Audio upgrades...

[UH-Matt]

Yes, I know I shouldnt be worried about how the stereo sounds, but I always need good quality car audio.

The current speakers should be ok (?) so is it the daytona head unit that lets the sound down? Not impressed with the quality of the default system.

Whats a good route to take in an S2 Sports tourer to improve the in car audio? What size speakers will work as direct replacements? What have you done to yours?

>>> Edited by UH-Matt on Saturday 24th April 21:42

[karll]

in the front you have 4" 2 way co axials and the back 5", the standard speakers are cheep and nasty. Idealy you need to get some 5" speakers in the front but this requires a little work, its worth noting that you are limited with depth in the rear. looh at infinity , mb quart both make 4 and 5" 2 way co axials.

[UH-Matt]

Thanks for the sizes!

Is the VDO daytona head unit worth replacing with something a bit more beafy? Looking to get an MP3 head unit anyway.

[karll]

i have always liked alpine headunits if you do decide to change go for one with a good power output ie 45 watts or above per channel, as this will give better controll over the speakers.

[monkeytaylor]

You're right about the standard speakers being crap - I'm upgrading my system next week.
If you're looking for an MP3 headunit (i.e. one with an integral hard drive as opposed to one that just plays MP3 CDs), you could consider a Dension DH100 - have a look at the website www.ihavetohave.it
It costs about £400. I considered the other MP3 units - Sony and Panasonic do them but it's fiddly and time consuming to load CDs onto the hard drive and they only store around 16 gigabytes of music - and they're very expensive.
Kenwood do a 20 gig system called the 'music keg' but the hard drive is seperate to the head unit, like a CD changer.
The Dension comes with a standard 20 gigabyte hard disk which slots into the head unit. It stores up to 400 CDs, which you download onto the hard drive from your computer via a USB link.
If you outgrow the 20-gig capacity it's easy to fit a bigger hard drive - I have just upgraded to 80-gig, which has a capacity of around 2,000 CDs.

[bogie]

Depends on how much you want to spend.

Check to see if you have blue coned (Alpine) or black coned (Eurotech) speakers. The Alpines are good enough if you are not going to have a separate amp - the Eurotechs are crap (10wpeak ) - replace them with something for about £70 - £100 a pair.

The head unit is pants - Ive got an Alpine MP3 jobbie - then you only have to carry 2 or 3 cds to have 30 alums int he car.

Then you need some bass - a small powered Pioneer bass tube on the rear shelf works well.

That lot will probably cost you around £500-600 if you shop around on the net.

I spend a 20-30 hours a week in my Elise, and need my music to keep me sane on the motorway, so had a custom install done - pics here:

http://community.webshots.com/album/57887221xRqcTQ

Alpine CD9813
Directed 650 5 ch amp (4 x 50wrms + 1 x 350wrms sub)
Kicker S8L7 sub in custom rear bulkhead
Phase Linear CX4 coax front
JL Audio XR5.25 mid bass rear
lots off dynamat
70m silver cable
approx £1600 fitted

cheers
bogie

[UH-Matt]

My last car had a couple of £k's worth of ICE so I just need something better. Mine has the blue coned alpine speakers but they are crappy.

I think Im going to replace the headunit and front/rear component speakers.

Need to investigate how much clearance the rear's have as I may consider trying to fit some 5" mid drivers rather than components.

[Dave.B]

I recently upgraded to an MP3 headunit & a Pioneer sub, simple, cheap but quite effective.

[bogie]

thats what Id do 1st - the Alpine speakers are about £60 a pair and can handle more than any head unit can give them...no point in blowing £200 on speakers uless you are goona put a lot more power through them. They will sound a lot better with some Dynamat behind them, some acoustic wadding in the cavities and with the frequencies cut so they dont distort with the bass (using the crossovers in a new head unit)...the std head unit is pretty poor.