Let's hear from you! What's something you wish you knew before you built and installed your first car audio system?

My biggest lesson has always been - don't rush an install. Cutting corners or using readily-available, but sub-par parts will be worse than waiting a day or two for the proper parts. Second biggest one is to not be afraid of asking for help if things start to get complicated. My HARDEST one was to not always trust your local shops - they operate on making sales and especially superfluous services. Don't feel ashamed for checking out several ones, getting quotes, going back and forth, and NEVER be afraid in saying no.

Great topic. I wasted alot of $ and even more time buying and installing unnecessary or poor quality gear in my vehicles over the years. Crutchfield has ALWAYS been a great resource, I been huge fan since I got my first catalog around 1988 or so. Now that we all have the internet in our pocket there's absolutely NO reason for folks to go into any kind of build blind like we sometimes had to do back in the day. Your channel (along with a few others) definitely help take the guesswork out of some of the pitfalls a person can come across on their audio journey. Thanks for all you do to spread legit knowledge.

I wish I had understood 20 years ago that I could have achieved the same results with a simpler, less complicated system. Too much equipment and too many speakers. While I have always been of the opinion that it is the installation, speaker placement and the tuning itself that makes a system sound great, I was essentially handy capping myself from the start by not taking a keep it simple approach to the initial system design and equipment selection. The benefits of hindsight I guess!

I understand the value of a DSP, however if you do enough research you will find there is at least 1 headunit that has fantastic dsp settings, I bought a Kenwood a little while ago and while setting it up I discovered it has all sorts of time alignment settings including being able to set speaker sizes, locations, distances and delays for each speaker, my system is far from anything special but just upgrading to that headunit made a world of difference after already adding amps, subs and upgrading all 7 speakers, sounds incredible now for a 30 year old car, but I wish I could've retained the factory CD stacker

I wish that I'd known that I was definitely going to cause irreparable hearing damage, and that I'd regret it.

Time alignment is used to get sound waves in phase when they reach your ear. If you want the stage centered a little left or a little right after that, you need to adjust THE SPEAKER LEVEL, not mess up the perfect phase alignment that good time alignment achieves.

Sound deadening makes a world of difference. Wish I’d had known this years ago.

Choosing the proper vehicle is paramount! Found this out the hard way many times . Also don't mix old school audio tech with new school , unless you're very experienced lol

Wiring!!! I could not tell you how many speakers and amps I would I’ve ruined because I only had a tiny concept of wiring. Especially wiring up multiple dvc speakers. But in all honesty I have learned nearly everything I do now thanks to Marks extremely helpful, well detailed instructions. So thank you Mark!! You’re awesome bro!!

A DSP can't correct a bad installation...but it can correct many sounds issues that you otherwise couldn't "design your way out of" when building your system. You can understand all the best practices of installation and still not see all ends for how it will sound when everything is put together. That's where the DSP comes in.

When I started in 1990, I wish I knew that I'd never be happy with any system, and not even get into the hobby! All the money I spent...........

Your videos are such high quality. I wish everyone else on KZfaq was so articulate. If I could subscribe a million times I would lol

You're right about modern cars being much more complicated! Honestly I don't like all the modern infotainment screens and stuff like that. In the older cars, it's not a difficult thing to install an aftermarket head unit, and that allows for cool stuff like adding carplay to a 96 Lincoln or something. Whenever the interface and features of a modern car start to feel clunky and outdated, I have no idea how you're supposed to make it feel modern again.

Thanks Mark for including me. Also I wish I knew that there were better fasteners to install subs onto a box. Like nutserts. 🤔

Not a shameless plug. I've viewed most his the videos and see it as time well invested. Only one issue, since he joined forces with Mrs. Car Audio there have been fewer videos 😁

Very informative. DSPs can and will make your amps work harder and smarter with efficiency. Thank you!

Hey Mark I just used your crutchfield discount for the kicker snowman pods! Thank you so much! Love your channel as it has helped me be a better DIYer installing all my own gear!

I do love how my old truck which I replaced all 4 of its speakers and headunit I did the entire install with a screwdriver, a lighter, and some cutters.

Dang man, you've always had great info. Thanks for keeping it simple for a lot of those young up and commers. My buddies used to just take their home system and throw it in the back of a 95 Caddy and call it good. Keep it up man.

I remember the high end pioneers used to have time alignment etc.

