This guy has to be my favorite on this channel. Doesn’t beat around the bush and tells you straight up how things are and how to do things. Makes a beginner like me feel a lot more comfortable getting into the car scene
Pretty sure he's a jerk in my humble opinion. Give me jeremiah all day. James is great as usual and you cant hate that nerd named nolan. But seriously, zach always rubs me the wrong way. Money pit is my favorite because of the topic, hope the new host takes zach's place and zach can move on to doing something else with donut, preferably off camera
@@TheKos2Kos huh, interesting i've never gotten that vibe from him at all. seems like a pretty big assumption just from watching these videos. he comes across confident in his knowledge to me.
@@LUHKNOWNONDATRACK he doesn't miss a beat. A lot of automotive UA-camrs lose train of thought, repeat themselves, just sound stressed and taxed. He doesn't do any of this. He keeps an even keel, and doesn't sound like he's breaking a sweat no matter what while talking; and talking consistently.
Some extra bits of info on the topic for anyone interested in doing this: - It is extremely important that your positive power cable has a fuse on it as close to the battery as possible. If you run an unfused thick power wire - especially a long one - and it accidentally hits the body of the car or gets damaged for example, you are directly shorting out your battery with a very beefy wire, meaning the battery will essentially pump out all of its energy as fast as possible, not only killing the battery and potentially starting fires, but also literally creating an explosion hazard as the battery overheats and starts to boil. - It is common advice to always make sure the ground cable is the first cable you install to an amplifier. Do not plug in the power, remote or especially the RCAs before the ground is connected. Similarly, whenever you are removing an amplifier make sure the ground stays connected for as long as possible. One of the worst mistakes you can make is plugging the RCA in first, then power. As soon as an amplifier receives power on its terminals, even without being turned on with the remote wire, it will charge up a capacitor bank inside which causes a huge surge of current - often even visible on the power cables as a loud spark. If the ground isn't connected, the amp will ground itself through the only path it has - the RCA. Now this huge current surge will run through your thin RCA wires into your headunit instead of using the nice and thick ground cable. This pretty much always results in blowing the audio traces and/or nearby components in your headunit, resulting in anything from horrible sounding audio to no audio at all or even a completely dead headunit. Good order of operations is Ground -> Power -> remote -> speakers -> RCAs. When removing, reverse the order. - On some headunits the very upper end of the volume range is not actually recommended to use, especially with an amplifier hooked up. Past a certain volume level the headunit starts to "overdrive" its outputs, meaning it has already reached "maximum" volume and is now just trying to make it even louder. This is done to for example get full volume out of a music track that is particularly quiet. If however playing "properly made" music - music that is mixed in a way that it hits close to 0dB at some points in the song - the headunit can't actually "amplify" the sound any more and the sound signal will do what's called "clipping" - the round peak of the soundwave gets clipped off. This will bring unwanted harmonics to the audio and if the clipping is high enough the distortion will become audible to even the most untrained ear. Clipping is bad in more than just audio quality though, as it can even break your amplifier or speakers if done for too long. Set the gain knob of your amplifier to it's lowest level. Start increasing volume from the headunit gradually until you feel like you start hearing distortion - this is most audible at lower frequencies, eg. bass. WHen you hear distortion, take the volume a few clicks back until you can be absolutely sure you hear no clipping. Now try with different songs, and if the audio quality increases by lowering the volume, you are likely clipping. Continue this until you have found a volume level at which all songs sound fine. Now start increasing the gain knob on your amplifier, listening for the same distortion again. Once you hear distortion, dial it back again until the audio is crisp. Repeat with many different songs until you are sure you get no clipping. Now you have "gain-matched" your amplifier and also determined the highest safe volume level on your headunit. Never touch the gain knob from this point on unless you change your headunit (the gain knob is not a volume adjuster!!). Memorize what volume your headunit is at when music doesn't clip, and remember to avoid exceeding that volume level in the future when listening to music.
@@cod7war In this case as nothing in the car is grounded in reference to the battery, the amplifier will not suffer. The power coming into the amplifier does not have a path back to the battery until the ground cable is connected. If for some reason you had two seperate ground terminals on the battery, then once again connecting the amp ground first is important.
Back in the day, when I had to get my headunit serviced, I asked the tech to measure the output with an oscilloscope and give me the highest volume setting without clipping. Saved me a bunch of time.
I must say, being a car audio professional for the last 14 years... That this is the one of the best videos that I have seen, not only explaining the basics of car audio, the install itself was actually very well done. Everything was very well explained and shown ... All his skills and techniques were very good.... The use of good quality brands and good quality wiring.... The explanations of why these things are very important... For example oxygen-free copper... And improving the vehicles thin cheap ground wires... I would have a difficult time Nit-picking anything... I probably would have found separate grounds for each rather than bundling them up.... And grinding the paint on the chassis where he connected the ground to bare metal.... Overall... EXTREMELY good video.... Hats off to you
Class D is great for low frequencies. Can use class D in a noisy miata just fine. If you are in a quiet car, gotta use class AB for doors. Also, power wire is way overkill. You machine gunned point of diminishing returns. Those door speakers are not going to pull more than 15 amps peak. At the same time, going overkill on your power feed will save you long run when you are ready to drop a subwoofer. For anyone who hasn't done their first install, use this video as a starting point. YOU CAN DO IT. People like me that would nit pick, ignore us. Your first does not have to be perfect. Your second install will be even better and so on. I have been upgrading my cars for decades. Only last year did I buy a hydraulic crimper. Before that, I smashed the ring terminals with channel locks and soldered with a little torch. With enough practice you will get to a point to where no body panels rattle. My system is so loud, my review mirror is useless at moderate volume and I have to aim the mirror again at full volume. LED headlights dim. Passenger has to scream for me to hear them and often have to repeat themselves. Most of the time, I keep the music lower than people talking casually in the car and the bass drum is softly felt. Fun story. A car in front of me in drive through was license plate rattling and thumping. The car in front of him was yelling to get their order in. When the car in front of me was up, I baby sharked (pink fong) his ass. He couldn't get his order in. He flicked me off a few times, pulled out of queue and went somewhere else. The car that was in front of him smiled and gave thumbs up.
I've got a '91 Miata and did this same thing (and more) about 15 years ago. It's time I look at refreshing the entire setup again. The old Miata models are SUPER easy to work on. However, here are some tips: The NA6 and NA8 Miata has a weird parasitic draw that makes batteries die quickly so get an Optima D51R and a longer tie-down rod to match (it's taller than the OEM unit but fits just fine in the footprint). Then get a Battery Tender (or similar) to keep it topped up. If you're concerned about the lack of instant current a yellow-top battery will provide for a higher-powered audio system, get a small capacitor installed in-line with the amp(s) - you won't need much. I also sprung for some quick-disconnects on the factory power/ground cables to make it easier to swap if/when needed and to disconnect fully when in storage (no snow!) - those are 6ga cables, by the way. For the audio system, run the RCAs under the plastic center console/tunnel cover. Run the speaker wire under the door sills. For speakers, 6.5" units in the door are pretty much garbage at speed with the top down since they're pretty much at your feet but they can serve as a decent foundation. Getting proper *component* speakers will allow you to mount the tweeter in a position where it can do some good and reach your ears. The rear deck (where the convertible top would rest when down) can be cut for an 8" shallow-depth, free-air sub on each side. If you still have the OEM seats (which I highly recommend - just get covers or go for a full re-upholstery job), you can mount a pair of 3.5" speakers in EACH headrest. That's a total of 8 channels of audio. From the head unit, FRONT goes to the door speakers. REAR goes to a low-power 4-channel amp driving the headrests. SUB goes to whatever you have driving the pair of 8" units on the rear deck. None of the speakers in the car need a ton of power to work well. After all, the furthest any speaker will be from your ears will be about 3.5 feet. A good amp for the 6.5" door speakers would probably be a 2x50w through a 2x75w unit. The headrests are going to be more than fine at 4x35w. The subs in the rear deck are going to depend greatly on the specs of the units you can find to fit but I found 2x150w to be plenty. I'm running old Infinity Reference component speakers in the door and Infinity Reference in the headrests. The subs on the deck are... Pioneer, I think? The system hits well enough to sound good and cuts through the wind noise adequately but it won't win any competitions. I just want to hear the music while I'm driving. I put the amps on a board that fit in the lower well in the trunk - it's a menagerie of Alpine and California units that, to be honest, aren't a good match for the system but they're what I had on hand at the time. Amp technology has come a long way since I did all that and can probably fit a lot better now (Class-D amps...)
Zach needs to install the mod that allows you to manually control when each headlight goes up/down. Then pump "pop up up and down headlights" at full volume while alternately winking each headlight. Get Jeremiah in his mesh shirt as a backup dancer.
I used to install competition stereo systems in the early 90's. I can still remember my first one. Let me encourage you, you can do it. It's so satisfying upon completion.
This wasn’t meant to throw shade at any other donut show or host, this is just the host and show I specifically wait for every week. The format and subject are solid and Jobe’s knowledge and personality fits it perfectly.
I just got my first car from my father. 1986 C4 corvette. Its in rough shape but il definitely be coming back to these videos for inspiration throughout my build of it, already watched the James' up to speed.
