Too many hobbies...

[drvnbysound]

Titled because I'm starting to think that I may have a problem ;) My involvement with 'hobbies' generally gravitate from being very green with little knowledge to reading forums and books until I could probably start a business. That said, I honestly do a LOT of different things (which probably drives my wife crazy, but she never admits it). By trade/career I'm an electrical engineer, but I've been a sole-proprietor of a car audio business for over 10 years now. That business has since expanded in various directions including home audio and video, some commercial work as well, window tinting (at one time), fabric imprinting, and vinyl graphics. It has also been a means for me to learn a bit about web design.

In 2008 I bought my first home (and got married), which led me to home automation. I spent a few years researching various automation technologies and companies. A little over a year ago I started automating things in my home - for now it's really just a specialized alarm system with automated lighting and control of my garage door, but will be expanded to a number of different things as money and time is available. Since I'm a fan of pictures I'll add one here of the retrofit wiring that I've done in the past year - this was taken while I was about 90% done as you can see a few stray wires that are still hanging outside of the panel:

http://imageshack.us/a/img842/8247/utilityroom10aug2012.jpg

I've also got a full media server setup, which can record up to 6 channels at once (to a central PC), which can be distributed throughout the house to any of our TVs. This is similar to some of the new systems that D* have began advertising... the difference is that mine has automatic commercial skipping (on shows that have been recorded) and a movie library which currently has 150+ movies. There's a LOT more to the automation and media stuff than that, but that information is for another forum so I'll leave it at that unless there are questions.

In 2009 a friend introduced me to a DSLR and 'photography' (being more than a point & shoot camera). I've spent a solid 4 years now on a dedicated photography forum and have more gear than a number of professional photographers that I know - really that doesn't mean anything other than I've spent a lot of money, but I feel very comfortable with a camera and the technical aspect of photography. Here's a shot I took in 2011 that is one of my favorites to date:

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2072/uy3d.jpg

Having said all of that, I bought a 2004 Acura RSX Type-S back in 2007... and joined a dedicated RSX forum shortly after ;) It's obviously nothing exotic or expensive, but I really enjoy driving it (DD). Trying to make a long story shorter, I rear-ended someone roughly 2 years ago [guessing] - no MAJOR damage, but definitely cosmetic damage that would require a new hood and front bumper... I decided then that I was going to do a conversion (to 05-06 styling) and add a lip kit when I was ready to have the paint and body work done. During the time that I was saving $$$ to fund the parts + paint & body... I started reading here. Earlier this year I started placing orders and started to catch the bug as I got ready to send my car to the shop. I've had it back about 2 months now, and I'm getting really close to buying a DA so I can start polishing and waxing by machine :) :buffing:

I don't have any new pics yet, but here is a shot of the car back in 2008 after a quick wash:
http://imageshack.us/a/img46/4030/hpim18111resizedtm8.jpg

Again... I've got issues!! [Sorry I can't stop] About a year ago our 2-car garage was full... mainly with various tools of mine, so my wife and I decided that I needed a workshop in our back yard. I starting making plans and even met with our local building department about permits and such, when I admitted to myself that I really didn't have the time to dedicate to building it in the time frame that we needed/wanted it (you'll see why shortly) - so I ended up having someone build it. Here is a screen shot of the 3D model that I was drafting in Google SketchUp:

http://imageshack.us/a/img407/7969/workshopgableroof2.jpg

Here is what it looks like today:
http://imageshack.us/a/img197/64/2nf9.jpg

This is basically a dedicated space that I will use for various projects, but primarily woodworking... such as construction of speaker boxes, cabinets, and/or furniture.

The reason I wasn't able to build it was that my wife gave birth to our first child (son) in June! I got the picture of the lion above printed large and framed... and it's hanging in his room :D

I think that's plenty of introduction for now... I'll try to add updated pictures of the car this weekend.

Overall, I'm a pretty open book and I really enjoy sharing information with others. If anyone has any questions about any of the above, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer as best I can.

[Sicoupe]

Welcome! Sounds like you are a very busy man:)

[hernandez.art13]

Hello and :welcome:

I also have a lot of hobbies :)

I have a question actually,

Which one should I go with? And I am looking for an amp. I wanted one that I could eventually have 2 10" subs, and my four interior speakers, I'll probably get the concept version, since my car has stock tweeters.

