Guys,
I’m not a big ICE fan, but at the moment my ford focus Eco boost has better sound than my mini and it’s frustrating, have had a look on here but I am struggling with all the tech, could someone point me in the right direction of a good head unit and either some speakers to fit in the parcel shelf or some 6x9’s to put under the seats?
I have an old sony xplod head unit but it’s been round a bit and seen too many winters and I’m looking to upgrade but not with stupid money
Cheers
Craig
if you read any of the build threads you will get plenty of info from there,
Back to scratching my head again then, thanks!
General idea of a nice system is a set of 6.5 inch components in dash pods under the dash rail and an 8 or 10inch sub either in the boot of under the rear seat etc…
Obviously an amp will be needed for a sub and the “norm” is to use a 4 channel amp so you can then bridge 2 channels for the sub and use the other 2 for the components.
The idea of 6x9s under the rest seat or speakers in the parcel shelf is frowned upon amongst the higher end people in the ICE scene as for the best sound and imaging speakers should be infront of you and as close to ear level as possible. Dash pods are nice as the tweeters can be put on top of the dash and the mids in the pods which give a relatively good position and is also quite practical.
The install depends on your budget and whether you want a good sounding system with nice imaging or a discrete system which sounds half decent even if you lose some imaging (ie when you mount speakers behind you..)
I’m sure Ruckus will be along soon to either add anything or correct anything I’ve said, he knows his stuff and is the man to talk to if you want information on quality installs.
Hope that helps,
Cam.
That helps a lot thanks, I’m probably thinking in pods under the dash rail then, say I realistically have a budget of £250-£300 for everything including a head unit is that even do-able?
That helps a lot thanks, I’m probably thinking in pods under the dash rail then, say I realistically have a budget of £250-£300 for everything including a head unit is that even do-able?
Should be do-able, take a look at places like Car Audio Direct etc.. to get an idea of what’s available and what sort of prices you’re looking at. If you’re only looking for Components and no Sub then that budget should be fine, if you’re including a Sub you may be pushing it a bit…
Ruckus has good knowledge of older kit, which you can often pick up second hand and some of it sounds alot better than the newer kit! Unfortunately I’m not up to scratch with this and have only researched. I’m still rocking an £8 pair of 5.25" Coax’s in the rear shelf…
Haha awesome, to be honest I’m not that bothered about a sub I would
Just like to appreciate good music coming out, hopefully he will be along soon
After trying to understand the tech side and looking online I have decide that on my set up I want to try and get some 6" speakers mounted up front,
I’m struggling with options as I don’t really know what I’m looking for but I have had a look at these
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ground-zero-iridium-gzic650x
One of my questions is where is the best place to mount the tweeters? Do I have to cut the top rail and my kind of like my vents?
As for having some other speakers in the back do they have to be subs or could I get another pair of these?
Amps are my main headache, I’m finding it hard to distinguish what’s good, and what I need, also what I’m looking for in a head unit.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/jvc-kd-r862bt-car-cd-usb-player-with-bluetooth-blue
Something like that for a head unit?
Speakers behind don’t have to be subs. You can get another set of components for behind but I think a set of coaxs will be better or even just a 6.5inch woofer. Then you don’t have to find somewhere to put a tweeter and to be honest you don’t want tweeters behind you.
Tweeters are normally quite small so you can “wedge” them in the corners of the top dash rail.
Those Ground Zeroes look.. Alright. Personally I would go for a more known brand like Alpine, Kenwood, Rockford Fosgate, JL Audio…
Head units are personal preference really, especially when using a seperate amp as the sound from the head unit isn’t as important. Alpine head units are good as are Pioneer. Take a look at those, I like Kenwood head units too. JVC aren’t a personal favourite for me.
Amp wise, if you want front speakers and rear speakers with no sub then a 4 channel amp is needed. Again Alpine are good for this. The ultimate amps to have are older Genesis and Rockford Fosgate amps (which is Ruckus’ speciality..) but I reckon any newer half decent brand will be alright so look for Alpine, Kenwood, JL.. (seeing a pattern?) I think Kenwood make a nice range at suitable prices and they aren’t too powerful.
Make sure you try and keep the power requirements of the speakers and the output of the amp within each other so you don’t accidentally put too much power through the speakers and damage them.
If you look for speakers you like (front and rear) then find an amp with suitable power and channels (4) and then a headunit with the features you like. Post them up and I’m sure I/we can help you out and give you some advice if it looks like a good system or not.
Good luck on your search!
Cam.
cheers mate much appreciated, just one before I have a look, when you mean “wedge the tweeters” do you actually mean just on the top dash, could I have them on the sides of the pods I put the speakers in.
only thing i’m against is a single sub in the back may make the other side look bare…OCD and all that 
thanks for the help so far much appreciated
cheers mate much appreciated, just one before I have a look, when you mean “wedge the tweeters” do you actually mean just on the top dash, could I have them on the sides of the pods I put the speakers in.
only thing i’m against is a single sub in the back may make the other side look bare…OCD and all that
thanks for the help so far much appreciated
Just re-read my post, I said “a 6.5inch woofer” I meant 1 in each side, and I assume you mean you want the speakers on the rear shelf? If so, then you can buy just the “mid bass” speakers which are basically just the woofer part of a 6.5" component set and put them in the rear shelf. This would work quite well as you get some nice punch from infront (the component set in pods) and behind (woofers in rear shelf) then you get nice imaging from the tweeters either on the dash rail or the front pods. Although, with 6.5" speakers/woofers, the rear shelf may require some work (ie, cutting) to fit, but I’m not 100% sure.