Now as you can see, I've done absolutely nothing to the exterior of my car, and that is because I've spent my whole 300 quid on *exactly* what a 17 year old wants. A banging stereo, for me tunes!
I have an idea for you guys. How about you do an episode about getting parts from a junkyard to fill out your missing interior pieces? A lot of people don't even consider the picknpull as a place to get car parts.
That or how to make some custom fiberglass ones to replace them. not super hard just a bit tedious but well worth it if you do them well and paint them nicely. (Sounds like good video content to me.)
@@nephrium fiberglass mesh makes it a lot easier but I'd still recommend reinforcing the back of panels that break easily before you have to free hand make new ones
Some tips from an old ex-stereo installer: - for running wires through the door grommet boots, get your hands on a 3foot tie strap. Flexible but stiff enough to push though the boot. - the blue remote wire from the head unit turns on and off with the head unit, not the key. The fact that the deck itself turns on and off with the key replicates this action but the blue wire itself is controlled by the status of the deck. - the gain setting knob on the amplifier is used to match the input sensitivity of the amplifier to the output voltage of the head unit. It is not some kind of auxiliary volume knob. Turning the gain up just makes the amplifier max out and start distorting at a lower volume level on the deck. Turning the deck up past there just increases distortion and crap sound. It is better to be conservative with the gain rather than just maxing it out (which we see far too often). - you used a 4channel amplifier and are running just two speakers. Unless you plan on adding another pair of speakers or powering a sub with the the other two amplifier channels, you could have bought half the amp and saved some $$
The distortion you heard at the beginning would have been amplifier distortion as the head unit couldn't cope. Just adding a power amp to this setup could have breathed new life into those Alpine Type E's.
the distortion he can fix it from the amp he has to change from 60hz or 70hz to 150 hz or 200 these are not speakers for bass but he can use it for mid voices and high
@@SkyJUSTIN6 most house wiring is also 2 wires, and a ground. It's not that spooky either, and you aren't dealing with computer controlled systems either. :p I can tell you for sure that car wiring is more complicated. I'm an electrician, and car enthusiast. The big scary part of your house, is just higher voltage.
Don't take advice from this video. There is a lot wrong here, but to start, the car had a component system factory (tweeter up high, and woofer lower in the door) and instead of upgrading both speakers he just shoved a coaxial in the woofer hole. A component system would sound much better across the board and would have a much better sound stage. And if you are going through the trouble of installing an amp, then buy one with dsp, buy a umm6, watch a UA-cam video on how to use REW, and flatten the speakers.
Back in high school (early 2000s) upgrading your speakers and adding some thump in the trunk was absolutely necessary. We all became experts, meeting up at ours friends houses, popping plastic panels and running wires. If you were real cool you had that Panasonic deck with the 3D dot matrix 😎
@@ivanfromtheeast4709 in their defense, a lot of time, a sub and a head unit is all you need to free up the front speakers from getting eaten out by bad bass.
Probably the most well put-together video on speaker installs that I've ever seen. I've installed several speakers and subwoofers over the years, and it took a lot of personal research and money to get it right. The only thing missing is adding a fuse in between the amplifier power and the battery, close to the battery. I've had a case where the power wire got shorted and caught fire, luckily only burning the wire. But a poor install can do some damage. Also if you don't have an aftermarket head unit, make sure you use a proper technique to splice into the back of the factory unit, as those wires can become loose over time and give you some headaches.
Excellent vid and proof you don’t need to spend thousands to get much better sound in your car. Just too bad the new cars lack the ability in many cases to upgrade the head unit. At least the aftermarket companies are doing great keeping up with the adapters you need to add aftermarket amps and speakers. Thanks for this vid and for promoting car audio!
I've driven all my cars since age 16 with sound systems. I saved up my waitressing money first summer working. I was around S650 in 1995. Since the physics guy designed the ported box perfected tuned. The amp was only around 360 RMS. I enjoyed being the DJ at high school and college parties. Hosted a campout Texas Party when my parents went to Vegas. 200 ish people showed, running out of parking and the horses were stampeding. Later on Dad tried to charge my new battery. Ha. It was beyond toast. It was bumping in the garage for louder sound maybe 5-7 hours? He was proud I managed to ruin the battery so well. Got in trouble that people gave my 8th grade brother booze. No problems w campfire either it was a blast.
I usually dont comment but i just gotta say that i absolutely love Zach, I dont care what the episode is about but if its him ill watch it. informative, charismatic, knowledgeable and overall a pleasant viewing experience. give that man a raise! take it from jarred ;)
I’m so glad he talked about hi and low pass filters, so many people put in new speakers and hate it because they don’t tune the speakers for the right notes
I've installed half a dozen car head units with amps setup in my life. Still watched the entire video. Zach is just an awesome show host and the video is very well produced. Keep up the great work Donut!
@@tomtricks6838 yes. Most head units for some reason like to fudge their output and use max not rms rating. (Not sure about this brand but really its typical) secondly its not a good idea to try and push the head units amplifier because thats a lot of heat dissapation youre asking out of a unit with more sensitive components than an amp has. You can also put the amp where its easier to shed heat or put a fan on it. Also car audio is a hobby youre rarely satisfied with, outboard amps allow for easier upgrades, like more or bigger amps. This setup is gonna beg for a big sub down the road.
You'd do well to insulate the doors and seal them up nicely. It gives a better bass response if all the air gaps are nicely covered and the outer skin has some good sound deadning on it. :)
And they would do well to connect the amp on signal to the receiver instead of directly to accessory power. (Several reasons). And when referring to matching speakers with Amos, it's IMPEDENCE, not RESISTANCE. But that's the angry electrical engineer in me talking.
@@inglouriousmofo if you connect the amp on to accessory power 1. it can turn on before the head unit sets it signal, making an annoying 'pop' when it does turn on. (I know, I've made this mistake before) 2. The amp will stay on even if you turn off the head unit, wasting power. (Not much on a d class amp, but still real ) 3. I'm not sure about the Miata, but you don't want your sensitive electronics 'on' while your car is engine starting and voltages may be dipping. Usually, a car will not send the head unit on signal during that, and if the amp is properly connected to the head unit it won't be on either. 4. If you routed the LR RCA cables from head to amp, it's kinda a noob deal to not have pulled the tiny amp on cable along side given 1,2 and 3 Once again, not sure about the Miata, but if the car didn't have a dedicated amp on line from the stock head unit, a cheap time delay relay should be installed in its place.
If you want to low pass filter on your stock head unit to your stock speakers if you have a aftermarket sub setup, you can put a capacitor in line near the speaker and it will filter out the low bass notes
Having a decent subwoofer will help the perceived loudness of the overall sound immensely. Levels you play the music is uncomfortable but still unsatisfying which can be solved with a subwoofer. It can even be an under seat subwoofer and it'll beef things up pretty good. (down to about 40Hz. if you want lower, under seat subs may not cut it but I think for most ears properly produced 40Hz is more bass than they'd ever want.
I agree with this, and I recall back in the day people with Miatas would rock a self-powered Bazooka tube for the bass, and often a single 8" or dual smaller ones would be enough to get some bottom end. The cool thing with the modern tech, is it is smaller, lighter, and sometimes more efficient, and still plays loud too. I replaced the stock 8" Sony Sub cabinet in my Focus ST with a 6.75" Kicker Comp RT (the tiny one with a 6.75" passive radiator), and added a tiny Kicker Class D Monoblock to drive it. I also bought an Audio control LC2i active line converter, and used the original sub speaker wires as my input. Luckily for me, the LC2i corrects the bass cut the stock amp does at higher volumes, and keeps the volume linear. Most people are shocked how loud, deep, and hard that baby box plays, especially after they see it. I simply wanted to improve on the stock system, without making my cargo area useless
@@iandavis8755hat’s crazy to me, because I just installed dual 12” kicker comp RTs with the LC2I pro under my gmc seirra 1500s back seat. Even though it doesn’t get much air it still gives a crazy bump.
A good sub will definitely improve overall sound a lot. I’d also like to add, it’s a good idea to use a product like a Dynamat Speaker Kit. It transforms the flimsy sheet metal in your car door into a solid, non-resonant baffle. For improved mid-bass performance with less distortion. If you’re spending that much money on a upgrade, you don’t want to hear your doors rattle.
@@Olvera_emi that's what they said in a q and a episode. It was his but then they bought it. So he gets a free car/mods until he leaves and they get a tax write off
I do this for a living and a little while back I put a set of Kenwood Excelon XR-1701P in a Miata, with no amp, and I couldn't believe how much it rocked with that alone. I must say, that is some very impressive wire running and amp mounting!
2 quick tips that you probably did but didn't mention, but would be good for someone who's doing this for the first time to know. 1. Label the wires and label them well, this way they won't get mixed up and cause you fade/balance settings to be almost useless. 2. if you're going to send welding wire (or anything really) through the door grommet, make a small loop on the end and tape over it completely to make sure you don't accidentally nick a wire with a sharp edge and cause a massive headache.
