Budget Mk3 Audio Build

[Tease-MotorSport]

Ok,

So for the most part I am not a believer of spending ££££'s on Car Audio because generally the cars that I have owned have had pretty decent stereo systems as standard or really nice sounding engines, But I must say the system in the Mk3 is absolute WANK.
This has driven me to do something about it, so I have been researching this section and read that changing the head-unit "can/might" make a difference?!?

Sooooo last week the Hunt began, and I found this on Ebay.



And Thank god for Dyslexics Because the chap that listed it spelt Alpine "Alpiin". (I did however have to spell it wrong to find it)
I won the Item at £7.26 Posted! Result Me thinks........... (Can't be any worse than the Blaupunkt Calgary in there at the moment)

It came in the post yesterday and I set about changing it today, After reading a Post about removing your old system with a cut up Credit card
I set about taking it out and With a Butchered Natwest Card and it WORKED!



Then it was as easy as Plugging everything back in to the back of the unit and Poking it all back into the hole and switching it on and I must say its a definite improvement ... And End Result



Speakers are the next and if anyone can recommend any Brands/Models or just finds any Bargains on  ebay or else Where Please Just Comment... 

[tommk3cab]

what speakers are you thinking of? comps or coax's I mean. and how much?

are you planning on amping them?

are you planning on running a sub?

are you up for some work on the solid fitment of them into the doors?

[Tease-MotorSport]

I'm just looking for the best sound quality with out getting to impractical e.g. Filling the boot with Battery's, Subs, Amps and Power Caps.
To be honest I don't really know the difference between Comps and Coax's, correct me if I'm wrong but Coax's have a built in tweeter.....
I have no real budget in mind but I don't want it to get ridiculous! The next thing I need to Tackle is Punch or lack their of?!?

[tommk3cab]

I'm just looking for the best sound quality with out getting to impractical e.g. Filling the boot with Battery's, Subs, Amps and Power Caps.
To be honest I don't really know the difference between Comps and Coax's, correct me if I'm wrong but Coax's have a built in tweeter.....
I have no real budget in mind but I don't want it to get ridiculous! The next thing I need to Tackle is Punch or lack their of?!?

well for a start no-one should be filling up anything with powercaps (except the bin )

you are correct about the comps-vs-coax thing.

 punch would come from a half decent set of components fitted properly into the door. This means attaching them to the metal of the door (for a start) rather than the plastic pods which come as standard with mk3's (and most cars). You would also want them powered by an amplifier

A sub would be a good idea for helping out the comps with the lows.

A decent set of amped and well mounted/fitted comps and a 12 or 10 inch amped sub should be all you would need (and maybe too much), you would not need to use any extra batteries for this as long as the standard battery up front is in good condition.

You may get away with amped components only, especially if you don't listen to a lot of D+B, rap, reggae or anything with any real lows. Listening to mainly rock for example you could probably get away with it.

If you did not want any amps at all then you could be in for some trouble with increasing punch to any really decent level.

[Tease-MotorSport]

I don't mind putting amps in the car,I just want it to look as standard as possible.
I thought about putting the amps on the back of the passenger foot-wells? As I thought it would look pretty Smart and as for the components any recommendations for what size and brand Components for the Dash and front and rear doors? And as for the Sub.... Are the Bass tubes/Bazooka's any good or is it just a Gimmick?   

[tommk3cab]

I don't mind putting amps in the car,I just want it to look as standard as possible.
I thought about putting the amps on the back of the passenger foot-wells? As I thought it would look pretty Smart and as for the components any recommendations for what size and brand Components for the Dash and front and rear doors? And as for the Sub.... Are the Bass tubes/Bazooka's any good or is it just a Gimmick?   

put the amp(s) anywhere they will fit, they will need some room for cooling and are normally best up the ''normal'' way (to aid cooling) but it is not always a necessity.

You will only really want one set of components, in the front doors. They are 6.5 inches as standard and then you could put the tweeters wherever you choose, mine were in the mirror back before I put them in the A pillars, they worked ok in the mirror backs though.

 Are you up for some fabrication work to your front doors? it will be inexpensive (if you want), can be quiet time consuming but will yield amazing ( speaker performance wise)results.

The bass tube type things are not really ideal, neither are any active sub things. As you say you don't want your boot full though they may be an option but better results can almost always be achieved with a separate sub and amp combo.

[archie837]

I'm running vibe components in the front of my mk3 and they sounde really good on their own, but have got some vibe 6x9s running of one of their amps it provides enough bass for me really. Whole lot came to about £300? Was a bit mates rates though