Nice Set Of Speakers And A Hu

[Guest Chris_J]

Im still in the process of getting my car ready for when Im 17 and Ive been looking at getting a decent sound system. The standard one produces only a TINY amount of sound at full volume due to the heater matrix leaking on it. Im not after big 6x9s in the parcel shelf of anything like that, I just want a decent USB HU(around £150) and some nice speakers up front(£50??) and anything for the back really. Will I need anything else like an amp? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

A 4x 50w Head unit

 

Roughly

 

£50 13cm speakers up front

£80 Mono Amp or bridged 2 channel

£90 10" Sub in the rear inc. box

 

Keep a look out for sub/box/amp deals - I picked up an Alpine 10" S class sub + MRP350 amp and box for about £200.

The amp in Halfrauds was about £170

 

Don't bother with 6x9's on the rear shelf it's a complete waste of time in a 205, a small sub in the boot is nice and stealth and ultimately sounds better.

 

The head unit is the most important.

Edited July 13, 2006 by Simes

[BERTMAN 40 1 Cars]

im going for 13cm (5 1/4'') infinity speakers all round, and an amp powering a sub in the boot, the 205 is only a small car so you wont need more than 1 sub, same reasoning for not having 6x9's too...

[DTORU 0 1 Cars]

I have Fusion 17cm speakers in the front doors, 2 Fusion 6X9's in the rear quater cards where the ash trays were and 2 Fusion 6X9's in the parcel shelf and a Fusion sub in the boot. All the speakers are amped and the sound is great and can go very load if needed. The amps make for better and clearer sound quality. Runnig a sony head unit 4X52w

[Baz 421]

I have 2 Kenny components sets in one of my 205s atm, without the sub as it still has half an interior etc, but sounds ok, defo don't go the showy route with 6x9s, keep it lookin stealthy or you're asking for trouble, unless you have a good alarm of course!!

[Radster 0]

I have an alpine 4*60 with a couple of speakers up front and some Pioneer 6*9's in a stealth shelf in the back, discrete and sounds pretty good, although I got the shelf for free so buying a sub maybe a better option

[Guest Chris_J]

Im just looking for speakers to replace the original ones(In the same place and the same size) So I dont have to modify anything. What exactly does the amp do, where would I put and and when would I need one?

[richard 0]

Chris, i think it might be a good idea to have a look at a few car hifi mags.

 

Breaking it down, standard speakers in 205 are 13cm, so you can replace these with co-axial speakers (for an immediate upgrade) then later on go to components (a bit more and less hidden due to the remote tweeter)

 

In terms of amp, theres no way a std HU will power a 8" or above sub. These are rated over 100W sometimes more than 1000W so all you'll do is burn out the magnet in the sub due to high distortion levels. (its been a while, but i think its down to sine waves)

 

So, rule of thumb is if you have a 100w sub, try to get an amp thats rated more than the sub, same principle applies (distortion) as above for the head unit.

 

Placement of the amp can be anywhere. I would seriously recommend that you dont have any of this kit on show (unless you like replacing door skins, locks and windows)

 

As an example, you could place the amp under the driver/passenger seat, fixed to the behind of rear seat (check the placement so that you dont overheat the amp) Or mounted sensibly to the boot floor.

You could if you wanted to do something a little bit more trick is mount it into the glove box etc.

Remeber to fuse the + connection as close to the battery as possible, any chaffing of the cable will cause a fire if not fused.

Wherever you put this stuff remember to make sure it is mounted securely. A sub on a shelf thats not mounted can in an accident take your head off, a bit of a sobering thought.

 

Finally, and this might sound a bit old manish....be aware of the levels you are playing your music at. As someone who used to have a big stereo system (1KW RMS) and have always been around them, i now have hearing damage due to do some very high levels.

This is way over what youre looking at but this sort of thing can quickly escalate....

[Paintguy 0]

This is way over what youre looking at but this sort of thing can quickly escalate....

Too right it can!

 

I was intending to stick to a simple single amp, components, and small sub set up for this car, but I've ended up getting carried away yet again

[Guest Chris_J]

So even if I upgrade the HU(which im going to) and dont use very powerful speakers I still need an amp?

Im not going to be playing my music too loud . After all Im not going to be listening to the type of music most people my age would. Im into stuff that wont sound much better louder like the Beatles, Eagles, Jack Johnson and so on...

Sorry about the stupid questions and thanks for the help!

[Paintguy 0]

So even if I upgrade the HU(which im going to) and dont use very powerful speakers I still need an amp?

