audio set-up for beginners [continued]

[jhnkvn]

*Lzarellano
Re: Cables
For the speaker and RCA cables, you don't need to restrict yourself to traditional "car audio" speaker and RCA cables. You can opt to look for home audio RCAs and speaker cables to broaden your choices. My philosophy in this? Thicker Cables = Better Cables. The brand name is just to assure you that their 99.99% copper isn't 85% copper and 15% ****.

Just remember that you don't want it to be so thick that you have trouble routing it over the car's chassis. And yes, the Sonus also has analog inputs that accommodates RCA connections. Almost all or more than 95% of the amplifiers out on the market accepts RCA connectors naman ;) it's the de-facto standard in analog audio connections.

Re: Deadeners
The reason why I would like to opt for the cheapest butyl deadener is because the science of expensive deadeners don't make any sense given that they're the same density and thickness. Sound waves do not interact directly with the deadening material as sound waves bounce off your plastic panel unless your car is nude inside and the only way the material will interact is indirectly: (1) through the reduction of ambient sound (for example: how foam and butyl rubber "blocks" sound is different) and by reducing the panel's vibration frequency through adding weight (all it cares about is weight: you can pour concrete if you want to).

The only reason why I advocate butyl is because it won't melt like goo unlike asphalt based deadeners. If you're annoyed by asphalt clinging to your car's paint, think of it na "bits" lang yun. What more if you have a kilogram of them inside your door.

Re: Active Crossovers
Old school SQ boys often use a 31-band EQ L/R (ex. a AudioControl EQX) to delay and EQ their speakers ack when time alignment and digital EQ was still in its infancy. I used to have them but has since given it a friend. The problem in using them is that tuning them is leaps more complicated and this is why I won't recommend them for the modern day user. For one, most of them have the EQ at the back. This makes tuning them a back-and-forth process and that affects one's sound judgement. Not only that but they also add another "problem" in the signal chain and they're prime culprits in causing ground loops and whines (for incorrect installations).


*crazy_boy
Engine whine. That's a bitch to fix so it's best to let the CASA do it since they'll be tearing it down. In a nutshell, a cable "somewhere" is being affected. I'll especially look at the coaxial connection between the HU and the amplifier.


*ninjababez
Re: Amp at Rear Deck
Hmm, not the first time I've seen one to be honest. I don't see a problem with it if you have a tint and normally park your car over at the shade but I'll raise the NO flag if you're running it without tints and expose it to the sun. While amplifiers don't mind running at high temperatures (mine's like.. 70-80 degrees Celsius at any time), a closed cabin + direct sunlight + metal chassis doesn't bode well for any electronic device. In short, just cover it and you can throw it at your rear.

There's also some cons in bolting your amplifier on your subwoofer box. Specifically, the vibration it entails.


Re: Subwoofer Bouncing
Clamp it down. Most car audio installs involve drilling it and clamping it to the car's chassis.