ICE Upgrade - for numpties!
Discussion
My Cerb has the standard Pioneer set up from the factory. The radio is totally useless, picks up nothing on any frequency except static - usual story there then. I have the 'standard' speakers front and rear (Pioneer).
Now, what I need is some advice.
I don't want the all singing all dancing bass cones/amps stuff (you can tell I know what I'm on about can't you
) I just want a decent head unit capable of playing either from a CD changer or single slot stuff, capable of mp3 hook up (how does that work?) and I can hear Talk Sport or Radio 2 without it crackling/fading/not there at all, and four speakers that won't distort, will fit in the existing holes, and can be heard above the decatted sports exhaust (when required 
)
Oh, and I don't want to have to remortgage the house to do it. I could do it myself if I have to.
Start with a Leven aeriel amplifier then?
Thanks all.
Now, what I need is some advice.
I don't want the all singing all dancing bass cones/amps stuff (you can tell I know what I'm on about can't you
) I just want a decent head unit capable of playing either from a CD changer or single slot stuff, capable of mp3 hook up (how does that work?) and I can hear Talk Sport or Radio 2 without it crackling/fading/not there at all, and four speakers that won't distort, will fit in the existing holes, and can be heard above the decatted sports exhaust (when required ) Oh, and I don't want to have to remortgage the house to do it. I could do it myself if I have to.
Start with a Leven aeriel amplifier then?
Thanks all.
If you want to prevent speaker distortion at high volumes, then you really need an amplifier.
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
crazycats said:
If you want to prevent speaker distortion at high volumes, then you really need an amplifier.
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
No mate, understand what you are saying and agree. But really don't want to go there. Firstly the space between the seats is reserved for Junior Smoke's toy cars/chocolate buttons/drink (see where I'm going here?) and the boot tends to get it's fair share of supermarket bags/weekend away kit as appropriate. Besides, when I said above the engine noise, I didn't mean that was all you can hear (if you see my point). The existing system is okay, or would be if it wasn't six years old and abused. Just want something more modern and up to date.
I had the Headunit upgraded to a Better panasonic unit that plays MP3s off a CD, you can get about 160 onto a normal one.
I also had the 2 front speakers upgraded to Infinity speakers....
for the radio-- never used it..lol so dont know
I wouldnt say the setup blows my mind-- but its better than the origonal.
I also had the 2 front speakers upgraded to Infinity speakers....
for the radio-- never used it..lol so dont know
I wouldnt say the setup blows my mind-- but its better than the origonal.
Been thinking about this one myself lately, I think DAB is certainly the way to go, TVR's are well known for pants reception, there are some cracking Sony CDX head units on Ebay for around the £130 mark, will take the plunge and let you know how I get on. Be interesting to see other peoples views on speaker upgrades that don't involve butchering the interior.
tvr7s said:
Been thinking about this one myself lately, I think DAB is certainly the way to go, TVR's are well known for pants reception, there are some cracking Sony CDX head units on Ebay for around the £130 mark, will take the plunge and let you know how I get on. Be interesting to see other peoples views on speaker upgrades that don't involve butchering the interior.
I had a chat with Cark Baker (Mr TVR Alarms) about this and he recommended MB Quart speakers. These will probably be what I go for, since he's been spot in the past. Not sure about the head unit and amp yet.
Steve.
Tyre Smoke said:
No mate, understand what you are saying and agree. But really don't want to go there. Firstly the space between the seats is reserved for Junior Smoke's toy cars/chocolate buttons/drink (see where I'm going here?) and the boot tends to get it's fair share of supermarket bags/weekend away kit as appropriate. Besides, when I said above the engine noise, I didn't mean that was all you can hear (if you see my point). The existing system is okay, or would be if it wasn't six years old and abused. Just want something more modern and up to date.
Cool, forget the sub then.
It seems that manufactures seem to be a bit slow on the uptake with DAB, which I can't understand really, it's been around for quite a few years now.
There's a few units here which you can probably pick up cheaper on Flea-Bay
As for speakers, they are a standard size (17cm Fronts) and you may need to do a small amount of "adjustment" to fit, the main problem is the standard speakers are quite shallow, and you may need to trim behind the speaker to fit.....much easier with the inner door removed.
