Can I use a JL e1200 monoblock to power my speakers?

The PO left me in mass confusion with the remnants of his/her stereo setup. I have two 12v leads, two grounds, two remote lines, and two sets of rca cables running to the trunk. I am trying to get my stereo to work properly...

 

The PO appears to have replaced all of the speakers with something of a better quality, and decided to amplify them. What I need to figure out is how the hell it was hooked up.

 

I bought a JL monoblock e1200 off of my buddy (he said it would work for the speakers), and hooked up the speakers in an attempt to get them to work. Problem is that the amp only has two outputs? Looking into this, it appears that this is the totally wrong amp for speakers. I assume I need an amp with stereo output and not mono, right?

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_2789_JL-Audio-e1200.html

 

Can anybody help me out with this? I dont know the slightest thing about car audio. Also, I found a switch in the drivers side footwell that appears to run toward the stereo, so I assume that this has something to do with it. The radio does not work as well...

 

Just trying to get some help before I tear into it and try to figure it out myself. All of the speakers work, but the sound quality is well... mono. I have determined that one set of rca plugs is for a subwoofer setup, and with that I assume the extra remote, power, and ground leads are for that as well.

Like you've figured out, you can power your speakers with it but it's definitely not the right type of amp to use. I has two outputs so you can wire up two subs more easily, but they are both the same channel. You'll want to get at least a 2 channel amp to power your front speakers, a 4 channel if you want to amp all four speakers.

get a set of subs for use with the JL amp, and like DBL said get a 2/4 channel amp to power your front/rear speakers. It would be good to know what kind of speakers they are as well, as you do not want to overpower them and blow them. You has aftermarket head unit as well?

Head unit is the OEM unit. It's an 05 LGT. Not sure what the speakers are without taking the door panel off. They look similar to Polk or JL speakers as they have what looks to be a silver cone with a tweeter in the middle. Whatever they are, I'm assuming the PO knew what he was doing, but tore everything apart when he traded the car in. All four speakers, including the factory tweeters by the door handles, are run to the rear (the tweeters dont have their own wiring though, they must be tied into the front speakers).

 

Any 4ch amp recommendations? I dont need anything hella expensive so that I can blast music. All I really want is to get the speakers to work properly and sound to their full potential at a reasonable volume.

you have coaxial door speakers. those take average 50 rms roughly. unless there a high end speaker. 3-400 watt 4 channel should be plenty. hell any 4 channel is better than nothing. since you already have a jl amp.... i would get a jl 4 chan and or get rid of that and get 4 chan and d class amp that match. unless you dont mind mismatch equipment.

I don't know anything about the features on a GT, so I'm not sure if it's standard or not, but are your climate controls manual or automatic?

 

I would guess that if the PO put this much work into the system, they didn't have a stock head unit in there. That's probably about all they swapped back in when the sold it but left the rest in there.

 

You should try to figure out what the RMS of the speakers is so you don't end up blowing them. It will help to know that to get a good amp to match. JX360/4 might be good. It's 70W RMS per channel, which could be alright depending on the power the speakers can handle. From what I understand, it's not the end of the world to have an RMS for your amp that's a bit higher than the speakers/sub so long as you don't blast it all the time. If you blast it constantly with a higher RMS, you can blow the speakers/sub more easily.

 

Also, if you're positive that one of the sets of RCA cables is for a sub, then I think you either need a different amp wiring kit or a 2 channel amp. I believe 4 channel amps will have RCA input for 2 sets of 2 channels, not 1 set of inputs for all 4 channels, which it seems like this applies. not 100% sure though.

 

And I'm guessing that switch in the footwell is likely a kill switch for the sub.

You'll be fine with just about any good quality 4 channel amp. As long as you set the gains correctly, you won't blow the speakers no matter how powerful the amp is.

You can never have too much power

you have coaxial door speakers. those take average 50 rms roughly. unless there a high end speaker. 3-400 watt 4 channel should be plenty. hell any 4 channel is better than nothing. since you already have a jl amp.... i would get a jl 4 chan and or get rid of that and get 4 chan and d class amp that match. unless you dont mind mismatch equipment.

 

If I am going to do this right, I suppose I should open up the door panel and find out the specs on the speakers.

