Upgrade Speaker Advice Needed
01-30-2003, 06:11 AM
#1
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Upgrade Speaker Advice Needed
I am planning on upgrading the audio in my WRX, but don't know where to spend the money. I'm planning on spending about $500 now and maybe more later.
I am looking for clean sound, and sharp bass.
I was thinking of keeping the stock head unit, replacing the front and rear speakers with infinity kappas, and maybe a 8" or 10" sub in an enclosed box.
I am a noob when it comes to stereo, and any advice would be helpful.
Speaker suggestions, recomendations would also be appreciated.
Spence M
I am looking for clean sound, and sharp bass.
I was thinking of keeping the stock head unit, replacing the front and rear speakers with infinity kappas, and maybe a 8" or 10" sub in an enclosed box.
I am a noob when it comes to stereo, and any advice would be helpful.
Speaker suggestions, recomendations would also be appreciated.
Spence M
01-30-2003, 07:29 AM
#2
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500 isn't going top get you any special kind of quality if your going for a full system. I spent about 200 on cables, wiring, and fuses alone. I'd go to an audio shop and pick up a sub box/amp combo deal, whatever you can afford. You may be looking around 500 watts for a sub if your also trying to get internal speakers. Nice brand name subs can run a lot and buying everything seperately will too. Rockford fosgate has always done me well, if you can swing it. I've got infinity kappa speakers and they sound great, and come with crossovers which not only clean up the signal, but sperate it perfectly for nice sound. I mounted the crossovers in the doors. be prepared, though. there is no RCA cable port on the back of the stock head unit(which I still use to power the infinity's and it works fine by the way), so you'll need a line out converter(LOC). David Navonne is the guy who made mine I think. Search around he has a website. Search the forum for the head unit pinouts so you can wire it properly. Look to spend about 150 at least on front speakers alone. The rears are like 4" so you can get a set cheap. My lights dim with my system, you may want to look into a capacitor. It's all about the money you can spend.
Good luck
Adam
Good luck
Adam
01-30-2003, 08:33 PM
#3
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the factory hu must go. start off with a nice hu....i went with
an alpine one because of its processors. then change your
driver units and perhaps a sub at the end. if you already
have the factroy premium kit, then the sub would work if you
aren't a bass-head.
tune the bass level on the factory sub all the way to minimum
as most of the HU's bass curves will pickup enough low freq
to over-drive the sub.
an alpine one because of its processors. then change your
driver units and perhaps a sub at the end. if you already
have the factroy premium kit, then the sub would work if you
aren't a bass-head.
tune the bass level on the factory sub all the way to minimum
as most of the HU's bass curves will pickup enough low freq
to over-drive the sub.
01-31-2003, 12:04 AM
#4
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Im not sure what the speakers you have know sound like, but if there not complete ****, i would up grade the headunit and buy an amp. Power to the stock speakers will most likely make the biggest difference then just changing out the speakers. Just as with home equipment, if you have ever heard a big amp on some medioker speakers, youll see what a difference it makes. But only if the speakers are decent. As the sound can only be as good as they are, but doing that and maybe adding a sub will give you the best bang for the buck.
01-31-2003, 06:20 AM
#5
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appreciate it
well, i have done som searching on other sites, and I'm getting a pretty steady flow of "replace the head unit first" advice. I was reluctant to do this because I like the 6disc changer in the stock unit. I guess I was just hoping that the stock unit was good enough.
Well, any advice on a replacement H/U? Kenchan, what model did you buy, and how much did you have to spend to get quality?
also, you said,
"then change your driver units"
Like I said, I'm a bit of a stereo noob, what are driver units?
Thanks again for the advice.
Spencer
Well, any advice on a replacement H/U? Kenchan, what model did you buy, and how much did you have to spend to get quality?
also, you said,
"then change your driver units"
Like I said, I'm a bit of a stereo noob, what are driver units?
Thanks again for the advice.
Spencer
01-31-2003, 02:12 PM
#6
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I would add an amp for your stock speakers first, then add a sub, you could get a 5-channel amp and wait to get the sub or get a 4-channel amp for the other speakers. A driver kit is also known as component speakers (or at least that’s what they meant). They comprise of two to three parts:
1) Is the mid base driver (4", 5 1/4" and 6 1/2" are the most
common)
2) Is the Tweeter (small speaker mounted on the door or near
the review mirror, this speaker is very directional, meaning you
want it pointed at you, or reflected of the glass at you.)