So my question is,

These:

21973

21974

Or

These:

21975

21976

I think the pictures might have gotten mixed up lol, I use my cell phone app for AutoGeekOnline (AGO)

So basically, a 2 Pioneer Champion 10" 3000 watt, or 2 Alpine Type R 10" 2 ohms or 4 ohms?

I currently have a have a kicker 12" 300 watts peak but a measly 150 watt RMS, I also have an Alpine stereo -Alpine 133BT, so wasn't sure if I should keep it all alpine.

I tried joining a car stereo forum, but was having trouble creating an account on my cell phone. What forum do you recommend for car audio?

Welcome again and Thanks,

Art :xyxthumbs:

[epikls]

Hello and :welcome:

I also have a lot of hobbies :)

I have a question actually,

Which one should I go with? And I am looking for an amp. I wanted one that I could eventually have 2 10" subs, and my four interior speakers, I'll probably get the concept version, since my car has stock tweeters.

So my question is,

These:

21973

21974

Or

These:

21975

21976

I think the pictures might have gotten mixed up lol, I use my cell phone app for AutoGeekOnline (AGO)

So basically, a 2 Pioneer Champion 10" 3000 watt, or 2 Alpine Type R 10" 2 ohms or 4 ohms?

I currently have a have a kicker 12" 300 watts peak but a measly 150 watt RMS, I also have an Alpine stereo -Alpine 133BT, so wasn't sure if I should keep it all alpine.

I tried joining a car stereo forum, but was having trouble creating an account on my cell phone. What forum do you recommend for car audio?

Welcome again and Thanks,

Art :xyxthumbs:
get the pioneers with the right amp they sound great

[hernandez.art13]

Yeah I like the Pioneers too, but what threw me off was they cost less :dunno:

I am still interested in a car audio forum

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Welcome to AGO. Looks like you have a lot going on.

[imranhakro]

In my suzuki alto, i've got a pair of Pioneer 6965V2 speakers and a 12" Pioneer champion series 309s4 (400W RMS) in a ported enclosure powered by a 4 channel amp.

Will soon share the pics too...:Picture:

[drvnbysound]

Hello and :welcome:

I also have a lot of hobbies :)

I have a question actually,

Which one should I go with? And I am looking for an amp. I wanted one that I could eventually have 2 10" subs, and my four interior speakers, I'll probably get the concept version, since my car has stock tweeters.

So my question is,

These:

21973

21974

Or

These:

21975

21976

I think the pictures might have gotten mixed up lol, I use my cell phone app for AutoGeekOnline (AGO)

So basically, a 2 Pioneer Champion 10" 3000 watt, or 2 Alpine Type R 10" 2 ohms or 4 ohms?

I currently have a have a kicker 12" 300 watts peak but a measly 150 watt RMS, I also have an Alpine stereo -Alpine 133BT, so wasn't sure if I should keep it all alpine.

I tried joining a car stereo forum, but was having trouble creating an account on my cell phone. What forum do you recommend for car audio?

Welcome again and Thanks,

Art :xyxthumbs:

Art,

First I'll say that I've installed Pioneer HUs since I started years ago, but I've never used their speakers, subs, or amplifiers unless a customer brought them in. There is nothing wrong with them today, actually they are pretty good, but back when I started they were terrible. Alpine has made great gear for a long time... unfortunately, I've only had distributors who carried small amounts of their product line so I've never really latched on and used much of their gear other than a few HUs that were special orders.

That said, the quality of both subs you are looking at are good. Assuming that you are going to keep the same amplifier, it really doesn't matter all that much in terms of subwoofer output. I don't know exactly what you are going for, but the two biggest factors in terms of loudness are generally subwoofer size (how much air can they move) and how much wattage can they handle. In your case, you are looking at subs that are the same size, and you are providing them with the same amount of power.

