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  • Yes another roady audio thread....

    ok guys so I need some new speakers badly. dont wanna spend too much but need comething better than the cheap sony's that are in there at the moment. and I realise they need to be of a certain depth so this needs to be considered.

    I also currently have an aftermarket head-unit in the car and wanna change back to the standard smartr cd player to keep the centre console looking plsuh, would doing this make me changing my speakers pointless as I have read that the HU needs changing too as its not got the best output or something.

    any suggestions?


  • #2
    Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

    Whats you're budget and do you want components or coaxials?
    I think the mounting depth is something like 54mm (or is that in a fortwo?). If you're planning off running them from the standard radio, you ideally want something with a low RMS power rating at 4ohms.

    For under £50 I'd recommend these:
    Components: JBL GTO-506CE £35
    Co-axials: Hertz Deici DCX 130 £45
    Last edited by m1pui; 23-06-08, 12:29 AM.

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    • #3
      Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

        ok cheers for the replies so far guys. ok whats better component or co-axle, I'm unsure of what the difference is. if it helps I'm not planning on buying an amp or sub. all I really want is some form a bass to my music as I just cant get any low sounds on any songs unless I really pump up the volume which results in the door vibrating.

        and if I buy any of the suggested speakers will it sound half decent if I "downgrade" to the original headunit or should I keep my aftermarket to make the most of them?

        cheers

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        • #5
          Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

          Scrap the Grundig junk - there is a clue

          Go for Component speakers unless you have ears on your knees - get the tweeters as close to ear level as possible.

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          • #6
            Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

            First step: Junk the HU
            Second: Easier to put co-axials in, components will need more planning and some drilling, etc...
            Third: Add a smallllllllllllllllllll sub

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            • #7
              Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

              Originally posted by smart-eddy View Post
              ok cheers for the replies so far guys. ok whats better component or co-axle, I'm unsure of what the difference is. if it helps I'm not planning on buying an amp or sub. all I really want is some form a bass to my music as I just cant get any low sounds on any songs unless I really pump up the volume which results in the door vibrating.

              and if I buy any of the suggested speakers will it sound half decent if I "downgrade" to the original headunit or should I keep my aftermarket to make the most of them?

              cheers
              Components are far superior due to the fact that you can move/adjust the tweeters for the optimum placement in the cabin. But if you're not buying into amp's, good components are not really going to be able to sing as well as they could by just running them from the headunits (even an aftermarket) built in amp which are a) not very powerful and b) not very good quality.

              However, a lot of vehicles now come with components as standard so, audio manufacturers being on the ball, you can get comps (cheaply actually) which are primarily designed to work decently from the headunit. These are ones which were, I think were probably, designed to be a simple upgrade from a factory setup:
              Alpine SXE-1350S £35
              Pioneer TSA130ci £45

              As for coaxials, they're not perfect, but they do have there place. In any application, you want the tweeters to be the same distance from the ear as the mid-woofer so mounting them together is absolute perfection, in theory. In reality, the cabin of a car has too many intrusions which cause all kinds of reflections and blockages for the sound to travel.

              But in the situation of the roadster, it appears that, the speakers are placed as such that you get quite an admirable sound from coaxials. You sit low slung and the speakers look as though they're placed in the door cards near the steering wheel and very much near the open cabin (i've not seen a roadster up close so put me right if i'm not) whereas in many cars, as madDan says, they're placed deep in the footwells next to your ankles/knees which is not good for anything. The passenger might lose some detail where the drivers speaker is blocked by the steering wheel but it'll not be heavily noticeable in a simple setup.

              Tweeters, in lot of coaxials, can me moved/angled slightly so you can direct them accordingly to improve the soundstage too so you don't need to be overly concerned about them firing in the complete wrong direction. In ones which tweeters are fixed in position, they're normally angled anyway so you just need to rotate the whole speaker and mount it so they're pointing the right way, if that makes sense.

              Ultimately comp's are better but there's no reason you'll not be happy with some decent coaxials. If you're not expanding the setup further it's the best compromise and a worthy upgrade from factory paper cones.

              As for your other problem about the doors rattling. Thats always going to happen unless you use sound-deadening. The speakers vibrate and that transfers through the mounting and the door. If you mount the speakers solidly and use some deadening you'll reduce it quite considerably.

