Soundsystem upgrade

[Mitchell]

Hi guys and gals.

Right, I'm looking to upgrade my soundsystem sometime in the near future.

I have a decent amp and know what sub i am getting.

Was just wondering what people have done in their mk2's?
And was also wondering what sizes everything is.

I ideally would like to up grade my door speakers (also need to know what is the biggest magnat i can get in there without hassle)

Would i need to upgrade the speakers in the dash?

And as mine is a 1.4, it doesnt have speakers in the rear, wiring is all there for it. Is it worth installing these? My opinion is no, as i dont site in the back!

Cheers

 

[chris285]

i had crappy 6x4's in the back of my 1.4, i replace them with better ones

replaced the door speakers, not done dash and no amp or sub and sounds pretty good to me

 

[surcalation]

Front door cards are 17cm/6.5" speakers. If you buy a bigger magneted speaker then you can use spacer rings in order to brig the speaker out.

No need to have 6x9's if you have a sub and amp, just have some decent front components like some 6.5"s in your door cards.

Dual Dash speakers are 3.5" and if you want ones that fit perfectly then pioneer do them:
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/product_print.jsp?product_id=2592
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/product_print.jsp?product_id=6568
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/product_print.jsp?product_id=6569

And as already said for the speakers which are on the plastic next to the parcel shelf they are 6x4's.

For my ICE I binned my back seats

 

[Mitchell]

Yeah i'm not after speed mate. Its a 1.4....

Nice interior, nice soundsystem and a clean exterior will do me just fine

Cheers peeps

 

[Insin]

I managed to pick up some Infinity component speakers for the doors and dash and some Infinity 6 x 9's for the parcel shelf.

The 4" door speakers fit perfectly with no extra work.

All I did for the dash ones was take out the small speaker that was already there, bore a hole out of the plastic holder then screw in the component tweeter and replace the grill.

I just need an amp now...

 

[OllieL]

Yeah same as the above really, and with a sub and amp and nice components you will be sounding pretty good.
Wishing I hadn’t changed the dash components - mate sorted me some out and they are trebletastic!
I’m thinking of mounting some 7 x 10's somewhere in the boot so I can turn the sub off when I’m not wanting to be too loud, or if i have to shift it to carry stuff in my boot. Just a case of where - like you say the wires are there aren’t they.....hmmmmm

 

[Mitchell]

No my wires are there ready to wire some in.

But i wouldnt need to take my sub out, well, im not going to anyway!

So i think a nice set of rainbow component are in need for the fronts.

 

[F2 Ed]

I have some fuisions in my dash and 4 fusion 6x9s on the shelf.

Very loud if i turn it up...but i never do lol
Much prefer to listen to the engine

[NOTE: The lexus lights were sold on ebay for £60 a while back lol]

 

[Mitchell]

Oh dear...

 

[surcalation]

Man the lifeboats....

 

[Mitchell]

Man something....

I really dislike 6x9s, they are everything i hate in a women.

I just thing the sound quality that comes from them is terrible. Its probably the fact that they try to kick out so much bass and treble at the same time from one unit.

Ah.. I just dont rate em

 

[surcalation]

Man something....

I really dislike 6x9s, they are everything i hate in a women.

I just thing the sound quality that comes from them is terrible. Its probably the fact that they try to kick out so much bass and treble at the same time from one unit.

Ah.. I just dont rate em

I suppose if you dont plan on running a sub or amp then they can be a cheap enough alternative.

But if you are running a sub and amp then there not needed. If you disagree with not needing 6x9's then I am sure a check of the current IASCA competing cars will sway you my way because I don't recall seeing anyone running 6x9's on their parcel shelfs.

 

[jcs356]

I upgraded mine as follows - but this was back in the dark ages of 1998! It's all been sold off long ago on eBay when my Ibiza got turned into a track car.

I had the pioneer custom fit component speakers behind the original grills in the door/dash, and then same pioneer custom fit 6*4 behind the standard grills in the back. Then I had an 8 inch Kicker sub in a small enclosure bought for next to nowt as the car audio shop dropped it and the grille was dented )

Powered it all via a Calliber CA660 6 chanel amp, with channels 5 & 6 bridged to feed the sub. Head unit was quite an old Blaupunkt unit with a 10 CD changer the size of a small house. Made a pretty good noise, and with all the original grilles intact, it just looked completely 'normal'.

 

[Mitchell]

I suppose if you dont plan on running a sub or amp then they can be a cheap enough alternative.

But if you are running a sub and amp then there not needed.

Agreed...


Yep, its definatly all about the factory look when it comes to installs nowadays.Too many thiefs around. Plus the fact that some things do look better standard.

 

[hopkinsgm]

Re: 6x9's - there are some good sounding speakers out there, but also an awful lot of tat. They need a good solid base to push against, stick them straight through a shelf and even the best speaker will sound sh1t - so beef it up with some 3/4" MDF.
In my experience, 2 ways tend to sound better than 3ways, 4ways, etc... Stick some carpet over the holes, then recover the entire shelf (two layers of carpet over the holes helps stop it sagging) and it's nice and stealthy...

Add a nice set of components up front - don't bother with co-ax's in the doors unless you drive aroun with your head in the footwell - and you've got a nice balanced system for not a lot of cash.

Location and orientation makes a hell of a difference to how speakers sound, especially with the treble response. Bass frequencies tend to spread more, allowing you to take all sorts of liberties with location (particularly with subs), but treble frequencies are far more directional. Thus with a coaxial speaker, the tweeter location should be the determining factor.

To my mind, a sub generally colours the sound far too much for my liking (and for my musical tastes) and the extra wiring for amps etc. is a pain in the ass (and another potential source of electrical gremlins). So that's why I steer clear of subs. The fact that it means I retain a usable boot too is just an added bonus.