Sound Question...
06-25-2009, 04:35 PM
#31
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Virginia
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06-25-2009, 06:03 PM
#32
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 881
I am just stuck in a rock and a hard place on this right now. I don't want to go back to stock b/c the head unit won't work properly and I don't have the money to buy new speakers, amps, and wire it all in.
What if I added a sub with its own amplifer? Would that alleviate the power issue since the headunit would not have to send both bass and mids to the stock speakers. (if you haven't been able to tell, car audio is not my thing).
What if I added a sub with its own amplifer? Would that alleviate the power issue since the headunit would not have to send both bass and mids to the stock speakers. (if you haven't been able to tell, car audio is not my thing).
06-25-2009, 06:18 PM
#33
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Virginia
Posts: 11,786
I am just stuck in a rock and a hard place on this right now. I don't want to go back to stock b/c the head unit won't work properly and I don't have the money to buy new speakers, amps, and wire it all in.
What if I added a sub with its own amplifier? Would that alleviate the power issue since the headunit would not have to send both bass and mids to the stock speakers. (if you haven't been able to tell, car audio is not my thing).
What if I added a sub with its own amplifier? Would that alleviate the power issue since the headunit would not have to send both bass and mids to the stock speakers. (if you haven't been able to tell, car audio is not my thing).
Just deal with it till you can afford to do it right. /thread
06-25-2009, 09:30 PM
#34
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 142
If you add a good sub and amp to the setup, it will make the audio a ton better. The Mach 460 headunit in our cars was mediocre at best. I had to experiment with a couple of different setups before finding a combination that sounded great. Oh, and the harnesses that work are Metra 70-5519 and Scosche FDK13B
When you're wiring, you'll want to splice in a 7805 transistor to step down the voltage coming out from the headunit so your rear factory subs don't crackle.
Your headunit should have a few sets of subwoofer preouts. They're white and red RCA inputs. The correct wiring harness will branch out from the stock wires and you'll plug the RCAs into the rear out. After you get a sub and amp, plug the amp RCAs into the subwoofer out. After you get it installed, there should be a high pass, low pass, and subwoofer filter settings on your deck. Set everything to the 60~80 range, turn down the low frequencies and turn up the high freqs on your speakers, and see if it sounds good to you. Try out the different settings, what sounds good to some may sound like crap to you.
When you're wiring, you'll want to splice in a 7805 transistor to step down the voltage coming out from the headunit so your rear factory subs don't crackle.
Your headunit should have a few sets of subwoofer preouts. They're white and red RCA inputs. The correct wiring harness will branch out from the stock wires and you'll plug the RCAs into the rear out. After you get a sub and amp, plug the amp RCAs into the subwoofer out. After you get it installed, there should be a high pass, low pass, and subwoofer filter settings on your deck. Set everything to the 60~80 range, turn down the low frequencies and turn up the high freqs on your speakers, and see if it sounds good to you. Try out the different settings, what sounds good to some may sound like crap to you.
06-26-2009, 07:51 AM
#35
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 881
Negative. I'm not going to just accept the fact that the ONLY head unit that will work with the Mach system is the original. I'm going to talk to a few local custom audio shops to hopefully find a solution.
Thanks man....I will def end up adding a sub....eventually.
If you add a good sub and amp to the setup, it will make the audio a ton better. The Mach 460 headunit in our cars was mediocre at best. I had to experiment with a couple of different setups before finding a combination that sounded great. Oh, and the harnesses that work are Metra 70-5519 and Scosche FDK13B
When you're wiring, you'll want to splice in a 7805 transistor to step down the voltage coming out from the headunit so your rear factory subs don't crackle.
Your headunit should have a few sets of subwoofer preouts. They're white and red RCA inputs. The correct wiring harness will branch out from the stock wires and you'll plug the RCAs into the rear out. After you get a sub and amp, plug the amp RCAs into the subwoofer out. After you get it installed, there should be a high pass, low pass, and subwoofer filter settings on your deck. Set everything to the 60~80 range, turn down the low frequencies and turn up the high freqs on your speakers, and see if it sounds good to you. Try out the different settings, what sounds good to some may sound like crap to you.
