Upgraded from factory to Alpine CDE-9846, but 2loud!, what happened? speaker+heatunit mismatch? Options

[JediFonger]

i've got a '99 Toyota Celica GT. i hated not being able to play mp3 CDRW's/CDR's, so i upgraded haphazardly because i was also installing a new alarm system yesterday.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/en/products/prod...?model=CDE-9846
^got that installed yesterday. i didn't have a chance to demo it much last night when i picked up the vehicle... but this morning, i tried playing stuff. the unit plays all the way upto 20+ in terms of volume... but anytime i approach 4 or 5, all of my speakers are distorted. it's 16w RMS, what the heck is going on? i didn't upgrade anything else, ONLY headunit. it's just 2much power and overbearing. the speakers are distorting like crazy if i play too loudly. i can't get a clean sound, loud sound, just muddy sounds. what could be at fault?

i don't have $ to upgrade to new speakers... i just wanted the capability of mp3 playback, which it does.

[celicaST]

all i can think of is to try turning down the bass setting, you will get a cleaner sound. speakers arnt too much, got mine for 80 bucks a pair iirc and they sound great.

[WannabeGT4]

Who installed it? Did they use a harness adapter? Do you have the 8 speaker system with the seperate amp? It sounds like you have speaker level inputs going to the line level inputs of the factory amplifier.

[JediFonger]

the same guy who installed my car alarm.

remember, before i installed everything, it was factory install. AFAIK, factory install has amp built into head unit. all i bought was a head unit with internal amp. i did not buy a separate amp.

This post has been edited by JediFonger: Nov 17, 2006 - 2:15 PM

[WannabeGT4]

Ok, I see you're a noob. Let's go at this in a different way.

If you have an 8 speaker stock system you have a stock amplifier that is seperate from the stock head unit.

If you feed that stock amplifier a speaker level signal when it's expecting a line level signal you will have the exact problems you described.

[soven]

In short, you are now amplifying your sound twice. Already amplified signal from headunit goes to stock amplifier and gets amplified more.

Go back to the person who installed it and say that your stock system already has an amplifier from factory and it is causing problems.

[afroman]

both of these guys are right but what concerns me is the fact that this place let your car leave sounding like that. any reputable shop would have listen to it and tried to fix the problem before you took delivery of the vehicle.

[JediFonger]

i am a n00b, sorry =(. i bought this last may (2005).

where are the 7th and 8th speakers? oh... lol. you're counting the speakers on the corner of the doors. i shee. =). i count them as "1" (tweeter vs. woofer) speaker.

anyway, i have NO idea that there was a separate amp. where is the amp located? v. curious. i already threw away the old headunit. i hope it didn't cost a lot of $. i didn't think i could sell it on ebay for a reasonable price. ah well, it's been tossed.

what're the spex on the factory amp? if it's lower than my factory amp, can i bypass the amp and amplify directly?

is this somn easy i can do myself? i don't mind taking it back to shop, it's just i'm curious about it myself =). easy/hard? i'm a bit handy, not much. i've done oil changes (yeah, yeah yeah i know, a trained monkey could do that as well), simple filter changes. but mechanical, not2much.

meanwhile, this place let me hear it before i left. i didn't spend a lot of time with it in the shop, i was more concerned with the alarm and how it worked. the sole reason of buying a headunit was just to get MP3 playback. =). i knew it sounded a bit strange, but i didn't really give it the full test, so i couldn't demand the guy to change anything i didn't know. i also didn't know there was a factory amp!

thxguys, you guys rock =).

This post has been edited by JediFonger: Nov 17, 2006 - 6:30 PM

[WannabeGT4]

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=22434

[JediFonger]

went back to installer. he fixed it no charge. everything's golden now. he bypassed the factory amp. unfortunately, that means i can't use the tweeters up top, so it's only 4 speakers now. i didn't want to buy more cross-over to split highs and lows for each of the front speakers. either way, i'm satisfied. thx4help

[XS4lv1Truch0x]

went back to installer. he fixed it no charge. everything's golden now. he bypassed the factory amp. unfortunately, that means i can't use the tweeters up top, so it's only 4 speakers now. i didn't want to buy more cross-over to split highs and lows for each of the front speakers. either way, i'm satisfied. thx4help

FYI tweeters work if you dont mess with the wiring. put your ear up close 2 it and listen and you will hear.

[trdproven]

yes yes ^^

[soven]

The installer has already bypassed the factory amp. The tweeters would not work if it is not connected.

[JediFonger]

the installer told me that there is no rca input on the factory amp, that's why he wired speak outs into the plug in the first place.

while the factory speakers are pretty good in of itself, i'll be needing new speaker+amp anyway. does anyone know the default amp anyway? just curious. the alpine's 16w rms sounds much more powerful than the factory one. i can also hear the highs, it's just so much more defined.

[cochise]

the installer told me that there is no rca input on the factory amp, that's why he wired speak outs into the plug in the first place.

while the factory speakers are pretty good in of itself, i'll be needing new speaker+amp anyway. does anyone know the default amp anyway? just curious. the alpine's 16w rms sounds much more powerful than the factory one. i can also hear the highs, it's just so much more defined.

for your info that unit is 45 watts x4 max not 16x4. also it has subwoofer rca outputs. so you ca just run a amp to run the subwoofers for deeper bass. the head unit has way more power than you will need for the stock speakers or any aftermarket speakers you can fit into the car. read the manual there are way more features than you will ever use on that deck.

[afroman]

the installer told me that there is no rca input on the factory amp, that's why he wired speak outs into the plug in the first place.

while the factory speakers are pretty good in of itself, i'll be needing new speaker+amp anyway. does anyone know the default amp anyway? just curious. the alpine's 16w rms sounds much more powerful than the factory one. i can also hear the highs, it's just so much more defined.

for your info that unit is 45 watts x4 max not 16x4. also it has subwoofer rca outputs. so you ca just run a amp to run the subwoofers for deeper bass. the head unit has way more power than you will need for the stock speakers or any aftermarket speakers you can fit into the car. read the manual there are way more features than you will ever use on that deck.

this deck does 45x4 watts max , it may say it on the face but thats the ils rating (if lightning struck) but i bet the deck is 16 watts rms. also that would be enough for "any aftermarket speakers". most mid to highend speakers will sound worse than your factory on just deck power. just me .02. if its wrong set me straight.
-Aaron-

[soven]

its probably around 16rms->20rms. dont really care about max ratings to be honest. It will definitely sound better than stock speakers. I have heard a few cars using the headunit power and they go alright. One of them had Alpine TypeX components and they ran great on 20rms. However, it certainly would be much better with a dedicated amp

[JediFonger]

yesh, that's why i wrote rms =) for 16w.

i can't afford a whole new system right now. if i upgrade, i do right, i don't want to do it piece by piece. it'll have to be new amp, headunit, carputer, 5.1 speakers, a nice sub and so on. expensive+++!

This post has been edited by JediFonger: Nov 27, 2006 - 2:42 AM