huffydmb

I have no idea if there are more people who read over here vs. msprotege.com, but I thought I'd pose my questions over here too. If it's considered a sin to post on both boards, someone clue me in please! Everyone seems pretty friendly on both of the boards, so I feel pretty safe posting to both with my questions.

First of all, let me say that I'm proud to be the new owner of a Laser Blue 2003 ES. I've actually had the car for about a month now and the first 3,000 miles have left nothing but smiles. I drove a 95 Eclipse GS-T, so I lost a little power, but gained quite a bit in reliability, which is what I was after. I absolutely love this car!

On to the questions. I have the 6 disc changer in the dash and I've decided not to carry over my audio system from the Eclipse. I want to use the factory head unit. The only thing I'm bringing over from the Eclipse is the amp, a PPI A404.

So, here are the questions I have for you Protege experts.

1) What, if any, are the possible negative factors involved in converting the speaker leads from the head unit into RCA-level cables?

2) Do I have any other options other than converting the speaker leads to RCA? There are no speaker level inputs on my amp.

3) Can any of you recommend some high quality speakers that will fit the front, rear, and some nice subs? I would like to spend about $200 on the fronts, $100 on the rears, and maybe another $200 on the sub(s).

4) I've read a lot of people having trouble with dimming headlights, etc. This PPI is a huge current hog and I'm wondering if straight 4 gauge cable to the battery will be enough?

Any comments, advice, experiences you may have are greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance to everyone who responds.

-Huffy

DaleK

Hey Huffy,

I haven't been on the other board for a while, so I don't know what responses you have gotten over there yet.

Anyway, I kept the stock head unit and added an amp and sub as well. I don't see any negatives with adding RCA's to the deck other than the install was maybe a tad more involved than replacing the deck. Not much at all though. It sounds like you want to amp all 4 channels. I assume that the PPI amp is a 4 channel amp (I am too lazy to look it up ).

To use 4 channels of amplification will require 2 line output converters (most af them are 2 channel). I used audiolink PL2 LOCs .

Also, to do the job right, you will want to obtain the proper harnesses. If you get the regular harness (that allows you to connect an aftermarket deck to the car's wiring harness), and a reverse harness (to connect the factory deck to an aftermarket wiring harness ), you can make all the connections from the deck into the LOCs, and from the amplifier speaker outputs back into the car's harness to the speakers. All the other leads will go straight through. One common assertion is that you should use the factory speaker wires rather than running new ones as it is too much of a pain in the *** to be worth any small potential gains.

Scosche makes the harnesses: wiring harness, andreverse harness. The only issue with these is to hook up the factory dimming leads for the deck. They are not in the harnesses. However, what some have done is to buy 2 sets of the harnesses and take the additional pins they need from the extras and put them in. I used solid core wire instead of a pin.

I have a 4 channel amplifier running my door speakers, and the line outs from my amp go to a small powered sub (Kenwood wOOx mounted to the bottom of the passenger seat).

As for the other questions, I am not the best guy to answer them for you

Good luck!

BTW - there are others of us who have done the factory deck install, and everyone who has done it seems pretty happy with the results. I know I am.

MisterT

I am a member on both sites and a lot of people here are too. I am not familiar with your amp, but appears to be a 4 channel amp? If so, you could use the front channels for the fronts, your head unit to push your rears, and the other two channels of your PPI amp to push a sub. Just need more info. If this was the case, you could do a few different things:

Spend $300 on a pair of separates and scratch rear speakers (later you could add some Infinity Reference 6 1/2's do well with head unit power (better than the Kappas that need more juice to produce).
As for your subs, you could get two Elemental Design 10's or a single one for relatively cheap. They sound better than JL W3's in my opinion and have a longer excursion than the JLs.
4 gauge should be adequate, i use it to my distribution block and 1.5 farad cap, from there I use 8 gauge to my amps from dist. block. They are class A amps, so if your amp sucks up juice, then you may have headlight dimming problems like I do every time the bass hits. I tried a groundkit with new terminal caps and have a 1.5 farad cap and still, the **** dims. It's a pain in the ***! Mazda has problems with headlight dimming from those I have talked to that use aftermarket parts.

Need more info on your amp though as far as how much power it produces and channels. This will determine what speakers will work best for your application. I know there are other questions, but just need a bit more info. and others can help as well. Welcome to the club.

MisterT

Rider69

Here are my suggestions to you:

Line out converter: David Navone 4 Channel model N-774 $45
http://www.davidnavone.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=N-774
Front Speakers: CDT Audio CL-61a from TheZeb.com $150. You won't find a better set in this price range.
Rear Speakers: not necessary, but if you must get some CDT CL-6x coaxials for $100, same place.
Sub: 1 Elemental Designs e12k14 in a ported box about $200 including the box.

Like MisterT said, you could run the front two channels of the amp to the components and bridge the other two channels to power the sub, although I would recommend upgrading your amp to gain a little more power for both the components and the sub. Perhaps either the USAcoustics USX-4065 ($123) or the Avionixx AXA 440.4 (about $225 shipped).

edit: Forgot the part about the wiring:
Even if the amp is a current hog as you say, the amount of power it is pulling should easily be handled by a 4 guage wiring kit ($36 + Shipping): http://www.knukonceptz.com/detail.as...uct_id=KOLAK44

Aydu

I echo the recommendation for the Navone N-774V. It gives a clean signal that can be boosted to get a strong signal to the amp. This LOC is adjustable from 0-10volt output signal.

