Dos_Box Posted March 22, 2009 Posted March 22, 2009 My Scenic RX4 is in serious need of gettign it's suond system re-vamped. If you had £300-£400 and a Scenic what would be the things you replaced\added? The estarting point for me is the speakers and wireing (please bare in mind I'm going to get a company to do all of the install correctly!), but any suggestions at all would be most welcome. Any useful gadgets would be useful too, And any stereo must have bBluetooth and DAB, as my current one (not factory fitted) does.
garethEds Posted March 22, 2009 Posted March 22, 2009 LOL - How about this one my cousin did the other year: Project ICECE - a set on Flickr He works for Sun so had the hardware lying about.... I'm not sure where his blog entry went for this. Here's the blog entry: Project ICECE GJE
SYNACK Posted March 22, 2009 Posted March 22, 2009 (edited) Hmmmm, not sure about the exchange rate involvement but I may have a few suggestions. The question is what kind of sound quality are you after? I would get a sony headdeck with full bluetooth A2DP support to allow streaming of music from your phone/reasonable mp3 player collection with about 4x52W output. For the dor speakers depending on the speaker types I would look at Infinity speakers. The front doors probably have 6.5" in there so I would go with 2way 6.5" (2x internal speakers in package each producing different frequency range) plus a tweater for each door to give you maximum frequency responce. Depending on the tweaters it may be worth getting a couple of active crossovers (frequency filters) to site between the tweaters and the 6.5" to divide up the frequencies for the cleanest reproduction. The back is probably 6 by 9" speakers in which you should be able to get a good set of 3way Infinitys again providing the maximum amount of reproducable frequencies. If you still have cash and are after the best dynamic range the next thing is a small bridgable AMP and a small subwoofer to fill in the low end sounds. A small 10" or 12" will be able to produce much lower frequencies than the other types of speakers. This does not have to be cranked up to boy racer levels but the right installer will be able to properly balance the sub output to the internal speakers output allowing for the treues sound reproduction. An amp will also include a high/low pass filter which will act as a crossover for the sub. Personally I would look at a an infinity AMP also. Depending on pricing there are multiple levels of speakers, the best being refference level. You should be able to easily sub out another brand with the components like Rockford Fosgate® - Home or even Sony who all do reasonable quality stuff. The wireing should only really nead replacing if it is really old or you get interfearance through it at the moment. Stringing new wires through is a pain and is usually not worth it if they preexist. Of course if you want the ultimate featureset you should replace the headdeck with a nice 4 channel amp and an In Car PC Edited March 22, 2009 by SYNACK
3s-gtech Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I'm a member of Talkaudio where there is a huge wealth of information and knowledgeable, friendly people if you need further info. I would avoid Sony unless going pre X-Plod (around 2000/01). Generally, current Sony ICE gear is poor in terms of build quality, SQ etc, though there are exceptions. This is from a lot of experience of using them - in some cases it would be little upgrade from the OEM unit. With a budget like that for the whole system, I'd be looking at the Bluetooth selection on websites like Car Audio Direct CAD, and choosing a unit which you like the look of, and has the features you desire. Personally, I'd then get a decent four channel amplifier, if you can find somewhere tidy to mount it, ideally in a cubby in the boot. This will give you decent power for the front speakers (a headunit's internal amp is often no more than 4x10w RMS, the 4x52W is max) and a sub if desired. JBL do some great amps for a budget here (same parent company as Infinity, Harman Kardon etc). For speakers, a pair of two way components in the front doors will give an upgrade from standard, from experience the Renault standard speakers won't take alot of power! Finally, having a sub doesn't mean having to put up with a box in the boot - a small sub can be fitted into a recess in the boot of rear quarter panels to give a big of reinforcement to the music. If this is still too much, well fitted 6.5" speakers in the front doors with plenty of sound deadening can sound pretty good. If you want to go for a carPC, there are plenty of options available - but IME for the most part a headunit should still be used, with an aux-in. Hope this helps, if anything is unclear please let me know.
treetops Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 Believe it or not they actually do some very good ones in ALDI from time to time, mine only cost £30 (wifi, 5-1 mem stick holder, bluetooth, usb) so i just got a converter (£4.50) and installed it myself... I cant really offer any suggestions on speakers/wiring but you can get some really good quality stuff for £300 I would imagine, even 2nd hand from Halfords do some good stuff.
Dos_Box Posted March 23, 2009 Author Posted March 23, 2009 Not really interested in a sub as they tend to dominate other frequencies, but high quality speakers and an amp are a must IMHO. The head unit can wait I think, as whilst it is not a top quality unit (ALDI-Medion\Tevion) it has bluetooth, USB, 3.5mm AUX and SD card! SO my iPOD touch is easy to integrae as well as being a nice hands free unit.
Dos_Box Posted March 23, 2009 Author Posted March 23, 2009 Believe it or not they actually do some very good ones in ALDI from time to time, mine only cost £30 (wifi, 5-1 mem stick holder, bluetooth, usb) so i just got a converter (£4.50) and installed it myself... I cant really offer any suggestions on speakers/wiring but you can get some really good quality stuff for £300 I would imagine, even 2nd hand from Halfords do some good stuff. LOL!!!
3s-gtech Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 A sub will only dominate if you want it to, it doesn't have a be particularly powerful. Doesn't suit everyone though If the bulk of the budget is for an amp and speakers then, I'd suggest something like Car Audio Direct - DLS Performance CA31 - Amplifier for an amp (option of a sub channel if wanted in the future) with some 6.5" mids like Car Audio Direct - Rainbow SLX265 Deluxe - Speakers. Get the car deadened with matting like Second Skin Damplifier Pro or Dynamat Extreme, to get the best of the equipment. A decent wiring kit to run it all shouldn't cost much (4AWG or so).
Busybub Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 Should be able to change the output of the sub to suit your taste using a crossover which may or may not be built into the amp. A couple of years back, Alpine and Clarion used to be a safe bet for head units. KEF made the best in car speakers I've heard, but not sure if they are still in the market any more. Infinity and JBL are a safe bet, though I would personally avoid chucking anything on a rear parcel shelf as it's a dead give away and open invite for some git to break in... Wouldn't skimp on the wiring, it can make more difference than the choice of head unit or speakers!
CHR1S Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 To be honest a sub is a must, but its amazing how people always think of a chaved up car when you say it. I always say that any home cinema system worth its salt has one, why not a car? Ive always liked my JVC head units and Alpines too, some standard speakers can be surprisingly good when linked to a decent amp in a HU so try you new HU before changing your speakers. I would find a local car audio shop (Not Hellfrauds) and go armed with your questions and see what they reccommend.
krisd32 Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 go round to base systems on fylde rd across from 53 degrees at the uni. they'll be able to help you out i would imagine. Base Systems :: In Car Entertainment, CD, tuners, speakers and MP3 players
dirtydog Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 id replace all the OEM speaker with amplified ones then see if you want a sub. 8" sub will give you good SQ and wont take up too much room!
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