Speaker Upgrades - Options

[Dreamblaze]

Hey all!

Having spent the last few days browsing both this forum and Celica club, i'v gathered a shed load of information on how to go about speaker upgrades. I'v narrowed it down to what i am looking for, but need a bit of advice on a few things for my Gen6 sr.

Firstly, my initial aim is to replace the headunit. i'm looking at something like this:

http://www.lowcostcaraudio.co.uk/shop/Alpi...r_productJJ1901

3 pre amps for future expansion, and Ipod capability.

Next, i'v discovered I need 6.5" componants for the front (and rear?), but I would need to adapt the current speaker fixtures with either creating an MDF adapter myself, or getting a pre-made speaker adapater. I'v made an attempt to communicate with halford chimps, but had no luck in getting any - "We cant get them for the celica of that year". So i found this site:

http://www.mjmautoinnovations.com/sak825t65.htm

which seems to be exactly what i want. I'v e-mailed, but no luck yet as to whether i can get them shipped. Also read some-one on Celica Club manged to get them, but they are crappy 50mm plastic, and using them could lose the sound quality on the Speakers. - Has anyone found a dealer for speaker adapaters in the UK? Is it easy enough to modifiy the existing fixtures (possibly with MDF) to get a 6.5" componant speaker in? As to the Speakers themselves, i was looking at these:

http://www.lowcostcaraudio.co.uk/shop/Alpi...17cm--6.5-INCH/

My next question is - Would it be worth getting two sets of those, and putting them in the rear too? then getting a 4 channel amp dedicated to powering those 4 componants? The other option is just having those in the front, and leaving the Rears stock powered by the head unit - My worry here is that when i turn up the volume to pump juice through the fronts, the rear ones will get borked. Would it be worth having to buy an extra amp and two sets of Speakers to upgrade the rears?

Next, Sub and Amp. Now depending on what the choice will be above, I'll either have one 4 channel amp, bridged to power both the sub and the two front componant speakers, or a mono dedicated to powering the sub to accompany the 4 channel one powering the 4 componant speakers ( )

Sub and amp i was looking at:

Sub: http://www.lowcostcaraudio.co.uk/shop/Alpi.../SPEAKERS/SUBS/

Mono AMP: http://www.lowcostcaraudio.co.uk/shop/Blau...MPLIFIERS/MONO/

4 channel Amp: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product_in...f671818a06f3161

So, to put the questions in order (seeing as theres a few here ):

1. Whats the best solution to fitting 6.5" componants in the front?

2. Does the rear speakers need an adapter or modifcations to fit aftermarket speakers?

3. Which scenario would you reccomend:

1. 2 amps. 4 channel amp powering 4x componant speakers, front and rear. Mono amp powering sub.
   
2. 1 amp. 4 channel powering 2 front componant speakers, other 2 channels bridged powering sub. (rear standard speakers powered by headunit)
   

4. Would this be a big job for a beginner, i.e should i get this all fitted and wired by a local car audio garage?

Thanks for your time, apreciate it!

[Jinxed]

sorry if i didnt read post properly im on limited time at the mom :(

have you made any provision for crossovers? though your idea sounds like itll be alright, i didnt see mention of crossovers and id strongly recommend you use some. if some come with the Speakers then great but if not you should get some. Without properly filtering the frequencies to the appropriate Speakers using crossovers your risking knackering them. For subs you need active crossover, for others you can use active or passive.

in regards to the options id use a dedicated amp for the sub and another amp for the components. make sure you set the amps on the side of caution while ur getting it up and running .... easy to blow Speakers when tuning the sound if your trying to get the max out of it all.

and be certain you have correctly matched ratings between speakers, amps and crossovers.....

It is a daunting thing doing a system like this if you havent done one before but ...it is doable if you understand the basics and get the appropriate bits that compliment each other. First time i did one i made sure i could draw it all wiring included on a piece of paper from mind before i even set about putting in the car....

If you have at it urself good luck mate and hope all runs smoothly

If you opt for an audio specialist then its likely gonna be sweet, just cost more. and make sure you know exactly what and where theyre gonna put stuff.

:) it is nice havin a good audio setup tho so look forward to being sorted

[Dreamblaze]

heya, thanks for the reply! :)

The componants come with crossover box + tweeters, so no problems there. But i was unaware that the sub needed a crossover also? (i presumed the one i linked had everything it needed already).

I'm thinking more and more to get this dont professionally. Having planning to spend £600+ on bits alone, I may as well get it done right.

and yeah, I tried to match the RMS of each componant. I.e, the componant Speakers are rated 50w RMS, the amp is 4x75RMS, but i plan to set that on a lower setting so i dont blow them. the Sub can handle 300w RMS, which is the same as the output on the mono amp, so i can tone this down also (or advise the shop).

Oh, new question - would it be wise to get the door panels (where the Speakers are) sound padded?

