Car stereo install, made simple
This portion of my site is to help others make their car stereo for as little money as possible.  Car stereo is actually very simple.  Just the shops try and make is sound confusing so they stay in business.  They don't make their money selling the equipment, they make it by installing it and repairing it.  When it can cost you upwards of $500 to have a system installed, I know better places that I can spend that money.

Ultimately, the sound of your system is most affected by the speakers.  Like the saying goes, you get what you pay for.  You can not expect to get spectacular sound from $10 a pair speakers.

Next in the line of quality vs. price is the amplifiers.  Separate amplifiers tend to give better sound, but, again, at the cost of money.  Here the price vs. quality of sound is not so definite.  I can take two comparable amps that put out the "same power" (to be discussed later), and get prices ranging as far as 6 times the price (sometimes even more based on manufacturer).

Finally is the radio itself (this includes the wiring to the speakers/amps).  Overall, most radios have the same comparable quality (this is based on not getting some no-name $10 a radio equipment-again, you get what you pay for).  What affects the price of radios for the most part is the options the radio has.  You can get as good of sound from a $200 CD player as you can from an $800 dollar CD player.  The only real difference is the $800 player is going to be a 10 disk changer (vice an indash single disk player) and various options like remembering names of CD's, surround sound, etc (yes, some come with these options, the one in my truck is capable of surround sound, separate front and rear equalizers, and yes, even Karaoke).

The biggest problem that most people make is getting more power than they truely need.  These people that get these 800+ watt systems either have more money than they know what to do with or are going to be deaf  very shortly due to listening to to high a decibel (dB) sound.  Power is a vicious monster.  Everyone wants more power to get the music louder, but, to do that you need more speakers (more money), which requires more wiring (more money), which requires more electrical power from the car (even more money).  There comes a point where the power gain comes at an astronomical price.

I am not saying that those 3,000 watt RMS(notice I added RMS, this means something) systems don't have their place, they just aren't realistic for the everyday person.  A system like this is capable of hitting in the neighborhood of 145-150 dB.  Just to put this into perspective, if you stood 100 yards away from a 747 at full thrust, that is about 140 dB(this can cause the eardrums to rupture).  130 dB is capable of causing hearing loss in a mater of minutes.  So, you can see where this is detrimental on your person.  A 300 watt RMS system is capable of hitting 130 dB and is more than adequate for most vehicles (ie, the only ones I can think of where this wouldn't be is a motor home or travel bus, I'm talking BIG VEHICLES, not an Accord or Geo Metro).  If you want to spend your money on these systems, go for it.  Granted, when you hit 40 years old and can't hear a thing, my words will come back to haunt you.

I have discovered through doing a lot of systems that having a total of 300 watts RMS in a vehicle is more than adequate.  Like I mentioned before, this is capable of 130 dB (capable of still causing hearing loss) and is reasonable on the wallet.

First things you have to understand about sound reproduction is that power corresponds to volume (aka dB).  This is partially affected by the efficiency of the speaker (most speakers are fairly comparable, so, don't worry about it) and the frequency range that you are wanting the speaker to operate in.  You can not expect a 15" subwoofer(aka sub or woofer) to operate up to 20,000 hertz, likewise, you can't expect a 1" tweeter to reproduce 20 hertz.  Now, this is taking it to extremes, but, there are people that just don't understand this.  Frequencies that you can reasonably expect for a speaker are as follows:
15": 20-100 hertz
12": 25-200 hertz
10": 30-400 hertz
8": 45-800 hertz
6/6.5": 80-2500 hertz
5/5.25": 120-3500 hertz
4": 150-5500 hertz
3.5": 180-7000 hertz
1":  2000-20000 hertz
.75": 3000-25000 hertz
Now, I don't recommend pushing speakers to the these limits.  In certain instances you can't help this with the 15/12/10" speakers and the 1/.75" speakers.  This is an unfortunate thing and since a lot of music doesn't operate near these limits, it is not that big of a concern.  For the most part, I wouldn't recommend operating beyond the following limits:
15":20-70 hertz
12":25-130 hertz
10": 30-180 hertz
8":45-250 hertz
6/6.5": 120-2000 hertz
5/5.25": 180-3000 hertz
4": 250-4000 hertz
3.5": 300-5000 hertz
1": 3000-20000 hertz
.75": 4000-20000 hertz
What a lot of people don't understand is how the size of speakers affects the overall system performance.  Putting a 15" sub in with some 6.5" midranges and 1" tweeters leaves holes in the frequence spectrum and gets a person away from a theoretical flat line response of the system(this is an ideal, very hard to perfect in reality, but you can try).  While running a 10" sub running from 30-180 hertz and a 5.25" speaker running from 180-3000 hertz with a 1" tweeter running from 3000-20000 hertz achieves as close to this theoretical flat line response.

