Car Stereo - Dad needs subs for a minivan - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Angel · #1 11-03-2020, 01:04 PM

Hey All,
My recollection is that every male, in the 1990's, went through a phase where they 'aBsoLuTely HAD to HAVE a ***Booming System***' in their car.

I skipped that phase and joined the navy. Fast forward 20 years....
Here I am at age 45, and while I dont need a 'overkill' car stereo, I drive rideshare in my minivan, sometimes I create a 'dance club' environment inside, and I found some cheap subwoofers - I'd like to hook them up.

The headunit is stock 2009 Kia minivan double-din, playing MP3s or broadcast/SXM radio - so I'm not looking for cost-no-object audio quality.
Right now, the factory speakers (2x tweeters, 2x 6.5" and 2x 6x9s in the back) are making sound. It gets loud but has no bass 'feel'

I happened across a box with 2x 10" subs - similar to this -but its just the box and 2 10s - no crossover/electronics or anything...

(it really looks like overkill, but it was $10 from another dad who was cleaning his garage

At that price- I'll hack it up, or just take the speakers out if I need to).

I also happened across an amp - $free from my brother who *did* go through the 'big car stereo' phase in his youth

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vFSaQtuPAj2XMceK9

So, I have a big amp, and big speakers. Again, the factory stereo is enough volume/fidelity for me, but I just need a little bump. My questions are as follows:

1) The amp (in the photo album above) is a Coustic Power Logic, 96W per channel. It has 2x 20A fuses onboard.
I dont plan on 'pushing' this amp too much - Can I just power it from the 10A cigarette lighter thats already in the back of the van ? (I know the amp CAN draw more than 10A, but if I dont max it, out, *will* it ?
(Running new cable [8awg?] to the back of the van could get annoying)

2) The amp has (pictured) inputs called "speaker" - do I just connect my rear speaker leads to these inputs ? in Parallel or series with the existing rear 6x9 speakers ?

2a) I see some cheap 'crossovers' out there, I like that right now, this system costs $10 in total. Should I buy/build a crossover and connect that between the factory wiring and the amp ? or does the amp have its own response curves built in ?

(I dont think the factory stereo has RCA outs, which is the only other input this amp has...)

3) Right now, the box is *huge* with the 2 subs in it, but the amp bolts to the top of it nicely, and I'd like this to all be removable when I need the storage space back. Is there any benefit to cutting the box in half (or similar) and just going with one of the 10" subs ? (now it takes less space, but the Amp must be mounted separately)

4) I also have not kept up with the technology - this 100W amp is almost 30" long -huge in my opinion (same model is pictured above), is that normal ? Are 100W amps still that big today ?

5) I'm still doing research into how to wire the subs to the amp. Should I have a left and right sub ? or 'bridge' them ? How does this even work when your amp has a L and R input, but only 1 speaker to output to - does it just play both channels through the same speaker ? I'll experiment with this when power and input are figured out.

I know I'm asking the old Mercedes crowd a bunch of stereo questions, but you guys seem to be a smart bunch, so I thought I'd throw it against a wall and see what sticks - thank you

-John

speednjay · #2 11-03-2020, 03:19 PM

I had a caravan with the stock infinity system then added 2 12” kickers in a sealed box with the big ass eclipse 1100rms amp. That was some serious bass. Blew the back window out and rattled the rear view mirror off taking a massive chunk of glass with it. Ahh good times if I was gonna do it again I’d probably keep it conservative with a good set of 10s or 8s. Nowadays they can sound just as good without taking the entire back area