Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

General chat about the car goes in here.
Post Reply
supplyguy

Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by supplyguy »

I just spent a week off and on installing a Clarion XC 1410 amplifier in my glove box. It looks like hell. When I had the amp in there and no wires it seemed like a good idea. As I ran more and more wires through a PO hole in the back of the glove box, I kind of new this was a bad idea. Finished tonight and powered up - sounds pretty good but not great - but the nest of wires just makes it look amateurish, ugly, and vulnerable to disconnects. With four speaker wires (eight connections), the blue wire, power and ground, and four RCA cables, it's just too much. Would love to see photos of others' amp locations if anyone has them available. Many thanks,
fiat218
Posts: 5745
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 5:06 pm
Your car is a: 1969 124 AS spider

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by fiat218 »

supplyguy wrote:I just spent a week off and on installing a Clarion XC 1410 amplifier in my glove box. It looks like hell. When I had the amp in there and no wires it seemed like a good idea. As I ran more and more wires through a PO hole in the back of the glove box, I kind of new this was a bad idea. Finished tonight and powered up - sounds pretty good but not great - but the nest of wires just makes it look amateurish, ugly, and vulnerable to disconnects. With four speaker wires (eight connections), the blue wire, power and ground, and four RCA cables, it's just too much. Would love to see photos of others' amp locations if anyone has them available. Many thanks,
I was going to run mine out of the trunk . I'd like to see some ideas too
Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
1969 124 AS Spider
2017 Abrath
2018 Alfa Romeo 4c Spider
fiat218
Posts: 5745
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 5:06 pm
Your car is a: 1969 124 AS spider

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by fiat218 »

supplyguy wrote:I just spent a week off and on installing a Clarion XC 1410 amplifier in my glove box. It looks like hell. When I had the amp in there and no wires it seemed like a good idea. As I ran more and more wires through a PO hole in the back of the glove box, I kind of new this was a bad idea. Finished tonight and powered up - sounds pretty good but not great - but the nest of wires just makes it look amateurish, ugly, and vulnerable to disconnects. With four speaker wires (eight connections), the blue wire, power and ground, and four RCA cables, it's just too much. Would love to see photos of others' amp locations if anyone has them available. Many thanks,
U must have a small amp, to get it set in the glove box?
Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
1969 124 AS Spider
2017 Abrath
2018 Alfa Romeo 4c Spider
Daniel

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by Daniel »

supplyguy wrote:I just spent a week off and on installing a Clarion XC 1410 amplifier in my glove box. It looks like hell. When I had the amp in there and no wires it seemed like a good idea. As I ran more and more wires through a PO hole in the back of the glove box, I kind of new this was a bad idea. Finished tonight and powered up - sounds pretty good but not great - but the nest of wires just makes it look amateurish, ugly, and vulnerable to disconnects. With four speaker wires (eight connections), the blue wire, power and ground, and four RCA cables, it's just too much. Would love to see photos of others' amp locations if anyone has them available. Many thanks,
If you cut a 1/4 to 1/2 board to fit the side of your trunk that would be a nice place for it then use some spray glue
and carpet run all the wires back there.
spiderrey
Posts: 2623
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:08 pm
Your car is a: 70 124 spider-74x19-03 ranger edge
Location: San Dimas, Ca

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by spiderrey »

Actually, there is some dead space behind the back seat that I think would be perfect.
fiat218
Posts: 5745
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 5:06 pm
Your car is a: 1969 124 AS spider

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by fiat218 »

That is small. U arnt using subs?
Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
1969 124 AS Spider
2017 Abrath
2018 Alfa Romeo 4c Spider
supplyguy

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by supplyguy »

Trying to learn about subs now. With a four channel amp.....two outputs go to the front two speakers....meaning I'd use one of the outputs for the rear pair for a sub?
Daniel

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by Daniel »

supplyguy wrote:Trying to learn about subs now. With a four channel amp.....two outputs go to the front two speakers....meaning I'd use one of the outputs for the rear pair for a sub?
Most car amps are bridgeable they play with the impedance by using the left and right channel wiring, Positive
from one and a negative from the other to double the power output. I've used a lot of 4 channel amps in my time doing
just that 2 speakers on 2 channels and the sub on the other 2. even used 2 ohm stable 4 channel amps to drive
4 speakers on the front 2 outputs for the sub on the other 2.

