Audio System

[Caaine]

Hi,

Ah, never thought of that so basically I might need a subwoofer after all to be happy if I replace the speakers.

This is a Wagon model and since the speakers themselves are cheap, I don´t see that being an obstacle and was thinking about replacing as many speakers as possible.

So if I got the info in the above posts right, I should aim for:

1. Leave the dash speakers be, use stock.

2. Get 2x coaxial speakers in the front doors

3. Get 2x component speakers in the rear doors

4. Get a nice HU that suits my needs, really like the Alpine one.

4. Get an amplifier if I aim for a subwoofer

5. Get a subwoofer, where on earth shall I put it without sacrificing cargo space?

6. Leave the tailgate speakers be, use stock.

EDIT: Will the XTANT A4004 fit under the seat?

Regards,

Caaine

[Bing_0]

well, this is what i say, i have the same car as you

1. get a good headuit but not extremely expensive, something that has good output (4volt+), mp3 capable, etc around $200

2. replace the front door speakers with a nice set of coaxials or comps

3. disconnect front dash and rear pillar cuase in all likelyhood, their magnets have fallen off all four of my dash and pillar speakres' magnets were totaly gone when i opened them up.

4. if you have more money to spare, put a second set of caixlas in the rear door

5. get a 4 channel amp, that does around 4x75

6. get a small 10" sub and stick it in a small sealed box, they wont be that big, about 12"x12"x8" for example

there you go power the front speakres and the sub wtih the amp, leave the rear deck sepakres off of the headunit...

[wattsat]

I think the Sepearates up front is the best decision there.

Here is my list for you.

1. New HU

2. 5.25 Seperates in the Front doors with the tweeters located in the Dash

3. 5.25's in the Rear Doors

All powerd from the HU.

Listen to it for a while. Determine if the power from the HU is suffecient for your taste in music. Then if necessary add an amp and sub. I am not certain where the best location in a wagon is for a sub since I have never seen one.

If you have a manual seat on the passenger side you can fit almost any amp out there under neath it. Heck I can almost stack both of my Xtants under the passenger seat.

I will take pictures of what I have in my car tonight. I think that will give you a better idea of what is possible.

[Caaine]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice guys. I would highly appreciate pictures, Wattsat.

Don´t think I will go for a subwoofer unless it can be fitted somewhere where it is not viewable (and attracts burglars) and takes up very little space. The missus complains about how much space the CD changer takes of her precious cargo hold. But then she demands more and better sound, hehe... women!

EDIT: Oh, and what are you using as a filler for the second empty DIN? Slam in an graphic equalizer or something? CD holder?

Regards,

Caaine

[Deltablade]

Concerning your cd changer.....In order to appease your lady and have easier access to the cds, do what I did and move it to some place in the cabin, like under the passenger seat. The changer can be adjusted for a horizontal or vertical mounting so it won't skip or anything. All it needs is the imput cable to the head unit and a source of power.

[Caaine]

Hi,

Was more thinking in the line of just removing it completely and use a HU with the CDs front mounted and MP3 support.

Not a fan of changers...

Regards,

Caaine

[wattsat]

Ok, I have the pictures up of the Stereo thus far. When I have time I will write some descriptions for the pictures, but for now hopefully this will help in your decision.

The pictures of the amp were taken with the passenger seat in a normal (Middle of travel) seating position.

http://www.4113pittsburg.com/automobiles/9...urbo/850stereo/

Click on the thumbnails for a 800x600 image. (as if you could not figure that out for yourself )

[Caaine]

Hi,

Thanks for the pictures. The amp seems like a very tight fit and is somewhat exposed to the rear passenger, is that right or did you move it before taking the pictures?

I see that the dash can only hold minor speakers, I will most likely aim for a tweeter in the dash to go alone with the speakers in the front doors.

My mate is in Orlando at the moment, trying to message him to purchase the HU for me while he is there. If he can purchase it there, I will go for Alpine CDA 9835R, which will blow my budget but budgets are supposed to be blown, right?