3) Is the crossover; the better component speakers come with
separate crossovers and others have them built on the
speakers themselves
For the money you will spend to upgrade your speakers in the car, far less can be spent on a amp to power the stock speakers and achive better sound. Then latter if you still want to up grade them, you can and will have a amp to back them up.
1) Is the mid base driver (4", 5 1/4" and 6 1/2" are the most
common)
2) Is the Tweeter (small speaker mounted on the door or near
the review mirror, this speaker is very directional, meaning you
want it pointed at you, or reflected of the glass at you.)
3) Is the crossover; the better component speakers come with
separate crossovers and others have them built on the
speakers themselves
For the money you will spend to upgrade your speakers in the car, far less can be spent on a amp to power the stock speakers and achive better sound. Then latter if you still want to up grade them, you can and will have a amp to back them up.
02-01-2003, 07:53 AM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8
I threw out my so-called "premium sound upgrade" the day I got the car...for $490 + $15 s/h I picked up a Pioneer Premier DEH-P940MP on eBay.
For another $130 (total) I got an MB Quart 6 1/2" component set (tweeters & crossovers)
And another $87 (total) I got a pair of MB Quart 4" for the rear...the whole thing cost a little more than $500 but is well worth it.
For another $130 (total) I got an MB Quart 6 1/2" component set (tweeters & crossovers)
And another $87 (total) I got a pair of MB Quart 4" for the rear...the whole thing cost a little more than $500 but is well worth it.
02-03-2003, 04:00 PM
#8
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: kyle, tx
Posts: 34
Car Info: 02wrx,04wagon,05 STI cgm
factory deck.
This what I did, I replaced my front speakers with polk audio GXR "6 1/2 $59 for th pair for the rear EX-340 $79.99 and a alpine 4 channel 150 watts max 80 per channel amp for $199.00. Plus I did the install myself save my more money. Don't need more weight added.
02-04-2003, 02:54 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: kyle, tx
Posts: 34
Car Info: 02wrx,04wagon,05 STI cgm
factory deck.
The sound is good ! Of course I could of went all out, but my main objective is the motor. As for curcuit city they do good work they installed an alarm in my wife jeep and my brother in-law had a stereo installed where he lives seattle. later Keoni
02-05-2003, 09:36 AM
#11
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Downingtown, PA
Posts: 50
Car Info: 2003 Impreza 2.5 RS Sedan, BRP
Anyone want to sell their double-DIN '02-'03 headunit? I'm looking to get an '03RS but would like to have the cassette there to connect a portable MP3 player to.
FWIW, I'm really big into home audio and upgrading speakers will by far give you the biggest improvement. Not sure how true that is for cars but it's the rule for home HiFi.
I plan on sticking with the stock unit for the reason mentioned above (MP3 player connectivity), ease of use (aftermarket HU look cheesy/flashy and can't be used during winter when you're wearing gloves, and aftermarket units only attract theives.
I plan on upgrading the speakers and adding an amp. I'm not obsessed with the sound of my car system, just want something decent for the occasional road trip. It's impossible to get high QUALITY sound in a car anyhow.
Just my $.02
Bill
FWIW, I'm really big into home audio and upgrading speakers will by far give you the biggest improvement. Not sure how true that is for cars but it's the rule for home HiFi.
I plan on sticking with the stock unit for the reason mentioned above (MP3 player connectivity), ease of use (aftermarket HU look cheesy/flashy and can't be used during winter when you're wearing gloves, and aftermarket units only attract theives.
I plan on upgrading the speakers and adding an amp. I'm not obsessed with the sound of my car system, just want something decent for the occasional road trip. It's impossible to get high QUALITY sound in a car anyhow.
Just my $.02
Bill
02-07-2003, 06:34 PM
#12
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Posts: n/a
you may be right, Iv been thinking about that and have realized that in Home audio, you have a box design, which Greatly helps the sound of even a bad speaker, but in a car you dont have that luxury.
Sounds good and good luck... although I am tring my hardest to prove that last statment wrong
Sounds good and good luck... although I am tring my hardest to prove that last statment wrong
02-08-2003, 04:47 AM
#13
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Downingtown, PA
Posts: 50
Car Info: 2003 Impreza 2.5 RS Sedan, BRP
Green,
The acoustics of cars don't lend themselves to true "HiFi" sound quality. The other major factor is the primary placement of the listener. We (in the States anyway) sit on the left-hand side of the car yet the speakers are placed symetrically around a center point.