The choice is endless, but pays yer money and all that....loads here
Losing boot space isn't really an issue with an amp, mine is fitted to the left hand side of the fuel tank, and takes up no room at all. I really think you should consider an amp, to be honest the difference is like night and day
To run a pair of components, something like this would be perfect. >> Edited by crazycats on Wednesday 1st March 15:45
Tyre Smoke said:
Any suggested head units my good man?
www.alpine-europe.com/content/cms/index.php?t=353&language=english is a good start, but this is high end, at least you can get a good feel for what is available
Tyre Smoke said:
Numpty question - The Amp, How do you wire it in?
Is it a plug from back of Head unit to Amp, then speakers from output points on Amp?
I guess the amp could sit where my current multichanger sits (on top of the fuel tank)?
Not a numpty question at all mate, if you've never done it, how do you know
Nearly all modern headunits have amp pre-out connecters, which are simply red/white phono leads, which go to the corresponding connectors on the amp. Then from the speaker outputs on the amp to the speakers.
I've taken a 12v feed from the fusebox, to the amp, but have wired the earth straight to the battery. You should always use fairly hefty cable for both. The larger the earth cable, the better, as it reduces any external interference.....although I still get a bit of electrical noise from the heater fans and headlights ! There is also a switch feed from the headunit to the amp, to turn it on and off.
Maplins do a wiring kit
You could mount the amp in place of the autochanger, the only problem there is air circulation....amps like to run cool, if I have a boot full of gear and have the tunes cranked up, then the amp will occasionally trip out(they normally have thermal cut out switches).....but never have a problem with an empty boot.
Notice from your profile that you are in the South West, I'm down there from time to time visiting my folks, so if you want any pointers, or have a look/listen to my set-up, then not a problem.
crazycats said:
If you want to prevent speaker distortion at high volumes, then you really need an amplifier.
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
Old thread, but interesting.
Did you have to rewire the existing cables? The ones on mine that connect to the back of the stereo seem a bit on the weedy side.
Possibly a silly question but does the amp run all 5 speakers (4 plus sub?) or does it run just 2?
duke thrust said:
crazycats said:
If you want to prevent speaker distortion at high volumes, then you really need an amplifier.
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
Most headunits internal amp isn't up to the job, and that causes the distortion(known as clipping), not the speaker. A decent speaker can handle much higher volume when correctly amplified.
Also I wouldn't bother with the rear speakers, as they are very close to your ears, your hearing naturally tunes into them, and you cannot really acheive decent sound quality from a small component speaker.
You say you don't want to go the route of subs etc., however if you want good all round sound, that is clear and precise at high volume then that's the way forward.
I run 6.5" Kenwood speakers with seperate tweeters mounted above in the doors, and a 10" sub in between the rear seats, all run from an amp in the boot, and sound quality is excellent. Don't have to spend a fortune either.
HTH
Old thread, but interesting.
Did you have to rewire the existing cables? The ones on mine that connect to the back of the stereo seem a bit on the weedy side.
Possibly a silly question but does the amp run all 5 speakers (4 plus sub?) or does it run just 2?
Would depend on your amp. That would be the best way, or have one for the speakers and a seperate one for the sub. You could get away with running to just 2 speakers, but as the front ones are much larger you would want the amp powering them, and if you have gone that far, you really should power the rears.
i recently upgraded my ice, changed the junk sony headunit for a nice alpine mp3 player, put some infinity shallow mount speakers in the doors, put a 2 channel alpine amp in the boot for powering my new 10" dual voice coil alpine sub in the space between the rear seats and it sounds a 100 times better than standard, thinking about amping the fronts now as well
Ballsy said:
i recently upgraded my ice, changed the junk sony headunit for a nice alpine mp3 player, put some infinity shallow mount speakers in the doors, put a 2 channel alpine amp in the boot for powering my new 10" dual voice coil alpine sub in the space between the rear seats and it sounds a 100 times better than standard, thinking about amping the fronts now as well
Does it need the 2 channels to power the sub? (I know nothing about ICE)
Gassing Station | Cerbera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff