Car Audio Opinions
 

Hi Guys,

Few quick questions regarding car audio, i'll start by detailing my current situation followed by hopeful outcome.

[B]Car: 2005 sti [/B]

[U]Current audio:[/U]
Standard speakers front and rear running off a 'decent' pioneer head unit
[U]Parts at my house:[/U]
Monoblock Amp and copius amounts of RCA's cabling, power/earthing cabling etc etc

[U]My plan:[/U]
1) Pick up a 4 channel amp and sub.
2) Run the standard speakers off the 4 channel amp
3) Utilise the mono to power the sub
4) All the while utilising all the left over/spare cabling from previous stereo installs

I'm budgetting about $300 ish for the amp and sub (friends have bulk second hand stuff available) and i'm assuming i'd be looking at around $200-300 if i paid some one to install it (please correct me if i'm wrong).


[U]My questions:[/U]
1) How well will the standard speakers fair when amped and run through the head unit. (A subjective question, but just looking for a little more punch and bass)
2) Are wrx/sti's nightmares to wire
3) Any places NOR that any one would recommend for cheap installation.
4) If my pricing/budgetting is ball park will the sound gains be worth the $300ish to do it myself.
5) If my pricing/budgetting is ball park is the $300ish worth getting some one else to install it. (I can probably do it myself, just would take me a while i havent done a subi before)

P.s if this plan went ahead my cash is good and my beer is cold for any one who wanted to lend a hand :3some:. Else i'll get my nissan technicians (friends) to pitch in. :)

[url=http://www.volatilecustoms.com/]Volatile Car Audio[/url]

Unsure if he is on PWRX but definitely on Antilag.

You'd have to check with Rob re: charge rate for installation.

Also worth checking is the type of wire you're bringing to the party as some installers wont use wire that isn't safe/etc.

You will most likely blow up yoir standard speakers running them off an amp, they will sound shit.

Upgrade the front to some decent 6" components and 5.25" 2 ways in the rear.

I have done a few subi's and they are actually not bad to wire. Only problem I habe found is minimal spacing for front and rear upgraded speakers (hits the windows due to depth ) spacers will sort this and are easily found at Jbhifi etc.

Wiring diagram is found online and just make sure you have the correct one...

You will pay dearly for even a simple install - jb charge $150 just for a deck! Best bet if you don't have a lot to spend is to do it with a mate who has an idea of what he/she is doing...

I'm in Hillary's NOR if you want help with any of it.

Best of luck :-)

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2

If people/forum members/friends/little voices in your head tell you to upgrade your speakers, I will argue against bothering with rear speakers. If you [B]must[/B] have rear speakers [I](fuck the passengers)[/I] just utilise the stock speakers for a bit of "fill". You don't go to a gig or concert and have the music coming from behind you, do you?

Personally I would save a touch more and replace the fronts with an entry level offering from say Morel (available from Westside). Awesome bang for buck speakers, will shit on most of the mainstream brands available locally around the same price point. Your stock speakers will not keep up with, nor blend nicely with a sub and you car will sound like complete arse.

[QUOTE=TROLLEY;767141]If people/forum members/friends/little voices in your head tell you to upgrade your speakers, I will argue against bothering with rear speakers. If you [B]must[/B] have rear speakers [I](fuck the passengers)[/I] just utilise the stock speakers for a bit of "fill". You don't go to a gig or concert and have the music coming from behind you, do you?

Personally I would save a touch more and replace the fronts with an entry level offering from say Morel (available from Westside). Awesome bang for buck speakers, will shit on most of the mainstream brands available locally around the same price point. Your stock speakers will not keep up with, nor blend nicely with a sub and you car will sound like complete arse.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't agree with your more about only upgrading the front if needed. I guess i was just curious if the standard speakers had a bit more give in them. I've managed to get a rather good sound on previous cars by running the standard speakers with low bass and picking high freq. Then the sub running mid to low freq with low bass boost but fair bit of gain.

i was fortunate that my old amps were really great. Allowed you to isolate the frequency range for each channel along with bass boost and gain...

