Do you have audio questions?

[Vicr]

Thanks. Did you cut your own holes or did you have them do that? I’m assuming you ordered a square basically and drilled your own holes


How thick is your sheet too?

Yes, I drilled my own holes but very slowly so the drill bit doesn’t start to melt the Lexan. The piece is 1/4” thick and rectangle with room for another amp.

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[FreedomPenguin]

Next question.

I spoke to Hextall, I am buying a 12 speaker DSP so I can wire in a subwoofer without tapping rear speakers, I also purchased an HD / Sat acm from a 15 GT.

The question I have is, since I replaced the ACM + DSP on my car, and replacing the rear speakers with coaxials to match 12 speaker cars. Are the car amps different between 9 and 12 car stereo?

Should I try and find a 12 speaker amp if they produce a little more power? Keep in mind, im only changing center console speaker with DB351 + changing rears to GTO629's coaxials + JL stealhtbox. + HD/SAT acm from GT + 12 DSP from a car.

If I put a GT ACM in my ecoboost, do I lose the engine noise producer? I dont know if they have the same features just disabled via forscan or not.



IS the DSP the amplifier? I was thinking an amplifier and DSP are separate. need clarification. Thanks!

 

[Silver550]

I have a question for you guys.
Ok, I’m going to be using the RF DSR1 and I’m going to hook up the front 3 door speakers only and the sub. What amp settings should I put on the amps for the fronts? I’m thinking of leaving it at full range because I’m going to be using the DSR1 for crossover. Or do I put ch’s 1 and 2 to high pass on the amp for the tweets?

 

[ahl395]

Next question.

I spoke to Hextall, I am buying a 12 speaker DSP so I can wire in a subwoofer without tapping rear speakers, I also purchased an HD / Sat acm from a 15 GT.

The question I have is, since I replaced the ACM + DSP on my car, and replacing the rear speakers with coaxials to match 12 speaker cars. Are the car amps different between 9 and 12 car stereo?

Should I try and find a 12 speaker amp if they produce a little more power? Keep in mind, im only changing center console speaker with DB351 + changing rears to GTO629's coaxials + JL stealhtbox. + HD/SAT acm from GT + 12 DSP from a car.

If I put a GT ACM in my ecoboost, do I lose the engine noise producer? I dont know if they have the same features just disabled via forscan or not.



IS the DSP the amplifier? I was thinking an amplifier and DSP are separate. need clarification. Thanks!

Are you saying you are adding a DSP an aftermarket amps, but not changing the front door speakers? No offense, but this makes no sense. Running a 12 channel DSP, amps, etc and hooking them up to stock front speakers is like having a 800hp car on 4 donuts. If anything, forget the center speaker entirely and replace the door speakers.

One of the main points of a DSP is so you can run an active setup, so you will want to replace all the door and rear speakers with standalone speakers (no included crossover) and use the DSP to adjust that. Even if not, you'll still want to replace the front door speakers with components (will include a woofer and tweeter with a crossover)

There are no 12 channel amps. If you are doing an active setup you will need to get two 4 channel amps for the speakers and a subwoofer amp. or two 5 channel amps (5th will be for the sub). If you run component setup in the front (and forget about the center) you will only need a single 4 channel amp and sub amp (or a 5 channel).

IMO, if your not running an active setup, skip the DSP. Use that money for better component speakers.

The rear speakers you mentioned are rated for 60W so you will want an amp that puts out something close to that to the speaker channels.

I have a question for you guys.
Ok, I’m going to be using the RF DSR1 and I’m going to hook up the front 3 door speakers only and the sub. What amp settings should I put on the amps for the fronts? I’m thinking of leaving it at full range because I’m going to be using the DSR1 for crossover. Or do I put ch’s 1 and 2 to high pass on the amp for the tweets?

If your using a DSR1 (or any sound processor) you can control the crossovers through that. You will want to put the amps on full range no crossover. Best to only run one crossover at a time.

 

[FreedomPenguin]

I’m installing the stock dsp from a 12 speaker car, replacing mine with it, so I have sub out. That’s it, nothing else aftermarket or anything

All I did was change my rears to coaxial, and adding sub. By adding the dsp from 12 car I have a sub out outlet where a stock sub would
Normally grab signal

70 dollars for rear speakers
500 for JL box
And 100 or so for the dsp and wiring. Now I’ll have a 12 speaker car like the pro shaker

 

[ahl395]

I’m installing the stock dsp from a 12 speaker car, replacing mine with it, so I have sub out. That’s it, nothing else aftermarket or anything

All I did was change my rears to coaxial, and adding sub. By adding the dsp from 12 car I have a sub out outlet where a stock sub would
Normally grab signal

70 dollars for rear speakers
500 for JL box
And 100 or so for the dsp and wiring. Now I’ll have a 12 speaker car like the pro shaker

Ah ok, stock "dsp". Disregard my post then. Sounded like you were adding an aftermarket DSP.