I think this would be a much better choice
http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosgate- ... 57&sr=1-25
or this
http://www.amazon.com/JBL-MA6004-4-Chan ... 61&sr=1-22
Last edited by Daniel on Fri May 02, 2014 6:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
fiat218
Posts: 5745
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 5:06 pm
Your car is a: 1969 124 AS spider

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by fiat218 »

Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
1969 124 AS Spider
2017 Abrath
2018 Alfa Romeo 4c Spider
supplyguy

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by supplyguy »

We are making progress. First, in retrospect the amps you recommended Daniel are much nicer for not much more money. I paid $89 (free shipping) for the little Clarion because it got good reviews and was small. But it is done and I have to make this one work. If I'm reading your posting right, with my amp's four speaker outputs, I can (and have) use two of those for the front speakers. But I can take the positive from #3 and negative from #4 and attach them to a single voice coil subwoofer and get twice the power from that single sucker? Is this "bridging"? The Clarion says its non-bridgeable. Would it be better to buy a dual voice coil subwoofer speaker and just use the remaining two speaker outputs on that?

Can the two remaining rear speaker outputs be spliced to power one dual voice coil subwoofer speaker, and a dual voice coil three way speaker? If so, maybe I make a box with one of each for the back seat?

Last, read the article Jim provided and learned my wiring for the power, remote, and ground are all solid. That said, the RMS part was new - the Clarion is 50w x4 RMS, and the $45 Kenwood speakers I bought http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1131395PS/ ... html?tp=97for the map pockets are 40w RMS max. Presumes this means I could blow out the Kenwoods if I up the volume? As with the amp, I have to live with the purchases I made and want to make this work.
fiat218
Posts: 5745
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 5:06 pm
Your car is a: 1969 124 AS spider

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by fiat218 »

They should be equal. Just don't crank it up :)
Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
1969 124 AS Spider
2017 Abrath
2018 Alfa Romeo 4c Spider
Daniel

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by Daniel »

supplyguy wrote:We are making progress. First, in retrospect the amps you recommended Daniel are much nicer for not much more money. I paid $89 (free shipping) for the little Clarion because it got good reviews and was small. But it is done and I have to make this one work. If I'm reading your posting right, with my amp's four speaker outputs, I can (and have) use two of those for the front speakers. But I can take the positive from #3 and negative from #4 and attach them to a single voice coil subwoofer and get twice the power from that single sucker? Is this "bridging"? The Clarion says its non-bridgeable. Would it be better to buy a dual voice coil subwoofer speaker and just use the remaining two speaker outputs on that?


Can the two remaining rear speaker outputs be spliced to power one dual voice coil subwoofer speaker, and a dual voice coil three way speaker? If so, maybe I make a box with one of each for the back seat?

Last, read the article Jim provided and learned my wiring for the power, remote, and ground are all solid. That said, the RMS part was new - the Clarion is 50w x4 RMS, and the $45 Kenwood speakers I bought http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1131395PS/ ... html?tp=97for the map pockets are 40w RMS max. Presumes this means I could blow out the Kenwoods if I up the volume? As with the amp, I have to live with the purchases I made and want to make this work.
Not all amps are bridgeable if its not designed to be wired that it simply will not work. The amp you purchased is small in size the purpose for an amp like that is for tight spots or easy concealment.
Daniel

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by Daniel »

What you could do is use the small clarion amp for your speakers and buy a 2 channel bridgeable amp for a sub nothing
wasted and have a full complete sound system. Just an ideal :D
User avatar
81SPIDERMATT
Posts: 1239
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:10 pm
Your car is a: 1981 spider 2000
Location: FORT COLLINS, CO

Re: Anyone have pix of good amplifier locations?

Post by 81SPIDERMATT »

spiderrey wrote:Actually, there is some dead space behind the back seat that I think would be perfect.
I have found this dead space also while looking for a location for my amplifier .... amp is bigger than I remember it looking in the store... really tight fit next to battery and I would have to build some bracket or platform to mount it on .... according to my rough measurement there is about 4 or 5 inches behind the seat and the back metal and a pretty big footprint to work with also .... not what I would call a drafty area but I am sure the air moves enough for venting considerations of the amp .....
Post Reply