dhutch
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 12:03 PM |
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Upgrading Car Speakers
Suggestions for brands/suppliers?
I have recently bought a new (to me) car in the form of a 1995 BMW E36 Compact and the speakers are rubbish compared to the pervious car, its ok at
low volumes but very quickly sounds increasingly distorted even when not that loud and I'm considering upgrading the speakers in the hope of
improving the sound quality. Headunit is currently a Blaupunkt aftermarket affair but I'm happy to change that for an alternative if required,
probably.
A quick look and there appears to be a lot of smoke and mirrors, as well as a lot of overpriced tat and while ive dabbled in domestic hifi audio Im
struggling to know what is worth spending money on and what isnt. Budget isnt huge, I only paid £650 for the car, but my gut feeling is that it
shouldn't be too hard to improve on the 17year old oem speakers for sensible cash?
In the front there are mid-range speakers in the footwell which the internet says are 5.25 inch, and 2.5" tweeters in the doors, with four inch
rear speakers which you can apparently get adapters to make them take 6inch speakers. I don't really want take up boot space with a sub, or do
to much hacking about. Everyone on the forums says 'the only option that fits/works is from 'Bavarian soundworks' but they cost more
than the car!
Daniel
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Charlie_Zetec
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 12:20 PM |
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JBL do some nice speakers, but I personally like Vibe speakers. They're not the best you can get, but I think they're pretty good value
for money. They have entry level range called "Fli", but go uo in price to "Black Air", "Space" etc.
Just my opinion.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!
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dhutch
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 02:05 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Charlie_Zetec...they're not the best you can get, but I think they're pretty good value for money...
That is i guess whats im after, not amazing, not hugely expensive, just better than what I have, which in itself, is a bit of an unknown.
Daniel
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ChrisW
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 03:33 PM |
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If you're getting distortion as you turn the volume up, as opposed to generally sounding crap all the time, it's more likely to be that
the amp in the head unit isn't man enough for the job.
Speaker wise I've always been a big fan of Infinity stuff. I have a pair of Infinity Reference 6.5" components coupled to a basic Kenwood
amplifier in the MR2 and they've been really good.
Chris
My gaff my rules
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couch22k
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 03:41 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
If you're getting distortion as you turn the volume up, as opposed to generally sounding crap all the time, it's more likely to be that
the amp in the head unit isn't man enough for the job.
Speaker wise I've always been a big fan of Infinity stuff. I have a pair of Infinity Reference 6.5" components coupled to a basic Kenwood
amplifier in the MR2 and they've been really good.
Chris
+1
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nick205
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 07:27 PM |
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+2 for Infinity kit.
If the speakers can't cope with an amps output they don't usually last all that long. As Chris says, the amp is often the culprit in
giving a crap output to the speaker load. That said 17 yr old OEM speakers won't have been up to much from new. I'd replace the
speakers, but budget for a new head unit too. Alternatively if the existing head unit has a line out facility you could add a separate amp.
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blakep82
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 09:05 PM |
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my e36 coupe had some rather nasty 4" nokia speakers in the back, and were total guff. i suspect you've got the same.
not sure if the compact is the same in this area as the coupe, but you can get adapter plates to replaes the 4" speaker with 6x9" speakers
of your choice, thats what i'd do
________________________
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vanepico
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| posted on 23/11/12 at 09:41 PM |
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I got some FLI speakers from halfords, they seem good, not sure if the crackling is the cheap stereo or just bad quality audio files.
__________________________
Will CAD for food/money/beer...
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bi22le
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| posted on 24/11/12 at 01:16 AM |
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Several bits of advice.
Bigger is always better.
3-ways and more are not always better than full range or 2-way.
Most of the makes are the same. I can vouch for vibe , infinity and various.
Make sure your stereo eq is set up sensibly. Not shed loads of bass.
Go to halfrauds and play with their speaker wall. You will notice the difference on back to back testing.
Bass junkies is a good online cheap site
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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dhutch
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| posted on 19/12/12 at 11:17 PM |
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The headunit is a "Blaupunkt Nashville DAB 35" which claims 4 x 50w max output power, which as far as im aware, is about standard for a
car headunit and a fairly respectable brand?
Im not after a mobile rave unit, just a plausible sound that can be heard over the slightly blowing exhaust!
A past thread on a Landrover forum I sometime use was raving about 'underseat subwoofers' such as the Kenwood KSC-SW01 but at £120 odd new
and no secondhand ones about im more tempted by a £25 second hand 8" 'Fli trap' sub.
Daniel
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alistairolsen
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| posted on 20/12/12 at 03:19 PM |
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Ive always run a set of 13cm alpine components in the front doors and a sub in the boot. Rear speakers aren't an issue if you dont carry
passengers there.
My subs have always been in boxes moulded to take up useless space in the boot, but if you're not into this there are various underseat versions
fitted to higher end german vehicles which may provide the necessary bass fill.
My Build Thread
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dhutch
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| posted on 21/12/12 at 09:36 AM |
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I will have occational rear passengers, but thats not a primary concern, no. I was more thinking if I could get some decent 6*9's in there it
might help carry the smaller front speakers.
Although that wouldnt be so relivent if I added a subwoofer, obviously.
Is a 4*50w headunit powerfull enough to get a good sound?
Daniel
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alistairolsen
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 12:06 AM |
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The peak rating of the headunit is almost irrelevant, but the quality of the amps varies considerably.
I'd have expected blaupunkt to be ok normally though. I'm a big fan of pioneer headunits and use one of these at the moment
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pioneer-DEH-7300BT-Bluetooth-Stereo-Control/dp/B004GHNQ7M
My Build Thread
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PSpirine
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 01:44 AM |
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E36 are quite rubbish, they run 13cm Nokias in the kick panels in the footwell!
Ideally I'd recommend you getting a head unit or amp upgrade as that's going to improve quality even with the stock poo speakers, anything
from infinity, hertz, or even vibe will be an improvement on the Nokias though (don't expect much from the stock head unit..)
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dhutch
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| posted on 23/12/12 at 08:02 PM |
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As said, im not running the stock headunit (went long before I had the car) but assume the speakers are stock. I'll get a pair of half decent
130mm's in the front and see how it goes from there.
I also am due to by a complete setup to add speakers to my cousins 2cv (christmas present) so I shall re-apply the comments to this problem as
well!
Daniel
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