Also, make sure you deaden the rear shelf very well. It’s common to sandwich the rear shelf with deadening pads either side (usually something like Dynamat or SilentCoat is used) then 10 or 12mm mdf too to make it solid so it doesn’t resonate. Then some nice enclosures underneath the shelf so the woofers have their own air space and aren’t let “free” in all the air of the boot which can lead to “sloppy” or uncontrolled bass as there is nothing limiting the movement of the speaker cone. Enclosure sizes/volumes can be calculated using online calculators (if you want to get that serious). And no, enclosures are not a necessity but it is recommended as it can improve sound quality and reduces the risk of damage to the speakers. It is up to you whether you want to put the effort in with building enclosures or not. (Enclosures and shelf deadening are things you can get ideas for from the ICE Projects section with regards to size and building them etc..)
If you wanted to, then you could cut additional holes in the front pods for the tweeters but the reason they are normally put on the top rail is because of the imaging of the sound. The sound that tweeters produce (high frequencies) is very directional so is best if the tweeters as close to ear level as is possible. However, as it is more practical to put them in pods I don’t see why you cant, I think that would work quite well. Or as you said “on the sides” you could mount the tweeters on the outside edge of the pod and angle them up slightly if possible so they are directing more towards your head/ears. This may also work quite well. (I think the best way to decide with tweeter placement is to get the main setup in place then experiment with different positions of the tweeter and see what sounds best)
Not sure if all of that made sense…
Cheers,
Cam.
EDIT: Also, just done some reading about Ground Zero, they seem to get some good reviews. So if that’s that you find and like, then maybe they aren’t a bad choice!
Cheers mate,
I actually I the subs being under the seat and the tweeters being out next to the pods up front (that I will either buy or make to fit the front speakers in).
How or where do you put them on the dash rail if I was? (Tweeters I mean)
All of that made good sense I think its time to just have a look at a few and try and get it all in my budget and come back,
Thanks
Craig
Cheers mate,
I actually I the subs being under the seat and the tweeters being out next to the pods up front (that I will either buy or make to fit the front speakers in).
How or where do you put them on the dash rail if I was? (Tweeters I mean)
All of that made good sense I think its time to just have a look at a few and try and get it all in my budget and come back,
Thanks
Craig
Tweeters are normally placed in the corners of the top dash rail between the front screen and the rail itself. Maybe some people blu tak/fix them in place with some kind of tape? Not sure.
Having woofers under the rear seat works well. Theres lots of space under there for enclosures to be made and its quite a discrete place. 6.5" subs are commonly fitted under here (actual subs not just midbass)
Cheers,
Cam.
Cool I shall take a look, may have to just get front speakers head unit and amp for now and add he subs in later… As your right with the subs i won’t get that on my budget at the moment
The options so far
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-spg-17cs
What are voice capacitors?
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/amplifiers/bbx-f1200-4-channel-amplifier
Amp?
And head unit
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-cde-175r
And that’s my budget pretty much gone so would have to look at making my own pods to go at the front
Cool I shall take a look, may have to just get front speakers head unit and amp for now and add he subs in later… As your right with the subs i won’t get that on my budget at the moment
You may find the sound from the front speakers fine! You might not need any additional subs/speakers.
If this is the case then depending on the power limit of the speakers and the amp you choose you may be able to bridge the channels from 4 into 2 which will bring even more of the speakers potential into play
That was not in English …I posted before with suggestions to mate sorry I was probably editing at the time you were writing!
The options so far
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-spg-17cs
What are voice capacitors?
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/amplifiers/bbx-f1200-4-channel-amplifier
Amp?
And head unit
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-cde-175r
And that’s my budget pretty much gone so would have to look at making my own pods to go at the front
That’s quite a nice setup. That head unit is nice as are the components and amp. Those components can take 70w RMS power and the amp gives out 50w so that’s alright. Unfortunately you can’t bridge as the amp gives out 130w RMS when bridged. All this means is that you will have 2 unused channels on the amp unless you do decide to use rear speakers too.
I think a set of 6.5 inch subs (JL Audio ones are supposed to be really good) under the rear seat will round off that system nicely with a decent bit of punch.
It’s up to you now!
Cam.
Edit: bridging the amp means combining the channels of the amp together. This means more power and therefore more sound!
Voice capacitors.. If they are anything like power capacitors then they help when using subwoofers in systems, as when a bass note hits more power is drawn for a short amount of time and this sudden draw can cause problems like head lights dimming etc.. So a power cap helps with this. I’ve never heard of voice capacitors where did you see that?
Just in the description, ok mate that’s great that’s what I’m headed for then thanks for all your help
Not a problem mate. Should be a nice setup!
