Anybody know about speakers in cars?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Sound has been ropey in the Saab for a while, a combination of knackered paper cone speakers and dry joints I think, so I'm going to replace the speakers and the front speaker wiring.

It takes 4" speakers in the dash and 4x10s either side of the rear shelf.

The 4" are not a problem, going with co-ax ones as I gather components are more use when mounted in doors. Going with these Alpines.

The rears are more of a problem. Only a couple of companies do 4x10s (Kenwood & Pioneer for two), but not in the UK. It would mean ordering from the states with huge delivery charges for what are cheap speakers. Plus apparently it's a crap size. I could just stick another pair of 4" in and add a sub but I don't want any of that malarky cluttering up the boot The other option is getting an adaptor plate - these allow 6x9s to be fitted in the space of 10x4s.



This sounds ideal, except, of course, they are only available in the states - again, $40+ shipping on a $10 part

Only other options are making an adaptor myself out of MDF (yeah right ) or chopping holes in the rear shelf ().

So, any suggestions? Or anybody know a UK source for these adaptors?

[Wedg1e]

Why should knocking up a bit of MDF be an issue? Did you not do CSE woodwork at your school?

[Silent1]

For ideal sound quality you only want speakers in the front, if you have them in the rear as well you get interference unless you have a graphic equalizer to time sync them

Silent1
ex UK Car audio SQ competitor

Edited by Silent1 on Friday 4th January 01:01

[Hooli]

id try knocking up some adaptors. MDF is easy to work with, even if it takes ages to sand away. you dont need it mega perfect, just as long as it seals around the speaker. then if it works ok, sand the outside smooth, spray with glue & stick on some fabric.

im sure ive seen those 6x9 adaptors over here, i think they might haev been by maystar.

[xllifts]

Hi mate
Try Pierre Huet in Brighton on the old shoreham road he is one of the uk's sound off champions and has been in the business for 20 years plus! oh and is an alpine dealer amongst others, imo fit 6x9's but makesure they are 3 ways.
HTH
Dave.

[samuelellis]

Silent1 said:

For ideal sound quality you only want speakers in the front, if you have them in the rear as well you get interference unless you have a graphic equalizer to time sync them

Silent1
ex UK Car audio SQ competitor

Edited by Silent1 on Friday 4th January 01:01

as he said, speakers upfront only (even though i am an spl monkey in sound offs)

i would fit good speakers upfront, a 4ch amp in the boot (channel 1 and 2 for the front) and then bridge the other two channels to run a small 10 inch sub in the boot - trust me its worth running a sub

[NiceCupOfTea]

samuelellis said:

Silent1 said:

For ideal sound quality you only want speakers in the front, if you have them in the rear as well you get interference unless you have a graphic equalizer to time sync them

Silent1
ex UK Car audio SQ competitor

Edited by Silent1 on Friday 4th January 01:01

as he said, speakers upfront only (even though i am an spl monkey in sound offs)

i would fit good speakers upfront, a 4ch amp in the boot (channel 1 and 2 for the front) and then bridge the other two channels to run a small 10 inch sub in the boot - trust me its worth running a sub

Blimey!
I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, but I can't afford the money/space to go down that route.

The reason for the rear speakers is just for a bit of muscle really. If the standard speakers didn't rattle like hell I'd leave them in there

[Silent1]

NiceCupOfTea said:

samuelellis said:

Silent1 said:

For ideal sound quality you only want speakers in the front, if you have them in the rear as well you get interference unless you have a graphic equalizer to time sync them

Silent1
ex UK Car audio SQ competitor

Edited by Silent1 on Friday 4th January 01:01

as he said, speakers upfront only (even though i am an spl monkey in sound offs)

i would fit good speakers upfront, a 4ch amp in the boot (channel 1 and 2 for the front) and then bridge the other two channels to run a small 10 inch sub in the boot - trust me its worth running a sub

Blimey!
I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, but I can't afford the money/space to go down that route.

The reason for the rear speakers is just for a bit of muscle really. If the standard speakers didn't rattle like hell I'd leave them in there

Don't do it, £15k and i'm still not happy mines perfect.

[samuelellis]

just be glad your into SQ, you can still have a usable boot - as an spl'er my entire mundaeno boot is full of speaker enclosure (and the worrying thing is i can see the rear seats coming out soon as well - ah well the joys of competing in db drag)

I would say that is it definatly worth looking at fitting a small sub to the boot once you have done the front speakers (but amp them - it DOES make a difference)

if you want to know more about car audio it may be worth visiting www.talkaudio.co.uk and hitting the forums

[moleamol]

I have CD Technology components in the front, Cerwin Vega 6x9s in a custom parcel shelf, mated to a 4x100 watt Planet Audio amp. The combination when sorted by a proper audio shop and all the timing malarkey sorted is fantastic. An amp in a head unit will really struggle to power proper 6x9s and they will sound a bit shit, not because they are shit, but a head unit amp is teeny. Whatever you do with the speakers you really need an amp for decent sound.

