I guess i should have asked before i ordered, but here is what i got:

Head Unit: Alpine AVI-W200 (touchscreen DVD player)
Front speakers: JL Audio XR525-CSi (5.25 component)
- Installed in Q-logic kick panels
Upstage: CDT Audio UP-219 (3/4 silk tweeeter)
Front Speaker Amp: JL Audio 300/4
Door Subs: Kicker SS MB8 (8in midbass)
Door Sub Amp: ?? UNDECIDED ?? (looking at 200x2 a/b amp)
Rear Speakers: Stock 6x9 (ran off the alpine head unit)
Subs: 2 - Kicker L5 10in 8ohm
Sub Amp: MTX 81000D (at 2ohm)
- 1/0 guage with stinger 150amp breaker

Some questions

On the fronts - I have the XR series which has a bi amp setup (can hookup 4 channels). Would it be better to setup as a bi channel (running 4 channels to the front x-overs) or bridge the amp and just use 2 channels?

door subs: What amp should i get? speakers are 175w rms. Any suggestions for some clean watts?

any critisism is welcomed.

 

And here I thought 2 AWG was hard to work with when I routed it to my rear amp. I shudder to think what 1 GA would be like...

Looks like a winner system to me...

 

i used kicker 1/0 gauge. Very plyable and was actaully pretty easy to run it. thanks for the compliment.

 

Uh, go 300 amp on the main breaker, and enjoy :thumb: There is no discernible advantage to biamping your fronts through the passive crossovers. If you want to bi-amp, go totally active and enjoy a lot more flexibility. Also, if you haven't purchased the SSMB's yet, PM me If you just want cheap, clean power for the door subs, look into the Lanzar Opti's refurbed direct from Lanzar. I love those little amps. Full range Class D's with elegant looks, nice terminals, and great pricing/power.

 

crap the SS 8's arrived at my door over lunch. Why? Currently using JL Audio 8w0's in the doors, but i had to make a 3/4in plate to get them to fit. SOund good, just hate that they stick out.

Ya i think with another added 200X2 amp, the stinger fuse may need to be upgraded.

Other than that, you think it will be good? Any reccomendation on x-over points for the components, 8's, and 10's? 12db or 24 db on the fronts?

also, think i need a new battery? im still using the stock POS.


for the 8in amps, i was looking at Alpine MRP-F550 - 90x4 and 250x2 or maybe the Pheoinix gold X200.2. I like the PG cause it has 24db Linkwitz-riley x-overs.

 

I have a mildly used set of the SSMB's sitting in the box beside me When you install them, add another 1/2 pound of polyfill to the enclosure, it helped a lot. Also, I liked high passing mine around 40 hz, and your low pass will depend on your components. I'd vary between 150-300 hz. The Kickers will run out of steam around 400hz on the high end. The stock battery will be fine, just add a couple more small grounds, or a good large one and it is pretty nice. The amps you listed are nice, especially that PG. Check the Lanzars, they're touch to beat for size/power.
http://www.lanzar.com/citempage.asp?MODEL=RBOPTI4X400D
http://www.lanzar.com/citempage.asp?MODEL=RBOPTI2X300D

These are what I planned to use for my new car, but I got a deal I couldn't pass on a Rockford 25-Life Power 1000 (birthsheet 110x4 @ 4 and 998x1 @ 1). That, and it fits under the rear seat of the Sport Trac.

 

got everything installed last night. WOW! What a difference.

Before i had the jlaudio XR's in the doors with jlaudio 8w0's. I switched to a qlogic kick panel and replaced the 8's with kicker SS 8in. Mind blowing difference. Best money have spent on my car since my turbo kit.

Should have the CDT upstage system hooked up tonight. Hard to believe it could get batter than it already is.

p.s. - using the JL 300/4 to power the fronts and 8's at the moment, should sound better when i get a separate amp for the 8's.

 

Those 8's will certainly open up with more power. The CDT upstage kit would work well mounted in the A-pillars like I had my tweets. I can't find the pics now, but they were crossfiring into the windshield. It kept the stage high and wide.

 

i got the upstage installed last night. It did move the stage up a bit, but i seem to have a seperation of sounds. Lows are comming from my knees and the highs are up high.

I set the upstage tweeters on the lowest settings, they seem a bit too loud still. I am going to try and move the tweeter on the XR x-over up to +1.5db and see if that helps tonight

on the XR crossover, it has a mid control of low, medium, and high. Is this an attinuation (sp) or a x-over point? I e-mailed JL last night, but still ahve not got a response.

I also e-mailed CDT with the same questions as to why the front stage might be a bit to loud compared to the kick panel speakers - but no response yet either.

 

It sounds like you could use a higher crossover point. Unfortunately, using passives really doesn't allow for change. Oh yeah,
I'm in ur subz, steelin' db'z!

 

well CDT Audio support sucks worse than ATT. I asked a few questions, all i got was "maybe mount them higher" or "look at this BMW". Worthless - cant say i will be buying any CDT stuff in the future. Too bad too because they do have great products.

I moved the main tweeter up 1.5 db and moved the x-over for the mids to the high position, cleared it right up. Now i can close my eyes and cant tell the sounds are coming from any speakers. Seems like Dave Matthews is on the top of my dash and can distictly tell the voilin guy is on the left and bass is on the right. Best sounding system i have ever had. (dave in concert DVD is very good to tune with for me)

Thanks for all the help. TOnight i will try to get the subs tuned in. I have a feeling i will be turning down the gain on those. The clarity from the front is just to sweet to cover up.

after that, we will see if it can take the abuse from rammstein and some deep bass rap.

 

Im thinking about selling the 10's and going with a single 13w6-d4. The 10's are crisp and clear, but the 8's have great output down to 65ish hz. I think i would have better overall bass repsonse form a larger diameter sub. What do you think?

my Kicker L5's are in a ported 1.63 cubic feet box with a 18.75 port lenght (2.75x13.25x18.75) ran off of a MTX81000d at 2 ohms. Right now the gain is at 1/2, but my alpine head unit sub woofer control is at zero (no negatives). Sounds best at about +7 on sub gain (for street bass). I leave it at +1 for everyday listening.

What do you think?

 

Alpine heads are odd. They actually should be turned to 15 for full output, and consider the "negative" as less than 15. I also bet you'd be happier with 1 or 2 Dayton RS HO's.

 

ah did not know that. That may help when tuning - i wondered why the feq response wasnt very flat, i bet the head unit is pulling out certain freq when i have it turned down to +1 or +3.

Never heard of those subs, i will do a search for them.... hopefully not too expensive.

 

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=295-462
There's the 10, there's also a 12 and 15 in the HO series, and an 8 in the HF (HF is geared to theater use and requires larger enclosures). If you figure sealed boxes for these, they're absolutely TINY, but the ported alignments are the way to go. .7 tuned to 30-35hz on the 10 is sexy.