Hi Guys,

I am just enquiring about what mods i could do to my sound system for under $500 to get the most bang for my buck, i have no idea about what speakers to choose or anything.

I am currently thinking of a new head unit, replacing front speakers and connecting a sub to the back speakers, would this be any good?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Tiger.

Last edited by Tiger_Smithy on Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

can anything decent even be done this cheap?

the speakers on these falcons are 5x7s. thers nothin good out ther unless you spend tooo much.
get some decent 6" splits and get a little plastic adaptor plate for them. run them off a amp in the boot and if you want more bass use another amp and sub combo

noooooo you can get good 5x7s for under $200,

id sudgest pulling your a pillar covers off and putting in a set of tweaters, there is a factory plug so no need for cross overs. then just hi low converter with sub and amp in the boot, factory speakers hold up ok. i have 5x7 kicker splits, $180 from jb and an old sup and amp i had and put it all in my ute and it got 136db at a sound off. BOOM SHAKA LAKA

As i know sweet FA about any of this stuff i was wondering if i could ask for some guidance?

I am now keen on keeping the standard HU if possible, as i don't need the sound to be extraordinary, just better than it is.

My thoughts at this stage include changing the speakers in the front doors and adding tweeters, i had a look at the pillar of my XR and couldn't see the plug for the tweeters that i saw when looking in my Dad's BA mont? Am i missing something?
Will i need to then buy the pillar covers with the tweeter vents in them to get the sound out?

I am also thinking of adding a sub into the hole in the parcel shelf, i think it holds an 8 inch? This would then need to be ran out of, along with the front speakers, from a 4-way??? amp?

Considering i am never listening to the back speakers i will leave them stock for now, but running the sub from these should make them better anyway, i assume? probably wrong...

Would this even work? I really do know nothing about this subject...

So atm (until someone corrects me) my plans are new front speakers with tweeters, a sub in the parcel shelf connected to the 2 stock speakers in the back with the front speakers and sub plugged into an amp.

correct!, drill holes in your a pillars to mount the tweeters, can still make it look trick, as for not having the factory tweeter wiring, go buy a set of 5x7 splits and have them installed as normal or look up some scimatics and do it yourself, going from scratch it would cost about $50 for tools to do it, pick, phillips, souldering iron, solder, elct tape, drill a few holes/melt with iron as to where you want the tweeters and stuff the cross overs in the doorspace. hey presto! awesome sound system for all your needs!

So as i plan to try and keep the standard HU, i am going to make a list.
Any input as to the items i have missed or parts that i may need to get others to work would be tops!

Also recommended brands, products etc would help a lot! Keep in mind that i would like to keep the cost around $500...

1. Front speakers (splits with tweeters)
2. 8 inch sub for parcel shelf
3. 4-way amp to run front speakers and sub

Which componant should i spend the most money on?

Will i need line level converters, hi low converters etc? I plan to have this installed by an auto electrician, so they may already have most wiring, what other parts will i need to take to him?

IMHO best way to spend $500 on the factory sound system is...

~$250-300 on the front speakers, should get a [very] nice pair of 6"/6.5" +spacers/adapters or some 5x7" splits (so speaker + a tweeter).

(if you had premium) The rest on a better 8" free air subwoofer.

Don't worry about the rears, they're not needed (at all, ever). Don't worry about an amp or anything fancy, you don't have the budget for anything actually worth buying. (now if you're budget was ~$1000 then we can think of adding a sub)

new front speakers, factory ones are crap, ICC is actually ok

Too be honest, my budget could be more if it needed to be. I am just being tight. If i had a $1000 budget, what would your suggestions be?

Add a 4chan amp and sub.

Hey I'm looking to do the exact same thing here so let me know how it goes and what you end up selecting (speakers and amps + brands used). Sounds like a great idea however is there anyway to connect both the rear speakers in parallel to the 4 way amp so that each of the lines of the amp is used without waste or will this put too much of a load on the system?

Also what would be the difference for having a mono amp jus for the sub and upgrading the inside speakers and leave them to be powered by the original HU?

Sorry guys, reading this thread is damn near making my head explode!!!

Main point; you wouldn't install a sub without and amp because it would sound like total s**t, like I'm talking REALLY s**t. While driving with the HU on say, anything above 14, you wouldn't hear it either.

For a tight $500 you'd go straight for front splits for around $250-$300 like Data_Mine said. What this does is separates the treble frequencies from the bass frequencies and in essence, lifts the sound stage, which is the height in which your brain thinks the sound is coming from - so instead of your brain thinking it's coming from your feet, it'll think it's coming from your chest/chin area. It makes it sound better and clearer.

That would increase the sound quality a lot.

In regards to the new head unit - you can pick good quality ones up for $250-$350 from a joint called Sound Master in Granville, NSW - http://www.soundmaster.com.au/

However, if you were to jump your budget to a gorilla ($1,000), we've got a couple more options you can look to. Grab the same parts as above which will give you ~$450-$500 to spend on a sub and amp.

You'd grab a single 4ch amp to run your front splits and your sub that you're about to get.

Buying a sub depends on what kind of music you listen to; dance music would be aiming at a 12" for that short but deep bass kick, rock would be more the 10" for the shorter less lingering bass drone and RnB would throw you straight to a 15" bad girl for a deep and long bass tone. Buying the correct sub first leads you to what amp you should get, in my experience you should get an amp that can handle at least 75% of the total load in RMS.

Example system;
Sony DSXS300BTX - Very good head unit from Sony with Bluetooth (will run rear speakers QUITE well) 145w RMS for those of you playing at home.
Soundstream L.O.S Series LS.60C - 130w RMS
Soundstream Picasso12" 300rms Sub - PCW12-SVC - 300w RMS giving a total of 430w RMS. Meaning you would get something that can handle ~320w RMS.
Soundstream Lil Wonder III Series LW4.500 - which has a RMS rating around 350w RMS.

All in all, everything I just made reference to in the paragraph above comes to the grand total of $1,053AUD.

I'm willing to bet a fortnight's wages that this system ^^^ will sound AH-MAZE-ING in your XR6.

tonka

EDIT: forgot to say, yes they do ship products to Victoria.

Agree with a lot of the above, except...



The right box design can (and does) mean you can make any sub (the compromise will be box side/dimensions) play low/deep. Make use of a 10" or high quality 12" and you can get deep/low and fast response.

I had a 10" that's play low than most peoples 15's and of course still be able to keep up with the quickest double kick or techno bass line. The downside of that 10" was it needed a huge box (86L) to do it in - it was a cheap and nasty sub.

I now run a high quality 12" (Hertz Mille ML3000), again box design means it plays low loud and quick.

The biggest gains in a sound system can come from proper installation (incl. box design for subs) rather than spending big bucks.

Agreed, but you can polish a piece of s**t all you like, it'll still be a piece of s**t lol.

I think for this fella's purpose, that system that I quoted him would be perfect, nothing is overpowered and for lack of a better word, "woggy."

Inside the cabin it'll sound smooth, clear and powerful. I just go with the general rule which I stated with the sub size description. To each their own I suppose, but it's never lead me astray

Head over to my build thread Data_Mine (link's in the signature) and have a look at the shopping list I've set for my build.