Speaking of high-pass filters. The Pioneer head units like the one installed here has a very good setting for filtering sound. Independent adjustable high-pass filters ranging from 20 Hz up to 120 Hz, with slope settings ranging from 6 dB per octave, to 36 dB per octave. Very easy to set up, being that you have the informaion in clear text.
It’s one of very very few places where no one can tell you to turn it down and you can listen to whatever you want. You owe yourself a good system, we all owe it to ourselves.
@@thomassloan781 the reality is even the most enthusiastic enthusiast can only "hot rod" occasionally or one time will have their license. But you can enjoy good tunes and a nice interior 100% of the time.
I love this channel, is like a one stop and shop channel where you can learn how to fix cars, DIY on music systems, learn about the history of cars, laugh and buy merchandises...lol You guys are awesome!!!
as a hardcore car audio basshead, i think he did a really good job explaining the process for ppl who arent familiar with sound systems and installs. great job. also people should know that you can hook up another pair of speakers and a subwoofer to the same amp
Well you should know, unless the amp can actually handle adding another set of speakers And a Sub, then you sure can't just add more to it, that's not how that works at all.... You would more likely than not need to add in a second amp for that... But then if your cars electrical system can't support Two amps and all those speakers, you could just destroy your battery and alternator.. Just to add a second amp you'll most likely have to add in a second battery too, but need to know how to hook it up right so that it doesn't just destroy your battery and alternator.. Even with second battery it might not be enough, so then you gotta upgrade your alternator, and probably throw in a capacitor to help..... So yeah you can't just add more Speakers to a system... I'm guessing you've fried your share of amps and speakers with that mentality.
@@ixwillxeatxurxbabies hey I’ve been wanting too do my car speakers for ages but since I have an 80s shit box I’ve all ways been worried something electrical would fuk up or kill my battery How would you know if you need a second battery and if you added a sub with a built in amp could that connect straight to an all ready existing amp like the one this guy installed?
@Hydro if your battery gauge dips too much (headlights dimming or dancing to the bass is an obvious sign too) its a sign you need a second battery. They make specific ones for audio that act similar to a power capacitor. I have a second battery for all my extra accessories. Subs and lightbar/pods. Also allows for a longer run time while the vehicle is shut off On board amps in subs are already tuned to the sub which can make it an very easy install but if you're running bigger or multiple subs (I have two) an external amp is generally better. I have mine wired together at 2 ohm (2 12in p3's). What kind of amp really makes a difference too not just in power output but audio quality. If you have a local audio shop talk to those guys to see what best fits your needs
@Hydro no problem. Talking to the guys at the audio shop will help a lot (if they are a good shop that is) you should learn a lot. Also don't worry about building your system all at once. I've built mine over some years. Your deck or head unit is extremely important for audio quality. Speakers even $100 ones can sound great. Replace the front first as that's where the voice is. Rear can wait tbh. Then subs and amp is all whatever you're looking for whether it's a soft boom just to add to it or a massive boom that shuts everyone up for an entire block
This was one of the first mods/repairs I have done on my car. Money pit and ChrisFix inspired me to try fixing my broken car and since then I have taken it apart multiple times fixing and modernizing it. Thank you for doing these videos, guys!
Im doing that soon tbh, but I got leds in my headliner that are gonna be wired up to the underglow. So when headliner is purple the underglow is purple
Only thing I would have done different would have been use the old wire to pull the new speaker wire through since you won’t be needing it anyways. Then you can cut it at the harness or tuck it under the dash. Just my 2 cents though. Love watching your videos Jobe!
You can do HPF and LPF within those Pioneer head units as well. But yea, like the video mentions you should be filtering all the low out of those 6" speakers and run loudness/bass boost off then install a sub.
Tip from when I worked at a car audio shop, turn phone volume all the way up then down by 2. Let the car/unit do the real work less distortion and chance to damage the speakers. When using the phone speakers go ahead and play then at full blast.
I replaced the old fullrange 5.25" Coax speakers in my 23 year old Renault Clio with some 40€ Alpine SPG-13C2.. like those at 6:39. but smaller, and man it was worth it, even with no extra amplifier. The mid an high frequencies were so much better and the installation (just remove the speaker covers, not even die doorpanels) was easy as hell.
Sadly most people don't even know what an Actual Good System sounds like to even be able to realize the difference. To most people the crappy system just sounds normal... I can remember when I first got into good quality audio, it was like I was hearing every song for the first time again, hearing sounds I didn't even know were part of my favorite songs before. I've had to fight to show friends that there's a HUGE difference, because they didn't believe me, then they would listen and I got to watch their brains start to melt haha
I get flashbacks from the end of 90s - beginning of 2000s, when aftermarket audio was a hot topic. Would be a fun episode if you somehow got Mad Mike from 'Pimp my Ride' to help you choose and install an audio system :P
With the 4 channel amp already it would be easy to strap the other two channels together to power the sub and build a small sub box for the trunk. Very little additional cost and would add back the bass filtered out of the mids.
Used to love fitting ICE in all my mates cars and my own Had a massive set up in one of my cars which was a monster one - 1 x15 inch, 2 x 12 inch 2 x 10 inch 6.5 componants, 3 mono blocks and a 4 way amp, 2 power caps, uprated battery / alternator plus hundreds in connectors and wiring.
Memphis components in the door, 4x 6.5" subwoofers in the windblocker, dual Memphis amps in the trunk. All in a 00 Miata. Not only can you hear the music at 75mph, you can also feel the bass. If only UA-cam allowed picture comments.
Most people have a really shit crimp the first try before learning to rotate the whole thing 90 degrees halfway through. If you don't do that you often put "ears" on it as the cheap Chinese hydraulic crimper we all buy only has metric dies that just barely don't fit the AWG standard terminals. Source: guilty as charged and have seen many others do it.
I know I was disappointed with that. Was gonna ask Santa for a set. But the last time I sat on a Santa's lap at a shopping centre, he told me he was an amateur ventriloquist... He put his fingers up my ass and told me not to say anything........ Lol
The only suggestion, and I’m sure it’s been covered, is to make the speaker wires equal length. They’re probably pretty similar on that setup, but sometimes they vary. And, potentially, you can have a slight delay if one wire is significantly shorter than the other.
You guys are always asking "is it worth it?" - Time to familiarize yourself with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's VERY CLEAR he meant to include 'sweet tunes' at the top as part of 'Self Actualization' - achieving one's full potential, including creative activities.
clipping is also a thing, from both headunit (high and low signal) and amp. If the speakers is rated for 75 rms, and you send a like 60wrms clipped "bad" signal, they also can fry.
Audio clipping is a form of waveform distortion. When an amplifier receives signals that are beyond its maximum limit, it goes into overdrive. This overdriven signal causes it to produce an output voltage out of its capacity, which causes clipping and audio distortion. So you kinda got that backwards... It's more like the Speakers can only handle 60wrms, but your amp is sending 75wrms.. Turn down the amp gain, and the volume on your head unit, Boom clipping gone.
@@SpencerLemay They have a wheelhouse episode (music in cars) where they have three short raps ERB style. Edit: here I have a link to anyone interested ua-cam.com/video/rVBd8FAmjbk/v-deo.html
Amplifier gain is not a volume adjustment, it's used to make sure you're not sending a clipped signal to your speakers. That's a great way to destroy a new set of speakers that you haven't even broken in. Also, if you're not going to seal your door or add any type of sound deadening it would make far more sense to test the speakers with the door panels installed.
@@dragoh7102 that's a big assumption considering you're the guy who feels compelled to respond to a random person's 6 month old comment on a video that has nothing to do with you. I'd ask you to explain what was incorrect about my comment, but I think it's safe to say you have no idea what you're talking about.
I really appreciate that time bar on all the promotions. Sometimes I’ll watch it if it’s something that interests me but sometimes I gotta get to the content
Thank you so much for going into detail about how you wired your speaker wires. Too many channels on UA-cam glosses so fast over that but you just showed me something that I know am confident in doing 👍🏾
This year I got a cheap 700 dollar 05 Civic and have been slowly working on it. After I got it on the road I desperately needed to redo the audio system, the head unit was an Android unit running Android 6 and lagged when simply adjusting the volume. Speakers were all factory with one of the rear ones looking like someone ran a screwdriver through it. I swapped with another Android unit, but this one runs Android 13 and has a pretty big 9 inch screen and came with a new plastic housing for the HVAC controls for it all to fit, and supplies 45 x 4 watts of power. Speakers I went with two sets of JBL 6520 Clubs (door and rear speakers are both 6.5 inch). Much better audio quality with room to grow (might add a small 8 inch sub in the trunk down the road). I also like being able to run Torque Pro on the headunit with a cheap bluetooth odb2 adapter for basic engine code checks if needed.
Just throwing this out there, we need an U2S on the Can Am racing league from the late 60s early 70s. I wasn't around black then, but it seems like it was REALLY fricking wild.
Yes! I've also asked for them to do something on Mark Donohue. Can-Am was a bit before my time but I love the history of it, I love watching old videos. The cars alone are a thing of pure madness.
Hey everyone. Please don’t listen to music from your phone, with the phone at 100% volume. That fuzz is clipping. 80% (or on volume knob click down) is plenty. Clipping is bad for your speakers and bad for your ears. Thank you for listening to my TED talk.
