Buzzy Altea Speakers and ICE upgrade

[loadswine]

The Infinity coaxials will be fine. The sound stage is way better than stock and the tweeter does project the higher frequencies pretty efficiently, it is adjustable.
Bass reproduction is fine, unless you require subwoofer levels of bass.
I have Alpine X series components in my other car, with plenty of amplification as well, and the sound in the Altea is actually better.
Just my opinion of course, as this stuff is a bit subjective.

 

[Tell]

Yes, I don't know where that one came from that the original bass was better than Infinity, someone needs their ears testing. The one several up just reported on the fronts being changed, you need to do all four and gets those in door tweeters disconnected.

Greatings Loadswine from high up on the Andes. (with Nissan Frontier diesel 4x4 going off road the proper way).

 

[pdh 14a]

Hi sorry to drag up an old thread! I've just bought a set of Focal speakers off here!
my questions are,as i got lost trying to read the thread!

Which set (Front or rear) are best to upgrade first?

What is the part no for the autoleads speaker wire thing?

And if i decide to cut the tweeter out,which colour wire is it?

Thanks for any help.Paul

 

[pdh 14a]

Anyone? Looks like i'll have to read it all again

 

[pdh 14a]

Well fitted these Focal's and they sound awful clearer sound,but next to no Bass at all!
Anything simple i could have done wrong?

 

[pdh 14a]

Well fitted these Focal's and they sound awful clearer sound,but next to no Bass at all!
Anything simple i could have done wrong?

Anyone?

I hate stickies,no-one looks at them

 

[loadswine]

Hi, well I have just seen this, so have to ask, did the pictures in the first half of this thread not help in identifying the wires to cut on the adaptor leads?
Unfortunately I can't go and check on my car, as I sold it 2 weeks ago. ( really miss it, was a great car)
The Infinitys certainly gave a decent amount of bass. I don't know the spec of your focals, but they are usually nice pieces of kit, so I'm surprised they don't deliver.
Checking the wiring back to make sure it was just the tweeters you disconnected and not the woofers, as that would probably give you poor bass response.

 

[pdh 14a]

Thanks mate,it was getting lonely in here
It was wire 2 on the autoleads kit that i cut,the inner red one!
Yes i thought the focals would have been good,but there must be another issue as i tried an infinity speaker out of my other car,and that was crap on the bass too! both Focals and Infinity's were worse than standard!
Could it be an air seal issue with the adaptor? as i trimmed all the way round it!
I think i'll reatach the wires incase and silicone round the speaker mounts and faces,see how that goes!
Thanks for your time.Paul

 

[DannyN]

I dont think I've ever heard of someone getting poor performance from Focals

 

[tinky]

Well fitted these Focal's and they sound awful clearer sound,but next to no Bass at all!
Anything simple i could have done wrong?

Simples. I've been searching on altea audio issues for two weeks now. I have alpine spr 17lp speakers, which sounded like crap in altea. They are not sensitive enought for a weak altea head unit, which can't move cone strong enough to give a lot of bass, so your speakers must have the same issue. These speakers are designed to be powered from amp.

From what I found, infinity are a bit more sensitive hence better sound.

I chose to go in different direction myself. I'm going to put in my old alpine cda 9853 unit (I hate the lack of mp3 support and lack of brilliant equaliser i have in alpine), looking for a small 2 channel amp, about 50w rms, which i wil fit UNDER my HU in the console and cut in to the ISO adapter so sound goes through original wires to the speaker, hence i will only need separate + lead from battery , the rest of wires will stay original. And put in my spr 17lp for now to see how they play from amp. If any good, later on i'll add another amp, put spr 17lp's in the back doors, and put some components in the front doors. But that's later.

As soon as i have done something, i'll come back to you guys, to say if it worked.
P.S. Where do i find code for my original HU? Don't want to go to dealer if i decide to put it back in.

 

[tinky]

I dont think I've ever heard of someone getting poor performance from Focals

Head unit is way underpowered to run them well. I doubht you ever heard of anyone running focals without amp

 

[pdh 14a]

I dont think I've ever heard of someone getting poor performance from Focals

Lol i managed it!

Simples. I've been searching on altea audio issues for two weeks now. I have alpine spr 17lp speakers, which sounded like crap in altea. They are not sensitive enought for a weak altea head unit, which can't move cone strong enough to give a lot of bass, so your speakers must have the same issue. These speakers are designed to be powered from amp.

From what I found, infinity are a bit more sensitive hence better sound.

I chose to go in different direction myself. I'm going to put in my old alpine cda 9853 unit (I hate the lack of mp3 support and lack of brilliant equaliser i have in alpine), looking for a small 2 channel amp, about 50w rms, which i wil fit UNDER my HU in the console and cut in to the ISO adapter so sound goes through original wires to the speaker, hence i will only need separate + lead from battery , the rest of wires will stay original. And put in my spr 17lp for now to see how they play from amp. If any good, later on i'll add another amp, put spr 17lp's in the back doors, and put some components in the front doors. But that's later.

As soon as i have done something, i'll come back to you guys, to say if it worked.
P.S. Where do i find code for my original HU? Don't want to go to dealer if i decide to put it back in.

Yes i have come to the conclusion that the altea headunits are underpowered! I have just bought the clarions for the rear!
I have got the focals sounding a bit better by siliconing in the plastic adapter ring! this is giving it a touch more punch,but on certain types of bass they just fart

Thanks for the help guys

 

[tinky]

Lol i managed it!


