I know a friend of mine will be enjoying this post, as she’s into car audio (I think) and will probably be glad that I’m not writing about supplements for once!
For the longest time I have been driving around with some good audio hardware, but it’s due for an upgrade. My first car audio setup included components in the front powered by a separate amplifier, an aftermarket head unit and dual 12″ subwoofers in the back (I kept the rears stock). I ran the entire setup with 2 and 4 gauge wiring. If anyone is interested in the hardware that I used, here’s the list:
- Pioneer Premier DEH-P770MP headunit, 70W RMS
- JBL GTO75.2 II, 2 channel amplifier, 60A, 90W RMS per channel
- JBL GTO606C components in the front
- JBL GTO1201.1 II, subwoofer amplifier, 120A, 1300W~ RMS
- 2x JBL W12GTi Mark II subwoofers, 700W RMS each
- Tsunami 5 Farad capacitor, including 2 and 4 gauge wiring where appropriate
This setup served me well as an introduction to car audio. My friend and I spent a Sunday afternoon once installing this gear in and the overall experience was awesome (for me anyway). The sound quality was superb comparing it to my stock radio; driving my then Camry was always a pleasure! Now that I have a brand new car, it’s time to install some fresh new gear and make more heads turn. 🙂 I will be keeping this car for four years, so I can’t live without some proper, clean sound. I drive my car everyday and travel all over Montreal servicing clients, so I would like to keep my ears happy. The stock system in the car is terrible: distortion reigns all over. The highs are severly lacking, and there’s no such thing as clean, distortion-free bass. The stock CD/MP3 player was garbage; scrolling through songs was a long, pain-staking process and the overall quality of the sound was butchered up. Thankfully, I managed to replace my stock radio with the Premier DEH-P770MP. That’s one upgrade down, a few more to go!
This month, I should be acquiring my new hardware. This is what I’m getting:
- 2x JBL Power Series P650C components, 90W RMS
- JBL Power Series PX300.4, 4 channel amplifier, 123.7W RMS per channel
This time around, I will be replacing the rears of my vehicle with some components to keep the passengers in the back happy. I am keeping the subwoofer setup the same, but seriously considering adding another GTO1201.1 II and driving separate amplifiers to each subwoofer (so each driver has its own proper amplifier, a full 1300W RMS available at all times). I will most likely have to add another battery to my car soon along with an alternator upgrade if I ever go down that route.
That’s it for now. I will be posting installation details (along with a guide) once I get the gear and do the setup… but I’m pretty discouraged right now as it’s cold outside and the first few snow flakes have already dropped. Anyone have an indoor garage with enough room to perform a car audio install? 🙂