Budget of £380, what can i get??

[Tony2Quick4u]

Hi all,

In the next few months, i will finally be getting the rest of my ICE sorted and on the long road to gettting the rest of my car done. I have a budget of £380, i have already got a Kenwood head unit single CD and i want to keep with the Kenwood theme. Ideally i want to get all the factory speakers replaced (that is 6 of them) and a very nice pair of loud shelf speakers along with an amp (i hear a pair of 6x9 Kenwood ones are v good??). Is this possible for the budget i have and if so, what is the best types of shelf speakers and speakers to replace the ones i have got in the doors. Thanks all. By the way i have got a Ibiza GTI 8V if that helps.

Look forward to all your suggestions and need to know what is the best setup for the money i can get. I dont want to invest in a bass box yet, just the other speakers to be done at the moment!!

:cheers:

[Kev Hall]

Tony I've just finished (with a bit of help from Saul) re-doing the system in my 8v. It consists of:

kenwood 9590 single cd
kenwood 6.5" dual mags
jbl 6x4 standard fit
audiobahn 12" sub
kenwood 548 2 channel powering front comps
rockford fosgate 500.1 powering sub

all in an sq plus boot build (picked up cheap from a friend!)

If you're going to fit a sub at some point then I wouldn't bother with 6x9's. Definatley fit some decent component's up front, the dual mags can be had for about 120quid.
If you're not fitting a sub then I'd make up an acoustic shelf for some 6x9's and get a 4 channel amp to power both the front and rear speakers. You should be able to do this within your budget, I'd search the net for good deals on stuff rather than just going to your local ice shop. Don't scimp on the wiring though!
Hope this helps a bit.

[Tony2Quick4u]

Sorry, but when it comes down to ICE i am a bit of a novice, anything else like the engine i am fine with. I had a bass box in my last car and to be honest it just got on my nerves after a while, too much bass all the time. So if i get all the factory speakers replaced and a pair of 6x9's will i need to amp the 6x9's and would it be a good idea to amp the rest of the speakers, if so, how much would an amp capable of doing this cost? What amp should i go for to do the job? Once all this is done, will it sound good and give me a nice bit of bass, loud enough for people to feel and hear?

(might eventually invest in bass box when then engine and other mods are done!!)

:cheers:

[Kev Hall]

No problem I'm no expert though!

If you replace the standard speakers you'll get a much better sound quality, but to be honest you'd be better ditching the rear speakers in favour of some 6x9's unless you're just using them for rear fill with a sub.
You could modify you existing shelf for 6x9's to fit but you would get a much better sound with an mdf shelf built specifically for the car.
You don't need to amp up the 6x9's or fronts, this will just give them a bit of extra power/volume.
As you're on a budget I'd recomend changing the existing front speakers to a set of components (6.5" mid in the door and tweater in dash) for the money the kenwood dualmags are v good, I got mine for 120.
Lose the existing rears in favour of an acoustic shelf, with 6x9's in it.
Run both sets of speakers from your headunit, and you'll notice a vast improvement, if you want more add a 4 channel amp to run all 4 speakers, after that you'd want to progress to a sub and imo lose the 6x9's.
250quid should see you with some good quality speakers front and rear.
I'll look up some web addresses and post them up after lunch!
Would suggest a trip to your local ice dealers to have a listen to some speakers to see what sound best then take note of the price and model and search the net for them alot cheaper!

[Tony2Quick4u]

Thanks alot mate, appreciate the help, look forward to geting it alll sorted after my holiday and pumping the tunes!!


:cheers:

[Kev Hall]

Just to start you off, have a look at
car audio discount (http://www.caraudiodiscount.com)
car audio centre (http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk)
MCS Direct (http://www.mcs-direct.co.uk/)

Just 3 that came to mind, have a search on google or similar for car audio or in car entertainment. :)

If you want any pointers on wiring it up,etc, give me an email. Or if you want, saul and myself would be willing (for a small fee!) to do it for you!:devil:

[Tony2Quick4u]

Thanks alot for that, that is a huge help, how much would you be charging for the fitment of all the equipment, fitment of all speakers (6) and the 6x9's plus wiring the amp up?? And where do you live, i mean are you local to the surrey area, if not then don't worry but thanks alot for the offer.



:cheers:

[Saul]

Tony

Just had a quick look on the net and heres what i came up with.

Fronts:Kenwood PSR70P Components £110.00
OR
Alpine SPR175A Components £99.99

Rear 6x9: Infinity 6953I £74.99

Amp: Kenwood KAC 849 £189.99
OR
Directed 500 £189.99

Plus wiring (DIY about £30-£40)

This is pushing you a little over £380, but it will be well worth it.

All prices are from www.cel-direct.com

[Dillinga]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to replace the front speakers in my 16v with a decend set of components. I've been thinking about getting a set of custom fit Pioneer TS-H1720's as I just want to slot them straight in with no fuss. With the Dual Mags do you need connector/mounting adaptors (especially for the tweeters as the hole they are in is pretty massive)?

Cheers,

Tony

[Saul]

No adaptors needed mateto screw the mids in, they'll fit in the same place as the OE ones.

Tweeters are a bit more of a job to get in but nowt major, kev used his 2 of his mums best tupperware tubs and mounted them in the same place, works really well as they are a perfect fit.
Some custom fit speakers do come with the tweeter attached to a tray so they fit exactly as the OE ones do, alas the more expensive components dont.

Just a bit of advice, if you are buying the dual mags or any other component speaker with a cross over, you have to think of somewhere to mount it, we mounted kevs in the tray underneath the steereing wheel next to the fuse box (on mk2) and behind the glovebox (mk2) on mine (mk3) i stuck the crossovers directly behind the doorcards

good luck, if you need any more advice drop me or kev a line

:cheers:

[Dillinga]

Cheers Saul,

I really want it as basic as possible so I think I'm gonna opt for the customs. What I don't want is to have to hack about with the existing connectors to fit onto the new speaker - I'm hoping this won't be the case but I'm not sure as I've heard conflicting comments from different people. I think I'm just gonna have to take the plunge and get the customs and see if they fit OK. I've got some 3-way Kenny 6x9's which I intend to mount in a Stealth shelf which I'll be ordering soon. Hopefully that will sound good enough without amps/subs.

Any advice/tips greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Tony

[Saul]

Ok, im not sure if the custom fits come with the connections to wire em straight into the OE connectors, you will have to check that when you buy.

6x9 definately wont, and you will have to extend the existing wires to the speakers, just make sure you leav yourself enough cable to re-connect em back on if needs be.

Better speakers will make a world of difference, are you running the standard head unit?

[Dillinga]

Thats the other thing I'm thinking about - whether to just extend the wires so that they can reach the 6x9s even when the boot is fully open or get some socket connectors to sit flush with the join.. I know - I can't wait to get rid of the current tinny paper cones! As for the HU I have a x50 watt Pioneer and changer.

[Kev Hall]

You could without much fuss rewire the front speakers so you don't have to use the existing tweater plugs.

Run a new set of wires from the speaker outputs in the HU to the crossover, then from the crossover direct to the tweaters, and one to the doors, clip the existing speaker wires before the doors and attach the wires from the crossover to the speaker wire going into the door then attach the door mounted speakers to the existing wires in the doors.

You can leave in the existing wires in case you decide to rewire them back in as the existing set up when you sell the car!

For the rears, extend the existing wires enough to run via the shelf hinges so the shelf can still open with the boot. It wouldn't take two minutes to fit plugs near the hinges and have the wiring neatly attached to the shelf whilst still being detachable.

Hope this helps;)