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| cbg |
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Hey guys,
Im fair new to the forums, and picked up heaps of good tips on doing little mods to the car (have a BA wagon by the way), but the one thing i cant really find is how to get better sound out of the standard HU. Pretty much everyone talks about putting in a new one and just bypassing the old, but im not a huge fan of that look, and rather keep it simple up front. So pretty much what ive come up with is replace speakers, replace wires, put in an amp under somewhere, and the chuck in a JL Cleansweep or soemthing similar. Is this a good way of going about it, or am i just wasting my time? Any comments would sweet, Cheers
_________________ "We're not here to lick stamps!" |
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| LTDHO |
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Usually it's best to go for good (better than standard) speakers and a good crisp amplifier.
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| Fairmont_03_5.4 |
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Hey Dude,
You don't NEED to change the head unit to get decent sound, although i have found that a head unit change in itself can change the sound immensly. However, if you want to keep it simple, buy yourself a good quality amp like Pioneer or Alpine with speaker level inputs (Make sure it has Speaker input and not RCA only) that way you can use the wires from the existing speakers as the signal for the AMP. Better speakers would do you well too, but make sure you look at the RMS rating and not the Max power, some speakers will say 400W max but only have 50W RMS where other will be 300W Max and 100W RMS. Same with AMP's. Good Luck,
_________________ Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is finally done. |
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| phil545 |
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Fairmont_03_5.4 wrote: Hey Dude, You don't NEED to change the head unit to get decent sound, although i have found that a head unit change in itself can change the sound immensly. However, if you want to keep it simple, buy yourself a good quality amp like Pioneer or Alpine with speaker level inputs (Make sure it has Speaker input and not RCA only) that way you can use the wires from the existing speakers as the signal for the AMP. Better speakers would do you well too, but make sure you look at the RMS rating and not the Max power, some speakers will say 400W max but only have 50W RMS where other will be 300W Max and 100W RMS. Same with AMP's. Good Luck, thanks for this mate, this is exactly what i am after, i only wanted to change my speakers but would obviously need to run an amp as the stock HU is like 100watt or sumthing pathetic, once ive done by engine mods i think i will look at amp and speakers 
_________________ I hate arriving at my destination as then I have to get out of my car! |
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| Steady ED |
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cbg wrote: So pretty much what ive come up with is replace speakers, replace wires, put in an amp under somewhere, and the chuck in a JL Cleansweep or soemthing similar. Is this a good way of going about it, or am i just wasting my time? pretty much exactly what i did except i used a rockford fosgate 3sixty.1 to do the processing instead of a cleansweep. i also added a slimline 12" sub. works pretty good, i'm happy with it. it's still not as good as a decent aftermarket source unit, but it's alot better then stock. the processor definitely neatens up the factory signal a fair bit.
_________________ ED XR8 Sprint - S-Trim, V500, 249rwkw |
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| Falcon_92_EB |
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phil545 wrote: Fairmont_03_5.4 wrote: Hey Dude, You don't NEED to change the head unit to get decent sound, although i have found that a head unit change in itself can change the sound immensly. However, if you want to keep it simple, buy yourself a good quality amp like Pioneer or Alpine with speaker level inputs (Make sure it has Speaker input and not RCA only) that way you can use the wires from the existing speakers as the signal for the AMP. Better speakers would do you well too, but make sure you look at the RMS rating and not the Max power, some speakers will say 400W max but only have 50W RMS where other will be 300W Max and 100W RMS. Same with AMP's. Good Luck, thanks for this mate, this is exactly what i am after, i only wanted to change my speakers but would obviously need to run an amp as the stock HU is like 100watt or sumthing pathetic, once ive done by engine mods i think i will look at amp and speakers factory headunits are less than 100W 
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| phil545 |
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lol you sure, thought they were coz the standard speakers are like 25w each. oh well either way they are hopless
_________________ I hate arriving at my destination as then I have to get out of my car! |
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| cbg |
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awesome, thanks for the helps guys. think im gonna take that money i got back from tax and put it to good use.
also, thinking i might chuck in a 10inch sub in the back somewhere, just for that little extra. i mean, im saving money by not buying the HU, may aswell spend it soemthing else haha
_________________ "We're not here to lick stamps!" |
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| low_ryda |
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i'm fairly sure the factory head unit is actually around 200w which is why a standard speaker level input on most amplifiers won't work properly. not on my mtx comp amps anyway (bf though)
you will need a line level convertor.... on the upside my stock stereo in the bf with aftermarket 5x7's from head unit with a line convertor running an mtx amp with pioneer sub sounds about as good as you could ask for for a standard head unit. haven't had a need to swap the standard tweeters either.
_________________ Not to get technical, but according to chemistry alcohol is a solution. |
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| Falcon_92_EB |
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low_ryda wrote: i'm fairly sure the factory head unit is actually around 200w which is why a standard speaker level input on most amplifiers won't work properly. not on my mtx comp amps anyway (bf though) you will need a line level convertor.... on the upside my stock stereo in the bf with aftermarket 5x7's from head unit with a line convertor running an mtx amp with pioneer sub sounds about as good as you could ask for for a standard head unit. haven't had a need to swap the standard tweeters either. Well all headunits vary in power e.g Premium sound, POV pack and age are all factors. |
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| low_ryda |
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yes this is true, mines a premo sound with no factory sub/amp and i couldn't use my line level inputs on my mtx amps.
_________________ Not to get technical, but according to chemistry alcohol is a solution. |
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| cbg |
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well, after reading up on what everyone has been saying, i bit the bullet and went out a bought a bunch of gear.
splits - Kicker RS60.2 http://www.kicker.com/rs_series Sub - 10 inch JL Audio W0 http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_subs ... ries_id=32 Amp - Kicker ZX350.4 http://www.kicker.com/zx_amplifiers plus all the wiring and line adapters. i have an idea to fiberglass a box in the back just behind the wheel arc, so the sub takes up the least amount of space, and will chuck the amp under the driver seat. keeps everything clean, and out of site. will post pics once its all installed. still very open to all comments, and cheers again guys for all your help.
_________________ "We're not here to lick stamps!" |
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| ranio |
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if you stay with the stock HU, putting a new and better ground from the HU to the chassis is an absolute must! the sound quality will go way up and go that bit louder without sounding like crap!
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| Tiger_Smithy |
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ranio wrote: if you stay with the stock HU, putting a new and better ground from the HU to the chassis is an absolute must! the sound quality will go way up and go that bit louder without sounding like crap! i need to be a complete noob here and ask what a "better ground" is?
_________________ Formally 97_el_futura |
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| low_ryda |
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i have a 12' in the far rear left corner in the boot in a custom glass box. i didn't have much hope for it because it wasn't very large, but open the 40 side of the 60/40 split rear seats and the boot becomes your box
 my amps on the floor up on the top deck of the boot but i want to try get a factory satnav bracket and mount it there would be alot neater. i'll get a pic of the box if you wish.
_________________ Not to get technical, but according to chemistry alcohol is a solution. |
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