Alpine head unit??

Hi,

I was thinking of getting one of those 4 x 60w new alpine HU but my friend told me that they draw so much current that I would need a new wire for current... he says the stock one (the one I'm using to power my pionner HU) is not enough...

is this true? or can I use my stock wires?

RoadRunner

Many of the newer/powerful units are like that..

just go get the power from a bigger awg wire, such as the one near ignition.

but its not a must.. if you do it, the internal amps will have a greater potential.

Also, if you'll be powering your speakers with amps, then you dont really need to worry about it.

Originally posted by RoadRunner
Hi,

I was thinking of getting one of those 4 x 60w new alpine HU but my friend told me that they draw so much current that I would need a new wire for current... he says the stock one (the one I'm using to power my pionner HU) is not enough...

is this true? or can I use my stock wires?

RoadRunner

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Wow is your friend ever wrong. The avg current drawn from HUs is about 10-25A, and even 25A is REALLY pushing it. And the power wire going into the HU is about 20 AWG which is more then enough to support that much current. And as for the speakers, it's roughly the same wire size, but it's only putting out about 20W rms, which really isn't much. Once again, the stock wiring can handle it. You'll never need to worry about rewiring just for a stock HU, most available today on the market come nowhere near those limits, besides re-running speaker wire and anything behind the dash is a real pain in the ass!

Actually, it is better to upgrade the wires, especially if you'll be running the speakres off the internal amps of the HU.


But again, its not essential (especially if you dont listen loud --- or with lots a bass).

Originally posted by Accord Man
Actually, it is better to upgrade the wires, especially if you'll be running the speakres off the internal amps of the HU.


But again, its not essential (especially if you dont listen loud --- or with lots a bass).

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that has nothing to do with it..... simple fact is, the internal amplifier will not push enough power to need better wires. And if you end up running an external amp to any speakers in the car, thats when it's necessary to change. Keep in mind his 60x4 is peak power, which equates to around 20W RMS (with a clipped output signal), roughly around 15W RMS (clean).

Stock HUs put around 10-15W RMS (clipped output), and even that is pushing it.

Originally posted by 99AltimaGXE

that has nothing to do with it..... simple fact is, the internal amplifier will not push enough power to need better wires. And if you end up running an external amp to any speakers in the car, thats when it's necessary to change. Keep in mind his 60x4 is peak power, which equates to around 20W RMS (with a clipped output signal), roughly around 15W RMS (clean).

Stock HUs put around 10-15W RMS (clipped output), and even that is pushing it.

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When you consider Alpine's amps, they arent really the same as Pioneer/Kenwood.. Just their power supplies are around 30% bigger, and heavier. So the amps arent as crappy as most may think.

I once hooked up an Alpine HU (4*60) on the little oem 12+ wire, and checked the wattage output to each speaker.. After doing so, I connected the power wire to a bigger awg 12+ source. And the wattage was around 25% more. But those are just figures..
When listening to the sound, I was able to turn the dial up higher (without audible distorsion), with the better power source.


On top of that, the display on HU will tend to dim at a higher volumes (and no its obviously not because of an alt issue).


So once again, try to get a better +12v source.

ok thats it, I give up!@!#@! Looks like thats 5 yrs of knowledge down the drain.

And how, you do know that 25% is a big number! Those must have been some shitty wires, cause no normal wire will create that much resistance. With a 25% increase in output power, before you rewired you must have melted a lot of wires under there. I am somewhat skeptical of your testing. Besides power output means nothing unless you can test THD too. And audible ditortion is not a good way to judge anything! That is unless you want to blow your speakers that much faster. Distortion is what destroys speakers, and so does clipping. Before I get into explaining what these are, (i'm hoping you know already), will not cause much difference in distortion on a HU. Plain and simply, its just NOT ENOUGH power to nessecitate the work of changing the wires. If your going to go to all that trouble for your stock speakers, or for you HUs power, JUST FORGET IT! You may as well buy an amp and rewire with some good clean power. It's a waste of time and effort. Besides if you were that much of an audiophile, rewiring stock speaker wire from the HU would never even be a consideration!