Something to stay away from is oval speakers.  While they are very functional and give the capabilities of both a small and large speaker, they do that at the sacrifice of clarity(aka good sound) and volume.  Converting a vehicle to a round speaker is fairly easy except in limited situations, then, oval speakers are your only option and will give decent sound, just not great sound (which is why most of us are getting an after market system so we can get the best possible sound we can afford.

Before I get into designing the "best system", you have to understand (like I have mentioned before), quality is the function of money spent squared.  Again, going with these high power systems is going to be lots (and I mean lots) of money.  For a good quality system with 300 watts RMS of total power, you can expect to pay $1500 just for the equipment (installation is more if you don't follow the recommendations on this page-this can be $500 or more).

A general break down of what you can expect to pay is:
radio: $350
front speakers: $150
rear speakers: $100
amps (2): $600 (includes crossover)
subs (2): $200
wires: $100 (this includes the wiring harness and radio mounting kit)

Now, some people are going to spend more on various items, and less on others.  But, it will normally work out to be about $1500, $2000 if you pay them to install it.  For example, a lot of places charge along the lines of the following:
radio: $80
speakers (except subs): $40 per pair ($80 normally)
amps: $60 per amp
subs: $200 to build a box (aka enclosure) and $50 to place in the vehicle
Some places will offer free install for various items if you buy the system through them.  Most just offer to install the radio for free but will charge you for the rest.  You are still paying for the install through higher prices on the items.  Maybe not as much, but, you still are paying for it (companies don't loose money on an item or else they would go out of business fairly quickly).  Just a word to the wise.

PICKING THE EQUIPMENT
First things first.  Pick a price that you are willing to spend.  If anything, go a little low.  You will find out that you will overspend.  I have only seen a few people actually spend less than they limited themselves to (TRUST ME!!!! Been there, done that too many times) and those people were the ones that wanted the $5000 worth of stereo stuff (hmmmm, I can see why).

First thing to concentrate on is the main speakers.  What I mean by this is the 6.5/6/5.25/4/1"/.75" speakers.  These will have the biggest effect on overall sound.  I am not going to say one manufacturer is better than the other.  Now I will admit that most of what Kraco, Realistic, and other very cheap speakers are not even worth looking at unless that is all you can afford.  Granted, for most cars, these are still better than the factory equipment unless you got the upgraded system.

If a stereo shop says one speaker is better than another, I recommend leaving that store.  They are selling you what they think sounds good, not what sounds good to you.  Granted, you will find most will do this.  Just as tell them that you are going to choose and just to demonstrate the speakers for you.  You will tell them what you want.  This site will give you all the information you need to make good "sound" judgements.

Start by picking 4 or more speakers (each by a different manufacturer) that are of comparable quality (I recommend going for the $100 a pair speakers since this is where a good portion of the speakers are going to fall that are of good to better quality).  Using the same radio/amp/music/etc, listen to each speaker and only that speaker.  You should notice that some speakers will sound more bassy(low sounds), some more trebly(high sounds) and some more mid range (vocals will sound louder).  Choose the one that sounds the best to you and also pick an alternate(this will play out later).  Now that you have two manufacturers, you can pick the quality of speakers that you want.

This is actually rather simple, but, you have to answer one question first before picking the actual speaker.  This is actually more a test that you can do in your current vehicle provided it has a 4 speaker system.  Sit in the drivers seat and play with the front/rear fade.  What this is doing is establishing if you like front staging (noted by having all the music sounding like it is coming from in front of you), rear staging (all the music coming from behind you), or center staging (this is noted by having the music coming from around you/from between the front seats) (NOTE: acheiving the ideal center staging is difficult and requires constant adjustment).  Most people like a mix of front and center staging.  This is noted by having a majority of the music coming from infront of them, but having an auditable sound coming from behind you helping the sound coming from infront of you).

Now that you have determined if you like front/center/rear staging, if you like front staging, make your front speakers your first choice and your rear speakers your second choice.  The opposite is true if you liked rear staging.  If you like the center staging, make the front speakers your first choice and the rear speakers your second choice.  From here, pick the speakers from the manufacturers picked.