[Jinxed]

heya, thanks for the reply! :)

The componants come with crossover box + tweeters, so no problems there. But i was unaware that the sub needed a crossover also? (i presumed the one i linked had everything it needed already).

I'm thinking more and more to get this dont professionally. Having planning to spend £600+ on bits alone, I may as well get it done right.

and yeah, I tried to match the RMS of each componant. I.e, the componant speakers are rated 50w RMS, the amp is 4x75RMS, but i plan to set that on a lower setting so i dont blow them. the Sub can handle 300w RMS, which is the same as the output on the mono amp, so i can tone this down also (or advise the shop).

Oh, new question - would it be wise to get the door panels (where the speakers are) sound padded?

great u got the crossovers for the commponents

your right if the amp has(i didnt look sry time issues ) an appropriate sub only setting(a switch which says sub or marked a low pass filter) you dont need a crossover, if that low pass filter is variable(ie twisty nob) then it requires great care setting it. I blew 2 600w subs with a 200w amp due to tweeking, it was slow breaking them but they did go pop.

a specialist is a fine way to go if you are pretty uncertain you can do it without blowing stuff... id do specialist if i had the cash but lol me tight budgets and barely enough to buy stuff :D

ps its a really good idea to plan on eventually having Speakers that are at least a third greater w than the amp used to power them.... but you wouldnt be the first to just use less power ... just careful not to tweak it higher n pop

no idea sorry about the sound proofin ... i just usually make the setup so loud it doesnt matter whats making noise around the car :D

[Dreamblaze]

hah. well the action plan so far is to use my current aftermarket sony mp3 head unit (1 pre-out), and buy the mono sub and amp. Me and a friend can wire them up fairly easily. i'll wait a month or two, and see how that sounds, after which i'll upgrade the head unit. Last step is to buy the 4 componants and their amp, then take it to a local audio shop to get fitted and sound proofed :)

So will take me about 3 months, more of a financial thing than anything :P

[Chyownster]

the Type S comps are top notch btw :)

[Dreamblaze]

Worth upgrading to Type R do you think?

[spotipus]

right ive been rubbing my head to get the old brain and memory cells woken up

so here goes ( forgive me if i get it wrong cos its been a while since i put my install in )

i replaced front and rear Speakers with 6.5 components now this is where the memory gets a little fuzzy

but i think i took the old Speakers out of their templates and replaced them with the new components ( obviously blood and swearing would have been involved) using the old templates.

now the head unit you are looking at is 4x50watt at least so it will easily power these Speakers.

you also have a dedicated pre out for a sub so that wants connecting to a single or two channel bridged amp then on to your sub.

now i went a little greedy

my alpine head operates my front components - alpine 3 ways i ignored the mid and tweeters overkill imho

i have one alpine 2 channel bridged amp operating the sub

and an alpine 4 channel amp operating rear jbl components and alpine 6x9

the sound quality is awesome imho

i had never attepted an install before this but honestly it was easy hope that helps in some small way

the gear i used is as follows

alpine head 9812 rb

alpine amp mrp 240 50w x 4 360 max

alpine amp mrp 220 bridged 250 watt max

alpine 1241 type s sub

alpine 3 way components front

jbl 2 way 180 watt rear

alpine 2 way 6x9 (soon to be changed to alpine 3 way) when i get round to buiding stealth shelf

only problem i had was i fixed the amps to the rear seat on either side of my sub and its a very tight fit

but as the missus insists on shopping :censor: i couldnt compromise my shoe and handbag capacity

oh yeah the bars on the front protecting my sub from flying shoes are chrome drawer handles from b&q

goin lie down now bye bye

[Dreamblaze]

Heya!

Looks good, similar system i will be going for. Just bought these as phase 1:

Alpine CDA-9854R CD Tuner

Alpine SWS-1242D Subwoofer

Alpine MRP - mono amp

I'm guessing i'll need to wire the mono amp @ 2ohms (400w rms) to the sub (300w rms) and turn it down as to not blow the sub out of the boot? either that or have the amp running @ 4ohms (220w) - i'm fairly noobish at how to best wire this up - any suggestions?

Phase 2 will be the comps and their own amp, which will be in a month or two.

[spotipus]

being honest mate if you managed to wack up the sound enough to come close to damaging the sub you would be replacing the glass in your rear window!!!!

i think the volume setting on my alpine head goes up to 35

i say i think because ive never taken it that high

i like my music loud VERY loud

the highest setting i have taken it too is 22 simply because the rear screen BOUNCES and i am scared of going instantly deaf and trying to replace the rear windscreen every time the bass kicks in

if i take it above that i have to open the boot and wait for enviromental health to serve me a noise abatement notice :D

when you get it all set up i find that cotton buds normally manage to stem the blood flow from your shattered eardrums :D

[spotipus]

just adding to previous post

it may be worth your while financially to get hold of a max power (other magazines are also available)

and have a look at the audio packages that are available

i got my 4 channel amp sub and enclosure and wiring for £140

when i priced it up seperately from a well known audio shop it came to over £260

worth looking at