When you're wiring, you'll want to splice in a 7805 transistor to step down the voltage coming out from the headunit so your rear factory subs don't crackle.
Your headunit should have a few sets of subwoofer preouts. They're white and red RCA inputs. The correct wiring harness will branch out from the stock wires and you'll plug the RCAs into the rear out. After you get a sub and amp, plug the amp RCAs into the subwoofer out. After you get it installed, there should be a high pass, low pass, and subwoofer filter settings on your deck. Set everything to the 60~80 range, turn down the low frequencies and turn up the high freqs on your speakers, and see if it sounds good to you. Try out the different settings, what sounds good to some may sound like crap to you.
06-26-2009, 08:58 AM
#36
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 21
In short there is a couple of ways to wire your sound... with the wires, or with the pre-outs (the RCA jacks on the back of the unit). Your HU has only one set of pre-outs (designated for subs) at only 2V (low power). So your fronts and rears are NOT being fed by any pre-outs.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...H-2100IB?tab=B
Pre-outs are by far the better outputs to use, especially with amps (which the mach system has). Your setup sounds bad either because the wires are feeding the amps, or your amps have been bypassed.
As you look into higher end HU's they will have more pre-outs at higher power. I have an AVIC-F90BT which has 3 sets of pre-outs at 4V each. one set is for the front speakers, one set for the back speakers, one set for subs.
So, to answer your question, the lack of pre-outs is why your HU is not a good one.
There is much more to car audio than this, but if a quality signal does not leave the HU your system can NEVER sound great.
06-26-2009, 09:32 AM
#38
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: ATL
Posts: 881
A main attribute that your head unit is missing is Pre-outs. You were referencing the power as 50Wx4, if you are going to get into car audio you need to skip this stat and look to how many Volts the pre-outs have for power.
In short there is a couple of ways to wire your sound... with the wires, or with the pre-outs (the RCA jacks on the back of the unit). Your HU has only one set of pre-outs (designated for subs) at only 2V (low power). So your fronts and rears are NOT being fed by any pre-outs.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...H-2100IB?tab=B
Pre-outs are by far the better outputs to use, especially with amps (which the mach system has). Your setup sounds bad either because the wires are feeding the amps, or your amps have been bypassed.
As you look into higher end HU's they will have more pre-outs at higher power. I have an AVIC-F90BT which has 3 sets of pre-outs at 4V each. one set is for the front speakers, one set for the back speakers, one set for subs.
So, to answer your question, the lack of pre-outs is why your HU is not a good one.
There is much more to car audio than this, but if a quality signal does not leave the HU your system can NEVER sound great.
In short there is a couple of ways to wire your sound... with the wires, or with the pre-outs (the RCA jacks on the back of the unit). Your HU has only one set of pre-outs (designated for subs) at only 2V (low power). So your fronts and rears are NOT being fed by any pre-outs.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...H-2100IB?tab=B
Pre-outs are by far the better outputs to use, especially with amps (which the mach system has). Your setup sounds bad either because the wires are feeding the amps, or your amps have been bypassed.
As you look into higher end HU's they will have more pre-outs at higher power. I have an AVIC-F90BT which has 3 sets of pre-outs at 4V each. one set is for the front speakers, one set for the back speakers, one set for subs.
So, to answer your question, the lack of pre-outs is why your HU is not a good one.
There is much more to car audio than this, but if a quality signal does not leave the HU your system can NEVER sound great.
I got your PM, thanks. I don't know that I can return/exchange my unit. I believe my wife bought it for me at Target. I'll do some research to see if I can change my RCA output to a sub output.
06-26-2009, 09:33 AM
#39
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2,994
i went through this all the time installing at BestBuy. My best advise is to always keep like components together. You can make anything work but as far as I'm concerned it's not worth it. Bestbuy will warranty the work so take it back and tell them to either fix the problem or replace the wiring and switch to a small 4 channel amp. You could run the speakers through a 2 channel and keep the 2ohm speakers but you'll loose some control.
