designing new system with old parts

[ZO622]

I have a lot of parts from my older vehicles. I just bought a new 2014 Honda Accord 4 dr and the system sucks. I am going to use the stock deck with a processor.
I only have room for front door speakers and tweeters and rear deck speakers. I want to keep my trunk room and fold down the rear seats if possible. Will buy a set of 6.5 focal componets.

I have laying around:

AMPS
1 PG ZX450
1 PG Xenon 4.200
1 Alpine mrf 540
1 Soundstream 300sx

SPEAKERS
Diamond Audio Hex 6.5 componets
2 Soundstream SPL 10's
1 Soundstream SPL 12

Is the Zx450 a better amp than the Xenon 4.200
the Apine 540 seems to small at 50 watts @12v and 80 watts @ 14.4 birth sheet says 83 watts
Should I sell all the parts and start new or will some of these old parts do the job.
i want it loud and clear. dont know about clipping and ohms just want to best for the money

[kg1961]

has the caps been changed in the zx450 if not and the x work use it 200x4 I a lot of power
the diamond are a great set of speaker I would use them

[ZO622]

Never changed the caps amp still works. What will changing the caps do? Can I power the 2 sets of components off of the Xenon 4200

[zeropoint0.5]

Never changed the caps amp still works. What will changing the caps do? Can I power the 2 sets of components off of the Xenon 4200

Changing the input caps (the 4 you see through the right glass) will save the amp from frying out !!!!!!!!!!!

[ttocs]

pg amps were known to have caps that would leak a fluid that can conduct and make for a large explosion that can make the amp good for little more then misc parts.

LOVE the hex componants had them in both of my cars.

[ZO622]

so if they haven't leaked in 10 years are they a time bomb waiting to happen or did I just get a good set. If the Hex speakers only say 60 watts then maybe it's better to buy 2 sets of the Focal speakers that say they are 140 watts

[kg1961]

they are a time bomb waiting to have problems

[ZO622]

so what's the cost of replacing the caps? If it's more than a hundred bucks I think I would rather sell the ZX450 and just buy a big amp to power of one or two subs. My thought is use the1 12" Soundstream SPL until I can afford one of those 800 watt subs and amp.
I just don't know if that pg Zenon 4.200 will give me the stereo show sound I'm looking for

[kg1961]

Its not to bad there are members here that can or you can yourself. Look it up
Or if you do sell it remember to say the caps have not been done

[ajaye]

I just finished putting a stereo in my 4 door sedan (Maxima) doing the same thing, using stuff I had laying around and also jumping on deals. You have PLENTY to make a loud and good sounding stereo already if you pay attention to details with the install itself. For one, Those Diamonds are fairly sensitive for that kind of power handling. I've got an OLD amp pushing about 80rms to my $40 Kicker components that are 88db sensitivity and the tweeters will make your ears bleed if I really cranked the volume up.

I would start with The Alpine bridged to the Diamond components in the front doors. If you can mount the tweeters so you are on-axis, even better. If you have the room, I would make a baffle to mount the diamond mid-woofer on in the door vs bolting it straight to thin sheet metal. The deader you can make that driver sit in that door, the more energy it will be able to put out as sound. With the Alpine pushing ~200 watts/side and high-passed somewhere in the 60-90hz range I bet it sounds great. I didn't look closely at the xover, but it looks like it it is adjustable for each of the 4 channels. If you really want it to sound great and the settings allow it, try running the components active.
I wouldn't even bother with any rear deck speakers unless you have passengers all the time. I have 6x9s in my rear deck, don't even plug them in anymore, its just wasting power I could be putting to better use in my front speakers, and I don't have the ability to adjust for phase difference so I just stick with the fronts.

Use the Xenon with the 2 10"s, again bridged, and in a well designed, well built, well braced enclosure. I don't know anything about those subs but unless they are retarded 400 rms each should get them moving just fine. Then sell me the zx450 for cheap.
Honestly I think you get a much better return on investment spending time on details in the install vs going for the highest priced electronics. I have read some pretty respected home audio guys (dare i say "audiophiles") openly admit they buy the cheapest electronics they can find that they know are suitable for the application, and spend their efforts on quality drivers and construction of speakers, room treatment, speaker placement, etc.

