SPEAKER SIZES:
2nd Gen = 3.5 In Top Of Dash
6x9 In Rear Side Panels

3rd Gen = 4x6 In Top Of Dash
6x9 In Rear Side Panels

4th Gen = 6.5 Front Doors
(Also '98 Up) 6.5 Rear Side Panels

FAQ:
(Q). Will Amp Work On Factory Radio?
(A). Yes, But You Must Purchase A Line Output Converter(any audio shop will carry this item). The Only Reason You Need This Is For The RCA Preouts And The Remote Wire To Connect Head Unit To Amp.

(Q). What's Difference Between Mono, 2-Channel & 4-Channel Amp?
(A). Mono Amps Are Made Specifically For Subwoofers, But Other Speakers Can Be Hooked Up To It (Generally Have One Channel, But Two Subs Can Be Ran Off It). A 2-Channel Has Connections For Two Different Speakers(Subs, Speakers) But Both Don't Have To Be Used. On A 4-Channel, Up To 4 Speakers Can Be Connected(Generally For Your Door Speakers). On All These Amps You Can Connect More Than The 2 or 4, But It Is Highly Not Recommended.

(Q). What Is Meant By 'Bridging' An Amp?
(A). When Bridging An Amp, The Positive Wires Are Used Together And The Negative's Are Used Together, Then Put Into The Amp Using Both Channels. The Postives Will Go To 1 Power, And The Negatives Will Go To 1 Ground (A Ground And Power Will Be Unused). This Will Drop The Resistance(ohms) And Output More Power To The Subwoofers.

(Q). My Head Unit Is Satellite Radio Ready, How Do I Make It Work?
(A). Even If Your Head Unit Is Satellite Ready, You Must Still Purchase A Few Extra Parts... Unless Your Unit Came With The Antenna. What The "Ready" Means Is That Your Unit Has The Special Plugin On It For Satellite Radio To Be Added, But The Extra Parts Will Run About $100, And You Must Also Purchase The Ones That Function With Your Brand Of Head Unit.

(Q). What's Difference Between Peak Power And RMS On My Subs/Amps?
(A). RMS Is The Thing That Makes The Difference In Sound And Power. If You Notice, Brands Like Sony Will Slap A Big Number On Front Of The Product... They Do This To Make The Dumb Think It's Big And So They Purchase. When Getting A System, Match Up Your Amp To Your Subs RMS. RMS Is Constant Power To Your Subs, Which Is Turn Is The Constant Power Your Subs Will Produce. Even If The Peak Power Of The Amp Is Quite A Bit Over What Your Subs Recommend, If The RMS Match Up Good, Then Your Alright. Also Be Aware Of Things Like Following (Kenwood KAC-7202 Amp Example):
150w RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms
230w RMS x 2 @ 2 ohms
The 4 Ohms You'll Notice Is Lower, But That's At A Normal Hook Up With No Bridging. The 2 Ohms Will Push More Power, But That Also Means Ya Need To Bridge Your Amp. Bridging Won't Hurt Your Amp, Unless You Turn The Gain/Level All The Way Up(Really Hard On Your Amp, Any Amp).

(Q). My Head Unit Has More Than One Set Of RCA Preouts, What For?
(A). With Multiple Sets Of RCA Preouts, You Have More Options For What You Want To Connect To Your System. For Example, If You Have Three Sets Of Preouts, You Can Run A 2-Channel Amp For Your Subs, And Also A 4-Channel For Your Door Speakers. If You Want To Run Multiple Amps But Only Have One Set Of RCA Preouts, Ya Need To Buy RCA Y's(can be bought bout anywhere).

(Q). I'm Replacing A Factory Radio With An Aftermarket, What Do I Need To Do?
(A). First, You Will Need A Mounting Kit(dash piece), Wiring Harness, And An Antenna Adaptor. You Will Also Need A Crimper/Wire Stripper, And A Few Connection Tabs. The Installation Is Fairly Simple, If You Buy A New Mounting Kit, The Installations On How To Pull Your Radio Out And How To Assemble The New One Is Instructed Step By Step.

(Q). What All Do I Need To Hook Up An Amp?
(A). When Putting In An Amp For The First Time, You Will Need Several Wires, Which Can Usually Be Bought In A Kit From Any Car Audio Shop. You Will Need A Power Wire(from battery to amp), Ground Wire(amp to car frame), Remote Wire, RCA Wires, Speaker Wire. Also, You'll Need An Aftermarket Head Unit, Or A Factory Stereo With A Line Output Converter.