HONESTLY, they should have never agreed to do it without several custom labors and ONLY if they are a MASTER jedi MECP. (like I am, lol)
Most Install bays only agree to do this work IF they are replacing all the wires and amps. I worked for BB as an installer, till the wife got promoted to manager, lol.
Anyway, take it back and have them pull it out or replace everything.
HONESTLY, they should have never agreed to do it without several custom labors and ONLY if they are a MASTER jedi MECP. (like I am, lol)
Most Install bays only agree to do this work IF they are replacing all the wires and amps. I worked for BB as an installer, till the wife got promoted to manager, lol.
Anyway, take it back and have them pull it out or replace everything.
A main attribute that your head unit is missing is Pre-outs. You were referencing the power as 50Wx4, if you are going to get into car audio you need to skip this stat and look to how many Volts the pre-outs have for power.
In short there is a couple of ways to wire your sound... with the wires, or with the pre-outs (the RCA jacks on the back of the unit). Your HU has only one set of pre-outs (designated for subs) at only 2V (low power). So your fronts and rears are NOT being fed by any pre-outs.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...H-2100IB?tab=B
Pre-outs are by far the better outputs to use, especially with amps (which the mach system has). Your setup sounds bad either because the wires are feeding the amps, or your amps have been bypassed.
As you look into higher end HU's they will have more pre-outs at higher power. I have an AVIC-F90BT which has 3 sets of pre-outs at 4V each. one set is for the front speakers, one set for the back speakers, one set for subs.
So, to answer your question, the lack of pre-outs is why your HU is not a good one.
There is much more to car audio than this, but if a quality signal does not leave the HU your system can NEVER sound great.
In short there is a couple of ways to wire your sound... with the wires, or with the pre-outs (the RCA jacks on the back of the unit). Your HU has only one set of pre-outs (designated for subs) at only 2V (low power). So your fronts and rears are NOT being fed by any pre-outs.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...H-2100IB?tab=B
Pre-outs are by far the better outputs to use, especially with amps (which the mach system has). Your setup sounds bad either because the wires are feeding the amps, or your amps have been bypassed.
As you look into higher end HU's they will have more pre-outs at higher power. I have an AVIC-F90BT which has 3 sets of pre-outs at 4V each. one set is for the front speakers, one set for the back speakers, one set for subs.
So, to answer your question, the lack of pre-outs is why your HU is not a good one.
There is much more to car audio than this, but if a quality signal does not leave the HU your system can NEVER sound great.
Good points there, pre-outs and there voltage levels are def. key. My panasonic has 5v preouts=awesome signal quality.
A few other things to look for:
High and Low-pass crossovers which are adjustable.
At a bare minumum a 5-7 band equalizer, ideally a 9-band.
Seperate subwoofer pre outs with low pass filter(adjustable)
Signal to noise ratio in dBs(higher the better)
FM sensitivity in dBs(lower the better)
Power output, do not EVER base it on the PEAK watts
Always use the RMS(root mean squared) value instead. This is the accurate amount of output at a steady rate, while the peak is what it may do for a few milliseconds with a hard bass hit or screaming cymbal crash. This value can range from 12w/ to 60w/channel, and some companies are certified while others are not. Look for higher end models and compare the specs with lower end models. Infact, go to crutchfield.com, and check out their HU selection, if nothing else you will learn alot. Its a good place for a beginner to learn. And its free..lol
Hope this helps!
06-26-2009, 10:01 AM
#40
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: GA
Posts: 634
Man...thank you. I now see what I should have looked for before getting this head unit. Again...thanks.
I got your PM, thanks. I don't know that I can return/exchange my unit. I believe my wife bought it for me at Target. I'll do some research to see if I can change my RCA output to a sub output.
I got your PM, thanks. I don't know that I can return/exchange my unit. I believe my wife bought it for me at Target. I'll do some research to see if I can change my RCA output to a sub output.
Target sells HU didnt know that.....I think they have some sort of long return policy like 60-90 days or something like that.