Based on your amplifier, 150W RMS... you really need to look to upgrade that amp if you are planning to drive (2) of those subs efficiently. You really want to match the RMS value of the amplifier to that of your subs - at least in the ball park. Having said that, there is not much point in putting a [true] 2000W RMS amplifier in a stock vehicle, simply because the OEM alternator isn't able to generate enough power to properly drive the amplifier; Physics will tell you that you cannot magically gain power, so power in [from alternator] = power loss [amplifiers aren't 100% efficient] + power output [by amplifier]. So, if you're charging system isn't able to produce the power, you're really just wasting money.

Personally, I'm a fan of aesthetics, symmetry and such... based on what you have now, I'd probably go with an all Alpine system. If not, I would go with amplifiers/speakers from a dedicated manufacturer - brands like Kicker, JBL, and MTX come to mind... they don't make HU's... they are focused on manufacturing amplifiers and speakers and are very good at it. Think of Alpine and Pioneer as your AIO solution ;-) it works, and it's good, but are there better products with specific uses? Yes.

Regarding a car audio forum... honestly, I haven't been on one in a good 5-6 years. I followed a number of them for years back in the day, but those are mostly scarce places today. Hopefully I've answered everything, but if you have any more questions feel free to send a PM.

[drvnbysound]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

Since the discussion has mainly been car audio, I'll share one of my flagship installs:

http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/6576/urt6.jpg

I think this is the first time that I've noticed how dirty the bumper was when I took that picture... that's a sign of the detailing bug right? ;)

Since the economy bottomed out, I don't get a chance to do too many of these anymore... but it was fun while it lasted!

[hernandez.art13]

Yeah thanks for the feedback on my question, if more arise I'll PM you.

^ sheesh that is a really nice setup

[Ezmoney]

Welcome to Autogeek.

There are many knowledgeable people on this forum whose areas of interest / expertise extend beyond detailing.

You my friend are a good example of this!

[Calendyr]

Welcome to the forum.

You mentionned something interesting to me. What is the typical wattage output of the OEM alternators? Could be important if I decide to purchase an inverter to drive my Tools ;)

Also since you are an eletrical engineer, would it be a good idea to setup a battery unit in the vehicle to drive the Tools instead of using a generator? I was thinking putting a few marine batteries together in a group (parallel config) and driving the invertor off them. I am not sure if they could provide enough power or/and provide enough working time for detailing Tools like Polishers and pressure washers though.

Would love to have your thoughts on that.

BTW, I have the same "Problem" you have. Anytime I find something interesting I must learn all there is to learn about it ;) That is what drove me to detailing. As far as problems go, I'll take that over drugs, alcohol or anything else in a heartbeat LOL

[goodinblack]

What camera do you have?

[c8n]

A renaissance man!
I like to think of myself as one... but when I have to call a professional to fix my mess... then I think otherwise.

[drvnbysound]

Welcome to the forum.

You mentionned something interesting to me. What is the typical wattage output of the OEM alternators? Could be important if I decide to purchase an inverter to drive my Tools ;)

Also since you are an eletrical engineer, would it be a good idea to setup a battery unit in the vehicle to drive the Tools instead of using a generator? I was thinking putting a few marine batteries together in a group (parallel config) and driving the invertor off them. I am not sure if they could provide enough power or/and provide enough working time for detailing Tools like Polishers and pressure washers though.

Would love to have your thoughts on that.

BTW, I have the same "Problem" you have. Anytime I find something interesting I must learn all there is to learn about it ;) That is what drove me to detailing. As far as problems go, I'll take that over drugs, alcohol or anything else in a heartbeat LOL

I certainly won't claim to be an expert on OEM alternators, but from what I've seen I believe most of them are 70-100A output. You may be able to get a good ballpark by entering your vehicle information into an auto parts website (i.e. AutoZone) and searching for replacement alternators.

With regard to adding additional batteries, there are plenty of people who do this for car audio in general, but you can do it for tools or whatever other purpose as well. What you will want to look for is a battery isolator. When wired properly this will isolate the extra batteries from the front battery when the car is turned off; battery voltages will be different from battery to battery, and when they are wired together, they try to stabilize... doing so will end up draining all of them as they try to feed energy to each other. By isolating the rear batteries, your primary battery remains charged for starting. Once started, the isolator will allow the alternator to begin charging all batteries.