young and in need of mk3 stereo help!!

[rozza]

ok well basically im 17 yrs old and i bought myself a mk 3 "W" reg seat ibiza 1.4 mpi and have a bit of cash to spend on buying accessories for my car, i.e wheels, seats and ofcouse a good system in my car, problem is thus..

You know what the lay out is on a 2000 ibiza, tape player and a clipped on fascia with an L.E.D screen showing time, temp etc, but how do i remove this and find a place for a head unit to go, i just had a play around b4 and unscrewed fasica off, but dunno if i should remove box, n even then, how do i get a cd player to fit and look right :S cause if i removed whole front, i would have no buttons for temperature etc!! please help.

P.S if you had a bright red ibiza, what alloys would you get, i was contemplating white monza alloys, and what size could i get up to? 17?

 

[pilsbury]

18's will fit, has been done before, and if you use the search facility you should find plenty of info on the stereo, but tbh, the std one isn't that bad, on ours i've got an RCA adaptor so i can run my sub and amps, and an adaptor for my iPod, and its all good, its quite a hassle changing over to another HU unless you're clever with wiring etc

 

[rozza]

hmmm so what your saying is that i cant really get a new hu, i have to stay with this tape players, that looks total ****... my dad is a mechanic and im sure he could do the head unit setting up for me, the main problem i was thinking of was how does it fit nice and snug in that hole and putting one in would mean taking whole fasica off thus leading to me not having access to temp buttons!! grrrr so confused

 

[davidol]

the standard unit will accept a sony 6 disc changer with a "connects2" adaptor or a VAG changer will plug straight in, the car is already prewired to the boot, take a look behind the passenger side boot carpet and you'll find the plug.

It is possible to fit a aftermarket headunit in your ibiza, people have fitted them in locations such as the cubbyhole underneath the steering wheel, the glovebox and the centre dash vents. It is even possible to modify the orginal stereos fascia to accept a single din sized stereo but this is alot of work as the brains of the unit behind the fasica are too large to accomodate this and have to be cut up and modified, not pretty

what are you looking for from the system? if just a good increase in sound quality, volume and bass are the order of the day i'd suggest running a 4 channel amp from the standard stereo, using 2 channels to power the existing front speakers and the remaining 2 channels bridged together to run a small 10" or 12" subwoofer. The existing stereo has no outputs to send a audio signal to an amplifer but adaptors can be purchased from halfords starting at as little as £6.99 per 2 channels (obviously you'll need x2 these), you get what you pay for when it comes to these though and I recommend the powered alpine hi level to low level convertors. Bout £30 each but much cleaner signal with little or no hiss.

 

[rozza]

sorry if i sound a little un-educated on such things, im only 17, have knowledge in school subjects but not really about eletrical workings of a car and stuff, could your perhaps simplify it down for me, how exactly would i connect a head unit into say the glovebox for example

 

[TimD]

Extend the power, earth, speaker wires to fit into the glove box, mount the headunit suitably and bobs your uncle.

 

[rozza]

^^ ok sounds kinda simple when ya put it that way, how would i get the wires into the glovebox and get a mount so it actually looks respecatable

 

[Ibiza Cupra]

Go to an ICE shop or someone who does custom fibreglass.

I met a bloke who got a company to build in a HU in the dash.

BASICALLY - the company smootherd off all the buttons relating to sound around the LCD display unit, left all of the AC And climate control buttons at the bottom and put a HU in the middle. The guy told me inside the standard Double Din HU behind the LCD display there is 1 motherboard which controls the AC etc. If i was you i would take it to a company who know what they are doing and offer warranty if you are going to do this. The gut saif it cost around £300 for the company to do it. Not sure on the company name tho. Looked brilliant.

 

[rozza]

^^ im 17 though lol and im in college, i dont have a 40hour a week job, i earn 300 a month lol sorta need cheap solutions to get a good sound system, dont mind spending quite a bit of cash on the hu and bass box etc, but 300 pound just for a mount, bollox to that :S sorry cant really afford, even though im lucky to have such a good first car and support from parents

 

[Ibiza Cupra]

^^ im 17 though lol and im in college, i dont have a 40hour a week job, i earn 300 a month lol sorta need cheap solutions to get a good sound system, dont mind spending quite a bit of cash on the hu and bass box etc, but 300 pound just for a mount, bollox to that :S sorry cant really afford, even though im lucky to have such a good first car and support from parents

By the sound of it you just want a loud sound system. Easiest thing to do and probably cheapest is to get Hi - lo convertors. I think this is wot they're called. Basically turns your front and rear speakers into preouts, therefore able to run amps. Get a 4 channel amp to run your door speakers and a set of 6x9's or summit and get a mono amp for a sub. Obviously you will need to get a cd changer. i think you are limited to make of cd changers. Best bet is to source a SEAT or VW one. Having a HU mounted in your glovebox is gonna be annoying as u r still gonna have all the buttons on the dash for the standard one dat won't work. The convertors are about £30.

