Speaker advice for DC5S

Hi all,

Basically I'm looking to upgrade my speakers in my car. I don't have much knowledge about which brands are better than others. What I'm wanting might be a bit hard but i will list what I'm after.

New Headunit Double DIN. Desirably one that flips around into the dash so that people can't see/steal it. Like this but double din and hopefully dvd touch screen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byT9TlHWkn0

New Tweeters up front (Do they need to be moved?) What is generally the best position for them>? on the A pillars?

New Door speakers. I've heard that there isn't much space for the speakers in the doors so will they need spacers?

And I'm tossing up between a full on sub in the back, or maybe like 1 or 2 underseat subs to be discrete.

And i guess i will need an amp for that as well.

I'm looking for decent quality. Max including install i might be spending 4-5 grand.
I listen to Dance/club and Jazz fusion , and some pop stuff. So quite a broad range there.
I'm just after some advice as to whats better and whats not too good. Also any suggestions on installation places. Ive heard that fhrxstudios is good. (I think thats how you spell it)

yes fhrxstudios is good. get in contact with concord customs, hookitup, oakflates and doran.

definitely give the boys at fhrx a visit. they'll take care of ya.

heres a quick & rough budget breakup:
* $500 HU - (example: Alpine 117, Pioneer, Eclipse)
* $1000 splits (ex. Morel Elates, Dynaudio 242 [get the 'gt' version if space is cramped, tho you should be fine in that regard], Crescendo 9.6, 'DIY' drivers)
* <$1000 sub (ex. Image Dynamics IDMAX, Morel Ultimo, Boston Acoustics G5, Focal, Diamond Audio)
* >$1000 4chan amp. or 2chan+monoblock (ex. Audison LRX 4.1 or 4.5, Arc Audio, Treo, Audiosystem, Image Dynamics)
* that leaves $1500ish for wiring/fuses/rca's/dynamat/subbox/basic installation leaves $1000. hard to give a better quote without knowing exactly what you want done in the install. best to talk to the crew at fhrx about what work needs to be done exactly.

and of course im not suggesting you to limit yourself to the above brands, theyre just a FEW of what fhrx stock. i just dont what mention every option there is :p. what i will say is, at this pricepoint, everything will be of decent quality so no need to worry about that.

www.fhrxstudios.com.au

good luck :)

Car audio is the least of my worrys - but here is my 2cents. I really cannot umderstand spending 4-5 grand on a sound system (unless your entering it into competitions). From what your after, sounds like you can really crank it - but arent you gonna have mates in the car - are you the type of people that pump music at a volume that is over the top? Myself personally- whenever i have a passnger the music is not loud at all. How rarely do you drive by yourself?

If
You are looking at getting an audio upgrade.

My suggestion is to get a decent headunit. I got a type s and yes the speakers feel shit. I upgraded my headunit and the sound system is quite adequeate. There is bass and treblenfound.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rubes

Hi all,

Basically I'm looking to upgrade my speakers in my car. I don't have much knowledge about which brands are better than others. What I'm wanting might be a bit hard but i will list what I'm after.

New Headunit Double DIN. Desirably one that flips around into the dash so that people can't see/steal it. Like this but double din and hopefully dvd touch screen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byT9TlHWkn0

New Tweeters up front (Do they need to be moved?) What is generally the best position for them>? on the A pillars?

New Door speakers. I've heard that there isn't much space for the speakers in the doors so will they need spacers?

And I'm tossing up between a full on sub in the back, or maybe like 1 or 2 underseat subs to be discrete.

And i guess i will need an amp for that as well.

I'm looking for decent quality. Max including install i might be spending 4-5 grand.
I listen to Dance/club and Jazz fusion , and some pop stuff. So quite a broad range there.
I'm just after some advice as to whats better and whats not too good. Also any suggestions on installation places. Ive heard that fhrxstudios is good. (I think thats how you spell it)

---

The below link has a good setup.

http://shoppingsecure.com.au/index.php?_g=co&_a=cart
For head units check out soundmaster in Granville Speak to a guy called Chris he works on saturday he can hook you with a system at the same time if you want.
http://www.soundmaster.com.au/Car-Au...VD-Players.asp

Hey thanks for the workshop advice blabaa, unfortunately your shoppingsecure link didn't work as i don't think it saved the items in your shopping cart. But that frx website has loooooooads of info im gonna use. thanks
Averson thanks for the brand tips most of those look really good. thats a great outline of what i need and what to spend. appreciate it.

r3ckless i can understand what you mean. 4-5 is heaps and in the long run it will be probably closer to 4 if not under. But music is everything for me, so I'm very keen to get decent quality gear. I'm halfway through a BMus and can't get enough of most genres of music. For the club music i like to turn it up usually with friends in the car, but thats when we are travelling on a main road and don't have to stop otehrwise its turned down. For my jazz music im happy to have it at a medium volume but i want super clarity.