Yes i have come to the conclusion that the altea headunits are underpowered! I have just bought the clarions for the rear!
I have got the focals sounding a bit better by siliconing in the plastic adapter ring! this is giving it a touch more punch,but on certain types of bass they just fart

Thanks for the help guys

Not just altea HU, all HU are underpowered for good sound. My ///alpine is 18w rms per channel i think, which is NOT enough for decent sound. First thing I will do is i'll change head unit, to see if original HU is limiting with it frequences or it's speakers. (I miss very high tones).
I'm in the search of fascia plate at the moment. Also, just received sak-3103 adaptors, find them very flimsy, probably will end up either modifying them or using MDF.

Will keep you updated if you are interested.

 

[pdh 14a]

Not just altea HU, all HU are underpowered for good sound. My ///alpine is 18w rms per channel i think, which is NOT enough for decent sound. First thing I will do is i'll change head unit, to see if original HU is limiting with it frequences or it's speakers. (I miss very high tones).
I'm in the search of fascia plate at the moment. Also, just received sak-3103 adaptors, find them very flimsy, probably will end up either modifying them or using MDF.

Will keep you updated if you are interested.

Hi mate,yes i'm very interested . Imay upgrade the HU soon,especially as my Autochanger has been playing up lately!
Yes the sak's are very flimsy,i filled up the gaps with foam which seems to man them up a bit! certainly helped with the sound as lot!

I have a meaty system in my other car and used to do a lot,but technology moves on,and i'm getting too old and lazy to upgrade stuff these days

 

[tinky]

Hi mate,yes i'm very interested . Imay upgrade the HU soon,especially as my Autochanger has been playing up lately!
Yes the sak's are very flimsy,i filled up the gaps with foam which seems to man them up a bit! certainly helped with the sound as lot!

I have a meaty system in my other car and used to do a lot,but technology moves on,and i'm getting too old and lazy to upgrade stuff these days

Well , i feel the same lol . Dont want to invest 800-900 quid on sound system again, and then spend days moulding pods (adaptors), putting wires in and so on. When you take your HU off, could you let me know how much space is left in the dash after you put single din unit in please. This is the space i want to put amp in (no need for major rewiring then-lazy ).


If everything work out ok with space in the dash , this is what i'll have :
Alpine HU cda 9853
Some components at the front with tweeters wired outside the door (got a good idea how to do that so it stays nice and you dont see wires )
6.5" Mid-bass or woofers in back doors for lowest bass possible.
Above speakers wired via 4 channel amp aprox 50w rms per channel.

Again, all that depends wherever i can fit 4 channel amp in the dash afte original HU removal.

If i'm lucky-greate sound with minimal rewiring.

Getting very excited now! After a few hours of searching found this. Google Alpine KTP-445 Power Pack, i'm not allowed to post link yet. probably not as good for you as for me, but worth having a look at

 

[pdh 14a]

Sounds good mate! If you search through the Leon 2 section,i'm sure there are pics of a dashboard with no HU in there to give you an idea of size! if i do change mine i may go double din tv it won't happen overnight though,got too much on at the moment!

 

[tinky]

Sounds good mate! If you search through the Leon 2 section,i'm sure there are pics of a dashboard with no HU in there to give you an idea of size! if i do change mine i may go double din tv it won't happen overnight though,got too much on at the moment!

Yeah, already seen the space left after HU removal, no chancce to fit ANY amp in the, so its ktp 445 only for me. Look it up, you'll like it. BTW, same thing, extremely busy, so just looking around for the best option.

 

[pdh 14a]

Yeah, already seen the space left after HU removal, no chancce to fit ANY amp in the, so its ktp 445 only for me. Look it up, you'll like it. BTW, same thing, extremely busy, so just looking around for the best option.

Yep i'll have a look at that! cheers tinky

 

[tinky]

Hi. Well, due to lack of funds (bloody turbo) decided not to do audio upgrade. Also, got used to the sound now, and find it ok . Probably will just add tweeters for clarity, and that's it. Shame, huh....


BUT, i would highly recommend to anyone looking for an upgade, to look at alpine hu with ktp 445 powerpack, to front infinity components (route tweeters outside door card, near the edge, nobody sees it anyway) and a couple of spl midbass speakers at the back. I bet that would sound superb. That's what i would do. No rewiring, no lost space in the boot. Installation would only take probably 1 hour. Good luck.

 

[Toxic]

Thanks mate,it was getting lonely in here
It was wire 2 on the autoleads kit that i cut,the inner red one!
Yes i thought the focals would have been good,but there must be another issue as i tried an infinity speaker out of my other car,and that was crap on the bass too! both Focals and Infinity's were worse than standard!

After fitting my DNX520VBT and Infinity 652.9i's in the front i noticed a lack of Bass too. however disabling the Built in Tweeters is a must-do and i have now tweaked the Audio settings/xover settings on the new HU to allow a more rich bass in the front of the Altea, Sound now is Very good. Tones across the full range are clear/crisp and not distorted at higher Volume levels. I have a couple of small Vibration issues which I think i can solve by a glue gun to the Speaker Adapters/sound proofing.

The rear speakers however are crap. ETKA list the standard speakers in my car as Mid tones in the rear and Bass in the Front. I may see if I can fit the original "bass" into the back to give some extra bass from behind.

I have put up a review of the DNX over here for anyone interested:

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=317369