This results in almost zero soundstaging. While I've seen products out there that aim to solve the soundstaging problem for the driver, they use DSP to do it. As any audiophile (I hate that word) would know, the shorter the signal path the better. Running a signal through DSP is the furthest thing from purity.
Other problems are things like road noise and speakers themselves. The amount of road noise that enters the cabin of a car is unaccetable in a listening environment.
It's hard enough in home audio to find speakers that work well in your room, with your equipment. That problem is exacerbated in car audio because we're only dealing with the drivers (woofer, midrage, tweeter, sub) themselves without any specific enclosure like you mention. The drivers in home audio speakers were designed and implemented to work well in the "box" they're housed in with the crossover they're mated with. Car audio speakers don't have the luxury of a specific "box" so it's basically a crap shoot. Speaker model A might sound fantastic in someone's VW Jetta front door slot, but that same speaker might sound like absolute CRAP in our Subaru's front door slot.
All of that being said, it's possible to get decent playback from a car system. Just remember the goals of car audio and home audio are just different.
The primary goal of the home audio enthusiast is to get as close to how the engineer/producer/artist intended that record to sound. We want to feel like we're right there with the artist.
The primary goal of car audio seems to be how loud and low can you go. Which is fine if that's what you're after. Just don't kill yourself trying to achieve the same goal as home audio enthusiasts as the law of deminishing returns comes into play quickly and that absolute goal is impossible to attain.
Man that was a lot for 7:30 on a Saturday morning!
Cheers!
Bill
The acoustics of cars don't lend themselves to true "HiFi" sound quality. The other major factor is the primary placement of the listener. We (in the States anyway) sit on the left-hand side of the car yet the speakers are placed symetrically around a center point.
This results in almost zero soundstaging. While I've seen products out there that aim to solve the soundstaging problem for the driver, they use DSP to do it. As any audiophile (I hate that word) would know, the shorter the signal path the better. Running a signal through DSP is the furthest thing from purity.
Other problems are things like road noise and speakers themselves. The amount of road noise that enters the cabin of a car is unaccetable in a listening environment.
It's hard enough in home audio to find speakers that work well in your room, with your equipment. That problem is exacerbated in car audio because we're only dealing with the drivers (woofer, midrage, tweeter, sub) themselves without any specific enclosure like you mention. The drivers in home audio speakers were designed and implemented to work well in the "box" they're housed in with the crossover they're mated with. Car audio speakers don't have the luxury of a specific "box" so it's basically a crap shoot. Speaker model A might sound fantastic in someone's VW Jetta front door slot, but that same speaker might sound like absolute CRAP in our Subaru's front door slot.
All of that being said, it's possible to get decent playback from a car system. Just remember the goals of car audio and home audio are just different.
The primary goal of the home audio enthusiast is to get as close to how the engineer/producer/artist intended that record to sound. We want to feel like we're right there with the artist.
The primary goal of car audio seems to be how loud and low can you go. Which is fine if that's what you're after. Just don't kill yourself trying to achieve the same goal as home audio enthusiasts as the law of deminishing returns comes into play quickly and that absolute goal is impossible to attain.
Man that was a lot for 7:30 on a Saturday morning!
Cheers!
Bill
02-10-2003, 10:45 AM
#14
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8
Barely two weeks after install and my MB Quarts blew out!! Just from the HU alone (50 watts x 4) and they're dead...Couldn't believe it...Problem solved with a hefty price--I had to swallow my pride at blowing $200 on speakers and having them suck. So I forked out another $700 and had a Diamond 6" S600 component set and a Coustic amp put in...these speakers rock!!!
02-10-2003, 11:29 AM
#15
Guest
Posts: n/a
MB Quart speakers require a lot of RMS power. Your headunit at 50w x 4 is probably quoting PEAK power which is different. Your RMS output from the head unit was probably around 10-20 watts at most. I have heard that most MB Quart speakers should be receiving at least 50 RMS watts per channel (probably 200 PEAK). Higher power is less likely to blow speakers than low distorted power.
I know MB Quarts used to be the best, but I'm wondering if their quality has levelled off, and I'm still wondering if any brand has surpassed the german masterpieces.
The ability to get about 250% off retail on ebay, worries me.
I know MB Quarts used to be the best, but I'm wondering if their quality has levelled off, and I'm still wondering if any brand has surpassed the german masterpieces.
The ability to get about 250% off retail on ebay, worries me.