(Q). What's The Difference Between Co-axial, 2-Way, 3-Way, And 4-Way Speakers?
(A). Your Factory Speakers Are Almost Always Co-axial, But If Your Upgrading Speakers, Then It Is Recommended You Step Up To A 3-Way, Or 4-Way(Unless It's Alpine Or Rockford). With A 3-Way, 4-Way, You Will Get A Better Range Of Sound Because An Extra Small Tweeter(one with 3-way, two with 4-way) Will Be On The Speaker Also. With More Range Of Sound, The Bass Comes Out More Powerful And Cleaner While Also The Treble And The Music Comes Out Cleaner And With Better Quality.

(Q). What's The Significance Of Upgrading Speakers And My Head Unit?
(A). Your Factory Speakers And Equipped For Your Factory Head Unit. Your Factory Speakers Can Only Handle About 15 - 30watts And Your Head Unit Pushes Out Only About 20 - 25watts To Each Speaker. Putting In An Aftermarket Head Unit Will More Than Double The Output To Each Speaker(Usually 45x4 or 50x4), Have More Control Over Your Sound, And It Also Looks Better. Putting In New Speakers(Especially with new head unit), Will Give You An Even Better Quality Of Sound, Everything's Cleaner And Stronger. Aftermarket Speakers Will No Longer Bottom Out, Crackle, Or Fuzz When You Turn Up The Sound. An Aftermarket Head Unit Won't Mess Up Your Factory Speakers, But Putting In All Aftermarket Will Clean The Sound Up A Lot.


(Q). What's Difference Between Single-Voice Coil And Dual-Voice Coil?
(A). Most Typical Subs Are Single Voice Coil, Which Means Is Has One Positive And One Negative Outlet On It. A Dual-Voice Coil Can Be Found On Higher Quality Subs, Or Usually On All High Wattage Subs. A Dual-Voice Coil Has Two Sets Of Positives, And Two Sets Of Negatives. A Single-Voice Coil Is Equipped By Just Running A Postive And Negative From The Amp To The Sub, But With A Dual-Voice Coil, The Sub Has To Commonly Be Ran In A Parallel Or Series Setup. A Dual-Voice Coil Can Handle More Power(more rms), Improves Sub Response, And Gives Greater Sound Range To Your Sub. You Will Be Paying More For A Dual-Voice Coil Sub, And You'll Be Required To Need A Bigger Amp(rms needs to be real close).

(Q). What's The Difference Between Ported And Sealed Subwoofer Boxes?
(A). Some Subwoofers Require A Certain Type Of Box For Optimium Sound, Be Sure To Glance At The Sub Manual First. As For Normal Powered Subs(around 700watts and under), Either Box Can Be Used. With A Ported Box, You Will Get Deeper More Powerful Sounding Bass, But With A Sealed Box You Will Get A Louder Bass Sound. Ported Subs That Are Enclosed(usually in fiber/plexi-glass) Will Give You An Even Better Quality Sound, But Usually Cost A Little More.

(Q). What Are Component Speakers/Setups?
(A). Component Speakers Consist Of Aftermarket Speakers And Tweeters... Which Give The Vehicle A Better Range And Quality Of Sound. Most Commonly, Component Setups Can Be Found With 5.25 And 6.5 Speakers, But Nearly All Sizes Have Had Component Setups Made(takes a little time to find). Using Components Is Like Adding An Extra Two Small Speakers To Your Stereo, Which Can Be Placed About Anywhere(most commonly above or around the doors). Component Packages Usually Have A Much Higer Price Than Normal Aftermarket Speakers, But The Sound Quality Is Superior.

(Q). I Have A Stock BOSE System, What Needs To Be Done?
(A). Since You Have A Stock BOSE System, You Will Have To Rewire Your Vehicle, Meaning Running New Speaker Wire From The Speakers Straight To The Head Unit. The BOSE System Consists Of Amps On Each Speaker, So If You Attempt To Put In New Speakers Or An Aftermarket Head Unit, They Will Not Work. You Still Have The Ability To Add An Amplifer, But Will Need A Line Output Converter For RCA's. Rewiring Your Vehicle Will Run Around $100 At An Audio Shop, Or A Few Hours And Just Some Speaker Wire If You Do It Yourself. Here Is The Wiring Diagram For The Camaro's(believe to work on 3rd gen & up):
Constant 12V+ - Orange
Switched 12V+ - Yellow
Ground - Black
Illumination - Gray
Dimmer - Brown
Antenna Trigger - Pink
Antenna Right - Rear
Front Speakers 6 1/2" Doors
Left Front (+) - Tan
Left Front (-) - Gray
Right Front (+) - Light Green
Right Front (-) - Dark Green
Rear Speakers 6 1/2" Side Panels
Left Rear (+) - Brown
Left Rear (-) - Yellow
Right Rear (+) - Dark Blue
Right Rear (-) - Light Blue

