Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

Don't you get most of the sound quality improvement by just upgrading the speakers?

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

Absolutely. Pretty much any decent head unit will work.

No, you don't get the most improvement. You get some improvement and for most people thats enough.

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

A picture of the digital battery meter. When convertter is running, voltage jumps to over 14 volts.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/share/fi...1_filtered.jpg

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

Heh, not on my car ;) I only see 14V in the winter some times. Most of the time I'm driving I'm seeing 13.7 +-.1V.

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

Have you had the software upgrade? Because that is what I had seen previously...however, after the upgrade, now I see 14.0 +/- 0.1v.

Also, even when the ICE running, if I've a low electrical load, the converter apparently goes to standby for a few dozen seconds to 12. 6 v or whereabouts, perhaps to prevent battery overcharge.

Now, something that it is important...lead/acid batteries have a negative temperature coefficient, which means they require a higher charging voltage with decreasing temperature... that may also play a role.

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

I have had the software upgrade.

Never seen it go into standby mode.

I have noticed the charging voltage go higher in the winter.

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

You waited till it died and then replaced? how long did it last? What did you replace it with?

On another note I saw that you are measuring with the Dakota Digital, is it the Odyssey Series II? Where did you connect the Dim and the SND?

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

My battery died in the winter. I think it lasted 3 years. However, a few months before it died is when I put my new amps and subs in. When we tested them I was dropping bellow 9V on the stock battery. We did this a few times and stopped. I suspect thats what realy killed the battery. It worked for a while after that, but I think when the cold hit the battery decided it just wasn't happy and died and went to a better place.

As far as the gauge is concerned. I believe SND I jumpered to the power wire (forget what they call it) and then connected that to the accessory wire, and dim I hooked to the dim wire (heh) Don't ask me for the color codes because I forget. I have to move the SND to run directly to the battery since the meter reads a bit lower than the actual voltage. This is probably because of the voltage drop of everything on the ACC line.

I believe I am using the solarix series. I love these gauges because they are black when they are off. I think the craftsmanship is only average, but the gauges are good overall. If they lowered their price on this stuff I'm sure they would sell a ton more.

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

Hmmm............scratching my head.
Don't know what to tell you, other than perhaps there may be a difference between the '03 and '05 models.

Re: HCH Stereo Upgrade
 

Very clean looking head unit ... especially when off. it looks like a stock cover plate/no radio.

You don't have trouble with the amp overheating in such a confined and insulated space?

You don't use a capacitor to protect the battery from heavy draw under bass peaks?

I think I will definately replace the stock speakers in the rear, but dynamat is also a great idea!!!


If you have that much power to the speakers and not getting enough oomph ... check to make sure the subs are in the same phase and are running proper phase ... meaning make sure both speakers are moving the same direction and initially pushing out. A really easy way to see is take a tiny piece of paper, make a ball and set your speakers so they point up. put the paper on it and see if it bounces up or draws in and then gets pushed up. you could try and switch phase even if it is in proper phase to see if it sounds better to you.

Another option is if you can turn your box around 180 degrees (facing the cabin instead of rear of car) or even leave them facing upwards you might get a little better sound. Depends on the acoustics of the car.

If all of that fails ... then I have one more idea, how is it set up/wired? two channels and if so bridgeable? Is your amp 2-ohm stable? Is that 1000W peak or RMS?
If you bridge your amp and run your speakers in a parallel setup (which will make the draw 2 ohm for two 4 ohm speakers) then you should techically get more oomph. lets just say that your amp is 1000W max (peak) and you are using 2 channels at 4-ohms. in very general terms max is double RMS which leaves you with 500W or 250W x 2 ch ... so you are truly running 250W RMS per sub. bridging alone (500W 1ch @ 4 ohm) will still net you the same wattage if you used one 4 ohm speaker, but lowering the ohm draw (running two 4 ohm speakers in parallel or one 2 ohm speaker) will increas wattage. I will use a mild increase (the same on my amp) and go with a 50% increase in wattage. so you are now running 750W x 1ch @ 2 ohms. now you have increase each speakers RMS being recieved to 375W. The best way to run parallel is to use two sets of speaker wire the exact same length makeing sure to connect positives to positives etc ... bridging usually consists of using (normally designated on the amp) the specified positive of one channel and specified negative of the other channel ... also check your amp to see if it has a selectable switch to bridge channels (some do, some automatically switch). Of course make sure the amp is capable of these features first, and if you amp is truly 1000W RMS, then your gains should be greater. In that case make sure the speakers can withstand the increased power. Make sure you don't run in series for it will raise ohms and lower power (two 4 ohm in series = 8 ohm draw using same figures would give you 125W per sub). Special note, increased power/lower ohms ... the amp will run a little warmer, lower power/higher ohms cooler running temp.

this link is an explanation in detail on wiring, with mathmatical equations of the ohm loads vs wattage and the different ways to wire multiple speakers if you want a more technical explanation and drawings to visually see it.

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

hope this helps some!!! :D