My tentativeness about upgrading the speakers themselves came to price. Good component fronts i wouldnt expect much change from 600. If i go down that path i don't want the weak link to be the sub or amp, so the quality and therfore price in those go up. call it another $600.

thats $1200 before i even look at prices of installation and other bits and bobs. I was just hoping i'd net small gain from what i had lying around and throwing in $300

I've been spoilt by the fact friends of mine that i jam with, have some really high quality shit, and any amount of money i spend still wont sound as good. So it's kind of like getting away with average. For cheap. Hahaha but if you reckon the speakers will fry with them slightly amped i may just spend the money elsewhere. Like some new drum skins

As craig said... You don't really need Rears. I chose to have some/upgrade because they were lying around at home.

Spend some decent money on some splits and if you have a decent sub it will sound a lot better than the shutter Oem stuff.

You don't need a 600W RMS sub cranked right up that you have to re adjust your mirrors after each song.

Quality not quantity ;-)

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2

[QUOTE=grape juice;767146]I couldn't agree with your more about only upgrading the front if needed. I guess i was just curious if the standard speakers had a bit more give in them. I've managed to get a rather good sound on previous cars by running the standard speakers with low bass and picking high freq. Then the sub running mid to low freq with low bass boost but fair bit of gain.[/QUOTE]

A good place to start (depending upon what functions your gear has available) is high pass fronts @ 80hz, low pass sub @ 80hz. Then tune up/down depending on how your speakers handle.

[QUOTE=grape juice;767146]My tentativeness about upgrading the speakers themselves came to price. Good component fronts i wouldnt expect much change from 600. If i go down that path i don't want the weak link to be the sub or amp, so the quality and therfore price in those go up. call it another $600.[/QUOTE]

[url=http://www.westsidesound.com.au/product/morel-6-5-2-way-tempo-component-speaker-system/]Morel 6.5″ 2-Way Tempo Component Speaker System | Westside Sound & Image[/url]

Go to Westside in Cannington and have a listen to the Morels above. Best value speakers I've come across (in the entry level market). Tell him you're from Perth-WRX and/or Craig with the red WRX hatch sent you and you'll get them for $250 I reckon. Take a day to install with mates, meaning installation costs can go towards these speakers and/or your sub & amp. Your sub and amp will be on par with these fronts so you don't have to worry about any weak links!

I totally understand your reasoning in regards to the weakest link in equipment. I spent stupid money at the start of the year finally completing my audio install. Added one thing (processor) and it fucking snowballed into $600 tweeters and $1000 drivers :o

Cheers for the advice, with the above mentioned setup up, i could probably run the whole system off 1 four channel amps saving a lot of wiring hassel. Run the fronts off 2 channel, leave the back speakers wired to the head unit and change the fade to front. Then bridge the last 2 channel to run a sub.

Saves a bit of coin on cabling, having to rewire the backs, installing another amp. Besides i cant see there being much improvement (from what you guys are telling me) about rnning the rears through an amp.

^^does this sounds plausible.

250 morels, 300 second hand sub/amp. install free. I'd be happy with 500ish to get a decent sound. My previous car was a ss ute. So making the stereo sound awesome was easy... 1 sub behind your seat pnching you in the back haha.

Deffs go with upgrading the fronts, get a decent quality amp and sub and you'll be set, I sourced roughly 3 grand worth of stereo equipment brand new for about $700 online all delivered, same stuff you'll see in the boxes here, just without the markup. I would say that's you're best bet, if you can wait maybe a week buy online. Then get someone well known to the forums to install it for you, or you can always YouTube it and try it yourself if you're keen.

[QUOTE=ThatLegend;767223]Deffs go with upgrading the fronts, get a decent quality amp and sub and you'll be set, I sourced roughly 3 grand worth of stereo equipment brand new for about $700 online all delivered, same stuff you'll see in the boxes here, just without the markup. I would say that's you're best bet, if you can wait maybe a week buy online. Then get someone well known to the forums to install it for you, or you can always YouTube it and try it yourself if you're keen.[/QUOTE]

Out of interest, what did you source and where from. At this point i'm might only need a 4channel amp and a sub.

This is if my previous post was correct in that it would suffice to

Run rear speakers off standard head unit
Run Quality fronts off 2 x Channel from the amp
Run the sub by bridgeing the remaining 2 channel off the amp.

I do have a spare 4 channel amp at home, its just fairly old and seen a battering not even sure it works. haha