What could I do?

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:06 pm

I have just bought a Kenwood W3537A CD tuner for the car so I can plug my mp3 player into it.

As I don't have any sort of radio/tuner in at the moment I don't know what the current speakers are up to.

So how bad are the standard volvo ones?

What would be the best most cost effective upgrade without too much electric gadgetry ? I don't have too much to spend and was wondering whether just putting in some kenwood/jbl speakers in instead of the standard volvo ones, without further amplification; would it make much difference?

If not what would be the best way forward?

Finally what sizes are the speakers around the car, the 2 front and 2 rear ones (i have a 2.0i ES btw). I read about 13cm and 6 x 9's but just thought I'd double check

Ta

Ian

guitarcarfanatic · Post by **guitarcarfanatic** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:20 pm

Hi mate,

Both speakers are 13cm. The volvo ones aren't actually that bad. I have some pioneers in the front but they aren't much better! The rear covers clip on as well so make sure you get speakers which don't have a tweeter that protrudes from the cone too much otherwise you will struggle to get it back on!

Good luck!!

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:29 pm

Awesome cheers for your reply.

When I get my cd player in ill give it a test, Im no audiophile but I do like hearing my music

So long as its better than my mums 405 (where the radio liked turning itself off) then I'm happy.

I'm trying to save as much money as possible so if i dont need to upgrade the speakers then thats a bonus

I'm not one to listen to it really loud but how early is it that the distortion kicks in on the standard speakers?

On a side note, I have looked everywhere to see what the standard ISO connector for tuners looks like, on the net etc, and i have tried to find images of the back of radios themselves to no avail, so i dont know whether i need an adaptor.

If this picture is clear enough, i have two connectors like this, different colours, same shape, do i need a connector or should i be ok?

Zooming is required, but you should be able to make it out

http://usera.imagecave.com/muddyfox470/ ... 010003.JPG

Thanks again

Ian

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:30 pm

Hi and welcome!

You won't find much activity in Ice, not a popular thing i don't think! I love car stereo's though-as long as it's not ott, it can be very interesting!

With regards to speakers-the Volvo ones, if you like listening to alot of music are pretty crap imo. The front and rear speakers are both 13cm (5.25" i think it is). With regards to 6x9's, there isn't really anywhere to house them unless you want to start custom building housing for them. There was a member for a short while here who built a parcel shelf for his, which was really nice and very well done. If i wasn't running a sub/amp, i would def. consider this route. Ross (Piper1st) also has a shelf for 6x9's and his was pretty neat too but i couldn't find a picture of it.

I can't really comment on what sort of 13cm speakers to have as i only use mine to run mid/treble, i leave any thumping to my amp. If you're into your music, i would reccomend a sub/amp/speaker combination as they for me give just the right balance between better than standard and boy racer 'i can hear you a mile away' audio. But being on a budget can be difficult-however there are some really good packages nowdays for not alot of money-my Infinity 12" Sub, boxed with Infinity Amp, wiring kit and postage came to Â£150. Best Â£150 i've ever spent on car audio... 2x pairs of JBL 13cm speakers was only Â£50. If you have the CD player already, thats Â£200 and your audio is well covered with decent gear. And that was all brand new stuff-no second hand bits (although the sub/amp was from eBay, it was from www.caraudiosecurity.com who are pretty good imo).

There have been several discussions on what speakers to have-i think a brief search would dig a few up. What sort of setup are you after-how do you like your music?

Edit:

Rob beat me to it! If the speakers do protrude and you're handy with a bit of filler you could always double a pair up like i did-so you still have the factory covers on but they're a little deeper so you can cover a tweeter. Images here (the speaker covers are towards the bottom). Sorry if thats all ott-i just like my car audio! Hope some of that can be a little use...

Brasco · Post by **Brasco** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:31 pm

The Volvo speakers are incredibly shite... Get rid, you could almost certainly find better ones on ebay with a blindfold on.

Rears are 10cm, there are no standard 6x9's, if you've got speakers in a parcel shelf or on your frond doors they have been added. Frond doors are 13cm standard.

Budget is the important word here. if you want to uprate the speakers and not spend too much (easily done) then I would say ebay is the way forward. You'll have to do your homework on that yourself, and decide what you can afford, but there's a fair few good threads on what are the best speakers... everyone has their opinions. I had a Panasonic headunit, MB Quart at the front and pioneers at the back (who gives a shit about the back

) and I had a twin 8" bandpass sub taking up my boot, connected to a 700 watt class D Alpine amp. Fairly run-of-the-mill system, but it made enough noise to entertain everyone at the Lincs meet

.

guitarcarfanatic · Post by **guitarcarfanatic** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:38 pm

Rears are 10cm?

Bugger me sideways! I could of sworn they were same as fronts haha. Oh well learn somethign new everyday

Volvo front speakers aren't that bad mind. Might be worth chucking you stereo in and seeing what they sound like. They do tend to knacker easily as well and then they do sound bad!

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:40 pm

Nope.

Rears are def. 13cm, as i bought two pairs of 13cm's-1 pair front, 1 pair back. And both are in the car!

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:41 pm

Ok thanks

I thought I might be slated for not wanting to pimp my car out with humungous speakers and stuff

Well I'll look into some 13cm's then for the front and rear, i noticed there is a little grill by the door handle whats that for?