No, you don't actually need an amp if you're only using standard size speakers. If you decide to add a subwoofer then you almost certainly will, as no HU will have the power to drive one correctly (as mentioned by Richard above).

 

 

But the advantages of using an amp are many, even if you don't play your music particularly loud. A decent external amp will have plenty of power in reserve to play anything you throw at it, and will make the music sound 'better' than the HU could, even at the same volume levels.

 

Think of it like two cars driving down the motorway. One is a 1litre Fiesta, the other a BMW M5. Both will reach 70 or 80 MPH, but the Fiesta will be getting to it's limits, whereas the BMW wont even be raising a sweat. In a similar way, your HU may play OK at the volumes you need, but the external amp will have plenty of extra in reserve (called 'headroom') to make those drum beats sound a little fuller, or male voices a little deeper etc.

 

And you'd be surprised at your choice of music - The Eagles and Jack Johnson are often used by the Sound Quality competition types, due to the quality of their recordings

 

 

But as I say, it's not a necessity, but certainly something to consider for future upgrades.

[richard 0]

check out the HU's for a while, read reviews and find out what the sound quality of it is like. Go to a reputable car audio dealer to be able to listen to it. (a bit too audiophile for some people.)

 

End of the day, crap in, crap out. All a stupidly expensive amp will do is make the crap sound ...louder.

 

Alpines generally make very smooth sounding units, I have an Alpine and a Kenwood. The Alpine is definately superior in its sound. The Kenwood was very good when i got it, and it was at the time an upgrade for me. Very noticeable and a vast improvement on the crappy factory fit one.

 

Most Hu's now give 50w per channel. This i doubt would ever be close to 50wRMS (real output)more like 27wRMS. Even so this is quite an improvement over the 25w of a couple of years ago which equates to around 16-18wRMS depending on the HU model.

If you dont want to listen to it loud, then a good HU would be fine, and it would also mean you dont have to think about an upgrade HU should you wish to add amps, additional speakers etc in the future.

 

Paintguy summed it up very well with his example!

[NoodleVille 0]

hi i atm my HU is an alpine one i would higly recomend that you buy a good HU as i found buying a cheap one only ment i had to buy another one when i wanted to upgrade simple theory being if u got rubbish coming from ur HU then when u amp it u have loud rubbish

 

i managed to pick mine up off ebay for 80 pound posted modle number is CDA-9811R very very good HU will run a set of front speakers easily for the sort of use u want and if you ever intend to buy an amp or componants it will easily handle that usage as well

 

i think this head unit retails at about 179 new i think dnt quote me

[inferno 1]

can i suggest fixing the heater matrix first>???

 

oh and i have the original radio and speakers in my car and they sound great!

[jeremy 68]

I have two similar set ups in both my GTIs as in both have 2 10 inch subs in the boot, and direct replacement speakers in each corner although the h/u and speakers are different ie Alpine h/u corner speakers, and vibe subs, and kenwood h/u, with JBL corners and subs they both run off V power Alpine amps superbly.

 

These were done on a budget, and each pair of speakers cost £35 four channel amp £120/£100 both new, mono sub amps £120/£50 one new one secondhand Ebay £72 for Vibe subs Ebay in cabinet seconhand, and JBL subs in box new £90

 

so excluding wiring and H/u the avarage cost is about £356 plus cabling Ebay/Richer sounds £30 plus h/u

 

I am extremely happy with both, and although both H/u are around 10 yrs old for the Alpine, and 6 for the Kenwood I made sure they came with 4 V minimum pre-outs as IMO this helps reduce distortion making for alot better sound.

 

Not sure if this helps, best of luck.

Edited July 18, 2006 by jeremy

[Super Josh 4]

I made sure they came with 4 V minimum pre-outs as IMO this helps reduce distortion making for alot better sound.

 

I would agree with that. Although it still amazes me that in an electrically noisy environment like a car, that all head units and amps don't come with balanced inputs/outputs as standard, rather than having to buy expensive balanced transmitters/receivers.

 

 

 

Josh

[Guest okjc205xs]

im goin for:

 

 

 

ipod ---> amp -----> 6x9's

 

 

 

no headunit needed and 6x9s are gunna be built into where the rear seats ussually are because the back of my 205 is stripped.

 

 

 

just a idea and you dont need to splash out for head unit!!

 

my mums bf is making me a stainless steel plate to cover up head unit hole maybe with 205 laser cut into it

Edited July 20, 2006 by okjc205xs