(Q). Why Do Different Speakers Have Different Sensitivity... What Does This Mean?
(A). Sensitivity Is Simply The Speakers Ability To Convert Power Into Sound. The Higher The Sensitivity, The Less Power That Is Needed For The Speakers To Put Out Sound. If You Look Closely And Compare Speakers, You'll Notice Brands Such As Sony Have Lower Sensitivity Than Say... Alpine. This Is One Reason Brands Suchs As Alpine, Kicker, etc., Have Better Quality Sound(and also more expensive) Than Other Lower Brands... Because Less Power Is Needed To Get Sound Out To The Listener.

(Q). At High Volumes, Bass Out Of My Door Speakers Lowers The Quality Of Sound, What Do I Do?
(A). If Your Speakers Are Crackling Because Of Bass, Then You Need Speaker Savers($10 for two speakers at Best Buy). Speaker Savers Connect Between The Factory Harness And The Head Unit, Or Between The Speaker And The Speaker Wire. Speaker Savers Remove The Low Frequencies From Your Speakers, Thus Eliminating The Bass. If You Have Subs, It's Recommended You Put Speaker Savers On Your Door Speakers. With Subs, You Don't Hear Bass Coming From Your Speakers Cause It's Coming From The Subs, But At High Volumes, The Bass Is Damaging And Over-Flexing Your Door Speakers.

 

Good post, alot of questions answered here, it should be thought about being made into an article or a sticky or something

 

You have some very good information in here.

 

lol look its a sticky now

 

I re-titled this item and added it to the articles forum. Shoot me a PM whenever you update it. Here is a link to the article:

https://www.z28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37898

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Hey Now, I Can't Edit And Add More Things To The Audio Facts. Everytime I Got Time Between Installs Here At Work, I Try To Get On And Add A Few Things, But Now It Won't Let Me... What Do I Need To Do To Add It On? Hit Me Back Bud.
- Cam Covert

 

After a certain time period only mods can edit posts. If you would like, PM me with the info you want added and I will take care of it for you.

 

Wouldn't really call this thread facts, more like opinions. I mean some of it is ture, some of it is not. Either way it will help out most that know nothing about car audio.

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Right On Master! I'll Hit Ya Up In A Sec.

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Hey Masterdragon, You Said PM You To Update The Audio Facts List... I've Sent You About 4 Updates, And Non Have Been Added. What's Goin On Man?

 

hey cam-aro i PM'ed you on a prob im having that I think I know the answer to I just need you to verify man. Also good thread. And its a sticky. I guess you dont just husk corn all day long.

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Someday Giovan... Someday... We'll Meet Up, And I'm Gonna Pop Your Tires Man. Haha, Your My Boy!

 

Good info. Im sure it will help anyone who reads it in one way or another.

One problem with it becoming an "article" though is that it will be closed and nobody will be able to add info.. i say keep it a normal sticky post

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Yeah, MasterDragon Is Upsetting Me, He Told Me To PM Him Any Updates For The Info List, And I've Sent Him Bout 8 More Questions/Answers To Add, And None Have Been Updated On The List...

 

him that is unlike them to be that way. Maybe they are just busy or lost the info. I say you start a whole new thread and just put all the new plus old info on there. I say go for it!!!!!!!

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Your So Smart... Did You Ever Get Your Junk Fixed Up?

 

no I didnt. It still isnt working. I went out there and stripped wires back to test for power and got nothing from every wire I could find. Now this is funny but I didnt even have the car turned on while testing DDUUUHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

 

Somehow I have only gotten like the first update. I added that one for you if you remember right. If you want to resend them I will gladly add them. Maybe from now on email them to me at [email][email protected][/email] so I will get them for sure.

 

what a good mod you are checking up on us little people

 

PowerHouse Camaro

Well The Orange Wire(constant power) Should Have Registered Either On Or Off, But Like The Accesory Wire Needs The Car To Be On For It To Register... Your So Smart Man.