You should never push any amp or source to 100%. Set it up to be your "max" volume at a say 90% headunit volume. And keep you amps setting below thier max.
If the gains are set right you can max out the "volume" and not be clipping. Looks like they did it the "old school" way by ear, so yeah not so good. Though most of the distortion at the end was not having the crossovers adjusted.
Full volume has bad audio quality and it destroys the experience. I ALWAYS put volume on full first and then I go down two levels and keep it there. It sounds WAYYYYYYYYY better to me and adds life to your device since it’s not being abused everyday
Honestly 500 bones ain’t bad! Love car audio/video. That’s how I made all my fun play money when I was in the military. Gave the guy a list of what all they needed to buy and then spent Saturday or Sunday behind the dorms putting in speakers, head units, headrest TV’s etc… Pro tip, run your power wires on the opposite of the signal wires to reduce noise and interference. Great vid Team Donut
Infinity reference series is the best budget friendly high quality speaker in my opinion. I've only ever put those in my vehicles, never been disappointed. Hella bass response too.
Really nice install work! One thing to consider is that your headunit could actually be adding distortion being pushed up to its maximum output - You may actually benefit from having it at 35 and turning the gain up on the amp as if the signal to the amp is distorted, you're just amplifying that distortion
The head unit is absolutely distorting the audio when at full volume. The guy is clearly not experienced when it comes to car audio. I learned to set the head unit volume at 75-80% of max, then turn the amp gain up until you hear a bit of distortion, then back it off slightly to remove the distortion.
Don't forget a fuse for any amps as close to the battery as possible. A 2 channel amp would work here, but you could _bridge_ the remaining 2 channels for a SMALL sub (need another pair of "RCA"s). I've powered non-sub speakers via amps, but in my '02 Holden / Vaxhaul / Opel Barina / Corsa the factory speakers sound AWESOME powered by the (VERY SMALL) JVC Kenwood KMM-BT306 with the HighPassFilter set to about 100Hz. You'll get better control of your crossover frequencies via the head unit settings (amp or head unit powered speakers), so set crossovers on amp to OFF. DON'T use BOTH head unit and amp crossovers at the same time! I added a sub and amp (both bolted down, which actually improves the bass) and set the LowPassFilter ON THE HEAD UNIT also to 100Hz. Both crossovers need to be set to the same value to avoid redundant overlap or gap in frequencies, which is way less easy via the pots / dials on an amp. Yes, some amps have switches to set crossover frequency, and that is _probably_ fine to use. 120Hz might sound better with weak or small non-sub speakers.
This was such a great intro into car electronics! Thank you so much. You guys do awesome work and make sense of so much that before, wasn’t easy to learn. Keep up the good work and all the best to you and the crew 🤙🏼🤙🏼
Could you start including the full amount of time each project took you at the end of each video? I think it would be interesting and informative to everyone who may want to do the same mod to their car
Great video, I’d also like to add, it’s a good idea to use a product like a Dynamat Speaker Kit. It transforms the flimsy sheet metal in your car door into a solid, non-resonant baffle. For improved mid-bass performance with less distortion. If you’re spending that much money on a upgrade, you don’t want to hear your doors rattle.
This guy has to be my favorite on this channel. Doesn’t beat around the bush and tells you straight up how things are and how to do things. Makes a beginner like me feel a lot more comfortable getting into the car scene
Pretty sure he's a jerk in my humble opinion. Give me jeremiah all day. James is great as usual and you cant hate that nerd named nolan. But seriously, zach always rubs me the wrong way. Money pit is my favorite because of the topic, hope the new host takes zach's place and zach can move on to doing something else with donut, preferably off camera
@@TheKos2Kos :(
@@TheKos2Kos huh, interesting i've never gotten that vibe from him at all. seems like a pretty big assumption just from watching these videos. he comes across confident in his knowledge to me.
@@TheKos2Kos Here's an idea; If you don't have anything nice to say, stfu.
@@SlashCampable Practice what you preach.
Not joking, he's one of the best talkers while working on UA-cam.
Huh?
@@LUHKNOWNONDATRACK he doesn't miss a beat. A lot of automotive UA-camrs lose train of thought, repeat themselves, just sound stressed and taxed. He doesn't do any of this. He keeps an even keel, and doesn't sound like he's breaking a sweat no matter what while talking; and talking consistently.
He explained so well at ecs tuning
@@reniervandermerwe OHHHHHHH
True
Some extra bits of info on the topic for anyone interested in doing this:
- It is extremely important that your positive power cable has a fuse on it as close to the battery as possible. If you run an unfused thick power wire - especially a long one - and it accidentally hits the body of the car or gets damaged for example, you are directly shorting out your battery with a very beefy wire, meaning the battery will essentially pump out all of its energy as fast as possible, not only killing the battery and potentially starting fires, but also literally creating an explosion hazard as the battery overheats and starts to boil.
- It is common advice to always make sure the ground cable is the first cable you install to an amplifier. Do not plug in the power, remote or especially the RCAs before the ground is connected. Similarly, whenever you are removing an amplifier make sure the ground stays connected for as long as possible.
One of the worst mistakes you can make is plugging the RCA in first, then power. As soon as an amplifier receives power on its terminals, even without being turned on with the remote wire, it will charge up a capacitor bank inside which causes a huge surge of current - often even visible on the power cables as a loud spark. If the ground isn't connected, the amp will ground itself through the only path it has - the RCA. Now this huge current surge will run through your thin RCA wires into your headunit instead of using the nice and thick ground cable. This pretty much always results in blowing the audio traces and/or nearby components in your headunit, resulting in anything from horrible sounding audio to no audio at all or even a completely dead headunit.
Good order of operations is Ground -> Power -> remote -> speakers -> RCAs. When removing, reverse the order.
- On some headunits the very upper end of the volume range is not actually recommended to use, especially with an amplifier hooked up. Past a certain volume level the headunit starts to "overdrive" its outputs, meaning it has already reached "maximum" volume and is now just trying to make it even louder. This is done to for example get full volume out of a music track that is particularly quiet. If however playing "properly made" music - music that is mixed in a way that it hits close to 0dB at some points in the song - the headunit can't actually "amplify" the sound any more and the sound signal will do what's called "clipping" - the round peak of the soundwave gets clipped off. This will bring unwanted harmonics to the audio and if the clipping is high enough the distortion will become audible to even the most untrained ear. Clipping is bad in more than just audio quality though, as it can even break your amplifier or speakers if done for too long.
Set the gain knob of your amplifier to it's lowest level. Start increasing volume from the headunit gradually until you feel like you start hearing distortion - this is most audible at lower frequencies, eg. bass. WHen you hear distortion, take the volume a few clicks back until you can be absolutely sure you hear no clipping. Now try with different songs, and if the audio quality increases by lowering the volume, you are likely clipping. Continue this until you have found a volume level at which all songs sound fine.
Now start increasing the gain knob on your amplifier, listening for the same distortion again. Once you hear distortion, dial it back again until the audio is crisp. Repeat with many different songs until you are sure you get no clipping. Now you have "gain-matched" your amplifier and also determined the highest safe volume level on your headunit. Never touch the gain knob from this point on unless you change your headunit (the gain knob is not a volume adjuster!!). Memorize what volume your headunit is at when music doesn't clip, and remember to avoid exceeding that volume level in the future when listening to music.
fkin hell thx a lot mate
Ok what if everything is plugged in and you need to replace your battery? In mechanics class I was always taught positive first then ground.
@@cod7war In this case as nothing in the car is grounded in reference to the battery, the amplifier will not suffer. The power coming into the amplifier does not have a path back to the battery until the ground cable is connected.
If for some reason you had two seperate ground terminals on the battery, then once again connecting the amp ground first is important.
You’re the man
Back in the day, when I had to get my headunit serviced, I asked the tech to measure the output with an oscilloscope and give me the highest volume setting without clipping. Saved me a bunch of time.
I must say, being a car audio professional for the last 14 years... That this is the one of the best videos that I have seen, not only explaining the basics of car audio, the install itself was actually very well done. Everything was very well explained and shown ... All his skills and techniques were very good.... The use of good quality brands and good quality wiring.... The explanations of why these things are very important... For example oxygen-free copper... And improving the vehicles thin cheap ground wires...
I would have a difficult time Nit-picking anything...
I probably would have found separate grounds for each rather than bundling them up.... And grinding the paint on the chassis where he connected the ground to bare metal.... Overall... EXTREMELY good video.... Hats off to you
Oxygen free cables are marketing BS any decent copper cable with suitable size and insulation will perform just as well.
@@dougmathews4480 link to study showing a comparison which indicates a direct win?
