Stereo Setup

[stealth_pug 0]

Hi, i am wondering what to do with my car stereo. I currently have a fairly decent system which does give off good sounds but is not quite as good quality as i would like.

 

At the moment I have these up front:

Kenwood

 

and these on the rear parcel shelf:

kenwood rear

 

The headunit is an old aiwa one which i was given so i had it for the time being. The output is 45 x 4 so it is not bad for a freebie.

 

I seem to get a quite a bit of crackle from the front when i turn the volume up a fair bit and does seem to distort fairly easily. I was thinking of upgrading them to these:

FLI

Opinions??

The problem with these is that they are 16.5cm and the standards are 13cm. Is it a fairly easy job to enlarge the existing holes and has anybody got advice or pictures from this being done, or is there an easier alternative? I was then thinking of possibly amping either the fronts or the rears, not particularly sure yet?

 

Are there any other tips or techniques on sealing or soundproofing which would gratly increase quality as i think i may not be getting the best out my current setup?

 

any comments would be helpful

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

If you're after more bass especially on the move, keep the 13cm remove the rears and fit a sub.

Sounds like you could do with a new headunit to start with.

 

Soundproofing can work, but in a 205 well it's no Mercedes!

[NoodleVille 0]

in my opinion you should deffinatly amp the fronts i just fitted a set of infinity components amped and there awesome no distortion even at silly volumes

ps get a new head unit

[stealth_pug 0]

Have now changed my mind and will be getting the fli 6" component speakers and then amping them. Has anyone ever used or heard these and if so what are they like?? And yes i will be getting a new headunit aswell.

[Guest Lil Black Pug]

Before you go any further upgrade the head unit? If you think about it you have a line of audio processors / units? The final sound quality is limted by the weakest part of the link! Might sound stupid but if you pump out an XS amp through Dine Subs then overall the final output is limited to the very poor XS.

 

Upgrade the H/U, you seem to like kenwood and there are loads of very reasonable quality source units for £100ish these days. If you want to amp the front end, might even be worth linking the amp up to what you already have, before you buy new speakers. Everyones idea of sound quality is different and im a bit out of touch with the latest equipment but AFAIK Fli is part of Vibe, the subs were good for not a lot of dosh but never rated the rest of the range. I think the best set up for most cars is a good set of amped comps up front and an amped sub. Buy a small channel amp that will run 2 ohm stable and you will be able to run you all 4 of your current speakers and if your still not happy you can easily revert to 4 ohm and run some nice comps.

 

Opps think I went on for a bit?!!

[hengti 2]

If you're after more bass especially on the move, keep the 13cm remove the rears and fit a sub.

Sounds like you could do with a new headunit to start with.

 

Soundproofing can work, but in a 205 well it's no Mercedes!

 

 

that's pretty much what i was thinking of suggesting as i was reading the first post!

 

head unit is definately the weak link. get a decent one with a pre-out that you can use to run a sub amp from. ditch the rear 3/4 panel speakers all together and run the amped sub in the boot. run the fronts off the head unit, but use capacitors to reduce the bass signal they receive.

 

this all costs, but it's probably the cheapest way of building a half decent sounding system.

[Paintguy 0]

Another vote for sorting the head unit first.

 

No matter how good the rest of your system, feed it garbage, and what do you get? Louder garbage

 

(not that I'm knocking your HU, just recommending you start with the basics first )

[tom_m 0]

yeah as everyone else said, sort the head unit first. its the only place to start when you want better sound!

[24seven 104]

New head unit for sure. Personally I'd change the whole setup. Get an Alpine CD/MP3 unit (or CD/MP3/WMA), get some S type Alpine 6x9s in the parcel shelf, and some S type 13cm components in the front, mounting the tweeter on the top of the door cards or the dash. Also get a sub in the boot. Don't have just a sub in the back and speakers up front. it'll sound cack. seriously. Balance the sound by unning the head unit on minimal bass, and run the sub on bass boost through the amp.