Ill have a look on fleabay and see what I can find, looking on the forums alpine and jbl keep coming up quite frequently. I know they are probably out of my range, but ill try looking for similar specs.

Will the ones off ebay be good enough to hear enough difference? Also are all the fittings standard? (iirc i was reading somewhere to say that the holes were in different places, so will some drilling be required?)

Ta

Ian

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:47 pm

The grill is for the Volvo tweeters. Kev has a thread in which you can see he has replaced the standard Volvo tweeters. I have just disconnected mine as my 13's have tweeters that i can position myself. Kev's thread.

I don't think i had to drill anything or cut anything to get 13's in-they should just be direct replacement. And honestly, if you have a look around you can find decent speakers in places other than eBay for good money-and you then now they're new. I've had 2nd hand speakers before and they're fine, i just like knowing i'm the first person to use them!

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:52 pm

Found these after a quick search (they're named brand if thats anything), http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pioneer-TS-G1318- ... dZViewItem

Though grade B+ and as you say, I like cracking open something new

I may go down to my local audio store to see what they have, tho I always think as online being cheaper...

Thanks again

Ian

Brasco · Post by **Brasco** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:57 pm

Oops! Sorry! They are 13cm's at the back, I was thinking they were smaller because mine physically are (but I guess it's cos the rears I bought were crappy!)...

aibast · Post by **aibast** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:19 am

I made this thing to house my speakers. Well worth it.

piper1st · Post by **piper1st** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:26 am

Dan the 480 Man wrote:With regards to 6x9's, there isn't really anywhere to house them unless you want to start custom building housing for them. There was a member for a short while here who built a parcel shelf for his, which was really nice and very well done. If i wasn't running a sub/amp, i would def. consider this route. Ross (Piper1st) also has a shelf for 6x9's and his was pretty neat too but i couldn't find a picture of it.

Thanks Dan, you've rarely a bad word to say ... link to my parcel shelf!

That was my first shelf i made, i've actually made 3 now, but i'd never do it again, it's a frustrating and time consuming job!

Recently i've just up-graded/replaced the standard front speakers. I chose to go with Alpine as i knew they were good and i'm VERY pleased with the results (Rohan got a pair too!) ...

These are the one's that i fittedand can recommend them. They fit perfectly behind the front grills ... the only alteration is that you need to solder an extra two wires to the terminals if you want to keep the standard tweeters beside the door handles. Bargin price too!

Ross

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:27 am

aibast wrote:I made this thing to house my speakers. Well worth it.

youve actually got a frog in the back?

lovely clean car youve got there, mind telling me how you do it here

piper1st wrote:Recently i've just up-graded/replaced the standard front speakers. I chose to go with Alpine as i knew they were good and i'm VERY pleased with the results (Rohan got a pair too!) ...

How do you think they would compare with these pioneer TSG1318 ? As the alpines will be pushing nearer Â£50 with postage but I can get 4 pioneers for a smidge over Â£30...

cheers

ian

guitarcarfanatic · Post by **guitarcarfanatic** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:52 am

I bougth Pioneers that were about Â£25 a pair and although they are good, they aren't amazing! I often think about trying Alpine or more expensive JBL/ pioneer/alpines!

guitarcarfanatic · Post by **guitarcarfanatic** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:53 am

http://www.lowcostcaraudio.co.uk/shop/P ... ductJJ1999

I got ones like these about 6 months ago.

aibast · Post by **aibast** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:31 pm

muddyfox470 wrote:
aibast wrote:I made this thing to house my speakers. Well worth it.
youve actually got a frog in the back?

lovely clean car youve got there, mind telling me how you do it here

I actualy got two of them

One was given me by my mother ( that was weird) cos the car looks so much like a frog from the front and the other by my girlfriend and she loves them

piper1st · Post by **piper1st** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:18 pm

muddyfox470 wrote: How do you think they would compare with these pioneer TSG1318 ? As the alpines will be pushing nearer Â£50 with postage but I can get 4 pioneers for a smidge over Â£30...

Well, as you can see, the Alpines have a tweeter in them, so thats the major difference in quality and therefore the increase in price.

The alpines are 35W RMS (200 peak)
The pioneers are 25W RMS (130 peak)

I appriciate your on a budget, but if your gonna keep the car for a while, then you could maybe justify the Alpines? Why not get the Alpines for the front and the pioneer's for the back?

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:19 pm

I can get free postage from these guys: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/
Shame that their 13cm speaker range seems to be a bit lacking

Ill see how I fare with the replacement of the current parts to get the info centre and popups to work before i can make any other arrangements on the budget for the speakers.

If i did a bit of mix and match with the speakers (pioneers and alpines) would there be much difference, saying that though you will always get let down by the weakest link...

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I try to set myself budgets so I don't get tempted by things like that...
We'll see how it goes, though keep your eyes peeled for special offers

Thanks again

Ian

piper1st · Post by **piper1st** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:34 am

muddyfox470 wrote:I try to set myself budgets so I don't get tempted by things like that...
We'll see how it goes, though keep your eyes peeled for special offers

call me a bad influence ... but in Halfrauds the speakers i bought are Â£39.99, so if you get them from Low Cost Car Audio their almost buy 1 get 1 free!

you can choose any decent manufacturer as long as the tweeter doesn't protrude to the point it no longer fits behind the grills.

But i accept a fuel gauge and working headlights are slightly more important!