              I don't think the Grundig headunit is particularly good and most probably so I would say keep the aftermarket, but if you've got both headunits to hand, there's no reason why you can't change your speakers then try both headunits side by side and see yourself if it's a noticeable difference. Most likely is that the speakers will begin to distort at a lower volume with the Grundig than the aftermarket because the internal amp is a bit pants but as for the actual sound quality, thats something you'll be able to decide for yourself.

              What aftermarket headunit are you using btw? Just to get an idea of how much of a step down you'd be making by changing back
              Last edited by m1pui; 23-06-08, 10:22 AM.

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              • #8
                Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                Originally posted by m1pui View Post
                , you ideally want something with a low RMS power rating at 4ohms.
                High :wag:

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                • #9
                  Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                  Originally posted by PeterPiper View Post
                  High :wag:
                  erm no. The standard headunit is pushing out about 12w RMS per channel so if you but speakers rated at 60-70-80w RMS they're going to be vastly underpowered and will probably lead to damaging the speakers and/or the headunit.

                  If he was going for separate amps then high (or at least matched to the amps ratings) would've been recommended but he's running from the headunit in this case

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                  • #10
                    Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                    rubbish WTGR

                    high

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                    • #11
                      Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                      I agree with peterpiper.. don't specifically get something low powered, it isn't gonna make that much difference

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                      • #12
                        Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                        I've no idea what WTGR means and I've happily stated my views on the opening post so there we go

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                        • #13
                          I don't believe that in such a small noisy cabin components are worth the extra hassle.

                          I have a JVC KD'LHX552 head unit, Infinity 52.7i coaxial door speakers, and the Alpine 1600 sub behind the passenger seat.

                          Plenty loud enough for 70 (cough) miles an hour top down runs and plenty good enough quality too

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                          • #14
                            Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                            with the greatest:respect:



                            with low power comes cheapness in respect of drivers

                            what you should also be ensuring as well as high power is that they are high efficiency
                            Last edited by PeterPiper; 23-06-08, 10:47 AM.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Yes another roady audio thread....

                              Originally posted by m1pui View Post

                              I don't think the Grundig headunit is particularly good and most probably so I would say keep the aftermarket, but if you've got both headunits to hand, there's no reason why you can't change your speakers then try both headunits side by side and see yourself if it's a noticeable difference. Most likely is that the speakers will begin to distort at a lower volume with the Grundig than the aftermarket because the internal amp is a bit pants but as for the actual sound quality, thats something you'll be able to decide for yourself.

                              I did this test in one of my roady's (yeah I've had a few :p)


                              The Grudig HU is pants.

                              I used cheap Kenwood co-axials - really cheap.

                              and the stock grundig HU, the sound was still pants, the difference between putting the new after market and the upgraded sound pack speakers (don't know what the difference is but the options box was ticked and the money was paid) is so tiny that you'll really have to be told that you've got after market speakers in there, note:that the speakers bought were quite cheap.


                              i.e.: You don't need to 'upgrade' to after market co-ax speakers if you haven't got much money are on stock HU


                              I didn't have a set of expensive ones lying around so couldn't perform the test with the difference between an expensive set of speakers with the stock HU compared to cheap ones to see how much difference that made.

                              Next: I hooked up a £75 sony HU to the kenwood's and the sound was transformed, Tiny speakers really, so not gr8 with bass but the treble and the depth of the mid tones were apparent from the go.


                              Replacing them with the smart ones, the quality did drop, but certainly not enough to warrant new £25 speakers... (if that's what you're gonna spend on them)

                              i.e.: if you have a limited amount of money to spend and want to prioritize the upgrades, change the HU first and bother with the speakers when you've got more money.


                              Next Roady:
                              I used to run the following config:


                              Alpine CDA7893R
                              Alpine 6MP3 CD Changer
                              Alpine SWD-2000
                              Focal CA-130's - coaxials with fantastic results on this set-up.


                              Absolutely AMAZING! end of! I wouldn't drill holes in my cabin for components!



                              Current setup:


                              I tried two different Alpine HU's (different models from the one above) and none compared favourably to the new set of Focal CA-130's that I spend £100 for. I went out and bought a set of Rainbow's and another HU JVC KD-AVX11 (£300 then) before I changed the speakers, I put the HU in and the sound quality is reasonably better than the previous alpine HU's (both cost me above £200 each). All it needs now is a sub (or two )

                              Hope my results above help. Would be useful if you want to replicate the test with expensive speakers and original Grundig HU, personally, I wouldn't bother.


                              Phew! Hope the post doesn't fail now!

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