Here's a little background on why I recommend two different manufacturers for the speakers (NOTE: most car shops will attempt to talk you out of this and sell you some high priced speaker set, again, is this what you want or what they want.  How do they know what YOU like).  Not all speakers have the same sound characteristics (you just proved this by hearing the different sounds that comparable speakers make).  What ends up happening is that music is made up of many sounds occurring at the same time.  Since the speakers are reproducing the sounds at slightly different loudnesses, you will get a simulated surround sound effect (this will save you money since you don't have to find a radio with this option (if you need that) and it helps with getting that center staging).  While what I wrote makes it seems simple, part of it just comes down to pure luck of the draw since speakers produce sounds relative to their surrounding also.  You can spend many hours trying to figure out just what speakers are the "perfect" speakers just to install them and find out that they don't work together.  Using the different speakers, this helps minimize this since they will react differently and ultimately give you the same sort of sound you heard in the car stereo shop.

Something to keep in mind while picking out the speakers is what speakers fit where in your vehicle.  While an fairly competent person can make just about any speaker fit anywhere (some cars just won't let speakers beyond a certain size fit, contact http://www.crutchfield.com for general guidelines-granted, you can normally push beyond those limits to-but I don't recommend doing it unless you are sure you can make it work, REALLY SURE!!!!).  A good rule of thumb to follow is the main speakers be separates (ie, 4 speakers where 2 of them are mid range speakers (ie 6.5/6/5.25/4") and 2 tweeters (ie 1/.75") designed to be mounted in different locations) and the back-up speakers be coaxil speakers (ie, both a mid range and tweeter mounted in one housing-can not be mounted separately).  I say this as this helps with the imaging of sound top to bottom in the car.  If you are curious on this subject, click on "imaging" in the preceding sentence.

Next, we are going to pick the amplifiers.  This can be complicated, or this can be easy.  First, we need to determine what power is needed to each speaker.  Keeping the idea of what power vs. cost vs. what is reasonable, pick the total power that you think you will need.  Again, I will state that having 300 watts RMS total will suit you more than adequately.  Remember, you can always turn the volume down.  Now, I know you are going to say, "I can do that with the high power systems too".  True, very true.  But, this is also putting in a little restriction in the system to help save your ears for later use.  I have noticed that initially the volumes stay low.  But, as time goes on, the volume goes up, and up, and up.  If you start maxing out your volume, you are hurting your ears beyond repair(even hearing aids can't help!!!!!!).  So, pick your power, just realize the reasons why I recommend what I do. At this point, if you don't know the difference between peak power, RMS power (12V), RMS power (14.4V), total power, and average power, you will want to go to the reference area and read up first.

Now that you have your ideal total RMS power, take half of it and that is what your subs are going to need total.  If you are running 2 subs, get a 2 channel amplifier that each channel is half the power for the subs (ie, a quarter of the total power). If you are running just one sub, then get a single channel amp with that power. Now for the main speakers, this can get a little complicated. To make things easy, divide the remaining power (half of the total power) by 4 and buy an amp with that power. If anything, buy a slightly more powerful amp since you are not going to need the same power to both the front and rear speakers and due to your choice of front/center/rear staging, one set of speakers will receive more power than another.

Now that you have the amps and speakers, make sure that the speakers you picked are capable of handling the power of the amps. The speakers will say on the outside of the boxes just what they are capable of handling power wise. You may need to pick a different set of speakers. You can normally push those limits some, but, beware, if you like keeping the volume up for long periods of time, these speakers WILL fail. (Remember you ears!!!)

Now that you have settled on the amps and speakers, pick your radio. This is going to be a personal preference on whether you want a CD player, tape player, or an 8 track (ok, maybe not the 8 track, but, some people do look for off the wall stuff). I recommend finding a player with dual sets of RCA outputs (ie, has 2 red phone plugs and 2 white plug for a total of 4 plugs). Nowadays most players have this feature, but, not all. This will help with install, but, a single set of RCAs work too, just need to make sure you get a crossover to split up the frequencies.

In picking the radio, the options are endless, surround sound, blank skip, Dolby B/C, built in equalizer (some even have a front and rear EQ), adjustable bass crossover points, CD name memory, Karaoke (yes, some radios do have this feature, I have it in my truck just for grins, makes people wonder just what I do have in my truck), etc. Have an idea of the features that you think you will want and then go after those specifically. You can go to the extreme and get a built in 5" LCD screen capable of GPS, TV, etc along with CD/tape capability, or you can go as simple as a 4 button radio just capable of AM/FM. Choice is yours.

Warning: at this point, before you buy the radio, make sure it will fit into your car. Now you can make any radio fit into any car if you are willing to cut enough stuff out of the way and move things as necessary. But, if you are looking at this site and wanting to do the install yourself, KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!!!) Especially if this will be your first install, make it simple. After doing a few installs, dive deeper and deeper into pushing the limits. Just remember, once you make the cut, there's no turning back unless you buy new!!!! TRUST ME!!!!!