 

[FreedomPenguin]

Ah ok, stock "dsp". Disregard my post then. Sounded like you were adding an aftermarket DSP.

Ah nah. I don’t know how to do all that and the stock system to me I’m very happy with. I changed all the forescan codes yesterday to 0 eq, etc and have those rear coaxial’s in. The car sounds awesome now!

Waiting on the Hextall harness+dsp to arrive. Then i’ll Be installing sub.

Do the stock 9 and 12 amp/dsp have the same power output? The one in passenger kick area. Wondering if the 12 has a little more power or if same. I’m going to power my JL with 500 watt amp under passenger seat

 

[Todd00000]

I'm just not an audiophile anymore, but I was disappointed with the stock 6 speaker system until I Synced and listened to my mp3s. Now I think all I need is some good base. I think I'd be happy with the Rockford Fosgate 300w 10" powered sub-woofer box.

With a dedicated sub-woofer, I could turn down the base with the equalizer so the 6.5" speakers can do what they do best, mid-range. BUT if I tap into the rear speaker wires for the signal for the sub-woofer will reducing base with the equalizer reduce the available hertz range for the sub-woofer?

 

[Vicr]

I'm just not an audiophile anymore, but I was disappointed with the stock 6 speaker system until I Synced and listened to my mp3s. Now I think all I need is some good base. I think I'd be happy with the Rockford Fosgate 300w 10" powered sub-woofer box.

With a dedicated sub-woofer, I could turn down the base with the equalizer so the 6.5" speakers can do what they do best, mid-range. BUT if I tap into the rear speaker wires for the signal for the sub-woofer will reducing base with the equalizer reduce the available hertz range for the sub-woofer?

You'll need to use a DSP. The LC2i would be perfect as this has great adjustments for BASS.

 

[Todd00000]

You'll need to use a DSP. The LC2i would be perfect as this has great adjustments for BASS.

I know you think you've answered my question but really you have created more. LOL
Would this DSP have to be connected to the factory stereo?

 

[Vicr]

I know you think you've answered my question but really you have created more. LOL
Would this DSP have to be connected to the factory stereo?

Yes, it's easy just tap off the rear deck speaker wires. The DSP will take the signal and process it to the full signal and then thru the RCA out jacks send the signal to the sub amp.

 

[Todd00000]

Yes, it's easy just tap off the rear deck speaker wires. The DSP will take the signal and process it to the full signal and then thru the RCA out jacks send the signal to the sub amp.

So when I reduce the bass through my stock radio the DSP will correct for this?

Maybe this is the right question. When I reduce bass with the stock radio am I reducing gain or the hertz?

 

[FreedomPenguin]

So when I reduce the bass through my stock radio the DSP will correct for this?

Maybe this is the right question. When I reduce bass with the stock radio am I reducing gain or the hertz?

Theres one other option which I am doing, if you buy a DSP from a 12 speaker car, it has the port designed for sub out. That wouldn't mean much to us normally but Hextall guy on the forum has a harness that has a clip into the dsp that has "signal turn on" and RCA's out for sub which has the original full sub signal. Granted, both items shipped together cost like 150 for me together. the lc2i is like 99 on amazon currently. seemed simpler for my needs.

lc2i is easiest route I imagine, but this is also something to consider. I think a 12 dsp would work same on base car a a premium 9.

 

[Canoman]

So when I reduce the bass through my stock radio the DSP will correct for this?

Maybe this is the right question. When I reduce bass with the stock radio am I reducing gain or the hertz?

This got kind of lengthy, but bear with me.

The LC2i is not really a DSP. It's a high-quality line-out converter that takes in speaker level signal and outputs line-level signal to feed into amps. It has some bass restoration capability that helps to defeat bass roll-off. Bass roll-off is something they do to protect the speakers so that as the volume increases, the bass decreases to keep the factory speakers operating in a range they can handle. You can defeat the bass roll-off in the stock head unit using a USB-to-ODBII cable, a PC and a program called Forscan. There are lots of threads about Forscan here on the forums.

A DSP usually takes line-level signal from a head unit (some have speaker-level inputs - a Rockford Fosgate DSR1 does, among others) and lets you set all kinds of equalization, time alignment and crossover points that you can't do in the stock head unit, or with a unit like an LC2i. A DSP would let you input front R/L, and rear R/L, sum the signals, then divide them up into signal for tweeters, signal for midrange, signal for mid-bass and signal for subwoofers, and send all those signals to separate amplifiers. This is known as an "active" system and doesn't use passive crossovers because the DSP is acting as the crossover and divvying up the signal range.