 

My setup is:

Alpine Type R SWR-1221D 12" sub in a sealed enclosure (ported is louder, sealed is more musical) powered by a QXT200 amp

Alpine SPS-690a 6x9s in the parcel shelfpowered by a QXT250 amp

Alpine SXS-1357 components in the front (main speaker in the factory position, tweeters on the top front edge of the door cards) powered by the head unit

Alpine CDE-9828RB CD/MP3/WMA head unit with 4x50W output.

 

The head is set to -2 bass centred around 80hz, the sub is playing all the bass which is boosted by the gain and built in bass boost of the amp (also with the amp's built in x-over set to low pass only, around 80-100hz), rear 6x9s amped on high pass only (amp frequency set just high enough to almost stop the speakers 'kicking' with the bass drums at 75% volume), and for what I payed (£80 for the head, £20 for the front speaks, £25 for the rear, £30 for the sub, £100 for the amp, £50 total for wiring kits and £20 for speaker cable) the system sounds really clean and sweet.

 

A common mistake made by people when setting up a ssytem is to leave the main 4 speakers pushing bass as well as the sub. The sub is made to play the bass, and fill the car in doing so. you don't need bass coming from anywhere else.

 

Also, for the best surround with the sound, don't use coaxial speakers up front. use components and put the speakers low, tweeters high. coaxials only have an advantage in that they are a good solution where it is impractical to have components in the back of the car, hence why all 6x9s are coaxial. Components will always sound better.

 

Hope this is helpful in some way. I can post pics of the setup in my Almera if you want to see. It's nothing all that special, no custom enclosures or anything.

[Paintguy 0]

Don't have just a sub in the back and speakers up front. it'll sound cack. seriously.

Really?

 

So how come just about every Sound Quality competition winning car for the past few decades has had exactly that set up? Some may have a bit of low volume rear fill, but they all have the majority of the sound coming from in front (where it should be), with just the bottom octaves (which are fairly non-directional) coming from a sub.

 

It may not be the kind of sound you like, but it's more natural, and far from 'cack'.

Edited May 28, 2006 by Paintguy

[TEKNOPUG 3]

Dump the 6x9's. Fit decent mid/tweeters in the front doors. Run one 10" sub in the boot or alternatively a pair of 8" drivers in the rear "doors". Power it off 2 quality seperate amps if budget allows.

 

Unless you use your car as a taxi and give a monkeys what the people in the back can hear....

[24seven 104]

Really?

 

So how come just about every Sound Quality competition winning car for the past few decades has had exactly that set up? Some may have a bit of low volume rear fill, but they all have the majority of the sound coming from in front (where it should be), with just the bottom octaves (which are fairly non-directional) coming from a sub.

 

It may not be the kind of sound you like, but it's more natural, and far from 'cack'.

 

 

If that's true, then competition judges are retarded. It's like saying a dolby 5.1 home theatre system doesn't sound as good as a stereo + sub system in your living room. I';m sorry but anyone who thinks a system sounds better with bass in the boot and everything else coming from the front doors, is either lieing or deaf.

 

You sure you're not just thinking about decibel competitions and not real, actual sound competitions?

Edited May 28, 2006 by 24Seven

[TEKNOPUG 3]

You don't need any rear mids/tweeters in a little 205 if you have some decent amped comps up front.

[Paintguy 0]

That's a rather poor argument you give there, as 5.1 uses discrete channels, especially encoded for the purpose. Running rear speakers is nothing like that.

 

 

But there is no need to get personal and start insulting people. No one has made any comment about the type of system you personally prefer, so please don't start having a go at the vast majority of car audio enthusiasts and professionals that hold a different view.

[Woosey 0]

If that's true, then competition judges are retarded. It's like saying a dolby 5.1 home theatre system doesn't sound as good as a stereo + sub system in your living room. I';m sorry but anyone who thinks a system sounds better with bass in the boot and everything else coming from the front doors, is either lieing or deaf.

 

You sure you're not just thinking about decibel competitions and not real, actual sound competitions?

 

Bass is non directional, it doesn't matter where it "comes" from as such.

 

You are so seriously misguided on this i wouldn't bother arguing....here a decent setup in a car then come back and tell me your right....

 

having the sound coming from behind you is like going to a concert and turning your back to the stage.

