Lightweight Car Audio

if youre willing to add an amp & 'small sub', than might as well get a 'normal' 8/10/12" sub. between the 2, there really isnt enough difference in weight to be concerned about in a daily driver. we're talkin about a few kilos here..

reasonable sound is subjective.. sure you might not be an audiophile but youve said yourself that youre not happy with the quality of sound, lack of subbass & how loud it can go.. why? cus youve basically hit the limit of the gear (just a HU & speakers, no amps or subs) & installation (sd'ing, outside noise reduction/proofing to mask your exhaust, speaker positioning, tuning, etc). you'd have to address those if you want improvement.

youre simply expecting too much from too little.

guess you gotta ask yourself whats more important: a few kilos of weight saved or a sound system you like the sound of?

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Originally Posted by nickk

The reason i say getting a space saving sub, is because if I go to the effort of running all the wires and install an amp, a very small sub is not that much more. Having said that, I'm still against the idea.
I just find it hard to believe that just a head unit and two speakers cannot produce reasonable sound.
My iPod dock sounds much better and it's smaller than the keyboard I'm typing on right now.
It's not a track car, otherwise I wouldn't have door trims or a dash to put any of it in lol.

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I believe you can achieve reasonable sound with a good HU, good efficent speakers that are well installed.

Forgot to ask, are you speakers cone still intact and moving freely? I've seen a few old type R and type S drivers that are rooted that arent even abused or that old ie only 3-4 years old included one in my own crx and it was acting just like yours ie huge distortion at even moderate volumes. Also are you speakers sealing properly? ie is the MDF rings still intact and the general sealing around the door trim/ speaker hole is good?

On my eg where I drive 2-3 hrs into the country from time to time, I used to leave the volume at 28-32 on a 5 year old Pioneer HU when I had full and stock interior on highways doing 100-110km/h; I now crack it up to 38-45 volume to overcome the road noise with headlining, carpet, rear trims, all other seats bar driver's and sound deadening removed and it's still got some headroom before clipping. Not sure what sound level you prefer and if your exhaust is very noisy then it's going to be lot more of a challenge.

I don't have access to a real time analyser anymore, but will try to see what rough SPL I can hit inside my car on my driveway before it clips with a handheld db meter.

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Originally Posted by arverson

youre simply expecting too much from too little.

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Originally Posted by nickk

My iPod dock sounds much better and it's smaller than the keyboard I'm typing on right now.

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I think it just is a matter of getting a new HU and some new speakers both of good quality and I'm sure the sound should improve. The other concern is that I have water leaking in the drivers door onto my speaker, that definitely doesn't help so I must fix that issue up first I guess.

shouldnt compare your ipod dock to your cars system cus one is used at home, the other is used in an enviroment where youre battling constant roadnoise & exhaust in a stripped car.

in car audio, installation is CRITICAL if you wanna get the most out of it. you can replace and replace and replace but its pointless if you keep givin em half-arsed installation.

replace your gear if you want, if you end up with performance that meets your expectations then sweet. if not then ive already told you what needs to be done to improve.