To answer your question on the bass control in your head unit, if you turn down the bass there, you're basically turning down the volume of the range of signal that Ford deemed "bass" when they designed the system. If you "changed the hertz" you'd be changing the notes in the music, as each note has its own frequency (hertz). The bass control does not change this at all - it just changes the volume of the bass frequencies, with respect to the overall volume of the system. This is what you can do with equalization, only a DSP would give you much finer control than just bass/mid/treble.

When you ask about "reducing the gain or the hertz," I'm not sure you're using the right terms here. We're talking about sound waves and how they travel. Frequency is how close together the peaks of the sound wave are to one another. Sound coming from the tweeters has sound waves with a much higher frequency (hertz) than sound coming from the midbass drivers, meaning the peaks on the wave are much closer together coming from the tweeters than they are coming from the midbass drivers. See: http://www.howmusicworks.org/103/Sound-and-Music/Amplitude-and-Frequency

Soundwaves can have different frequency, but the same amplitude, which equates to volume. Amplitude (volume) is the relative height between the peaks and valleys of the wave. An amplifier increases the amplitude of the sound waves without changing their frequency or shape, thereby making it louder without changing the notes. "Gain" is a term that refers to how much the amplifier increases the amplitude of the wave from the input signal to the output signal.

Since I do not have an LC2i, I can't test it, but I am assuming that it does not defeat the bass control in the head unit. I assume that it looks at the bass frequencies, and when it sees that the low end of the bass frequency range is quieter than the high end of the bass frequency range, it will boost the volume of the section of the range that it sees is too low. I assume that the bass adjustment on the head unit affects a wider range of frequency than the LC2i is analyzing/adjusting. Maybe some folks who own one can confirm.

 

[Todd00000]

This got kind of lengthy, but bear with me.

The LC2i is not really a DSP. It's a high-quality line-out converter that takes in speaker level signal and outputs line-level signal to feed into amps. It has some bass restoration capability that helps to defeat bass roll-off. Bass roll-off is something they do to protect the speakers so that as the volume increases, the bass decreases to keep the factory speakers operating in a range they can handle. You can defeat the bass roll-off in the stock head unit using a USB-to-ODBII cable, a PC and a program called Forscan. There are lots of threads about Forscan here on the forums.

A DSP usually takes line-level signal from a head unit (some have speaker-level inputs - a Rockford Fosgate DSR1 does, among others) and lets you set all kinds of equalization, time alignment and crossover points that you can't do in the stock head unit, or with a unit like an LC2i. A DSP would let you input front R/L, and rear R/L, sum the signals, then divide them up into signal for tweeters, signal for midrange, signal for mid-bass and signal for subwoofers, and send all those signals to separate amplifiers. This is known as an "active" system and doesn't use passive crossovers because the DSP is acting as the crossover and divvying up the signal range.

To answer your question on the bass control in your head unit, if you turn down the bass there, you're basically turning down the volume of the range of signal that Ford deemed "bass" when they designed the system. If you "changed the hertz" you'd be changing the notes in the music, as each note has its own frequency (hertz). The bass control does not change this at all - it just changes the volume of the bass frequencies, with respect to the overall volume of the system. This is what you can do with equalization, only a DSP would give you much finer control than just bass/mid/treble.

When you ask about "reducing the gain or the hertz," I'm not sure you're using the right terms here. We're talking about sound waves and how they travel. Frequency is how close together the peaks of the sound wave are to one another. Sound coming from the tweeters has sound waves with a much higher frequency (hertz) than sound coming from the midbass drivers, meaning the peaks on the wave are much closer together coming from the tweeters than they are coming from the midbass drivers. See: http://www.howmusicworks.org/103/Sound-and-Music/Amplitude-and-Frequency

Soundwaves can have different frequency, but the same amplitude, which equates to volume. Amplitude (volume) is the relative height between the peaks and valleys of the wave. An amplifier increases the amplitude of the sound waves without changing their frequency or shape, thereby making it louder without changing the notes. "Gain" is a term that refers to how much the amplifier increases the amplitude of the wave from the input signal to the output signal.

Since I do not have an LC2i, I can't test it, but I am assuming that it does not defeat the bass control in the head unit. I assume that it looks at the bass frequencies, and when it sees that the low end of the bass frequency range is quieter than the high end of the bass frequency range, it will boost the volume of the section of the range that it sees is too low. I assume that the bass adjustment on the head unit affects a wider range of frequency than the LC2i is analyzing/adjusting. Maybe some folks who own one can confirm.

Thank you so much for the explanation.

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