Class D is great for low frequencies. Can use class D in a noisy miata just fine. If you are in a quiet car, gotta use class AB for doors. Also, power wire is way overkill. You machine gunned point of diminishing returns. Those door speakers are not going to pull more than 15 amps peak. At the same time, going overkill on your power feed will save you long run when you are ready to drop a subwoofer. For anyone who hasn't done their first install, use this video as a starting point. YOU CAN DO IT. People like me that would nit pick, ignore us. Your first does not have to be perfect. Your second install will be even better and so on. I have been upgrading my cars for decades. Only last year did I buy a hydraulic crimper. Before that, I smashed the ring terminals with channel locks and soldered with a little torch. With enough practice you will get to a point to where no body panels rattle. My system is so loud, my review mirror is useless at moderate volume and I have to aim the mirror again at full volume. LED headlights dim. Passenger has to scream for me to hear them and often have to repeat themselves. Most of the time, I keep the music lower than people talking casually in the car and the bass drum is softly felt. Fun story. A car in front of me in drive through was license plate rattling and thumping. The car in front of him was yelling to get their order in. When the car in front of me was up, I baby sharked (pink fong) his ass. He couldn't get his order in. He flicked me off a few times, pulled out of queue and went somewhere else. The car that was in front of him smiled and gave thumbs up.
I was about to make a comment on the overlapping ground and the paint but completely agree
I was thinking this the whole time watching this video. He explained everything so well.
Jobe is going to be a great Dad some day. He makes me feel like I can do anything after just watching a video.
Rita fuck me might be a scam / computer virus profile, don't click that shit
Bro yes !!
I've got a '91 Miata and did this same thing (and more) about 15 years ago. It's time I look at refreshing the entire setup again. The old Miata models are SUPER easy to work on. However, here are some tips:
The NA6 and NA8 Miata has a weird parasitic draw that makes batteries die quickly so get an Optima D51R and a longer tie-down rod to match (it's taller than the OEM unit but fits just fine in the footprint). Then get a Battery Tender (or similar) to keep it topped up. If you're concerned about the lack of instant current a yellow-top battery will provide for a higher-powered audio system, get a small capacitor installed in-line with the amp(s) - you won't need much. I also sprung for some quick-disconnects on the factory power/ground cables to make it easier to swap if/when needed and to disconnect fully when in storage (no snow!) - those are 6ga cables, by the way.
For the audio system, run the RCAs under the plastic center console/tunnel cover. Run the speaker wire under the door sills. For speakers, 6.5" units in the door are pretty much garbage at speed with the top down since they're pretty much at your feet but they can serve as a decent foundation. Getting proper *component* speakers will allow you to mount the tweeter in a position where it can do some good and reach your ears. The rear deck (where the convertible top would rest when down) can be cut for an 8" shallow-depth, free-air sub on each side. If you still have the OEM seats (which I highly recommend - just get covers or go for a full re-upholstery job), you can mount a pair of 3.5" speakers in EACH headrest. That's a total of 8 channels of audio. From the head unit, FRONT goes to the door speakers. REAR goes to a low-power 4-channel amp driving the headrests. SUB goes to whatever you have driving the pair of 8" units on the rear deck.
None of the speakers in the car need a ton of power to work well. After all, the furthest any speaker will be from your ears will be about 3.5 feet. A good amp for the 6.5" door speakers would probably be a 2x50w through a 2x75w unit. The headrests are going to be more than fine at 4x35w. The subs in the rear deck are going to depend greatly on the specs of the units you can find to fit but I found 2x150w to be plenty. I'm running old Infinity Reference component speakers in the door and Infinity Reference in the headrests. The subs on the deck are... Pioneer, I think? The system hits well enough to sound good and cuts through the wind noise adequately but it won't win any competitions. I just want to hear the music while I'm driving. I put the amps on a board that fit in the lower well in the trunk - it's a menagerie of Alpine and California units that, to be honest, aren't a good match for the system but they're what I had on hand at the time. Amp technology has come a long way since I did all that and can probably fit a lot better now (Class-D amps...)
Except he fucked up on major issues here...one mainly that will kill your speakers.
@@chrisSVT Explain?
Zach needs to install the mod that allows you to manually control when each headlight goes up/down. Then pump "pop up up and down headlights" at full volume while alternately winking each headlight. Get Jeremiah in his mesh shirt as a backup dancer.
That would actually be perfect
If you mash the headlight button on miatas the motors can’t keep up and they start popping up one at a time
Yes
This. Must. Happen. Now!
Jeremiah in his mesh shirt. This just reminded me how much I laughed when I first saw Jeremiah in his mesh shirt. Well played.
"Do you like to jam out in your car?"
Guilty.
"But your speakers sound like they're under water?"
Absolutely.
"but your speakers sound like they're under water?"
FUCK YEA THEY DO!
I immediately was like YEP. Felt like will farrel in step brothers
I feel bad, I got the alpine series x component 6.5, on all doors and with the alpine series x subwoofer and alpine pdv x9... ooof 🥵
Would the solution be to add dynamat?
I used to install competition stereo systems in the early 90's. I can still remember my first one. Let me encourage you, you can do it. It's so satisfying upon completion.
As a competitor myself, we all know SPACE MAKES BASS!! unfortunately he jus doesn't have it for an spl, but SQ wise he could do a little bit
It's a PITA. I just installed a 5x amp today.
2:46 Camera man was like: “Yea I’m feelin this”
💕⛑
wtf are those replies LMAO
@@lucasschadeck6714 lmao Russian bots trying to steal our gas
@@coltonmartinez4434 damn fart harvesters
next we'll need a video of all of your neighbors yelling at you cause you're bumpin pumphrey while driving around at midnight
Yooo yes!
Pop up up and down headlights!!!
Pop up up and down headlights!!!
💔👝
But I mean, you GOTTA bump the Pump, and pump the bump
Not much bumping will be happening without a subwoofer
Money pit is honestly my favorite Donut show, deadass. Keep it up, Jobe.
Completely same.
Hes starting to outshine.hes a great host.
100%. Jobe’s car knowledge is insane and he explains things in a way that even I can understand.
I enjoy all my Donut equally and thoroughly
This wasn’t meant to throw shade at any other donut show or host, this is just the host and show I specifically wait for every week. The format and subject are solid and Jobe’s knowledge and personality fits it perfectly.
I just got my first car from my father. 1986 C4 corvette. Its in rough shape but il definitely be coming back to these videos for inspiration throughout my build of it, already watched the James' up to speed.
The way you guys represent your sponsors is so satisfying to watch.
The only channel whos ads are just as entertaining as the rest of the video!
They try to stand out and its working
💋💄
agree, generally you hate to watch commercials, not here lol
Now as you can see, I've done absolutely nothing to the exterior of my car, and that is because I've spent my whole 300 quid on *exactly* what a 17 year old wants. A banging stereo, for me tunes!
I think you'll find track 4 particularly to your liking
So you want it to look good on the outside, or drive comfortably on the inside? You can't have both.
GLUED!
GLUED!
He he heee
Queue the techno 🤣
I've done the same in my transit sport, expect I have a pioneer head unit and I hate the thing I should have just bought a Sony
The little highlighting on the box was SUCH a small thing to put effort into in the editing. I respect it.
Honestly I just want Zach as a friend, just a down to earth dude with a calm demeanor and a good attitude. A genuine good dude.
As a wise man once said: "a bangin' stereo, for me tunes!"
Hamoooooond
TG
Very underrated comment though
Oh what a pillock
Fockin hammock
I have an idea for you guys. How about you do an episode about getting parts from a junkyard to fill out your missing interior pieces? A lot of people don't even consider the picknpull as a place to get car parts.
That or how to make some custom fiberglass ones to replace them. not super hard just a bit tedious but well worth it if you do them well and paint them nicely. (Sounds like good video content to me.)
@@alexisrivera200xable Customer fiberglass is so far out of my league but I wish I new more about it. Could be neat!
@@nephrium fiberglass mesh makes it a lot easier but I'd still recommend reinforcing the back of panels that break easily before you have to free hand make new ones
I really like the junkyard idea. Thanks for the warning so I can grab the stuff I need now
@Dr Beechas and you made it easier on the next guy that might need that part lol
Some tips from an old ex-stereo installer:
- for running wires through the door grommet boots, get your hands on a 3foot tie strap. Flexible but stiff enough to push though the boot.
- the blue remote wire from the head unit turns on and off with the head unit, not the key. The fact that the deck itself turns on and off with the key replicates this action but the blue wire itself is controlled by the status of the deck.
- the gain setting knob on the amplifier is used to match the input sensitivity of the amplifier to the output voltage of the head unit. It is not some kind of auxiliary volume knob. Turning the gain up just makes the amplifier max out and start distorting at a lower volume level on the deck. Turning the deck up past there just increases distortion and crap sound. It is better to be conservative with the gain rather than just maxing it out (which we see far too often).
- you used a 4channel amplifier and are running just two speakers. Unless you plan on adding another pair of speakers or powering a sub with the the other two amplifier channels, you could have bought half the amp and saved some $$
Or bridged the amp channels and bought some higher output speakers...
@@Muscon01 or ran another set of RCA's, to make life easier for throwing in a sub later, also
The distortion you heard at the beginning would have been amplifier distortion as the head unit couldn't cope. Just adding a power amp to this setup could have breathed new life into those Alpine Type E's.
the distortion he can fix it from the amp he has to change from 60hz or 70hz to 150 hz or 200 these are not speakers for bass but he can use it for mid voices and high
Jobe telling me that wiring isn't as scary as it seems feels like hearing it from a wholesome older brother
Its really not in cars because its 2 wires house power a bit more confusing
Its not scary untill your car bursts in flames if you choose too thin wire or too big fuse.
