A have purchased an old camper van that needs the interior renovating. Any pointers for a decent pair of speakers? possibly looking to build small cabinets for positioning in the van.
Regards, Jon

I did a fair bit in my day with car installs. Max Power features cars and all that jazz.

I have not been in the game for a while. My B&O stereo in my 2020 A5 sounds crisp, modern cars have pretty decent set ups unlike the 90s and 00s. Some rules for you which will help and still probably apply

- known brands like Kenwood, Sony, peoneer and Rockford Fosgate know what they are doing. Don't be tempted by headline wattage figures on cheap brands.
- a decent head unit does half the job. A crap sound source will always give crap sound regardless of speaker choice.
- all brands have different levels of speakers and they are different. In the day I could almost identify brand and level of speaker by their sound. You will get a better sound if you pay for higher grades speakers, it's not just branding.
- the more speaker you have the less frequency they should cover. So if you just want 4 speakers then get 4 X 6x9 or 7x10 if they still exist. Go for 2-way, no need for 3 or 4 ways. The cones are too close together to make a difference.
- the best general set up is a couple of 2-way component (separate) speakers up front. Some 6x9 in the back and a 10" sub. Buy right and that will rock.

I went for Pioneers 'mid range' speakers for my last build, from memory I think they're described as A series? Their G series was higher up on the budget, and then they had bog standard ones that the likes of Argos etc were stocking. I thought going for the middle might work.

I used 6x9 in the rear and 17 cm in the front, if I remember rightly they were about £60 a pair. They were a great sound, limited only by the standard manufacturer head unit. As Bi22le mentions, the sound source is just as important (if not more) than a good speaker.

My only other suggestion is that car speakers do seem to enjoy large spaces behind them, you might find them a bit stifled in small cabinets. Would a good pair of monitors be a viable alternative? I recently picked these (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235011787139) up for my office hifi, the sound is incredible. The only issue is that they're not designed for outdoor use so their life in a van might be short.

As a long time Hi Fi enthusiat and one who spent many many many hours and £££ on ICE in my younger years. I can only stress that the driver units (what you might be referring to as speakers) prefer to be as rigidly held as possible. Rattling about in a parcel shelf or flappy door card doesn't do them or their sound output any good at all.

When chosing driver units look at their RMS power handling, NOT the MAX POWER often slapped all over the box.

Also the head unit in the dashboard will probably have a built in (integrated) amplifier to drive the driver units. These work, but only offer limited power output. Often when turned up they start to dristort. Generally it's better to have a head unit and seperate amplifier. A seperate amplifier will have significantly better power output and can bet placed in a more suitable location (certainly in a van).

Finally - avoid graphic equalisers - proper horrible creations - seemingly designed to distort the sound and make it worse

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Originally posted by nick205
Finally - avoid graphic equalisers - proper horrible creations - seemingly designed to distort the sound and make it worse

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They were terrible, I agree. Packaging them into dashboard with multiple phonoleads now required was a pig.

The later head units had pretty decent pre-set EQs.

The good old days. . .

You'll never hear them over the racket of that engine...

are you looking for speakers while driving, or while camping?

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Originally posted by nick205
As a long time Hi Fi enthusiat and one who spent many many many hours and £££ on ICE in my younger years. I can only stress that the driver units (what you might be referring to as speakers) prefer to be as rigidly held as possible. Rattling about in a parcel shelf or flappy door card doesn't do them or their sound output any good at all.

When chosing driver units look at their RMS power handling, NOT the MAX POWER often slapped all over the box.

Also the head unit in the dashboard will probably have a built in (integrated) amplifier to drive the driver units. These work, but only offer limited power output. Often when turned up they start to dristort. Generally it's better to have a head unit and seperate amplifier. A seperate amplifier will have significantly better power output and can bet placed in a more suitable location (certainly in a van).

Finally - avoid graphic equalisers - proper horrible creations - seemingly designed to distort the sound and make it worse

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Originally posted by Slimy38

quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
Finally - avoid graphic equalisers - proper horrible creations - seemingly designed to distort the sound and make it worse

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That's a blast from the past, can you still get them?!! Great for showing off the knobs and sliders, flipping awful if you want any kind of quality to the output!

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Originally posted by James

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Originally posted by nick205
As a long time Hi Fi enthusiat and one who spent many many many hours and £££ on ICE in my younger years. I can only stress that the driver units (what you might be referring to as speakers) prefer to be as rigidly held as possible. Rattling about in a parcel shelf or flappy door card doesn't do them or their sound output any good at all.

When chosing driver units look at their RMS power handling, NOT the MAX POWER often slapped all over the box.

Also the head unit in the dashboard will probably have a built in (integrated) amplifier to drive the driver units. These work, but only offer limited power output. Often when turned up they start to dristort. Generally it's better to have a head unit and seperate amplifier. A seperate amplifier will have significantly better power output and can bet placed in a more suitable location (certainly in a van).

Finally - avoid graphic equalisers - proper horrible creations - seemingly designed to distort the sound and make it worse

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I couldn't resist...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvU6m5EVJcc

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Always swore by Infinity back in my youth, no idea if they still exist though!!