ICE Help for a Cerbera

[TVRWhoa]

I've been toying with the idea of upgrading the head unit in my cerb, for those times when i want to listen to music, although not when going through tunnels, bridges or any other excuse to listen to the engine.

Whilst I've upgraded some head units in the past, it seems like a different kettle of fish in the cerb.

I have Alpine S Type speakers in the front and pioneer (originals ?) in the back - the head unit is a clarion which has 4x45W output from the unit itself. However, if you crank it up it seems to overwhelm the speakers, but I'm not sure if the distortion comes from the head unit or the speakers.

My questions are - if I swap the unit for an Alpine, - I like the look of the CDA-9855R - which has 4x50W - will it overwhelm the speakers as well or do I swap them all for newer alpine speakers ?

If I go down the amp route, do you need an amp for each speaker then or do amps do all four speakers at once -

Where do people normally put the amps - if this is the route to go down, and how do you take power for the amps themselves - plus if any one has any tips on wiring guides they would be gratefully received too !

Thanks for any replies right now am I well confused by all the different choices there seems to be

[njw 77]

The previous owner of my car fitted the Alpine CDA9815RB just before I bought it 18 months ago, with Sony Xplod speakers all round, a bloody great big sub in the helmet hole and an amp in the left hand corner of the boot.

Blinkin marvelous

[alinton]

Your problem is probably thus: as the Cerb makes a lot of low frequency noise, this cancels the bass coming from your sound system so you turn it up louder, then you run the inadequate amplifier into clipping.

Most car audio amps' power ratings are vastly exaggerated. If an amp is 4 x 50w, then a calculation using ohm's law indicates that the amp would draw 4x50=200w, /12 (volts) = 16 amps (assuming 100% efficiency when its probably more like 70%). Most I've seem have a 5 or 10 amp fuse, so they can't be 4 x 50w except for a nanosecond.

The answer is to remove the power-hungry bass from the head unit's amplifiers and let them just deal with the less hungry mid and treble.

The speakers probably can't handle enough bass either. So install a single 8 or 10" bass driver in the helmet hole, and fit an outboard amplifier to power it.

My solution was a Focal 8" bass driver in the helmet, powered by a 4 x 80w amp (80w RMS, not peak) run in half bridged mode. So channels 1 and 2 are bridged and crossed over to run the bass driver, 3 and 4 run the front door speakers with mid and treble. And I added tweeters in the doors to improve clarity.

I fitted the amp in the boot, drivers side, in the recess under the fusebox. Its powered by a bit of 10-square cable direct from the fuse box's supply (via a 40A fuse).

Works a treat. I'll try and attach pictures here. Email me if you need further info.
Rgds
Andy.
[pic] http://tinyurl.com/8vmmm [/pic]
[pic] http://tinyurl.com/8tsgo [/pic]
[pic] http://tinyurl.com/bpmsj [/pic]


>> Oh why doesn't the picture embedding work?

>> Edited by alinton on Sunday 6th November 22:01

[njw 77]

You should see pjkj's sub in the helmet hole (if you're reading this Peter, please post a piccie), the damn thing is HUGE...its like a divider between the rear seats, stops the ankle biters from fighting I guess

[speed8]

I upgraded the head unit to a Pioneer unit.
4 channel amp in the boot with two channels bridged for the sub in helmet hole and a channel each for the fronts. The rears are powered by the head unit.
My car was an earlier one which never had the door speakers, only the centre speaker next to the ashtray. All the speakers are upgraded and the sound is great for what I needed (I'm no audiophile, I just like to hear some music now and again which is pretty difficult with the original kit).
If my car ad is still linked in my profile you can see some of the speakers in there. If not then email me and I'll send you a couple of pics I have.

[robertjp]

Anyone have any recommendations to replace the pioneers?

[robertjp]

Anyone have any recommendations of what to replace the rear pioneers with? (without too much butchering)

[gazzab]

MB Quart

[TVRWhoa]

I'm assuming that the sub in the cubby hole is attached to some MDF (how thick ?) and
what material is used to cover the MDF ?

I'd really appreciate it if someone could post some pictures of how they managed to get
the sub in the cubby hole, like a before and after effort

One last question - what is the depth of the mounting hole in the doors for the speakers
in the front, I'd take the speakers out and measure it but the cars having tappets and stuff done at the mo, so I can't. Many thanks for all your help.

[cerbie]

I put Initity Kappa speakers up front - with separate tweeters mounted higher up the doors. Had it done professionally but it was a simple job - I just know I'm useless at DIY.

Headset is Pioneer with iPod interface plus bluetooth link to mobile. It has a built in MOFFSET 4x50w amp that is plenty for the confined space as long as you are not on full throttle!

this is my first attempt at uploading phhotos so be patient please....

[speed8]

Sub


Door Before


Door After


The fronts and sub are Infinity but the rears are Magnat (cheap but fit in with minimal fuss).

[gazzab]

you took doors off? I heard that dealers avoid taking the doors off!?

[Toady1]

lol! thats a bit extreme for fitting speakers isnt it?!!!

[speed8]

gazzab said:

you took doors off? I heard that dealers avoid taking the doors off!?

No, it's just the door card. It's held on by 8 or 9 allen bolts. It's the only way to get to the screws that hold everything in place. Plus I was replacing the sack cloth with leather so this meant I could do it in the comfort of my living room (although the gf wished I did it in the garage).

[gazzab]

doh!

[TVRWhoa]

Sorry to keep asking this question

What did you use to mount the sub on ?

What material did you use to cover the sub enclosure & how do you get it in - from the rear or front - ooer I can see the jokes now

[speed8]

MDF (10mm??)

Fixed in place with a bracket I made up and held tight similar to how the helmet holder is held in. (Extra supports to cope with the extra weight but same idea).

Covered in the same leather used for the doors and the parcel shelf.

It's not a sealed box as I don't go to the sound volumes that would cause distortion plus if you wanted to go for a sealed box then I doubt you would be able to get the sort of physical volumes needed for most 10/12" subs. There's quite a lot of wiring and stuff back there.

[Stealth69]

Dan that is a great job on the doors... maybe I should apy you to do my door cards and helmet doo daaa

How did you do the center piece of the door ? ?

[speed8]

Stealth69 said:

How did you do the center piece of the door ? ?

Trade secret













When you take the rest of the door stuff off you are left with a tatty bit of rag stuck in the middle. Rip it off and glue the leather on.

As an aside, the sculpted grey bit where the mirror control is leaves enough space behind it for the crossover. I just velcroed the crossover down to stop it moving around.

[Stealth69]

Cheers man

I can see another little project coming on here.... ooohhh the missus will be pleased