Hey,

I want to get a general idea or what to do for my car system so i can look into it.
I'm thinking about getting 2 x 12 inch subs, in a mould, in the boot...but not really sure what else? Some 6x9's??

I dont really know much about sound systems!
So what have you guys done to yours?
What should i do with mine? eg Speakers, Amps, etc
Please don't criticise because i don't know much, i want to learn :)

Oh, and it's a 2007 Lancer ES 2.4L, 2007 Lancer Ralliart 2.4L (if you live in the states)

Thanks guys :)

it really depends on what your looking to spend. do you already have a after market stereo deck? if not get one. my favorite is the Poineer Premier decks any kind will work, but they seem to make the crappiest speakers sound good unless of course they are blown. then i would look into some decent replacements for your stock door speakers and your back speakers. putting in some cheap, but still quality speakers in your doors will help with all your high to mid tones make sure they are at least 3-way speakers and it will bring out the vocals, guitars, and drum symbols in your music.

then adding in new rear speakers most likely 3-ways or maybe 5 ways if you can afford them. i think yours are attached to the window sill in front of your back window. if you put in new speakers with sealed boxes mounted just behind them it will offer a better sound to your passengers and will add to any hi-hat or drum snare hit to your music. i mentioned the stock speakers and stereo first because if you go straight to a sub and amp kit you will never feel like you need to update your stock speakers and therefore never have a quality sound system. then on to the sub woofers. i currently have a single 12 inch 1,000 watt square sub in a ported box being pushed by a 1,000 watt Metric audio amp. i also bought a 4 gauge 1,500 watt wiring kit with a 1.5 farad capacitor. i also bought a inline power spliter with 2 sperate 60 amp fuses.

if you plan on getting 2 12 inch subs and you want to make sure you get some good quality don't be afraid to go to e-bay, but make sure whatever you buy is a new non refurbished piece. and also go to a local stereo shop and listen to a setup they already have. one thats slightly out of your price range is fine as you will find the same setup on e-bay for a cheaper price. remember to look for stereo equipment in the same e-bay stores as shipping items together will save you money as well.

if you e-mail me directly with a price range in US dollars i can look up an entire kit for you as i have been installing stereos and stereo equipment for almost 11 years now i seem to always come across great deals and bookmark them.

as for right now it would be best for you to buy some stock replacement speakers from wal-mart. pioneer speakers are cheap there and work really well with a pioneer premier deck. remember to call your dealership and ask them the sizes of your stock speakers. as getting the wrong size is frustrating when you take the time to pull your door panels off to put on the new ones, and they are wrong and you have to go back to the store to get the correct size.

now i do understand that due to the fact e-bay is mostly a US product shipping site i'm sure there is a Australian type E-bay. stay away from speakers and amps made my lanzer and Pyramid and Pyle. stick to Cerwin Vega, JBL, Audio bahn, Kicker, Poineer, Alpine, Volfenhagen, JVC, and MA audio. and remember that getting speakers that are 1,000 watts is not 2,000 watts worth of power. look for RMS thats the actual power they run at the 1000 watt is if lightning hit them it would run 1,000 watts worth. its almost always better to buy a single more expensive speaker than 2 speakers for half the price the single one will always be louder and hit harder than 2 that are worth the same price as the single expensive one. also remember that when you buy a 2,000 watt sub woofer you have to buy a 2,000 watt amp. putting less power than the speaker needs causes more problems than using a amp with more power and just turning the amp down.

also when running over 1,500 rms watts you have to use a 4 gauge or bigger wire. the sizes run from biggest to smallest here it is 00g, 0g, 1g, 2g, 4g, 6g, 8g, 10g, 12g, 14g, 16g, 18g. i know its messed up to think 18 gauge being the smallest but thats how it works. also running a capacitor will keep your battery from dying when you run a system in your car. the only way to keep your lights from dimming at night is to upgrade your alternator to a high performance, but a capacitor will keep from killing your battery. professionals say you need 1 farad per 1,000 watts rms, and i agree.

so in summation if your looking to toss in a new deck replacing your stock speakers sealed boxes for the rear speakers, 2,000 watt sub woofers, dual 12" ported sub box, 2,000 watt amp, 2,000 watt wiring kit, and a 2 farad capacitor. as cheap as possible if you were in the united states you'd be looking at a price range of $120-$175 for the radio. $30-$50 for the front speakers. $40-$90 for the back speakers. $20-$30 for the rear speaker boxes. $130-$600 for a pair of 2,000 watt speakers. $150-$1000 for a 2,000 watt amp. 2,000 watt wiring kit $30-$80. 1 farad cap since the rms is going to only be 1,000 watts $40-$200. dual 12" ported sub box $55-$150. lowest price i could figure is $575 not including tax. higher figure is $2375 for the exact same setup using cheaper but still name brand items on the $575 system.


i'm sure that the more expensive sub and amp set will last longer, but i have been in stereo's for almost 11 years so i know as long as it will last me 2 years i'll be updating it within that time because every 6 months the newest and best speakers are outdated and go on sale. hopefully this helps you out to make the most informed decision and if anybody in Australia can help you with prices lets hope that they do because everything i priced was pretty much volfenhagen brand new in US dollars.

hye mate im from ausiie too.. .. and i have the same car yay.. .. i went down to strathfield and they hooked me up wid some subs and amp and head unit... it sounds amazing also the wired it so thati can have speakers later and amp...

mine are two 1200W subs making 2400W true Watts... with a 800W mono block amp... 4 gauge wireing.. and the new pioneer bluetooth headunit... it sounds really guud.. and i havent run it at full power as you kinda have to run em in...like a new car lol..

it all cost $1500 for pritty much the highest qaulity gear... and room for improvement is there also...

peace have a guud one

Hey there. This guy here has got it pretty much spot on. I'd just like to add a few things.

Getting capacitor won't stop you battery from dying any faster or slower, but it will stop the lights in your car from dimming and you'll be able to get louder volume. If you're going to run a powerfull system while the car isn't running i'd recommend getting a deep-cycle hybrid battery. Otherwise it's not worth the hassle.

I'd also recommend getting two way component speakers or 3-way coaxials. A three way coaxial will reproduce audio frequencies just as well as a 5-way and can provide greater volume, the reason behind this is complex lol

One last thing, try to match up amp and speaker ratings, don't pay much attention to the 430WATTS max you see on your speaker, look for "nominal" or "WRMS" output, on any usual set of decent afterkmarket car speakers it's between 30WRMS or 100WRMS depending how much you spend. You'll need to match up the Nominal or WRMS rating with the WRMS power rating of the amplifier, ideally for cabin speakers you need about 30% extra power in the amp than the speakers draw from each operating channel. This is usually enough to counter what'ss called the Impedance Curve of the speaker. Where the impedance changes depending on the frequency, it usually goes higher, which increases the load on your amp, which means the speaker receives less power and can impair the reproduction of bass frequencies especially.

Don't use bigger power cable than you need to, it's just wasting money, power cables are rated in AWG (american wire gauge) the most commonly used by far in car stereo's are 8AWG and 4AWG, 8AWG is 8mm in diameter and can handle up to 73amps of current, 4AWG are 12mm in diameter and can handle up to 135 amps of current when used with a chassis based system like the battery in your car.

There is no need to use bigger wires "just to be sure" ratings are calculated using the "700 circular mills per amp rule" which is very conservative, so if you have an amplifier that consumes 70amps of electricity, feeding it an 8gauge wire will be absolutely fine, however once you exceed the rating you should jump to the next larger wire to minimise resistance. For those who don't know: resistance = voltage drop = less power going to your amp = less volume = BAD! this is also a reason to keep fuses to a minimum and use replacement items like circuit breakers.

I could go on forever, but i'll grace you with one more vital topic. Don't skimp on the earthing. The power to your amp is actually received through the earth (negative battery terminal) and is sent back to the battery via the positive. So make sure all your wires can handle ample current and ensure when you earth your amp, create or use an existing bolt or metal screw that goes into a metal obect of the car, be sure to remove all the paint (scuffing it away with sandpaper is the easiest) untill there is bare shiny metal! Because the paint acts as an insulator and 12volts isn't easy to stop.

One last thing! Disconnect your negative terminal on the battery before you start doing any power work. If you drop your 8AWG when it's connected to your battery and it becomes in contact with ANY peice of fastened metal in your car, you will get a short, which will blow a fuse, without which, you will blow your battery, and you can risk damage to amps and other equiment. Be sure to install an ample fuse equal to the power consumption in amps of your amplifier within 40cm of the battery, so if part of your wire becomes severed for whatever reason your fuse will blow before your battery will and your car won't catch on fire.

Bullet guy over here has doing a great job explaining amps and methods etc. I hope i gave you a useful inclusion on the technical side of things. There's a lot more to it but that should give you a head start!