@@SkyJUSTIN6 most house wiring is also 2 wires, and a ground. It's not that spooky either, and you aren't dealing with computer controlled systems either. :p I can tell you for sure that car wiring is more complicated. I'm an electrician, and car enthusiast. The big scary part of your house, is just higher voltage.
car wiring isnt, designated pos/neg and it tops out at 14volts -youll feel it but it wont kill you.
@@etherealalex2358 alternating current is scary af boi -invisible death magic
Its a huge coincidence that I am looking to do a speaker swap on my car. This video couldn’t have come out at a better time.
But fuse your amp, he didn't mention it and it's very important.
An in line fuse
Tune your amps aswell if your looking to enjoy them for more the 2 weeks
Same here 😅
Don't take advice from this video. There is a lot wrong here, but to start, the car had a component system factory (tweeter up high, and woofer lower in the door) and instead of upgrading both speakers he just shoved a coaxial in the woofer hole. A component system would sound much better across the board and would have a much better sound stage. And if you are going through the trouble of installing an amp, then buy one with dsp, buy a umm6, watch a UA-cam video on how to use REW, and flatten the speakers.
Back in high school (early 2000s) upgrading your speakers and adding some thump in the trunk was absolutely necessary. We all became experts, meeting up at ours friends houses, popping plastic panels and running wires. If you were real cool you had that Panasonic deck with the 3D dot matrix 😎
Or one of those 6400 pioneer decks that had the fighter jets and race cars on the screen!
@@chrisanderson9374 and dolphins!
Nowadays people just add a sub and call it good
@@patelbv Pioneer DEH-8200 (I think) was the one with dolphins. I still have it, and my Panasonic as well. Class of 2002 yo.
@@ivanfromtheeast4709 in their defense, a lot of time, a sub and a head unit is all you need to free up the front speakers from getting eaten out by bad bass.
Probably the most well put-together video on speaker installs that I've ever seen. I've installed several speakers and subwoofers over the years, and it took a lot of personal research and money to get it right. The only thing missing is adding a fuse in between the amplifier power and the battery, close to the battery. I've had a case where the power wire got shorted and caught fire, luckily only burning the wire. But a poor install can do some damage. Also if you don't have an aftermarket head unit, make sure you use a proper technique to splice into the back of the factory unit, as those wires can become loose over time and give you some headaches.
His hair gets more glorious with every episode
No lie. I do have some hair envy 🤣
100%
The money put series is just a progression of Jobe’s cars and hair
Must be the Keeps® they speak so highly of
@@jakemitchell546 shows how long these things can take 😂
Excellent vid and proof you don’t need to spend thousands to get much better sound in your car. Just too bad the new cars lack the ability in many cases to upgrade the head unit. At least the aftermarket companies are doing great keeping up with the adapters you need to add aftermarket amps and speakers. Thanks for this vid and for promoting car audio!
Dang got a comment from Williston! Jobe made it!
On a serious note, please send him a sub, he cannot leave the Miata like this...
@@matthewpriest5329 truee
No big dummies here!
@@tatsumaru12345 when you said that I heard it play
I've driven all my cars since age 16 with sound systems. I saved up my waitressing money first summer working. I was around S650 in 1995. Since the physics guy designed the ported box perfected tuned. The amp was only around 360 RMS. I enjoyed being the DJ at high school and college parties. Hosted a campout Texas Party when my parents went to Vegas. 200 ish people showed, running out of parking and the horses were stampeding. Later on Dad tried to charge my new battery. Ha. It was beyond toast. It was bumping in the garage for louder sound maybe 5-7 hours? He was proud I managed to ruin the battery so well. Got in trouble that people gave my 8th grade brother booze. No problems w campfire either it was a blast.
I usually dont comment but i just gotta say that i absolutely love Zach, I dont care what the episode is about but if its him ill watch it. informative, charismatic, knowledgeable and overall a pleasant viewing experience. give that man a raise! take it from jarred ;)
Its not about how loud its about the quality
I’m so glad he talked about hi and low pass filters, so many people put in new speakers and hate it because they don’t tune the speakers for the right notes
True, and lots of people also put in new speakers expecting a substantially better sound. That's a foolish way to go about it.
@Dr Beechas What’s wrong with the Sony system? Mine sounds great
@@mezican12 what's in your listening room or home theater?
especially since most people probably don't even know what better sound is because they don't listen to music with as much detail.
@@Nathan_Jay I personally have an 80bucks 160W soundbar with subwoofer, nothing fancy but enought to give a nice wide sound
I've installed half a dozen car head units with amps setup in my life. Still watched the entire video. Zach is just an awesome show host and the video is very well produced. Keep up the great work Donut!
Well said mate
do these speakers actually need an amp if the heras unit could output 50watt per channel and the speakers are 50rms
Same here, well done video
@@tomtricks6838 yes. Most head units for some reason like to fudge their output and use max not rms rating. (Not sure about this brand but really its typical) secondly its not a good idea to try and push the head units amplifier because thats a lot of heat dissapation youre asking out of a unit with more sensitive components than an amp has. You can also put the amp where its easier to shed heat or put a fan on it. Also car audio is a hobby youre rarely satisfied with, outboard amps allow for easier upgrades, like more or bigger amps. This setup is gonna beg for a big sub down the road.
Bro why not just say six? Lol
You'd do well to insulate the doors and seal them up nicely. It gives a better bass response if all the air gaps are nicely covered and the outer skin has some good sound deadning on it. :)
And they would do well to connect the amp on signal to the receiver instead of directly to accessory power. (Several reasons).
And when referring to matching speakers with Amos, it's IMPEDENCE, not RESISTANCE. But that's the angry electrical engineer in me talking.
@@alienclay2 what are these several reasons?
@@inglouriousmofo if you connect the amp on to accessory power
1. it can turn on before the head unit sets it signal, making an annoying 'pop' when it does turn on. (I know, I've made this mistake before)
2. The amp will stay on even if you turn off the head unit, wasting power. (Not much on a d class amp, but still real )
3. I'm not sure about the Miata, but you don't want your sensitive electronics 'on' while your car is engine starting and voltages may be dipping. Usually, a car will not send the head unit on signal during that, and if the amp is properly connected to the head unit it won't be on either.
4. If you routed the LR RCA cables from head to amp, it's kinda a noob deal to not have pulled the tiny amp on cable along side given 1,2 and 3
Once again, not sure about the Miata, but if the car didn't have a dedicated amp on line from the stock head unit, a cheap time delay relay should be installed in its place.
It is astonishing how this dude can make clear videos and pass info for the wanna be DIY’ers like myself. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!
We need in the donut store a Hat with Jobe Hair... Just saying sweet flow bro
We need a video of Zach and James just losing their minds while the Miata headlights go up and down
and a Trueno too
So much so 🤣
This is probably the only UA-cam channel where I don't skip the ads.
This and JayzTwoCents :) Because his ads have copious amounts of explosions!
And donut operater
Bruh makes everything seem so easy and breaks it down for anyone to understand. Solid 10/10
Even if they did a video on door handles I'd still watch
Fr tho
@donut we need a video on door handles ASAP
Plot twist: the Pop up and down headlights remix was originally made just to avoid copyright in this video.
Bringing Zach into the mix was the best move Donut could've done tbh. This series is so good
If you want to low pass filter on your stock head unit to your stock speakers if you have a aftermarket sub setup, you can put a capacitor in line near the speaker and it will filter out the low bass notes
Having a decent subwoofer will help the perceived loudness of the overall sound immensely. Levels you play the music is uncomfortable but still unsatisfying which can be solved with a subwoofer. It can even be an under seat subwoofer and it'll beef things up pretty good. (down to about 40Hz. if you want lower, under seat subs may not cut it but I think for most ears properly produced 40Hz is more bass than they'd ever want.
I agree with this, and I recall back in the day people with Miatas would rock a self-powered Bazooka tube for the bass, and often a single 8" or dual smaller ones would be enough to get some bottom end. The cool thing with the modern tech, is it is smaller, lighter, and sometimes more efficient, and still plays loud too. I replaced the stock 8" Sony Sub cabinet in my Focus ST with a 6.75" Kicker Comp RT (the tiny one with a 6.75" passive radiator), and added a tiny Kicker Class D Monoblock to drive it. I also bought an Audio control LC2i active line converter, and used the original sub speaker wires as my input. Luckily for me, the LC2i corrects the bass cut the stock amp does at higher volumes, and keeps the volume linear. Most people are shocked how loud, deep, and hard that baby box plays, especially after they see it. I simply wanted to improve on the stock system, without making my cargo area useless
It's always "more bass than I'll ever want" until you hear a system that plays lower, and then you want MOAR!! 😂
I had a cheap
@@iandavis8755hat’s crazy to me, because I just installed dual 12” kicker comp RTs with the LC2I pro under my gmc seirra 1500s back seat. Even though it doesn’t get much air it still gives a crazy bump.
A good sub will definitely improve overall sound a lot. I’d also like to add, it’s a good idea to use a product like a Dynamat Speaker Kit. It transforms the flimsy sheet metal in your car door into a solid, non-resonant baffle. For improved mid-bass performance with less distortion. If you’re spending that much money on a upgrade, you don’t want to hear your doors rattle.
I swear to god this series is just Zach's master plan to build his dream miata
I love it
Didnt donut buy it from him to begin this series
@@Olvera_emi that's what they said in a q and a episode. It was his but then they bought it. So he gets a free car/mods until he leaves and they get a tax write off
@@tysshed5807 I think in the how to buy a used car video he said it but maybe I’m thinking something else
@@Olvera_emi I think it was in the 50th episode video that he said it. He may have said it before aswell that's just the one I remember
I do this for a living and a little while back I put a set of Kenwood Excelon XR-1701P in a Miata, with no amp, and I couldn't believe how much it rocked with that alone. I must say, that is some very impressive wire running and amp mounting!
2 quick tips that you probably did but didn't mention, but would be good for someone who's doing this for the first time to know.
1. Label the wires and label them well, this way they won't get mixed up and cause you fade/balance settings to be almost useless.
2. if you're going to send welding wire (or anything really) through the door grommet, make a small loop on the end and tape over it completely to make sure you don't accidentally nick a wire with a sharp edge and cause a massive headache.
Speaking of high-pass filters. The Pioneer head units like the one installed here has a very good setting for filtering sound. Independent adjustable high-pass filters ranging from 20 Hz up to 120 Hz, with slope settings ranging from 6 dB per octave, to 36 dB per octave. Very easy to set up, being that you have the informaion in clear text.
It’s one of very very few places where no one can tell you to turn it down and you can listen to whatever you want. You owe yourself a good system, we all owe it to ourselves.
But it should always come after performance*
@@thomassloan781 nah
@@thomassloan781 nah
It's ok some people like only seeing tail lights 🐌
@@thomassloan781 the reality is even the most enthusiastic enthusiast can only "hot rod" occasionally or one time will have their license. But you can enjoy good tunes and a nice interior 100% of the time.
I love this channel, is like a one stop and shop channel where you can learn how to fix cars, DIY on music systems, learn about the history of cars, laugh and buy merchandises...lol You guys are awesome!!!
Is no one going to talk about how Zach has 3 arms in the thumbnail?🤔
😳
@@Haydenz11 🤨😳😳
yyyou’re talking about it. Are you no one?
Secretly an Octopus 🐙
@@ViaticalTree tru tru
I've always used the old wire to pull new wire through the door grommet.
as a hardcore car audio basshead, i think he did a really good job explaining the process for ppl who arent familiar with sound systems and installs. great job. also people should know that you can hook up another pair of speakers and a subwoofer to the same amp
Well you should know, unless the amp can actually handle adding another set of speakers And a Sub, then you sure can't just add more to it, that's not how that works at all.... You would more likely than not need to add in a second amp for that... But then if your cars electrical system can't support Two amps and all those speakers, you could just destroy your battery and alternator.. Just to add a second amp you'll most likely have to add in a second battery too, but need to know how to hook it up right so that it doesn't just destroy your battery and alternator.. Even with second battery it might not be enough, so then you gotta upgrade your alternator, and probably throw in a capacitor to help.....
So yeah you can't just add more Speakers to a system... I'm guessing you've fried your share of amps and speakers with that mentality.
@@ixwillxeatxurxbabies hey I’ve been wanting too do my car speakers for ages but since I have an 80s shit box I’ve all ways been worried something electrical would fuk up or kill my battery
How would you know if you need a second battery and if you added a sub with a built in amp could that connect straight to an all ready existing amp like the one this guy installed?
@Hydro if your battery gauge dips too much (headlights dimming or dancing to the bass is an obvious sign too) its a sign you need a second battery. They make specific ones for audio that act similar to a power capacitor. I have a second battery for all my extra accessories. Subs and lightbar/pods. Also allows for a longer run time while the vehicle is shut off
On board amps in subs are already tuned to the sub which can make it an very easy install but if you're running bigger or multiple subs (I have two) an external amp is generally better. I have mine wired together at 2 ohm (2 12in p3's). What kind of amp really makes a difference too not just in power output but audio quality.
If you have a local audio shop talk to those guys to see what best fits your needs
@@Archer957 thanks for all that info man yeh it’s probably best I find an audio shop I’m pretty new this kinda thing
@Hydro no problem. Talking to the guys at the audio shop will help a lot (if they are a good shop that is) you should learn a lot. Also don't worry about building your system all at once. I've built mine over some years. Your deck or head unit is extremely important for audio quality. Speakers even $100 ones can sound great. Replace the front first as that's where the voice is. Rear can wait tbh. Then subs and amp is all whatever you're looking for whether it's a soft boom just to add to it or a massive boom that shuts everyone up for an entire block
I have an Alfa Romeo 1999 year in Brazil. Can you imagine how crazy it is? I love your channel and your videos. I learn a lot.
This was one of the first mods/repairs I have done on my car. Money pit and ChrisFix inspired me to try fixing my broken car and since then I have taken it apart multiple times fixing and modernizing it. Thank you for doing these videos, guys!
Big speakers and under glow baby let’s rock like it’s the 2000s 😎
"Are Under Glow Lights Worth it?"
Dooooooo ittttt
Im doing that soon tbh, but I got leds in my headliner that are gonna be wired up to the underglow. So when headliner is purple the underglow is purple
@@GetBoned0 I physically cringed
Only thing I would have done different would have been use the old wire to pull the new speaker wire through since you won’t be needing it anyways. Then you can cut it at the harness or tuck it under the dash. Just my 2 cents though. Love watching your videos Jobe!
You can do HPF and LPF within those Pioneer head units as well. But yea, like the video mentions you should be filtering all the low out of those 6" speakers and run loudness/bass boost off then install a sub.
Bold of you to think I don't like my music played as if it's underwater
Tip from when I worked at a car audio shop, turn phone volume all the way up then down by 2. Let the car/unit do the real work less distortion and chance to damage the speakers.
When using the phone speakers go ahead and play then at full blast.
Since I got my first car at 18 that's how I've always done it, just sounds cleaner that way ! 👍🏼
i didn’t know that i accidentally learned this
It's Wednesday my dudes!
AUAUAAUUAAAAUUUUUUUAAAHHHHHHHHHH
wait I've seen you before
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
Yes
@@PrecipiceLifeTheory im here everyday, and instantly
I replaced the old fullrange 5.25" Coax speakers in my 23 year old Renault Clio with some 40€ Alpine SPG-13C2.. like those at 6:39. but smaller, and man it was worth it, even with no extra amplifier. The mid an high frequencies were so much better and the installation (just remove the speaker covers, not even die doorpanels) was easy as hell.
Imagine if he would blast the pop up headlights song at full volume at the middle of the street...
🤟 it would be sick
@@greatestevar but it would be fucking legendary
@@greatestevar you can’t spell ever ( in your name ) and you write “ok” as “k”… your opinion doesn’t matter
@mark ok cool
I can't. That would be to crazy to even imagine! OMG
Good car speakers are one of the best investments you can have just makes driving with music so much more satisfying when it doesn't sound like shit
Sadly most people don't even know what an Actual Good System sounds like to even be able to realize the difference. To most people the crappy system just sounds normal... I can remember when I first got into good quality audio, it was like I was hearing every song for the first time again, hearing sounds I didn't even know were part of my favorite songs before. I've had to fight to show friends that there's a HUGE difference, because they didn't believe me, then they would listen and I got to watch their brains start to melt haha
I get flashbacks from the end of 90s - beginning of 2000s, when aftermarket audio was a hot topic. Would be a fun episode if you somehow got Mad Mike from 'Pimp my Ride' to help you choose and install an audio system :P
With the 4 channel amp already it would be easy to strap the other two channels together to power the sub and build a small sub box for the trunk. Very little additional cost and would add back the bass filtered out of the mids.
honestly no other channel has better ads than donut lets be real
Purpose of weight reduction: allowing you to add big speakers and amps and still be faster than your friends
Exactly this
I remember always getting JL audio subwoofers in my trunk in NFS underground 2 just cause I loved the way they looked
Used to love fitting ICE in all my mates cars and my own
Had a massive set up in one of my cars which was a monster one - 1 x15 inch, 2 x 12 inch 2 x 10 inch 6.5 componants, 3 mono blocks and a 4 way amp, 2 power caps, uprated battery / alternator plus hundreds in connectors and wiring.
Zach buying all his parts through the company and labelling them as “business expenses”
Technically it is for the channel 😂😂 it's a win win right hahaha
Lmao I think we all would if we could 😂
If I recall, Donut bought the miata off him so they are all business expenses
Memphis components in the door, 4x 6.5" subwoofers in the windblocker, dual Memphis amps in the trunk. All in a 00 Miata. Not only can you hear the music at 75mph, you can also feel the bass. If only UA-cam allowed picture comments.
I think personally we can all thank youtube for not allowing picture comments. Theres many comment sections I hope never get that ability lol
Annoyed me that he said components when they're 2ways
“Hydraulic crimpers give the best crimp, let me show you how well they turn out”
Forgets to show how well they turn out lol
Most people have a really shit crimp the first try before learning to rotate the whole thing 90 degrees halfway through.