That's my $.02.

[ZO622]

that all sounds great except for the selling you my ZX 450 Lol

[ajaye]

that all sounds great except for the selling you my ZX 450 Lol

figured it was worth a shot slipping that in there hahaha. Its worth getting it recapped, and you can go with a layout like I gave you so you're up and running at least then get it recapped at your leisure, then later see if it sounds better than one of the amps you are using already down the road.

There's definitely a good system in there somewhere with what you have already if you spend some time on it. Doing things like using sound deadener/dampener in the doors to stiffen thing up and especially behind the mid woofers to absorb the back wave would be another one. Active equing and subsonic filtering the low passed preamp signal to the subs is a good way to flatten out response and get the power you have working for you where you need it. Something I'm experimenting with now is damping the drivers' chassis themselves with deadener like dynamat, another inexpensive way to squeeze all the energy you have running to the speaker out through the cone. I've read about even balancing the cone itself but I'm not going that far on my craigs list/bargain bin stuff lol. Another thing that sometimes gets overlooked is sound isolation. The more you can isolate the inside of your car from the outside, the more road/engine/environment noise you keep out and the more of your music you keep in, leaving less work your system has to do for your ears to hear it. I know I'm getting a little off topic, but all this stuff makes it easier to make the stuff you already have work for you.

[ZO622]

There is a guy name Ernie in union city California that is a killer installer. What I want to do is put a 3 way system in the rear deck and a 3 way in the front doors and use a single sub in the trunk with a port that leads into the cabin
There use to be some mesh type baskets you could use to cower the rear of the speakers. I would imagine they might get to hot with that.
Installation and tuning is going to be $700-1000. I just can't have any more butchers working on my stuff.

[zeropoint0.5]

they are a time bomb waiting to have problems

x2 don't give the zx450 power any more until those 4 ps caps are replaced... you can see them

true the right window....

unless you want to see that zx450 go up in fire, feel free to do what you want.......

[ZO622]

Maybe the shop where I bought it either got a good batch or had them done . I have had this amp in my mustang since 2005 and it rocked my subs for years instill I pulled it a few months ago. Is that possible?

[trickyricky]

It could be possible but still a very risky thing to do. Sort of like playing with fire, sooner or later your going to get burned.

The last zx600ti I repaired didn't have any leaky caps which I was surprised because they where the "HF" series. Did I replace them.....YES SIR, just because they look good doesn't mean am going to take that "risk of fire".

You dont have to replace them if your going to sell the amplifier, but if you plan on continuing using it then I would suggest you do so.

[ZO622]

there has been one new development since this post started. I bought a Xenon 400.1 to power the 12"sub . I installed the amps in the spare tire well in a hidden enclosure with the plexiglass tops to keep my trunk space. I decided to go with a single sub and might need to upgrade to a bigger so sub for more Power but I doubt it. Not a big bass head just want it clean. The sound processor should be able to cut it up pretty good. I just need to buy some fiberglass , another power source for the rear and some Power cables to finish it off.
Man, I had a Jacobs electronics AccuVolt years ago and I sold it and now I need it and can't find it. They are out of business bought out in closed down. that thing was awesome for clean power.

[zeropoint0.5]

it seems you don't want to understand yet that you first have to recap the ps caps of the zx450

BEFORE you use it again...... a warned men is worth 2........................

every ms/m/ZPA/ZX/mps series have to have the ps caps replaced BEFORE u use it again......

[ZO622]

oh OK I see. Thank you.
as I was saying I'm not going to use the ZX 450 I have 2 Xenon amps that I'm going to use.
Where can I get the correct caps so whenever I bring this out of retirement it will continue to pump

[Eric D]

This may help...

http://www.soundbuggy.com/Eric/Car%20Au ... index.html