Dude dont get all jumpy over nothing..


Where's the big trouble in bringing your HU's 12+ wire to under your dash?? Its a small thing to do, to be able to play a little louder (maintaining clean sound)..

Fear not, you dont need to explain what distortion is..

Originally posted by Accord Man
Dude dont get all jumpy over nothing..


Where's the big trouble in bringing your HU's 12+ wire to under your dash?? Its a small thing to do, to be able to play a little louder (maintaining clean sound)..

Fear not, you dont need to explain what distortion is..

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Earlier in the thread you were talking about rewiring the speaker wires with a bigger awg. Now just the +12...

Originally posted by 99AltimaGXE

Earlier in the thread you were talking about rewiring the speaker wires with a bigger awg. Now just the +12...

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huh really?!


anyways, this is getting pointless, so lets juts drop it.

HEY GUYS! let's calm down! lol

anyways... I think I'll go with 99AltimaGXE cause I've read a lot of his posts and I think he's right... it's not that much of power increase... my pionner now is 50w x 4 and I haven't got any melted wires so far!

Thanks 99AltimaGXE!!

and no offense to Accord Man...

peace :bigup:

RoadRunner

PS: another question... is it a good idea to change my HU or is it better to get an amp (2 channel) for my (3 yrs old) front boston acoustics rally components? which will satisfy me more in terms of good clear loud sound?

Originally posted by RoadRunner
HEY GUYS! let's calm down! lol

anyways... I think I'll go with 99AltimaGXE cause I've read a lot of his posts and I think he's right... it's not that much of power increase... my pionner now is 50w x 4 and I haven't got any melted wires so far!

Thanks 99AltimaGXE!!

and no offense to Accord Man...

peace :bigup:

RoadRunner

PS: another question... is it a good idea to change my HU or is it better to get an amp (2 channel) for my (3 yrs old) front boston acoustics rally components? which will satisfy me more in terms of good clear loud sound?

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none taken!

if you just want better sound, depending how good your components are, I'd probably just get an amp..

Originally posted by Accord Man


if you just want better sound, depending how good your components are, I'd probably just get an amp..

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:bigup:

Wow! That was a pretty intense debate.

Since you guys seem to know your stuff, maybe you'd be able to tell me which HU's (new models) have the best skip-protection. I'm in the market for a new HU and my main concern is skip cause my ride is quite bumpy. Who's the best(Alpine,Pioneer...)?

thanks in advance!

P.S. I would like to spend less than a grand if that helps.

WOW... $1000 for a HU is a great start. You can get alot for that. With that kind of cash, I would look into Nakamichi or exclipse, you don't get all the gizmos, but you get high quality. Otherwise for mainstream, look into Alpine and Clarion, they'll do the job fairly well also!

skip-protection : is just one part of the puzzle..

Before knowing which HU you'll need, you gotta tell us what type of system you are wanting to build..

Are you seriously into high fidelity sound reproduction (SQ), or bumping loud as hell (SPL), or simply something that'll get some points at exposition..

So you see, we could just yell out brand names, but that wouldnt really be helping you...

Thanks for the advice guys:bigup:
To answer your setup question, I won't be putting any subs or even an amp for the speakers. Right now I have the stock Acura component set in the front, and the stock 6 1/2 speakers(I think that's the size) in the back. The only other thing I'll probably get after the HU is high quality speakers. Maybe I'll do this all at the same time if I have enough $$$. But my main concern is the skipping, second sound quality. I've had quite a few HU's including the Clarion 5190, and a couple of the later Kenwood models. To tell you the truth I don't find the sound quality of the Kenwood HU's to be up to par with Clarion,Pioneer, and Alpine.

Oh and I almost forgot! Where is the best place to shop in MTL(I don't mind travelling since I'm in the west island). Unfortunately I don't really have a hookup for radios since I'm more in the performance business.