Thanks for pointing out the box spacing. I told this to people all the time. I used to have a power acoustic Gothic gw124 " the Walmart sleeper ". Everybody used to knock that subwoofer saying that it was crap and yet when I looked at all of their setups nobody that was talking bad about that sub had the proper enclosure size. If you look at the specs for the Walmart sleeper; you'll find that it wants 2.5 cubic feet minimum for a ported enclosure. Yet half the people that were talking bad about the sub had it in about 1.5 cubes. I built a custom box for my Walmart sleeper that was exactly 2.5 cubes before the port and my port also aligned with the specs recommended. I'll tell you what; my single Walmart 12 was pushing 138 decibels on the power acoustic RZR 1 2500 that I bought with it. Now I know that both the sub or the amp don't put out what they claim; but being a matched set, tuned properly, in the recommended box size; I was louder with a single Walmart 12 set up properly, than a couple people I know that had multiple name brand subs on multiple amps. I banged the system on a regular basis almost every day, and never had any problems with heat, bottom out, distortion, nothing. You take what you have and you set it up properly and tune it properly and you'll have spectacular sound. If you want the knocks it's about the box.

tip/idea use a rubber washer on the speaker mounting bolts between the speaker frame and the car door or dash to reduce vibration?

This is the video for the times. Information is more widely available now. Things used to be trial & error. There is some of that now, but all it takes is the right piece of knowledge given to the right seeker...

Me and my dad just used the mounting screw for the wood board for my amp and it works perfect, I’m glad I didn’t have to sturggle

I threw my Butler tube amp in the garbage. Thought was it was faulty from sitting around... ended up being a bad ground in the vehicle. Metal component was actually isolated from vehicle chassis grounding. Was such a good amp

All good comments. Having a quality source is important for tunning. Over the air radio and streaming vary greatly in the sound. I've caught the same song on two different stations and amazed at how different they can sound.

Also for the record our master audio crafter here is where i first learned sound treatment is a thing honestly i felt a little stupid when i learned it because ive installed sound treatment in homes for studios but then again we all have those moments where we just overlooked the concept

Wow, alot of this stuff, i already knew. But i learned a few good pointers. Its nice when you watch a video and know first thing, that the creator obviously knows his stuff

Unfortunately in 1998 when I was competing in USAC there was very little internet and a lot of the tech today just didn’t exist. To bad Soundstream just isn’t what it was. Really enjoyed there 10.0s class A amps and there Reference series Class ABs

I just wanted to add a tip for finding a good ground in your vehicle. So before you check for a good ground run your power wire from the engine bay to where your power run needs to go. Then connect the end that's in the engine bay to where you are going to use your engine bay ground point. For example if you are going to ground your battery to the chassis of your car inside the engine bay Connect the power wire to that spot then in the back of your car use a multimeter to check for spots with extremely low resistance (sub 0.1 ohm but 0.01 or lower is best). The run of power wire will likely be extremely low resistance and you can measure it before you run it as long as you don't change it's length. Lets say that your power wire has a resistance of 0.1ohm and you measure 0.11ohm where you wanna use ground then you are probably in good shape to use that ground point as it didn't add a significant amount of resistance from the front of the car to the rear. At least that's what I did when running my power wires and looking for a good trunk ground.

When i was a teenager my car system 2 12 w6v2 jl audio 1 1000/1 jl audio 16 farah cap 1k of trunk dynamite 2 Blue battery cap Pioneer dolphin head unit

Dsp in an audio system is amazing, biggest boost in sound quality that I've ever noticed

Impendence rise. Thinking I was constantly getting the RMS was a big mistake. I always get double than what I need to hopefully fight some rise

As far as the thickness for the ground wire, it's also worth noting that electrons flow from negative to positive.

I have always wanted a sound quality install after my 140db/148db setup in my s10 back in the day. There's so much i learned but am always still learning. I havn't had a system in years just due to the fact i want to get it right and spend money in the right areas to have quality mids/highs and not just killer bass. My favorite part of my old setup was the Crutchfield brand class a/b amp that ran my mids/highs but I did not have proper sound processing to make it sound as good as it could.

I need help. I have a 2021 Subaru WRX STI. I wanna keep the stock radio. So I installed new speakers and speaker wires. I cut the wires from the stock amplifier to my line output converters. With the head unit maxed out I'm only getting.3 volts out of the RCA jack's does the amplifier need to see a resistance from the speakers. I'm confused. Help please. Thanks

And the DSP is the upgraded version of the old Analog EQ's lol

Manufacturers are integrating LOC's into their amplifiers. This eliminates the need for an LOC like the AudioControl LC2i. You can simply feed the 2V signal (Ford for example) by splicing the speaker wires into the JD500/1 RCA inputs. It picks up the signal and powers on and off automatically.

