connecting 6 speakers to an aftermarket headunit with 4 channels and rear line out

[howlinghuskie]

is it possible for me to hook 6 speakers up if i connect the 4 factory ones to the regular wiring and connect the two new 3 way 6x9s (they were free) to the rear line out connected through a cheap amp? The headunit is a JVC KD-S630. Other wise would i be better off keeping the factory speakers (the back to are premuim speakers dont ask me how they got that way the front to are regular and as far as i know theres no amp and i nor my grandpa replaced them im the third owner) and stick the 6x9s in the back of the POS dodge caravan with a factory stereo and blown front speakers

 

[howlinghuskie]

will this amp work for that? http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KAC5204/Kenwood-KAC-5204.html im looking at either 8 gauge or 4 gauge for the power (it calls for a minimum of 10 so probably the 8)

 

[howlinghuskie]

also if i already have a good interconnect wire with remote wire can i just get any old 8 or 10 gauge wire for the power? rather than the whole kit

 

[407Link]

It'll work...what will it sound like? who knows. just make sure to use the right fuse

 

[howlinghuskie]

or would i be better off just replacing the speakers with aftermarket ones and using the 6x9s in something else

 

[4x4fun]

IMOP the easyest way to have a 6 speaker system is to have your head unit run the front too and get a 4 channel amp and steal the "rears" from the head unit and send them to the amp. then use all for channels of the amp. just check your wiring so you can keep front to back and left to right

 

[4.0B2]

IMO, don't use 6 speakers unless its tweeters or subs. subs have their own line out. tweeters usually feed off the front speakers..

now- if you use the rear out you WILL need an amp to hook speakers to it. its a low level output. usually 2V-5V depending on headunits. where as, the regular speaker wires that come out of the radio (white, gray, purple, green--i think) are high levels out and what the 200 watts (max, not RMS btw) you see on the box.

that being said, you can't feed speakers w/ a preamp out (rear out) and have enough power to push speakers. you will need an amp.

why use 6 speakers? why not just 4 good mids/highs on a good headunit or good 4 channel amp? have better sound. more speakers don't really mean better sound...

 

[4x4fun]

why use 6 speakers? why not just 4 good mids/highs on a good headunit or good 4 channel amp? have better sound. more speakers don't really mean better sound...

i used to fight this battle all the time. people will do what that want, now i just try to make sure what they do is done the most correct way.

 

[4.0B2]

yeah, its not worth it. 4 good speakers will sound better than 6 decent speakers...

 

[James86]

yeah, its not worth it. 4 good speakers will sound better than 6 decent speakers...

But what did the vehicle come with as a configuration? Dodge intrepids like my 1995 base model came with 6 speakers (3.5" dash, 5.12" front doors, 6x9" rear), Neons have 6 speakers (3.5" dash, 6.5" front doors, 6"x9" rears) and my friends camaro's came with 6 as well (6.5" doors, 6.5" B-Pillar, 4"x6" in rear) so it's entirely possible to be stuck with 6 speakers and wonder how to hook up a 4-channel head unit to it. As suggested above, my friend (a camaro owner) used a 4 channel running off the rear pre-outs on the head unit, split them with RCA Y-connecters to get 4 signals, then ran the back 4 speakers off an amp to at least get somewhat of a fade effect. Most mulichannel amps should let you adjust the gain of the seperate pairs (the 4 channel I'm using in my Ranger does) enough that you can make the middle set quiet enough or the rear seat loud enough for a balanced sound from the driver's seat. It can seem a bit daunting, but in the end, it can sound great. The question is, does the van have lots of speakers now, or are you just trying to put in more? Older vans like the family 1986 Voyager we had when I was growing up just had dash speakers and rear liftgate speakers.

 

[4x4fun]

But what did the vehicle come with as a configuration? Dodge intrepids like my 1995 base model came with 6 speakers (3.5" dash, 5.12" front doors, 6x9" rear), Neons have 6 speakers (3.5" dash, 6.5" front doors, 6"x9" rears) and my friends camaro's came with 6 as well (6.5" doors, 6.5" B-Pillar, 4"x6" in rear) so it's entirely possible to be stuck with 6 speakers and wonder how to hook up a 4-channel head unit to it. As suggested above, my friend (a camaro owner) used a 4 channel running off the rear pre-outs on the head unit, split them with RCA Y-connecters to get 4 signals, then ran the back 4 speakers off an amp to at least get somewhat of a fade effect. Most mulichannel amps should let you adjust the gain of the seperate pairs (the 4 channel I'm using in my Ranger does) enough that you can make the middle set quiet enough or the rear seat loud enough for a balanced sound from the driver's seat. It can seem a bit daunting, but in the end, it can sound great. The question is, does the van have lots of speakers now, or are you just trying to put in more? Older vans like the family 1986 Voyager we had when I was growing up just had dash speakers and rear liftgate speakers.

your very correct. from what i have seen. from factory 6 speaker systems is the front two are set up as the front. and the rear is the rear. there is also systems that have the little one set up as a tweeter. if you look at the wiring. there is a resister in there. to have it act like a tweeter. there are alot of crazy things that happen under "OEM" doesnt mean there good. iv made plenty of 6,8,10 speaker systems some done kinda getto. and some with full inline equilizers. and kill switches on every channel. its all kinda what the wallet is looking for. or desired end. but for such a small space. trying to set up a DTS or DTD will be a pain. can it be done in a small space with 6 yes will you gain alot...prolly not.

 

[James86]

can it be done in a small space with 6 yes will you gain alot...prolly not.

Depends on the vehicle.... a van will probably be more worthwhile than a pickup cab. I'm just curious if he's putting in 6 for the helluvit or it originally came with 6.... I haven't been in one of the newer Caravans, and if its a factory 6 speaker and he's not going all out, a harness adapter for the head unit shuld eliminate all issues for wiring since the factory harness - as mentioned - would have any necessary resisters and it's just a matter of replacing head unit and speakers.

 

[howlinghuskie]

the caravan only has 4 its a factory 98 but the rear speakers are 6x9 so id replace the rear ones the only reason i was gonna do 6 in the ranger was dcause the 6x9s were free and i didnt want to trim the speaker mounts

 

[4.0B2]

yes that's true about some vehicles, come w/ 6 speakers or whatever, but then when you start switching radio's around to aftermarket you run into issues there-- unless you just use all factory wiring. even then, some of them have 6 speaker outs. so if you run an aftermarket radio, where do you properly wire the extra 2 wires?

 

[howlinghuskie]

my stereo only has 4 channels and its rated to 15 RMS per channel 35 per channel peak its old and probably absolute bottom of the line compared to todays radios hell i doubt itll even play mp3s