My next question is that i've read that some people upgrade wiring in the car for the speakers. Is this essential? Also does this apply to sound deadening. I've read that this helps improve the sound and not to mention quieten noise escaping from the car.
Also does anyone have an indication of how much an install (no modifications to car) would cost, just as a base replace speakers sorta thing.

its cheap & easy to replace speaker wiring, so do it anyway. its not essential per se but if your'e willing to spend around 1G for speakers then dont see why you'd wanna skimp on wiring. 16 awg or more is good for speaker wiring. 14 or 12 awg if you want but thats getting into overkill territory.

definitely include sound deadening in your system, for a bunch of reasons.. and dont confuse 'sound deadening' with 'sound proofing'. sound deadening is for reducing large & more flimsy panels vibrating/resonating (example, the bootlid or outer metal skin on doors). use it to eliminate rattles. and for turning your doors (along with painted mdf to cover the service holes) into an enclosure for your mid-bass drivers. that way you'll 'maximize your speakers potential'. you'd want to cus youre gonna spend a fair bit on your speakers so dont skimp on their install.

it is NOT used for blocking road noise entering/noise escaping. for this application you'd use ccf (closed cell foam) such as dynaPAD (not dynaMAT). this is a common misunderstanding by alot of newcomers, they tend to go overboard with dynaMAT/roadkill/other brand SD to reduce road noise when theyre actually using the wrong product for the wrong purpose. just letting you know now, before you make the same mistake.

install quotes, like i mentioned before, hard to give a quote without knowing EXACTLY what you want done, then what work methods & materials are needed. example, you mentioned 'tweeters on pillar'. do you want the rings positioned & angled thats 'optimum' for SQ purposes? or do they have to be setup in a way that doesnt impede windscreen vision? do you want it to look completely stock & stealth? what finish do you want on them? painted (painted means more hours of bogwork & sanding has to be done)? vinyled? carpeted to keep the same color & texture as the rest of the pillars/interior? as you can see theres a alot of variables to think about, and it wouldnt be fair to any places if i said it would cost 'this or that much'. makes it even harder without knowing what you want done in the boot. so like i said, best to talk to the crew at fhrx about more definite quotes.

having said that, it would cost well under $100 for a real basic speaker swap-over. tho this wouldnt do your $1000ish speakers (or any speaker for that matter) any justice. you need to ask yourself this.. do you really wanna give your fantastic speakers that you bought with your hard-earned money a crappy install?

Wow thanks heaps averson.
Had no idea that sound deadening didn't reduce escaping noise. Definitely keeping that in mind.

I'll probably go for the 16awg wiring then. I understand about the quoting thing. Too many variables.

Finally one last question lol. In terms of security. If I was going for a stock-ish style look would i want to upgrade the alarm. Once again i don't know anything about car security.
Thanks heaps!!!!

Go for stealth intsall. ie no equipment (apart from the tweeters) can be seen from outside the vehicle, and removable HU face.

Security always important, but having a 'viper' sticker and flashing led, can be as effective as a top of the line system. Deterrent is everything!

Also consider part of your budget to add a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to process the sound.. Active front stage, digital xovers, time delays, auto EQ, can make all the difference getting the best sound out of your gear

Recommendations:
JBL MS-8 http://ms8.jbl.com/index.html#/ms-8-intro

Audison Bit One http://www.audison.eu/index_main.php?Section=BITONE

Alpine PXE-H650 http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/pxe-h650

Worth their weight in gold ;p

Good review here :)http://www.mobileelectronics.com.au/...ation_devices/

mmmm not sure if a dsp is best for him gadget.. probably need to know more about his level of knowledge of tuning/tinkering before that suggestion or if he's looking to compete in measq.

alpine 117/9887, eclipse 5030/7200 has all the processing he'd need. the alpines can be switched to run 2 or 3way active too if he plans to go down that road.

plus think about the budget.. not saying my previous budget breakup is the best & only way but i couldnt fit a dsp in there. if the budget was 500-1000 more then maybe.

im sure he'd be happy enough by running passive with elates, 242, 9.6 and the likes..

all good.. just think the auto time alignment + auto eq on the ms-8 makes any beginners system sound its best without any required audio technical knowledge. 8 x 18w amp is also handy for the rears and tweeters :)

Thanks everyone for helping me make an informed decision. I will be sure to reply or either make a new thread when i get my gear (probably a while) for people to discuss/see. THanks again