1st time I actually did the math for the 2 12”s’, I was shocked at how hard and clear it hit! It’s Well worth it!(I Fucking Hate math 🤣🤣)🤘🏻

I wish I had understood that 300 total rms watts (speakers and sub) is more than enough if everything is installed properly with a correct sub box and proper sound dampening.

The wiring part is what i didt know 30 years ago. But i actually reasoned my way thru the wrong answer. The word amplify seems to indicate taking small power and making big power from it..,amplify. Call it a power relocator and people would understand 😉

Love the 👕 Crutchfield since the magazines

Wow I never knew that there were amplifiers with a max gain clip notification light. My audio expertise is stuck in the late 90s-2000s still. Time to live in the now Wayne!

Remember the good old days when car stereo commercials were on the radio like 100 times a day.......those were the days....

Thanx for using my comment! 💯

To the comment about the ground wire. It's fun to think that in electrical theory we think of energy flowing from positive to negative.... In reality, that was actually a foundational mistake, electron flow is from negative to positive. The chassis of the car is your negative lead haha. In reality, it doesnt really matter, as you say its the whole circuit that's the most important to consider.

Thank you for emphasizing "might be better" because often you're paying for a name plate and nothing else. (DS18 and MB Quart are great examples, Amps don't do rated and are priced higher than competition that does do rated)

Beside actual speakers and subs, the biggest difference I've experienced is getting a dm-608, second to that is going nuts on the power to supply the amps. Low voltage is bad all around, for every single thing in your system. After those two, sound treatment. Your car/truck is made with metal, it makes noise. And it makes for an all around more quiet comfortable drive.

Lol Back in the day you really could install a whole system with a Phillips screwdriver, Scissors and electrical tape. Lol

Wish I knew about your website… amazing resource…. I bought design for a ported sub box for $10 it works awesome …and all the the links for your videos amazing

Wish I knew bigger doesn't always mean better like when I had a 15 inch subwoofer in a hatch. Plenty of vibration but that's it

no1 mistake i see everyone making is turning up SLA to max and maxing out boost and other stuff like this that ur head unit might have. your is not a amplifier ...your amp is

I remember my first ported box... Air speed was intense lol.

Learned that for hatchbacks and SUVS ported boxes almost always sound better than sealed. Sedan use a sealed box.

A lot of people over use sound deadening. That sticky butyl stuff is only good for minimizing resonances and does not require 100% coverage, if you want more treatment then that stop wasting money on butyl backed foil and use it on 25% or so of the surface area and then start looking at decoupling foam, mass loaded vinyl, etc.

In my case research is important and if your not satisfied then a little upgrade won't hurt you. 😁😉

Crutchfield is the best!!!

I have found that with using spotify, the file quality is usually better when i have premium, and fairly poor when i do not have premium

man i wish i had you to help me with my install. i need someone that actually knows their shit

i wish i can take my car to you guys CarAudio to install my sound sistem 🙌

I always prefer a bigger earth than positive. A bad earth can cause all sorts of weird issues. Usually the cable can be short to keep costs down.

Good Morning. I am planning on replacing all my speakers in my 2007 ES 350 Lexus. I found the manual for the model I have and the stock amplifier where for the subwoofer it reads a 2.5 ohm. I was wondering is it better to get a 2,4,duel 2, one that has both 2 and 4 ohm. Or is there a way to wire it to a 2.5 ohm. The subwoofer that came stock is blown so don't want to replace everything and only sub. Does it matter if I use a 2 or 4 casue I can't find a 2.5 ohm. Thanks

Buy once, cry once applies to so many other facets too, especially tools.

So this guy has a line out connection on my brain!!

Where do you guys find an endless supply of flac downloads? I've been into car audio for 15 years and still have not found the ultimate plug. I'm also pretty skeptical about downloading from a numerous amount of sources. I grew up in the limewire era.

I love DSP but I’m way too dumb to sit in the car with a module and individually adjusting each knob pretending like I know what I’m doing. I got a Kicker 200.4 with the microphone that tunes itself and it’s been a god send. I hope companies continue with that avenue for a dummy proof DSP experience. Just with that one little amp my car sounds 10x better.

Do you have to have an aftermarket head unit for a DSP????

Recommend all audiocontrol amps and processors. Best in the business.

