C5-What I Have, What I Want, What I'm thinking. Help Please

NOWUCME · 02-24-2009, 08:48 PM

Ok, will try to keep it short. Have read a lot of the sticky and a lot of comments here. Still a little confusing but lets see if i have the Basics as relates to my needs.

Have - 2000 Vert, Bose/Delco stock HU and Speakers. Ordered a set of new item
5 1/2" 3 way Kenwood KFC 1362S for the rear from Crutchfield's. Plug and play, maybe a little better volume and sound for the price. From what i've read here there will be little bass if any in these rear speakers because the amp doesn't push any there. Here's their pitch if you haven't seen them yet, but won't change the bass restrictions.

"Kenwood's Sport Series speakers add clear, exciting music to your ride without breaking your budget. The KFC-1362S 3-way 5-1/4" speakers combine a woofer, midrange, and tweeter, along with a built-in crossover, to bring new clarity and enhanced performance to your car audio system." (can find the specs at Crutchfield, if it matters)

"The polypropylene woofer delivers full, bold bass that'll overcome the drone of road noise, while a balanced-dome midrange driver allows vocals and instruments to be heard more distinctly. A ceramic tweeter supplies the musical details that make music come alive."

What i Want - Better sound/volume, particularly Base, drivers side rear. I know, I know, the purest here don't think the rear speakers add anything. The wife doesn't like as much volume as i do, and with the vert i would like a little more sound behind me on the drivers side. A coupe or FRC probably provides a better sound chamber than a vert with the top down too. Want to keep it small and not in the storage compartments. (see below)

What I'm thinking - Since I may get a little more/better mid/upper but won't get anymore bass in the rear with the new speakers I'm thinking small powered sub/speaker. Crutchfield and others sell a small fairly flat 8" powered sub. Blaupunk THb 200A. They have a picture of it on their site showing plugs etc. if you blow it up. Will fit nicely in the trunk behind the seat, and with the top down. Here's the basics:

"Blaupunkt's compact THb 200A amplified subwoofer mounts just about anywhere, so you can add great-sounding bass to your vehicle without giving up precious trunk space. The slim, die-cast aluminum cabinet contains a 70-watt RMS amplifier and an 8" subwoofer for clean, low-frequency reproduction that enhances any style of music.

You don't have to worry about turning the sub on and off — just feed it some music and it'll respond, and it shuts off one minute after the tunes stop. Preamp- and speaker-level inputs provide easy connection to nearly any stereo system, and this handy little thumper comes with all the wiring and mounting accessories you'll need for installation." Would "Preamp" level inputs mean from the stock speakers? Don't think so.
(Other specs on their site under subs/powered.)

Help - Do my assumptions sound right to this point or what am i missing. Also they don't show a "will fit" 3 1/2" for the front. Do I just get a regular 3 1/2 and any will work there. I think i could figure out the sub hookup if i had it in hand but sounds like going to the HU. not front speakers, for level inputs with an adapter would work best?

Question? What simple adapter, seen some recommended here for about $10, will work for the sub hookup. and which HU wires do I use. Sounds like you have to stay away from any return wires to ground, and use the comon that is mentioned here.

Sorry this is so long, maybe it will help others. Any comments are greatly appreciated. TIA Mike

pentavolvo · 02-24-2009, 08:55 PM

gonna need to run power to the battery, i assume it comes with whats needed
any 3.5 will fit up front, i recommend the polks

you can either get the pacaddvet1 harness or tap into the outputs behind the headunit as shown in c5 faq

NOWUCME · 02-24-2009, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentavolvo

gonna need to run power to the battery, i assume it comes with whats needed
any 3.5 will fit up front, i recommend the polks

you can either get the pacaddvet1 harness or tap into the outputs behind the headunit as shown in c5 faq

Check on power input from the Battery. It says "Pre-Amp and Speaker level inputs. Does that mean you could go to the sub in the doors? And, where does the pacaddvet1 tap in, isn't it behind the head too. Also, do you think i would get some sound from a sub like that. Has good recommends from those that use it. Thanks.

LTCHAPPA · 02-25-2009, 10:25 PM

I did that mod your talking about.Upgraded the 3.5in the doors and the 5.25 in the rear and added the Blaupunkt sub and maintained the stock Bose HU and stock Bose woofers in the doors.System was a slight improvment at best. Since then I replaced the Hu with an Alpine 9886 with Ipod and satilite and now adding an Alpine component system in the doors. Also adding an Alpine PDX 4.1 amp to power the system and connecting the sub to the HU. BTW the sub sits behind the waterfall and with no interference with the top down. As soon as I complete the system I will be able to compare Bose to Alpine. This should be done by next week.A friend of mine installed the sub and ran an amp wire kit from the battery for power and got the audio signal from the door speaker and did not use any adapter and every thing worked fine back when I had the stock Bose HU.

NOWUCME · 02-26-2009, 04:24 AM

Thanks for the information. Have the 5.5's coming for the rear and may get some 3.5' Polks for the front. Doesn't sound like i will get any bass out of the rear speakers the way the Bose works. May hold off on the powered/sub if the other two give a little better sound.

Was wondering what you thought of that little Blaupunk powered/sub. Was it the Thb 200A? Evidently you didn't get much out of it from what it sounds like. I think someone in the sticky said hooking the sub up to the front speaker wasn't a very good connection?

You should have a much better system with the components and the other amp i would hope. And you sould get some bass out of the rear speakers with the new HU i would think.

LTCHAPPA · 02-26-2009, 09:57 AM

It is a Blaupunkt 200A and it worked fine when it was hookd up to the Bose door speaker.The sub does have more output now since there is a direct connection to the Alpine HU.I dont even have the power all the way up on the 200a and it seems ok for me.Of course there are much more powerful sub setups and you will need a seperate amp and enclosure.

NOWUCME · 02-26-2009, 03:34 PM

Thanks again, I think I will go with the Blaupunkt 200A too, if I decide to put in a sub. I don't want the bigger subs, just a little something for some extra bass, and it looks like it would be a good fit for the Vert and save some space.

Did your 200A come with any wiring, looks like most include the battery cable. Think I will get the HU connector harness kit if I decide to buy the sub.

The rear 5.5's are suppose to be here today so will see if they help any. They are 3way, not components, but have a tweeter and mid-range so hope they will be some improvement.

Hope you are enjoying your new system

LTCHAPPA · 02-26-2009, 05:58 PM

Yes it did come with wiring and I also had to run an amp wire kit to the battery which was about 30 bucks.

NOWUCME · 02-26-2009, 06:09 PM

The ones i'm seeing for sale come with about 9 feet of wire for the battery connect. I assume any other wire that comes with the unit is just the plugs and short wire that you have to splice too or run the RCA connections to. Did you have any Fade control front to back with the amp or did it go off when fade to back because it's connect to a front speaker......asking that question in another thread.

Thanks