The speaker recommendations you received are excellent, with a good price.

I have two Coustic amps in my system - a 4 channel for the speakers and a 2 channel for my sub - and I don't get any headlight dimming even with every possible electronic option running. My amps are 40x4 and 160x1, so I'm not running a super powerful system, but it has more volume than I need with clarity.

I used the 2 harness approach to wire my amps into the system and it works great. I did buy two of the reverse harnesses to get the extra pins for the dimming and illumination function. I only needed one standard harness as the new Metra harness had extra wires in the size needed for these features. I did have to move one pin to get both the illumination and dimming wires to line up on both harnesses. Works perfectly.

The one thing I'd strongly recommend is to get 2 sets of Ford radio removal tools. They are available at Walmart and it makes the job of removing the factory radio really easy. This was the part of the install I was dreading, but the tools made it the easiest part - with no damage to the dash, radio, or surrounding trim.

My biggest concern was that I'd chip, nick, or scratch something on the dash that would remind me that I did the job myself. No such problem.

This site is excellent in providing info on our cars. The sticky at the top of the audio topic gives pin out info for the harness, which makes moving the needed pins easy.

Sir Nuke

:{D I answered your post on the other board....

and NO its not a sin to post in both places....in fact its a good idea as not all members there are members here...and not all memebers here are members there....so you are just collecting MORE data/information....

BTW....WELCOME TO OUR HAPPY HOME!!!!!

huffydmb

Both of these boards are an incredibly valuable source of information. Thanks to EVERYONE who replied and keep them coming.

I'm probably going to stick with my PPI A404 amp. The thing is rock solid and clean as can be. It's served me well for nearly 10 years now, so I have no intentions of replacing it.

In the Eclipse, I ran the front two channels to a pair of kappa65cs components in both the front and the rear. I had the other two channels bridged to one 12" Infinity Kappa, which was also about 10 years old.

Are the "new" Infinity subs just not up to par with the others mentioned here? Perhaps they're just too pricey? I know it's hard to go into a store and compare subs, so I highly value the opinions of others who have used certain brands of subs, especially in the same car.

Again, I can't say enough good things about this board. Thanks again everyone.

-Huffy

huffydmb

Will this component set fit easily? Is it possible to get both the 6.5 and the tweeter in the door? Or do I need to mount the tweeter on the sail panel? I've not yet had a chance to take the door panel off and get a look back there.

After a little research at crutchfield, they seem to think a 5 1/4 component set will fit just fine in the factory door locations.

Where do you all have your tweeters installed?

Again, thanks a ton for the advice. I really appreciate it. I will take some nice pics one of these days and put 'em up here for all to enjoy.

huffydmb

Just did a little more research and that 4ga power kit for $36 is an INCREDIBLE deal. I was not at all looking forward to plopping down the cash for all of that wiring.

Many thanks for that recommendation. I have already ordered both the Navone LOC and the KOLAK44 wiring kit.

I can't wait to work on this puppy!

Astral

$150 for those CDT CL-61a speakers looks like a great deal! I don't have the money to do a complete upgrade of my sound system yet, but I have an urge to jump on this deal *now* (before they sell out).

Is it a decent idea to just get the CL-61a pair and replace the factory fronts with it? (so they will be driven by the factory radio still). How difficult is it?

If I don't turn up the stock stereo too much, there shouldn't be distortion to blow the speakers, should there?

I'm planning on getting a good amp (around 400W RMS) down the road, so I don't want to spend money right now on a cheapo amp that I'll replace anyway.

Sorry for the n00b questions and thanks in advance!

MisterT

I am running old SoundStream Class A amps that I have had since the mid 90's (perhaps '96). They still sound great. Just suck up a lot of juice though! No point in getting rid of them. As for my Bostons, I have had them a couple of years before getting the SoundStreams. The SPL12s I had (SS's also) were replaced only because the surround separated from the woofer. I guess it was inevitable. There are more bells and whistles on head units, so I use the same Alpine with the 4 volt preouts (at that time, they were just coming out with high volt preouts). Its functions and sound quality are perfectly fine so why replace any thing.

MisterT

Rider69

The CDTs that I recommended will fit in the doors, you might just have to get (or make) a plate for them. THe standard opening is 5x7 and these speakers will work. If I didn't already have Focal 3-ways in my car, I would be all over this deal!

MisterT

Wow, you would get rid of Focals for the CDTs? I see you have 3 ways. Are they as nice sounding as the separates? I am not talking about their high end ones, but their entry level ones. Never heard CDTs before, but they must be good.

MisterT

Astral

That's it, time to load up the credit card! So they'll survive being powered by the factory stereo for a month or two (without excessive distortion)? I'm throwing reason (namely financial sense) aside

What is the material that I need to pick up to make a plate for them?

Rider69

Well, you have a couple of choices...
If you want to make them yourself, use some MDF and make a "plate" that will fit or the easiest method would be to just call up crutchfield and order some speaker adapters for fitting the 6.5" in a 5x7 hole. If Crutchfield does not have them, then check out autosoundgear.com

They should be fine on your stock stereo for the time being until funds allow you to purchase a better amp or HU