Actually, grounding is very important because we thought for a long time current moved from positive to negative but in reality it goes the other way, we just used the wrong polarity for the longest time so we didn’t swap the colors

Lol step 1 to sound treat my vw beetle is not to buy sound treatment but to buy new door panels 😂half of my door is actually held together with duct tape granted I did get some stuff to plug the holes in the sheet metal it's self which did help alot now if I had actual door panels and not half a panel might not have quite as much vibration

I got into the competition side back in the 1990’s, the “cheater” amps became a frustration with me, but now I see my miss understanding of possibilities available. Over all it was great time, I recently acquired a ADS 320i pair, thinking of using for small monitors.

The last 3 cars I've had 97 seville 08 BMW 335XI and 2017 Cadillac ATS crutchfield told me I couldn't put a stereo system in those cars and I did lol my advice if your going through crutchfield if they tell you can't do it don't listen keep looking. They do have good advice i will say

Thanks for the video

definitely a great site. only complaint is that they keep claiming I have speakers in my hatch that I have yet to find and I've gutted the vehicle. maybe I just didn't get that in mine? 87 dodge Shelby.

Hey, Mark! As always so awesome to see ur videos. Love them . Keep up the amazing work . So, i wish I new more about dsp. Also , do u know when ur speaker aiming tool will be available? Thank u

Hi Mark, thanks for this informational video. I am planning to get the following after market components installed with my stock HU, what do you think about it: - Morel maximo ultra mk2 component - Morel maximo ultra mk2 coaxial - Zapco ST68X 8ch DSP + 4ch amp - Zapco ST4X II Amp - Morel primo12 subwoofer

Let's say I use 2 gauge power wire that is roughly 5m ( 16 feet ) long. But my Ground needs to be only 1m ( 3 feet ). Would it be fine to use same 2 gauge for ground?

I'm surprised you aren't at a million subscribers already!

You make awesome videos bro, keep it up 👍🏿.

I currently have a subwoofer in my car. I love a deep bass, but what i don't like is the rattle shake and roll vibration I'm hearing that many seem to love. Is there a sub woofer that doesn't shake and vibrate to the point your entire car shakes?

LOL, most Americans don't know that electricity comes from the negative not the positive. so the "ground" wire is arguably more important than the "power" wire.

I have a Mitsubishi triton 2015 I changed my stereo and now I don’t have steering wheel control for the radio what do I do?

Most people don't know about proper enclosures... even those that think they do and sell designs.

is the magnet on that sub tops 1/4 lb lol you toss it around like a pen in your hand JL's base line has really lightened up... my old HX2 and you would have not done this

I'm one of those strange, lonely, hard headed guys that will always ground all components back to the battery. Yea, I've seen the multimeter videos, where spot welds supposedly make just as good continuity as dedicated wiring, but that's why my '89 Buick has dedicated positive and ground junction boxes for the electronics. Same setup for Corvette. Plastic panels and panel bond doesn't conduct well.

All love but I'm super surprised at how many people don't understand Ohm to Amp matching and how quickly they can burn up an Amp running their ohms too low.

I've seen modern cars with great sounds systems. But a nice set of tools, adapters, panels, and special connections were needed. Yes it can be done but someone better be ready when starting this journey. It ain't like it used to be. (:

😊 I don't understand how you can make all those wood pieces and seal off the trunk in the base still get into the cab

Nice ~!!!! as always Mark !!!

Can some one help me I have a problem where my volts on my truck is moving and my amp turms off for a sec and then comes back on! What is the problem

The most important tip of all, make sure to talk with your significant other about your purchase plans before you blow your rent/mortgage payment or go deeper into debt.

My car audio glitches out and throws the speaker balance around left and right....haven't been able to enjoy or replace the deck yet....the old non GSM deck didn't do that lol

Speaking of enclosures and air volume. I'm going to build a stealthy subwoofer in my Honda Civic and my current design has 42.45 liters. Could I look for a subwoofer that are close to those specs or should I find one that works best at let's say 40 liters and adjust my design? How much difference does 2,5 liters make? When I think about it those 42.4 liters are just the box. I haven't calculated with the volume the subwoofer occupies as well as supports in the box.

Go Active!

I feel electrical n box quality are of similar importance. A 12k amp on stock electrical has crossed my path twice this year. Just give me the $ n save your time

Bro why does my sub sounds like it's behind me and how do I fix it?

I'm having a problem with my headset the volume seems to be decreasing day by day I've done the big 3 replaced the alternator to a high output and redid my wiring with 0 gauge ofc all around please help

Hello I drive a Toyota highlander 2023 model with 11 speaker Jbl. I am planning to get a sub and amplifier. I do not want to change the speakers and the stock headunit. Do I need a DSP ? Thank you

I have a tool fetish…can’t agree with “enough” tools!🤷🏻‍♂️😂😂🤣🤣