amplifier location in Outback

Everyone talks of putting an amplifier under one of the front seats. I kinda like putting CD wallets and miscellaneous crap under there. Plus, it seems like a major pain to route RCAs and speaker wires to there. Why not just put the amp in the center area behind where the head unit is located, since the speaker wires are already there, it's very close to the head unit, and also very close to the firewall (for running the power) ?

Is it simply not enough room, or not well enough ventilated ? I'm not going with a monster unit, just the bottom end Alpine 250 unit.

Thanks, John

Reply to
JGE
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The dimension on an Alpine MRP-F250 are:

11-1/4 X 2-3/8 X 9-9/16 (inches)

I don't know how much room there is behind your head unit in the Outback, but in my Forester there is zero space behind the head unit and no room for any amp of any size. I put a sub amp under the driver seat, and routing speaker and power wires wasn't a big job. I removed the seat and center console to make the job easier.

Reply to
mrputler

Thanks for replying. I need to get in there and see if there's enough space - and something to mount the amp to.

Maybe I need to re-evaluate my level of commitment.

John

Reply to
JGE

Here's something you might want to consider. Even though I added a sub amp and sub woofer for low end punch, the biggest improvement made to the system's sound quality was to just replace the stock door speakers. I replace all 4 speakers (front and back), but the biggest bang for the buck was from replacing the front ones. I'm still using the stock head unit, and the systems sounds pretty good just doing the door speaker replacement, and it will crank out more volume than the stock speakers too. Replacing the door speakers is a very easy job (at least it was on my Forester). I chose the Polk db650's (front) and Polk db450's (rear) and am very happy with them, plus they were on sale.

I recommend crutchfield.com to pick out speakers to fit your car. If you find a pair on their site that's not listed for your car, give them a call to double check the specs.to see if they will fit. Their customer service is excellent, and they provide any wire harness you might need to connect the speakers.

Reply to
mrputler

Thanks. I replaced the door speakers long ago. Probably won't do the rear ones, because on road-trip (trigger for this upgrade) the rear seats are folded down and rear speakers pretty well blocked. I have tweeters too (by front lower corner of front windows) but have not upgraded from factory ones; I wonder how worthwhile that is ?

The speakers were Sony, got them from crotchfeel, and I totally agree with you on their service.

John

Reply to
JGE

Question for you...I have a pair of Alpine something or other I got for a gift this past winter. Nice speakers, about $140 for the pair. On one of the three days this winter that were warm enough to try, I swapped out the left stock speaker with one of the Alpines. Didn't sound any better, to my astonishment. I put the stock speaker back in.

In the meantime, I'm wondering if I made a mistake when installing. Should I have completely removed that tweeter from the circuit? I didn't, I just pulled the big speaker and attached the Alpine.

I'm guessing that maybe there's a capacitor or crossover in there that killed off the HF response on the Alpine, since the lower speaker is clearly intended as a mid-range and it has no crossover or filter.

If it ever warms up I'll try again.

-John O

Reply to
John O

How did the Alpines sound? Were they tinny sounding (no bass), or were they flat (no high end) sounding? Are they component speakers (tweeter is separate from woofer)? If they are component speakers and the crossovers are not built in, maybe they were wired wrong.

If they are not component speakers, just plug them in. The Alpines should sound much better than the stock speakers.

Reply to
mrputler

Flat. I expected some crisp highs from the new CD (Coheed & Cambria, heh) I was playing, but they were dull.

Two-way, all-in-one.

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or something just like these.

I've replaced stock speakers a few times before, and agree with you. That's why I wonder where the crossover is...I suspect I didn't get it out of the signal chain.

-John O

Reply to
John O

The crossover on the average coax speaker is mounted on the woofer basket. It's probably a simple first-order filter with a single capacitor and inductor.

Maybe the one you tried had a bad tweeter or a broken wire to/from the crossover? Next time you install the Alpine, turn down the volume and place your ear up against the tweeter and listen if it's working.

Reply to
mrputler

It was working, just not much. I aimed it up, and down. I still wonder where the crossover is located in the Outback, not on the new speaker.

-John O

Reply to
John O

Yeah, but this can be a chore, too!

I have MB Quarts in the doors of my Supra, my Scion tC, and the Suby wagon.

I also have 5" Quarts in the back of the Scion. IMMEDIATE boost in the sound, even before replacing the head unit!

The Supra has 6.5s in the front and 5s in the rear, like the tC, but also has a 100Wx4 amp running them, and a 300W amp running the sub (that's in a Pignose box!

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) Putting the amp under the seat isn't a bad idea, and if you need to get to it, it's a lot easier there...

Reply to
Hachiroku

I think the problem is that while stock speaker sound like...er... shinola through a tin horn, they are made to work very easily and reach higher decibels at lower wattages. You give up some sound for this.

A better speaker needs more wattage to get the sound out. Try replacing both of them and then moving the fader so most of the sound comes from the Alpines, and then CRANK it, and I think you'll hear the difference.

Or, get an amp and *REALLY* juice them!!! ;) (Adding an amp also gives cleaner sound.)

Reply to
Hachiroku

I thought about that, but the sensitivity specs are normal, not low. In any case, the lack of power would affect bass response, but not the highs so much. We got seven inches of snow yesterday, but next weekend is looking a lot better to get outside and figure this out.

BTW, my ears are bad enough that I really don't need an extra amp to make them worse. :-) Too much time standing next to the drummer when I was young.

-John O

Reply to
John O

I know what you mean:

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mine is an early 70's...)
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Reply to
Hachiroku

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Yep, that's the ticket. I don't have a rig these days, but mine had speakers the size of my OBW rims and rhymed with pv.

-John O

-John O

Reply to
John O

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>

NO RIG?!?!?!

Man, I quit for about 18 years...job, wife, kids, etc. Then the kids grew and the wife split, and I still had my Dan Armstrong, so we became good firends again. Thing weighs about 12 lbs, so the P-Bass Lyte was the next addition.

Don't think I'll stop again...

Reply to
Hachiroku

Carpal tunnel nailed me.

3 years after the surgery, I feel like I can get playing again. The surgery gave instant relief, but the last 20% needed for precision (was that a pun? ) stuff took a long time to come back.
Reply to
Valued Corporate #120,345 Empl

Yep, almost the same years here so far.

The first one graduates in the spring, last one is 11.

Gaaa...I'm there too, maybe. Although, a trade-in often sounds like a good deal. :-|

-John O

Reply to
John O

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

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OR

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Be Happy! ;)

Reply to
Hachiroku

I've got CTS, too, but it don't stop me! I just get a little less "fancy" when it kicks up between breaks.

*I* have found the best thing for CTS while playing a gig is

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Reply to
Hachiroku

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