Lightweight Car Audio

Im not sure if this has been touched on before, but after searching im assuming it hasn't been.
I'm attempting to save weight in my eg (back seats, trims, carpet out and a few other bits and pieces) however I still want a basic sound system.

What I have at the moment is just two 6" alpine type r speakers in the doors and a jvc headunit, but it just sounds like sh!t, the slightest amount of bass distorts and I can hardly hear music over the exhaust unless I eliminate bass and crank the head unit right up. What do you guys think would be the best setup in my situation? Without running amped speakers or a sub. I just want a bit of clarity, and please dont say to use an ipod!

since u dont want to amp ur speakers or a sub the best option would be to get a decent set of component speakers up front and set ur bass to the lowest setting off your headunit other then there there really isnt much u can do

get a pair of quality splits with neodymium for the 6" midbass driver, powered by a decent headunit with adequate power.

I have a pair of Pioneer yellow cones in my eg, while they provide good sound with decent bass considering powered by the headunit they are very heavy at 1.2kg each. I remove them along with the headunit at competition events.

you need more power to run the speakers as the Type Rs isn't very efficient and needs an external amp.

my suggestions:
- change speaker to more efficient ones;
- run an amp to power the existing speakers.

with my car, i wanted to keep weight down too so i didn't want to run an external amp. i got a pair of Alpine DDLinear splits, an Apline HU and an Alpine in-line amp to boost the power to 50W x 4 RMS. i also have a Clarion sub with build in amp so i can take it out when i need to.

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Originally Posted by Philip Lee

i got a pair of Alpine DDLinear splits, an Apline HU and an Alpine in-line amp to boost the power to 50W x 4 RMS.

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where did you source the in-line amp from? is the a measure of speaker efficiency?
I know very little about car sound, only how to wire it up. haha.

definately get something better than the type r's. theres alot of better sounding splits (to my ears) at that pricepoint -and obviously above.

youre really limiting yourself to wanting no amp or sub, but thats a compromise youre willing to accept.

with your requirements the "best setup" would probably be an efficient 2-way splits or 3way splits that includes a 7-8-9" MID-woofer (not subwoofer) that plays down low to cover some subbass without distorting & bottoming out earliar, but then you wont be doing them any justice and let them shine clearly without an amp.. nothing comes to mind when i think of efficient splits that also sound decent..

even less justice if your aernt willing to add some sound deadening.

personally i reckon get an amp. most of em are only a few kilos, add some sound deadening and the head unit and itll all still be under 10 kilos, hardly noticeable. doesnt have to have 100+ per channel either, just a 40/50ish-RMS-per-channel amp is enough. itll definately help you out in the "clarity" department, but you dont wanna go that route so not much you can do really..

probably good to give us a rough budget too so we can work out how to best use it

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Originally Posted by nickk

where did you source the in-line amp from? is the a measure of speaker efficiency?
I know very little about car sound, only how to wire it up. haha.

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Alpine calls it the Power Pack KTP-445. it is plug and play for most newish Alpine units but it won't work for your JVC.

if you want to save $$, i'd suggest to add a smallish 2 channel amp for your splits. they shouldn't be too heavy and can go under the seat.

Hrrm... I just hate having power, ground, rca's all over the shop. I'd be willing to spend ~ $500-$600 to get a reasonable sounding system. It mustn't be that hard with today's technology? if worse comes to worse. I'll get a smaller amp than what I have at the moment and mount it to a space saving sub (like one for a ute) and keep it behind my seat. The type r's actually sounded not bad until I stole the amp from them.

all that wiring is just a part of a sound system unfortunately. cant exactly say something like "i want clarity, lots of output, any amount of bass, be heard clearly over the exhaust in a stripped car, all the bells & whistles, AND i want it all to magically come from just a pair of speakers & head unit". cant expect perfection from nothing. nah'mean?

500-600 is enough to cover for a basic full system installation.. so achieving a reasonable system on that budget is not so easy, even with todays tech. u gotta pay for quality like everything else.

given the budget, definately put your amp back in for your splits, keep your type r's if youre happy with their sound. invest in some SD.

you say you wanna get a space saving sub, but u specifically mentioned you didnt wanna add amps/subs/weight in the 1st place, so im not quite sure what you willing to do now..

if this is a track car where your concerned about every kilo then probably best to rip out everything & anything to do with car audio.

just have a think & prioritize before spending anything :)

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.

VIBE Lite Air Series!!!!!!

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.