New sound system Tech Article

[Ron Roberts]

Nice article!

I'd like to see some better shots of the console. What are the 2 cylindrical looking things at the top of the console?

Thanks,
Ron

[Sandeep]

Cup holders ? :D

Sandeep

[Ron Roberts]

That was my guess!

Ron

[zen]

they are indeed cupholders. they slide into the ashtray slot, not part of the console. i took a look at no_h2o's console when i was down at his place last week. super nice console and super nice car too. the package tray box is sweet too.

[bren]

i dont want to tread on any toes here, but there are a few glaring errors in that article.

first is the bunching together of signal and power cables in the loom. this is a big NO-NO. signal cables, even sheilded ones, are prone to interference from power cables running alongside them. at the very least, they should only come in close contact if they can be crossed at 90 degrees to each other, but ideally they should be seperated at all cost. If they run parallel and in close contact they will create an audible hiss at high volume. not ideal. this goes for source-to-pre-amp and power amp-to-speaker signal cables. none are exempt

second problem is the use of long ground wires in the loom. all audio systems need as much current as they can get and as all wires have a resistance that increases with length, long earth wires are a waste of current. the cars body is one large earth point. all factory electrical components are earthed as close to source as possible. the same should be done with audio equipment. a short, thick wire from the ground contact, direct to teh body should be used to minimise current loss.

correcting both the above points will return a marked improvement in sound quality, regardless of the quiality and power of the equipment used.

its all in the setup.

[NO_H2O]

Wow, I just found this thread (I'm slow). Don't worry about stepping on my toes, I don't mind beeing corrected. I should have been clear about that. Everything is grounded at each end and the only power running in the loom is the trigger (to turn the amp on) for the amp in the rear, the amp takes its own power from the battery and the head unit takes its power from the fuse block. The trigger wire dose not pass much current and it is DC, AC will cause a lot of noise induction (cycle hum). Thanks for the input.