If you don't do that you often put "ears" on it as the cheap Chinese hydraulic crimper we all buy only has metric dies that just barely don't fit the AWG standard terminals.
Source: guilty as charged and have seen many others do it.
I know I was disappointed with that. Was gonna ask Santa for a set. But the last time I sat on a Santa's lap at a shopping centre, he told me he was an amateur ventriloquist... He put his fingers up my ass and told me not to say anything........ Lol
The only suggestion, and I’m sure it’s been covered, is to make the speaker wires equal length. They’re probably pretty similar on that setup, but sometimes they vary. And, potentially, you can have a slight delay if one wire is significantly shorter than the other.
You guys are always asking "is it worth it?" - Time to familiarize yourself with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's VERY CLEAR he meant to include 'sweet tunes' at the top as part of 'Self Actualization' - achieving one's full potential, including creative activities.
Life is not complete without "sweet tunes" or "rockin' jams"
Also, some aftermarket head units will also allow you to adjust high and low pass filters for the preouts.
clipping is also a thing, from both headunit (high and low signal) and amp. If the speakers is rated for 75 rms, and you send a like 60wrms clipped "bad" signal, they also can fry.
Audio clipping is a form of waveform distortion. When an amplifier receives signals that are beyond its maximum limit, it goes into overdrive. This overdriven signal causes it to produce an output voltage out of its capacity, which causes clipping and audio distortion.
So you kinda got that backwards... It's more like the Speakers can only handle 60wrms, but your amp is sending 75wrms.. Turn down the amp gain, and the volume on your head unit, Boom clipping gone.
FYI, I love that you add a progress bar for the ad. Thanks for that
“Legally we can only use one song....🎶POP UP AND DOWN HEADLIGHTS!🎶”
What other song would you use?! Song of the year!
Can you guys make a album of all your guys music that you done 😂😂
They only have 1 song.
@@SpencerLemay They have a wheelhouse episode (music in cars) where they have three short raps ERB style.
Edit: here I have a link to anyone interested ua-cam.com/video/rVBd8FAmjbk/v-deo.html
@@SpencerLemay someone didn't watch the f1 engine video
@@SpencerLemay
Jeremiah is on the come up bro
@@SpencerLemay spinny boy song, pop up headlights n that weird thing Jerry did in f1 engine vdo🤣
Amplifier gain is not a volume adjustment, it's used to make sure you're not sending a clipped signal to your speakers. That's a great way to destroy a new set of speakers that you haven't even broken in. Also, if you're not going to seal your door or add any type of sound deadening it would make far more sense to test the speakers with the door panels installed.
Finally someone who speaks electrical engineering
I call suspect too on cutting the factory door speaker wire coming from the head unit.
The ones that do nothing always have the most to say
@@dragoh7102 that's a big assumption considering you're the guy who feels compelled to respond to a random person's 6 month old comment on a video that has nothing to do with you. I'd ask you to explain what was incorrect about my comment, but I think it's safe to say you have no idea what you're talking about.
@@roysjudy great comment buddy 👍🏽keep it up
I really appreciate that time bar on all the promotions. Sometimes I’ll watch it if it’s something that interests me but sometimes I gotta get to the content
Thank you so much for going into detail about how you wired your speaker wires. Too many channels on UA-cam glosses so fast over that but you just showed me something that I know am confident in doing 👍🏾
Do a b2b on pre-war straight 8 engines.
Wtf no
@@vtec8641 wtf yes
These gosh dang ads are getting so good. I hope they compile them all into a mega ad
This year I got a cheap 700 dollar 05 Civic and have been slowly working on it. After I got it on the road I desperately needed to redo the audio system, the head unit was an Android unit running Android 6 and lagged when simply adjusting the volume. Speakers were all factory with one of the rear ones looking like someone ran a screwdriver through it. I swapped with another Android unit, but this one runs Android 13 and has a pretty big 9 inch screen and came with a new plastic housing for the HVAC controls for it all to fit, and supplies 45 x 4 watts of power. Speakers I went with two sets of JBL 6520 Clubs (door and rear speakers are both 6.5 inch). Much better audio quality with room to grow (might add a small 8 inch sub in the trunk down the road). I also like being able to run Torque Pro on the headunit with a cheap bluetooth odb2 adapter for basic engine code checks if needed.
For anyone doing this I’d recommend getting that foam insulation for the speakers, it makes a huge difference
Second that.
Just throwing this out there, we need an U2S on the Can Am racing league from the late 60s early 70s. I wasn't around black then, but it seems like it was REALLY fricking wild.
Yes! I've also asked for them to do something on Mark Donohue. Can-Am was a bit before my time but I love the history of it, I love watching old videos. The cars alone are a thing of pure madness.
Hey everyone. Please don’t listen to music from your phone, with the phone at 100% volume. That fuzz is clipping. 80% (or on volume knob click down) is plenty. Clipping is bad for your speakers and bad for your ears. Thank you for listening to my TED talk.
You should never push any amp or source to 100%. Set it up to be your "max" volume at a say 90% headunit volume. And keep you amps setting below thier max.
came thru the comments hoping someone else would point this out.
And that's why i felt pain when they cranked the new speakers to the max and heard the badbad sounds
If the gains are set right you can max out the "volume" and not be clipping. Looks like they did it the "old school" way by ear, so yeah not so good. Though most of the distortion at the end was not having the crossovers adjusted.
Full volume has bad audio quality and it destroys the experience. I ALWAYS put volume on full first and then I go down two levels and keep it there. It sounds WAYYYYYYYYY better to me and adds life to your device since it’s not being abused everyday
Honestly 500 bones ain’t bad! Love car audio/video. That’s how I made all my fun play money when I was in the military. Gave the guy a list of what all they needed to buy and then spent Saturday or Sunday behind the dorms putting in speakers, head units, headrest TV’s etc… Pro tip, run your power wires on the opposite of the signal wires to reduce noise and interference. Great vid Team Donut
Just got my money pit shirt and watching pit, this is peak donut media her
Good video but you're missing the part where you determine what volume level the HU distorts and how to properly set your gain with the amp.
cuz he didn't do that... they were louder, but sounded just as shitty as the speakers he just spent all that time to switch out.
Soon enough we'll have a Donut Media Ad Cinematic Universe 😂
Infinity reference series is the best budget friendly high quality speaker in my opinion. I've only ever put those in my vehicles, never been disappointed. Hella bass response too.
Really nice install work!
One thing to consider is that your headunit could actually be adding distortion being pushed up to its maximum output - You may actually benefit from having it at 35 and turning the gain up on the amp as if the signal to the amp is distorted, you're just amplifying that distortion
The head unit is absolutely distorting the audio when at full volume. The guy is clearly not experienced when it comes to car audio. I learned to set the head unit volume at 75-80% of max, then turn the amp gain up until you hear a bit of distortion, then back it off slightly to remove the distortion.
facts right here
That moment you’re learning sound in physics so you don’t know what’s happening a little less
Don't forget a fuse for any amps as close to the battery as possible.
A 2 channel amp would work here, but you could _bridge_ the remaining 2 channels for a SMALL sub (need another pair of "RCA"s).
I've powered non-sub speakers via amps, but in my '02 Holden / Vaxhaul / Opel Barina / Corsa the factory speakers sound AWESOME powered by the (VERY SMALL) JVC Kenwood KMM-BT306 with the HighPassFilter set to about 100Hz.
You'll get better control of your crossover frequencies via the head unit settings (amp or head unit powered speakers), so set crossovers on amp to OFF. DON'T use BOTH head unit and amp crossovers at the same time!
I added a sub and amp (both bolted down, which actually improves the bass) and set the LowPassFilter ON THE HEAD UNIT also to 100Hz.
Both crossovers need to be set to the same value to avoid redundant overlap or gap in frequencies, which is way less easy via the pots / dials on an amp. Yes, some amps have switches to set crossover frequency, and that is _probably_ fine to use.
120Hz might sound better with weak or small non-sub speakers.
The small subwoofers are usually less efficient. A PA subwoofer would give best SPL on the smaller amp but needs a lot of box space.
This was such a great intro into car electronics! Thank you so much. You guys do awesome work and make sense of so much that before, wasn’t easy to learn. Keep up the good work and all the best to you and the crew 🤙🏼🤙🏼
Happy eidul fitri donut! Thank you for making my life full with smiles since pandemic hits!
Happy eid
Could you start including the full amount of time each project took you at the end of each video? I think it would be interesting and informative to everyone who may want to do the same mod to their car
wouldnt be informative as car work times depends on skill level... what zach did today takes about 90min but for a noob it could take all day
18:52 The single thing copper wire that didn't slide into the ferrule is bothering me more than it should, so now you all have to share my suffering.
What kind of monster are you
Factory fitted speakers have come a long way in recent times. But a decent upgraded system is always worthwhile
haha! we have the same profile pic
@@mikestivers8302 honey badgers 💪
Great video, I’d also like to add, it’s a good idea to use a product like a Dynamat Speaker Kit. It transforms the flimsy sheet metal in your car door into a solid, non-resonant baffle. For improved mid-bass performance with less distortion. If you’re spending that much money on a upgrade, you don’t want to hear your doors rattle.