Audio setup.......

[kappatango]

Hi, MK2 8v 3door 1988......

I am working out what my audio set up should be....this may sound like i know what I am talking about but believe me, have been trawling info for ages - looking for definitive answers now   

I have bought the door grills to fit in the pockets and want to keep the whole setup looking standard.
I am guessing for what I have read that components are the way to go in the front.

IS the best/largest size door speaker for the front going to be a 13cm?? 

The tweeters will obviously go in the dash but is there a component set that anyone has fitted and can recommend - ease of fitting and quality?? sright swap and where to place the driver side crossover??

For the rear I am thinking amp and Sub, not sure whether 6x9's (views please....) are needed but again what is a good amp / sub separates combination??

My head unit is an Alpine with only 1 pre out so cant amp the comp's as well.

I am. like everyone looking to do this for the best price, but am ready to pay around £150 - £250?  This doensnt have to include the cost of a sub as I have a great kicker tube ready to go in....although views again on this are welcome

Also technically, what is the best route to run the amp feed from the engine bay into the footwell....??

Thanks Guys.

[Dizzie]

use a 4ch amp off your 1 pre-out to drive the fronts and the sub off the bridged other 2 channels.

it just so happens I have a nice Alpine 4ch amp for sale

[Judderi]

And i have a better Phoenix gold 4 channel amp for sale   

As for the power wire there are plenty of plastic caps in the firewall which you can poke through into the foot well.

As for components just spend as much as you can, in the end you get what you pay for! Go into Halfords and listen to them all and see which sound best to your ears.

[Heyho]

Sounds like you're doing almost exactly the same as me - '89 mk2, front comps and sub.

As already said, if you get a 4 channel amp, you'll only need one set of RCA's, as the signal is fed to the other inputs internally.  If you get a sub, you won't want 6x9's.

You'll definitely only get 13cm speakers in the doors - unless you really want to make some work for yourself!!  To get the tweeters in, I knocked the magnet off of the old kenwood dash speakers, and mounted them in the centre of the baskets - seemed to be the easiest option.  You should find plenty of room under the dash for the crossover unit.  I went for infinity referene 5010cs comps(£70 delivered - ebay) - not the best money can buy, but I'm hoping they'll sound good amped, and won't mind leaving them in if I sell the car.

The top end makes are focal, rainbow and genesis etc.  £150 would buy a very nice set - it's up to you - the sky is the limit when it comes to car audio prices!!

Second hand is definitely a good way to go.  My genesis amp set me back £130 second hand - they're £330 new!

Let us know how you get on.  My install is on hold at the moment, as I've just shut my index finger in my n/s/r door, splitting it, and taking the nail clean off!!

[Judderi]

Ouch Digipants!

[cupra20v.t]

it all depends on his amp when amping the components and sub, as if the amp is relatively basic you wont be able to amp both as the high and low pass filters may not be switchable and so if you wire it all up with the 4channel amp running the sub and components all you will get is a sh!tty bass thud from the components.

so in order for you to amp your components you need an amp which is 4 channel and has high and low pass filters/crossovers to filter the bass out of the signal and you can then fine tune it so just the right amount of bass is being sent to the compononets.

however if you got an alpine deck you dont need to amp the components as alpine is quality kit and will power the components easy, i had an alpine deck in my mk3 and it was running the components and the pre out was powering the sub and the sound quality was amazing.

i now have a pioneer dvd/screen unit and that powers my components and the pre outs for the 2x12 inch kicker comp vr's and a kicker 4 channel amp, the sound quality is awesome and i bet it would put some cars( with amp'd components) to shame.  if you were local you could come and have a listen.

when you amp components you are prone to blow speakers, i have never amp'd my components and never blown a speaker, a mate insists he amps all speakers and he is allways sending stuff back and things are cocking up but each to their own i suppose.  best bet is to have a listen of an amp'd and non amp's component and decide for yourself if its worth it.

[Heyho]

I have an old SPLX 4 channel amp in my shed - they don't come much cheaper or basic than that, and it has low and high pass switches for EACH pair of channels.  I doubt if you'll find a 4 channel amp that won't do the job you require.

With regard to Alpine units - yes, they are quaility, but are no substitute for an external amp.  Even the high output Alpine headunits (4x60w peak) are only 12 watts per channel rms.  This doesn't of course mean that they won't sound good, just not a patch on a properly set up amp.

Speakers are more likely to blow if you send the wrong frequency to them, ie too much bass to your comps.  Better to back off the low frequency to the front, and let the sub take the strain!!

[cupra20v.t]

the quality onthe spl amps is poor and the filtration is pants too so it wud probably end up popping the speaker.  i know a perfectly set up amp'd comp is better than a non amp'd comp but i bet you mine last longer!

what is the point in amping the compononent anyway? the difference is minimal in my opinion

[Heyho]

I'm well aware that the SPLX range of stuff is p1ss poor (that's why it's in the shed), the point I was making is that even the worst/cheapest 4 channel amps have the capability of supplying low freq to the rear and high to the front - even if it's crude and non-adjustable.

As for amping the comps - it's all down to personal preference.

[cupra20v.t]

agreed mate