From here all you have left to buy is wire. Now this may sound like just run to the local hardware store and pick up just any old wire and make it work. On the contrary. The wire that connects your amps to your battery/ground and from the amps to the speakers can make a big difference in the capabilities of your stereo. For running the main power from the battery to the amps, I recommend running 8 gauge wire at a minimum. Smaller wire will work and not cause any major problems. But, you will see more of a voltage drop at the amp battery input (8 gauge wire that is 15 feet long will drop about .1 volts carrying about 40 amps, while a 12 gauge wire the same length will drop in the neighborhood of 1 volt. This lower voltage seen at the amp results in less power produced by the amp, therefore, less volume and more likelihood of an electrical fire). Another thing to keep in mind is to check your ground wires too. Since you are pulling more power for your stereo, it has to return to the battery by some means. Most ground systems in cars will easily handle a 300 watt RMS system. Go much above that and you will need to upgrade the ground system (but then, you will also be adding a larger alternator, second/third batteries, battery isolators, etc-see where the headaches and money start coming in to play here???)

As for speaker wire, running 12 gauge wire will be more than enough. The same rules apply here as do for the battery. Good quality wire will pay for itself in the long run with better sound. Spend the extra few bucks and get good quality wire and connectors.

You will also need to buy a wiring harness to attach the radio to the vehicle. You can get away without using one, but, this will involve cutting into the factory wiring harness and once you cut, you can't go back. Spend the $10/15 and buy one. This way if you ever look at upgrading your system (you will want to once you get the system in), it is just a matter of removing the trim around the radio, undoing a few plugs and just slipping the new radio into the old radios place. I had to learn this one the hard way when I pulled the stereo out of one car so I could put it in my new car. What a nightmare that turned out to be.

Not all vehicles require a mounting kit (normally a black plastic box open on the back that holds the radio into the dash), but, check and see if yours does. It really bites driving your car to the stereo shop with the dash torn apart just so you can get this $10/15 kit. If you are good with either plumbers tape (metal strapping with holes pre-drilled in it) or sheet styrene, you can by-pass the kit and just make it yourself, much cheaper, but, more work. Your call, your car.

Installing The Equipment

From here, it is just a matter of installing all of your equipment. While what I just said sounds easy, plan on taking a full day to do it yourself. If you are building the subwoofer box too, take 2 days (1 for the box and fitting it into the car and 1 day for the rest of the system). This comes from practical experience. You can do a simple system of 4 speakers using the factory wiring and a radio in about 3-4 hours. When you toss in the amps, aftermarket wiring, etc, you end up tearing apart a lot more of the vehicle (having a laydown area is also nice so parts don't get broken-again, trust me on this one).

To try and cover what each every car is going to have inside of it would take me years to explain. Just take it easy, get a feel for how the manufacturer put the car together. As a rule of thumb, trim around the radio normally has a screw or two and the rest are just snap clips (ie, pull straight back slightly and they come free). As for doors, they have a strip of screws along the bottom, one up near the door handle and then you have to either lift the door panel straight up or pull it straight out. Rear speakers, these are normally mounted from the bottom of the rear deck and is just a matter of undoing a few screws. The biggest problem with the rear speakers is just fitting yourself into the trunk.

Removing the rear seat is normally a matter of undoing two screws holding the bottom of the seat down (look inside the fold of the seat or under the front edge of the seat) and then it is a matter of moving the bottom of the seat to undo any holders and pull the seat from the car. Then removing the back is a matter of undoing two bolts at the bottom of the back and removing the seat (beware, most of these fasteners are Torqs fasteners - 6 points, kinda like a star - these require a special tool to remove them).

Installing the amps is a matter of just finding a reasonable spot and attaching them to the car. This can be easy, it can be hard all based on where you locate the amps. You can get fancy, or just keep it basic. This is up to you and can give your car a personal touch. Just remember KISS. It will do you good in the long run.

Subwoofer Enclosures

These can be simple wooden boxes with a hole cut to mount the speaker in, or they can be complicated, formed fiberglass, consisting of multiple chambers, vent tubes, etc. There's advantages and disadvantages to each type of box. A general rule to follow is the better the box, the more room it is going to require. The question really comes down to how much of the truck/hatchback area you are willing to give up. Again, this is a personal preference and there is no "right" answer. If you want more information, feel free to write me and I will assist you as much as I can.

Something else to keep in mind is the bigger the subwoofer you get, the more room that it is going to require. 8" subs will require at a minimum 0.33 cubic feet, 10" subs require 0.50 cubic feet, 12" subs require 1.00 cubic feet, 15" subs require 2.00 cubic feet per speaker. The enclosure type and speaker manufacturer will dictate the exact volume you will need. Some research in this area is required.