How much are u looking at spending on ur sounds??? As quality stuff really does cost!!!! i had an alpine setup in my 106 which was 2 10" subs Good amps (essential) 2 x components and good head unit and dat was £2500!!!

 

[rozza]

^^ dont really wanna spend that kind of cash, sorta having a look around ebay, i know alpine is good but, tbh i just want it to thump like fhk and look pretty darn nice, i was thinking of fusion subwoofer box n amp with 2 6 x 9's thts wut my m8 has in his clio ( cept he has xplod ones wired to his kenwood head unit ), would i need a certain kind or are they universal fit? sorry im struggling to comprehend all this car wiring etc as only had it for 2 months lol

 

[TimD]

Errm, go and look on google, re. stereo.

General consesus is no 6x9's with subs but i haven't dabbled with stereo equipment since my first car. Still have my very first sub in the garage doing nothing.

 

[rozza]

^^ hmm ok, but generally do all subs and amps fit? for example, say i bought a fusion sub, a fusion amp with 2 6 x 9's for parcel shelf & a wiring kit, would it fit in my car? its just annoying that i cant get a head unit, cause i dont wanna play tapes lol

 

[TimD]

Get a connects 2 box and plug your iPod into it or something.

Your a student, surely before you had your car you used public transport, therefore you will of had an MP3 player. Used to be mini discs back when i was at college, lol!

Don't fit 6x9's and subs, fit either or.

Not sure how you fit a sub to the standard headunit, it's not straight forward like fitting it to a alpine, sony, etc headunit for example.

Take it to a ICE specialist they will tell you what needs doing and give you a price.

 

[rozza]

^^ what kind of shop would be an ice specialist, and do you know any well known high street names that would be all over the country? for example, would someone working in the car section at halfords b able 2 help me, i do have an ipod, but how would the songs b able to b played on the standard shitty tape players

 

[m0rk]

lol. no they won't have a clue mate.

 

[rozza]

^^ im very sorry about how stupid i sound coming here not having a clue about my car really, even tho my dad is a mechanic haha, but i dont like tht kind of stuff, im more into law n english at college not engineering n stuff, oh well, u guys are really helpful, tho it does kinda make me wish tht i had got a dif car like clio or 106 which would have made it soooooooo much simpler but my step dad has had like 4 seat ibiza's on the run, but this year he changed to a honda civic, 1.6 racing kinda 1 n sold me his seat for 900

 

[pilsbury]

right, you need one of these to convert the hi-level signal from your HU to a Source signal to run to your amp,

http://www.autoleads.co.uk/system_adaptors.html you should be able to buy one at halfrauds for about £20

then ANY amp wiring kit will work, you need to connect the RED POSITIVE CABLE to the battery, with the inline fuse as near to the battery as possible, The BLUE REMOTE lead to the REMOTE/POWER ANTENNA cable from the HU, and the BLACK NEGATIVE/EARTH cable to a bit of bare metal in the back of the car (there is a perfect little bracket on the rear strut tops)

The RCA leads connect into the back of the adaptor shown above, and Power cables as you'd expect, connect your speakers up and presto it all works!!!

Whats the point of upgrading the rear speakers when you sit in the front? Spend the money you were going to spend on 6x9's on a decent set of front components, run them off the HU, the sub off a bridged 2ch Amp, and you're laughing, as for cassettes, well buy a tape adaptor (about £1 off ebay or £5 in tescos) and you can connect CD, MP3 or MD to your HU....

Sorted, I hope

 

[rozza]

^^ yeh i get what you mean, its just confusing, because all those things mean nothing to me, but if i buy one of those converters then any bass box amps etc will work? and for those tape adapters, are they the same as what my mate has? a white tape with a lead tht connects to his ipod

 

[pilsbury]

but if i buy one of those converters then any bass box amps etc will work?

yes...as long as it fits in your boot

and for those tape adapters, are they the same as what my mate has? a white tape with a lead tht connects to his ipod

yes...but sometimes they come in other colours too...

if you use your head, you can hide the wire as well so its not hanging out the front of the HU