 

I don't know anything about the features on a GT, so I'm not sure if it's standard or not, but are your climate controls manual or automatic?

 

I would guess that if the PO put this much work into the system, they didn't have a stock head unit in there. That's probably about all they swapped back in when the sold it but left the rest in there.

 

You should try to figure out what the RMS of the speakers is so you don't end up blowing them. It will help to know that to get a good amp to match. JX360/4 might be good. It's 70W RMS per channel, which could be alright depending on the power the speakers can handle. From what I understand, it's not the end of the world to have an RMS for your amp that's a bit higher than the speakers/sub so long as you don't blast it all the time. If you blast it constantly with a higher RMS, you can blow the speakers/sub more easily.

 

Also, if you're positive that one of the sets of RCA cables is for a sub, then I think you either need a different amp wiring kit or a 2 channel amp. I believe 4 channel amps will have RCA input for 2 sets of 2 channels, not 1 set of inputs for all 4 channels, which it seems like this applies. not 100% sure though.

 

And I'm guessing that switch in the footwell is likely a kill switch for the sub.

 

The climate controls are automatic I guess? (not sure). The 4th gen legacy's head unit is tied into the climate controls, I know that much to be true. One thing I did leave out is that one set of rca cables had splitters on each, making it 2 sets of 2 channels just like you said, then there was the other set of rca cables that did not have splitters. We took the splitters off to plug them into this amp since it had only two inputs. By the looks of it, swapping the head unit would be difficult with the climate controls built in.... maybe he swapped a JDM unit in there with the seperate controls. Based on the hackjob HID install that I had to fix and have yet to fix on the fogs, I am going to guess that the PO wouldnt have put that much time and research into the stereo either.

I personally would buy a descent 4 channel and tune it accordingly. If its not broke dont fix it.

Auto climate controls: http://media.caranddriver.com/images/media/107284/2007-subaru-legacy-audio-and-climate-controls-photo-113709-s-1280x782.jpg

 

Manual climate controls have 3 knobs, one for the temperature, one for the level, and one more the mode.

 

I could see maybe getting the JDM unit and putting it in there and selling that when selling the car because those don't come cheap, but at the same time I could see what you're saying with the hackjob HID install and broken fogs meaning they probably didn't know what they are doing.

I'm with b slaps. Unless you're wanting to do your own build, get an amp and get it all running. Then you can decide if you want to improve on what you've got or if you're happy with it.

I cant say I disagree. I dont particularly want to keep fiddling with it. There are a few other things I need to fix that are far more important. (PO removed half the front driver wheel liner and for whatever reason, the trunk springs.... on top of that, the timing belt is due to be replaced.)

No.

 

/thread

No.

 

/thread

 

thanks.

Either of the amps this guy selling on the forum work for my application, or would I need something more powerful?

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/car-audio-sale-174784.html

 

Alpine MRP-F200 50W x 4(RMS)

Ample A414X 72W X 4(RMS)

 

Also, what kind of sub setup can I do with the JL 1200 monoblock that I have already? Dont need anything that hits hard, but if I have the amp I might as well use it. I'm continually searching to learn more about all of this.

Either one of those 4 channels would be fine for you. You don't need huge power.

 

For a sub setup, the amp you have is relatively low power so I'd look for a single 12" sub. Be sure to get a dual 4 ohm voice coil subwoofer as it will work best with your amp. Your amp makes the most power at 2 ohms, so if you wire a dual 4 ohm subwoofer in parallel, you'll have 2 ohms.

Ok, I'll look into it. Thanks for the help.

It really doesn't matter if you want the sub to hit hard or not.

 

You can feed a sub 6000 watts and have it as loud as you want.

 

What you do want is a sub that can reproduce frequencies accurately.

 

Most people on this forum seem to think the cheaper the sub and the less power you give it the less hard it hits but will still sound amazing.

 

No it will distort and sound like ass.

Amazing is all right with me. I'll take clarity over volume any day. I dont need so much bass that it gives me a back massage and makes my face fall off...

With a single sealed 12" sub and your amp, you can accomplish what you want pretty easily.

Actually, I am debating on using the deck lid idea that you started a thread on. I like having as much trunk space as possible.

 

edit: correction.... you didnt start it. Dont know why I thought you did.