[moleamol]

samuelellis said:

Silent1 said:

For ideal sound quality you only want speakers in the front, if you have them in the rear as well you get interference unless you have a graphic equalizer to time sync them

Silent1
ex UK Car audio SQ competitor

Edited by Silent1 on Friday 4th January 01:01

as he said, speakers upfront only (even though i am an spl monkey in sound offs)

i would fit good speakers upfront, a 4ch amp in the boot (channel 1 and 2 for the front) and then bridge the other two channels to run a small 10 inch sub in the boot - trust me its worth running a sub

I don't need a sub with CV 6x9s running a channel each and using the boot as a huge bass bin.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Hmmm, starting to look as if a pair of Kenwood 4x10s from US ebay is the best idea Otherwise I am going to start to throw a lot of money at it

[moleamol]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Hmmm, starting to look as if a pair of Kenwood 4x10s from US ebay is the best idea Otherwise I am going to start to throw a lot of money at it

To get my parcel shelf made it didn't cost much, speakers are totally hidden and I even have a plug to take so that the shelf can be taken out easily.

[Silent1]

samuelellis said:

just be glad your into SQ, you can still have a usable boot - as an spl'er my entire mundaeno boot is full of speaker enclosure (and the worrying thing is i can see the rear seats coming out soon as well - ah well the joys of competing in db drag)

I would say that is it definatly worth looking at fitting a small sub to the boot once you have done the front speakers (but amp them - it DOES make a difference)

if you want to know more about car audio it may be worth visiting www.talkaudio.co.uk and hitting the forums

Err, i don't have a boot, it's taken up with:
JL 1000/1
JL 450/4
JL 13W7
Alpine Graphic EQ
PS2
and all the associated cabling/enclosures.

[samuelellis]

Silent1 said:

samuelellis said:

just be glad your into SQ, you can still have a usable boot - as an spl'er my entire mundaeno boot is full of speaker enclosure (and the worrying thing is i can see the rear seats coming out soon as well - ah well the joys of competing in db drag)

I would say that is it definatly worth looking at fitting a small sub to the boot once you have done the front speakers (but amp them - it DOES make a difference)

if you want to know more about car audio it may be worth visiting www.talkaudio.co.uk and hitting the forums

Err, i don't have a boot, it's taken up with:
JL 1000/1
JL 450/4
JL 13W7
Alpine Graphic EQ
PS2
and all the associated cabling/enclosures.

i win - http://i1.tinypic.com/7yrei52.jpg (seats were down as i was wiring it up at the time, shame parcel shelf does not fit over it properly now though but when its in place its not visable at all)

Still have another 2 amplifiers (front end amps), eq, battery, crossover and an epicentre to fit

Edited by samuelellis on Friday 4th January 02:17

[Silent1]

But i'm talking about the boot in an Audi A2!

[samuelellis]

Silent1 said:

But i'm talking about the boot in an Audi A2!

[car audio dictionary]
boot - a place provided by manufacturers to fit aftermarket car audio

Rear seats - a legacy of past car design, these should now be remove to allow more installation and working space

[/car audio dictionary]

Happy to have been of help

[XJSJohn]

Why not just cut the parcel shelf ... if you are worried about fvcking it up, get a spare from a breakers to practice on, should be a few about for a 900.

[allgonepetetong]

How about this; get the speakers for the front you are talking about. Don't bother with 6x9s in the back, instead get on ebay and spend the money you would have on a small 4 channel amp (say 4x35 RMS) and an 8" or 10" sub in a box.

Trust me, this will sound a hundred times better than 4 speakers running off your head unit (especially 6x9s in the boot) for around the same money, perhaps a few quid more

cheers

[bint]

You sound like I was with my last Celica. I simply wanted to uprate the speakers front and rear, replace HU and have better clarity.

I made MDF adaptors for the speakers if I can do it, you can! Fitted these;

http://www.precisionpower.com/speakers/component.a...

Front and rear, they sounded great with the Apline HU had also bought - MP3CD player etc.

Sounded even better with the addition of an amp and 10" sub, also allowing me to keep most of the boot space) and the clarity was just what I wanted.

I had help from the guys at Sextons in Soton, no idea where you're based, but they have branches everywhere.

Alternatively, www.bassjunkies.com have always been recommended to me and I have a sneaky suspicion I used to know someone who worked there.