Will I have issues with FM from USA in Europe or is that just something way in the past? (Old USA models jumped on 0.2 or 0.4 increments while euro radio stations are mostly on odds, 95.7 for example)

Regards,

Caaine

[Caaine]

Hi,

Would it be viable installing speakers with seperate tweeters in the front doors with the tweeters in the dash and then the same in the rear, tweeters in the tailgate and speakers in the rear doors?

Just thinking if that would be of any benefit.

Regards,

Caaine

[wattsat]

You only want a MAX of two Tweeters in a car.

It is certainly not of any benefit to have tweeters in the doors and tweeters in the dash.

Start think Home stereo here.

Home stereos only have two tweeters while they may have many woofers per side there are still only two tweeters. There is a reason for this. Tweeters produce very high frequencies. High frequencies are very directional and greatly impact the imaging of the stereo.

Stop thinking about putting a speaker in every hole possible. I used to think that way and built systems with speakers everywhere. Not only was it hard to wire, it also sounded horrible. All they did was produce alot of noise. You will grow very tired of listening to a stereo like that and will be very unhappy with the result.

Just because you can does not mean you should!!!!

KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.

Midbass drivers in the Door (woofers) Tweeters in the Dash (By the way, that is also how the factory set it up.

When you go back to the stereo shop, inquire if they have a competition car audio setup you can listen to. Ask them to turn off the subs or lower the volume on the subs all the way down. Play some Dave Matthews or Sarah McLaughlin and listen to the sound. Close your eyes and try to picture where there voice is coming from. It will not sound like the singers voice is coming from the door panels.

I have sat in cars where people spent thousands of dollars on speakers, amps, subs and headunits and thought they sounded horrible. Then I have sat in cars with two 6.5 Midbass, Two tweeters and one sub and was in absolute heaven. All powered from one 4 channel amp. Very simple, very cheap. Nothing to brag about but sounds incredible.

Bing, you are in the business. Am I wrong?

[Caaine]

hahaha,

Excellent reply. Got to supress the fact that I am a man and like to fill all holes I come across.

Anyways, got me to the ground again. Love the replies, they are slowly taking me from beginner to amateur, thanks for taking the time to reply I appreciate it.

So, any chance you could elaborate further the difference between "Seperates", "Coaxials" and "Components"?

Regards,

Caaine

[wattsat]

Seperates and Components are terms that are used interchangeably.

Meaning The Tweeter and Woofer are Serparate or they are Components of a complete package. They have external crossovers that have a Highpass for the tweeter and a Low pass for the woofer.

Coaxial means that the Tweeter is mounted in the same axis as the woofer. There is no real crossover. The woofer generally runs at full range. Meaning whatever frequencies it can reproduce it does. The tweeter in a coaxial speaker will have a resistor to block the low frequencies from damaging the tweeter.

Seperates are 99.99999% of the time better than coaxials. They can handle more power and are designed for specific purposes.

Coaxial speakers are much cheaper and are intended to be used in low end systems where cost is the primary limiting factor. This does not mean that there no good coaxial speakers it only means that you will rarely find them in competition systems.

Hope that clarifies.

[Caaine]

Hi,

It sure does. Now, to wrap this up. I will get component speakers in the front and put the tweeters in the dash. Now, should I get coaxials in the rear doors or component speakers and ditch the tweeters?

Regards,

Caaine

[wattsat]

The components will be better, but being in the rear doors I don't think it is worth the extra money.

Another thing to keep in mind.

Volvo as well as most newer cars uses a modular plug for the wires between the doors and the body. That way when you replace a door you only have to unplug the door from the body and plug the new harness in. Makes it very easy for repairs, but impossible to run new speaker wires.

If you see in one of the Dash pictures I posted I ran the wires from my crossover back to the dash and plugged into the factory harness for the door speakers. I really do not like doing this, but it is better than drilling holes in the doors and body.

This is really only a problem when installing seperates since they have an external crossover that requires the Power Input and then the Output to the woofer and tweeter.

[Bing_0]

yeah, i am obviously all about simplicity if i could, i would do every car the same, a set of components or component coaxials (like a component set wiith a crossover module yet the mid and tweet are mounted together), in front in kicks, a sub or two in the back and a big four channel to power everything. cheap, simple, light, and sound good.