[d-9 0]

Also the concept of dolby 5.1 sounding better for music is laughable, anyone whos owned a decent stereo system and a decent surround system will tell you that surround is fine for watching movies (which have the discrete chanells) but for enjoying music it will sound, well, cack.

[huxley309 0]

Agreed, as doug said 5.1 is cack for stereo sound only use for 5.1 is dvd even then im not a big fan of it, so much so im thinking of selling my audigy2 soundcard and plump for a 2 channel soundcard with optical output for the denon

 

I used to have £3k's worth of ice in an older car, it took me 3months to suss that one of the rca's was damaged causing one of the rear 6x9's not to function, as painguy pointed out if you fit a sub and good front components there's no real need for rear speakers except for a bit of rear fill

 

Front speaker wise ive not long sold my boston fx5 13cm speakers and they were a cracking bit of kit, not that bassy but thats what the mb quart 6x9's were for

 

Funnily enough i was working on some custom pods for my 7" dynaudios and trim them in leather

 

They fit fine just a took a bit of measuring and some swearing with an angle grinder

Edited May 28, 2006 by huxley309

[d-9 0]

U got 7" speakers in the front of your 309 daz?

[TEKNOPUG 3]

Can you really hear the stereo anyway in a 205??? What with the engine roar, tyre squeal and Police sirens.....

Edited May 28, 2006 by TEKNOPUG

[Edd-XS 0]

The 'vibe' SE-K6's are a brilliant set of componant speakers and are also available in a 13cm. If anything there is slightly too much treble but theres a -3dB cut on the crossover which smooths things out a little.

Run some of these with a quality sub in the boot and some rear co-axials to 'fill' the sound out a bit and you'll be well happy.

Ive had many sound set-ups in 205s and by far the best set-up i had in terms of quality was 16.5cm componants up front, good quality sub in the rear and later fitted some rear co-axials in the back seat pockets as IMO the sound needed 'filling out'.

Course now im running 4 amped 6x9s (2 in the front doors and 2 in the rear pockets) with a 12" sub and it sounds painfully loud!

necessary to drown out my group N

Edd

[huxley309 0]

Well ive designed and built the pods in mdf and fibreglass and yes surprisingly they fit fine despite looking rough as any pod at this stage would

 

They're dynaudio system 240's i believe they're listed as 6.5" but take up 7" due to the size of the spider/voice coil cage.

I can take a picture if your really that fascinated...ive built them so they won't damage the interior bar shave off a bit of metal naturally

 

For now the mb quarts in the boot are good enough

[24seven 104]

Bass is non directional, it doesn't matter where it "comes" from as such.

 

You are so seriously misguided on this i wouldn't bother arguing....here a decent setup in a car then come back and tell me your right....

 

having the sound coming from behind you is like going to a concert and turning your back to the stage.

 

 

I know bass is non directional. That's pretty much what I said in my forst post. Personally I find it strange that anyone would want their system to sound like they're in a live performance, when they're just sitting in their car.

 

Yes, I do agree it's down to the individual. I was giving advice based on my experiences and opinions. I didn't make it personal, I didn't insult anyone. Sorry if you got the wrong idea.

[number2301 1 1 Cars]

Strange, you've given exactly the opposite advice from everyone else I've ever heard talk about SQ. More than 2 speakers in a small car like a 205 and you'll need very expensive processors to sort out the sound staging, 6x9s are terrible and tweeters should never be more than roughly 4" from the mid drivers, hence you're probably best off just having coaxials in a 205 due to the poor positioning.

 

1 quality head unit, Alpine or Nakamichi, 2 quality coxaxes in the front doors, 1 quality sub in the boot and 2 quality amps to run it all. Simple, good SQ and if you spend the money good SPL.

[TEKNOPUG 3]

Glad someone agrees with me!

 

If you are going to fit components in the front, mount the mids in the normal speaker position and then put the tweeters in the plastic panel beneath the vents - or even in the vents themselves if you want to play around with directioning them. You can also mount the tweeters high up in the A pillar but it will mess with the soundstage a little.

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

1 quality head unit, Alpine or Nakamichi, 2 quality coxaxes in the front doors, 1 quality sub in the boot and 2 quality amps to run it all. Simple, good SQ and if you spend the money good SPL.

 

Have you seen my car then?