ICE advice for n00b needed!

[RedRummy]

Hiya,

I know precisely nowt about ICE stuff, and just want some advice for some nice speakers to put in me FD....

I have 3 choices apparently...  a) Mids and tweeters in the front, b) a pair of 2-ways in the front or c) a combination of both with a sub + amp in the back...

now, I don\'t want to spend loads, I just want a fairly good sound - nice bass, but full audio range...

Specifically, what speaker packages can I look at.. as I say, I know nowt about this type of thing, and just need some suggestions of part no\'s to fit...

If I can get a pair of nice component 2 way speakers for the front (i\'ve no idea what that means LOL), then that\'ll do me, but I\'ve no idea what to look for... (I currently don\'t have tweeters in A pillar or anyting so want to avoid making changes to interior trim etc)

(I\'m too busy having to research stuff under the engine, to be able to research IDE stuff too LOL - got manifold probs and had coolant issues a few days back).... and only just bought the FD, so it needs a few things doing, like the ICE and interior bits sorting out...!)

HELP ME!! LOL

:xconfused :xconfused

[Red and Single]

OK, before I start...I\'m no expert.....

You say you want nice bass, for this you\'ll need a Sub of some form.

You have two choices really, amplified sub (amp is built into unit) or seperate amplifier and sub.

Personally I like component speakers up front (i.e. seperate midrange units and tweeters) thes are best driven by an amplifier rather than the headunit if you can afford it.

If you use a quality set of components up fromt, you wont need rear speakers at all.

For a budget solution, I\'d go for a 3 way amplifier which will drive the sub and the components.

Have a look here...  //www.caraudiodirect.co.uk

good luck :chat

[RedRummy]

OK, thanks, in terms of co-axial... how about these Vibe ones or these Apline ones

Not sure why I picked those... Alpine are a good make right? so ccan\'t go too far wrong...

Its just that my current speaker (Mazda OEM) are soo weak...

[D2BBA]

Seriously mate the best way to go would be to get down to a reputable ICE dealer and speak to them.  Get an idea in your head of what you want first (which you seem to have) and speak to them.

They could arrange fitting for very little and will know doubt point you in the right direction.

Matching sub and component to an amp aint easy, and it could all sound crap if the power is too low.

Even the likes of Alpine have budget ranges which IMO arent up to much.

You coud always buy an ICE magazine and llok at the reviews?

A nice set of components up front (thats tweeter and mid seperate) with a single 10" or !2" sub, ran by a 3-4 channel amp should suffice.

Good luck
Chris

[RedRummy]

yeah, good point... I\'ll go ask them...

There is a place called Road Radio or something near me who do all of Rx:Heaven\'s ICE stuff....

cheers anyway...

[craigr]

Have a look at this thread:

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19496

Some decent advice in here.

I just upgraded some speakers in my 2nd car, and in my wife\'s car and after a bit of research on current "good stuff" decided to go for Infinity Kappa components (about £135) in mine and VIBE SA60 kevlar units (about £80) in my wife\'s. Both sound excellent through just the head unit, but you always get a marked improvement if you amp them. Got them from //www.caraudiodirect.co.uk.

In my FD I went for amped front component speakers from a 2 channel amp, plus amped 12 inch sub from a monoblock amp (more info in the above thread).

Cheers, Craig

[trotter]

As R&S starts, im no expert either, although i have put together a few installs for mates over the years. But i can give u a personal opinion from experience so here goes...

I treated my current car, a fiesta unfortunately (boo - all), to the full monty: twin 12" subs (for bass), 6x9\'s on the parcel shelf (for rear fill) and 7" 2-ways in the front. Again, agreeing with R&S, the funny thing is that it sounds much better when the rear 6x9\'s are unplugged. As the cabin is relatively small (compared to a big saloon) there was just too much sound. So my personal advice would be to grab yourself a quality set of speakers for the front and get a sub and amp combo for the rear. If you want rear speakers as well go for it, but they are of most use for rear passengers - in an FD? :WaveBye

The main thing to start with in designing a system is to get the best head unit you can afford. This is where the system starts, so if the sound quality is poor here, no amount of money spent on speakers, amps, etc will make it sound better. - "start as you mean to go on" i think the phrase is :Thumbs-up

You didnt say what head unit you had, but the majority of modern ones have a fairly decent internal amp. Mines has a 4x50W amp, and can happily run both my front and rear speakers, (150W and 250W max power respectively) leaving the amp solely to drive the subs.

Doing it this way is useful as amps which are capable of running multiple channels (sets of speakers) are generally more expensive. Also, by using an amp dedicated to drive one channel you can get the full power out of it rather than having to divide round several channels.

As for what sub(s) to choose, a general guide is to use what types of music you listen to:

10" subs are small-ish and can respond quickly but cant drop for very low bass notes - good for fast dance music with punchy basslines :Thumbs-up

12" subs are the middle road and can cope with pretty much everything you throw at them, hip-hop with low notes and dance with faster punchier ones.

15" subs are at their best when producing low notes at a relatively slow pace, you can listen to faster music with them, but it sounds funny IMHO, kinda like one continuous bass note

Agreeing with D2BBA, buy the best equipment you can afford, the difference between a speaker designed on a budget and one designed with quality in mind is unbelievable. As for brands, admittedly im biased as i\'ve only used Pioneer stuff, but i\'ve always been impressed with price and quality. Try to stick to one manufacturer as most equipment is designed to operate with other bits in the same range in mind, although this isnt strictly true these days.

If your still having difficulties choosing what you want, as D2BBA says, head for your friendly neighbourhood ICE dealer and ask questions, he should be able to point u in the right direction. A good idea as well, is to pop into a shop with one of those big "Wall of Sound" displays (Ripspeed spring to mind here :2eek) and spend an afternoon pressing buttons to see the differenc ein brands and types of speakers.

As for fitting goes, when i was asking around for my install, i was getting normal garage labour quotes (£30-£50 per hour). Even with a small amount of electrical knowledge, i found fitting ICE is a piece of p!ss!!

I\'ll probably get shot down for some of my boy racer opinions :flamed but hope this helps!!

T

ps: a good source of info believe it or not, is the Haynes/Max Power book "ICE". About £20 from Halfords :Tongue1

[RedRummy]

excellent, cheers for that...

Will investigate further... maybe I will get an amp after all...

I tend to listen to pretty harsh electronic music, so its usually pretty dirty bass and screeching electro noises  :Laugh :Laugh

[trotter]

I tend to listen to pretty harsh electronic music, so its usually pretty dirty bass and screeching electro noises  :Laugh :Laugh

hey, nobodys perfect lol :Laugh