakers are best suited, in any vehicle, for filling in midrange and midbass, and you should focus your treble in the front (for best stereophonic quality). That being said, midrange and midbass are going to need at least the same, if not more, power than treble, to produce the same quality and quantity (volume/SPL) of sound.

 

[vertigospiral88]

Midrange and midbass would only need more power because they are so far away, but if you're going to have a sub in the back then the only speakers that you will really get any sound from (realistically speaking) are the ones in the front. Use the midbass from the 6 1/2's and mount the tweets somewhere where they can cut through the mix. The 150 x 2 you'll get from that amp will give you the perfect amount of headroom on those speakers, since you never want to have to turn the gain all the way up on an amplifer anyway (decreases overall product lifespan), you'll be right in the sweet spot at 3/4 or 4/5 gain to give 125 x 2 for your components.

You might as well not even use rear speakers if you're going to have 500w to a 10w6 in the back, because you damn sure aren't going to hear them with 14w RMS from the head unit (or really just barely with 65w RMS from another amp). Seems to me that this would be the best combination for sound quality with the products you have, and the two high quality components (at or near max RMS power) should balance extremely well with the tight, punchy bass you can get from a properly-enclosed 10w6. Good setup; now just make sure you tighten all your loose screws/bolts and sound mat the crap out of that XJ !

 

[sethfry]

Thanks for the info vertigospiral88, that sounds like what I'll do. I hate having speakers that I can't use, but oh well. I could really kick the sh*t out of myself right now. Damn, now I'm going to have to find one of those jlaudio 450/4's somewhere or another small amp. Man that really t's me off. Thing is I only got the 2 amps (jl 500/1, jl 300/4) and the 10w6 because I couldn't pass up on the deal ($450 total). I had to take that deal though, they were too lightly used. Thing is I didn't even need the 10w6 (already purchased a boston G5-10), and as it turns out, the 300/4 isn't really what I needed either. Oh well, education is expensive.

 

[jeepboy381]

You should really put speakers in the back I think, I have a 1,000 watt Autotek running 2 12inch diamond audio subs, and a 500 watt alpine running a pair of MBQuart 6.5 components in the front, and 2 6x9 Infinity Kappa 3 ways in the back. The sound quality and loudness is amazing, you can deffinently still hear the speakers in the back, I dyno matted the whole back of the hatch to. My favorite part is that if you are having an outdoor party you just open up the back hatch and the subs and 6x9's are screaming loud and clear. You need more than just the front speakers and subs!! You will regret it, the front will be loud with treble, and the back will be full of bass.

 

[Racer-X]

Id like to know how it sounds when you get it installed. Ive got a similar system I been putting together. CD8445, CH5061, PA5532, Focal Access 6.5" componets, Boston S65 6.5's, single JL 12w0-4. Like you, I havent installed it yet but I am just about to that point and was looking for input before I started my install.

 

[sethfry]

Thanks for the info jeepboy, that's exactly what I was thinking when I bought the rear sx50's. Being at a bonfire or camping or something, and opening the back hatch and having some tunes. Did you put your 6x9's in the hatch somehow. I went with 5.5's because I didn't have a clear plan on how to put any other size speaker in the hatch. I went with sx50's because I was being cheap (didn't want to buy the pro 5.5's), as I wasn't sure how much you would hear them. I used secondskin firewall on the back hatch (actually ended up using 120 sq. ft of damplifier, and 10 gallons of firewall, as I had to virtually cut out all of the old floor due to rust). Used 14 gauge steel for new floor, then covered with damplifier/firewall/herculiner. Haven't undercoated bottom yet, probably next though.
Racer-x, I will definitely let you know how it goes, still getting all of my ducks in a row. Check out knuconceptz.com for wire and terminals if you haven't purchased yet. Cheapest I could find anyways, and talk to 5-90 if you haven't upgraded power wires to battery / alternator etc.

 

[jeepboy381]

Yeah I had to cut the crap out of the hatch, then I made my own plastic mounting rings to securely hold the speakers. I just used a sawzall and some snips to cut away the fiberglass in the way. I wouldn't recomend bolting heavy speakers to the fiberglass hatch because it is really flexy, and the bolts could tear out. Dynomat the crap out of it and silicone all loose plastic things in the hatch, it will sound great!

 

[krakhedd]

You can definitely hear the rear speakers regardless of your subs. I've had some gnarly loud subwoofers in my life, and even when running stock rear speakers off the head unit, the rear speakers still contributed to overall system sound. They may sound like shit, but wtf, if ya don't have money for new speakers, you're kinda stuck with the old ones. I missed why a 125x4 amp is not what you were looking for. I assume it's beacuse you think it'll be too weak. But hell, doubling wattage only adds 3dB. And if you've got a high-pass crossover, at around 12 to 24 dB/octave (the more, the better, when you have the subs for the low end), then there will be plenty of power for reproduction of midbass/midrange/treble. Honestly, you'd get some sort of cancellation if you run the rear speakers full-range, even if the subs have a crossover (which you'd be crazy not to have).Also, almost all amps (JL included) are underrated to varying degrees. Even if you turn down the sensitivity, it will still produce the same power, but needs a higher input voltage in order to achieve the power.You can solve all of these problems with an eq/crossover module, like an AudioControl EQX (which they may not make anymore). It has a built-in, selectable crossover (you have to buy/build the right resistance unit for that - they used to sell 6dB/, 12dB/, and 24dB/octave chips), built-in line driver (modifies the output voltage), and plus, it's got sometihng like 13 frequencies you can modify +/- 12dB. Just be careful not to run the output at too high a voltage, or you will reduce the sound quality (distortion). I used to run c.400WRMS with the amp's sensitivity set at about 1/2, due to the boosted voltage of the AudioControl. Also, the closer to the source (head unit) you run any line driver (signal booster), the better the quality. There's less degradation of signal, the more powerful the signal is.</p>

 

[raypla]

Holy run on sentence Krakkhead.

 

[krakhedd]

Yeah I can't separate my text into paragraphs for some reason, script errors from this computer at work (where I spend most of my time). Sorry!