I'm looking to upgrade from the stock Blaupunkt system in my 2001 Holden Vectra, as the speakers have blown and the head unit is most definitely sub par (no pun intended). I'm not audio inept, but have no idea what is needed for a basic system (head unit, speakers and sub?). Any reccomendations on brands, installations etc would be great.
Ps. I'm not after a hi-fi setup, or looking to doof down Chapel St, just after a basic sound setup.
Thanks in advance!
Something I tell everyone when looking for car audio. Set a budget and stick to me. It is very easy to get sidetracked when looking at head units and speakers etc.
Apline, pionner, sony, kenwood are brands I have used and would trust.
I would probably recommend going a 4 channel amp and amplify the front 2 speakers/splits and the remaining 2 chans for the sub. Make sure you dont jip on on the amp or you wont have a good time.
Hope that helps.
A 2 channel won't cut it?
A 2 chan will cut it if you only want to amplify the sub and not the speakers.
Got offered $500 including installation for Sony 6.5 260w coaxials 3way, kenwood KDC-U453 head unit, fusion 100 watt 2 channel amp and a choice between a Sony 1000 or MTX 1000 sub. Is this fair?
without part numbers, hard to say.
check prices at frankiesautoelectrics.com.au
rough lookup of your parts is about $500.
Good advice above by mad mouse and Jdm4life
First step is always setting a budget. You can get the system installed in stages as per your budget. As recommended above, stage one would include a four channel amp, front splits and a sub. Most branded head units are more than enough to handle decent output. Also, most people are happy after stage 1.
If you want to go further, then for stage 2, start looking for head units with the features you want.
Stage 3 would be adding a mono amp for the sub and adding rear speakers so that your existing 4 channel amp powers all speakers and mono powers sub. At this stage, I'd also recommend adding sound deadening like dynamat. You'll notice a good difference with dynamat.
I'm sure you'd not want to go any further than this.
Start off by finding a place where you can audition different speakers. listen to a track you are familiar with on different speakers. It's not necessary that you like the same set of speaker that I like. So don't go by just reviews and let your ears decide what you need.
Happy ICEing!
Edit: while setting up a budget, do keep in mind the cabling kit and installation costs. This can be a significant cost, so don't ignore it.
Depends how you wanna run it. Get a 5 channel to run all 4 doors + sub if budget permits or you could get it 4 channel to use 2 channels for the fronts and bridged it to run the sub leaving the head unit to run your rear fill. Or if you don't think it's necessary, just get your head unit to run all your door speakers and a single 2 channel for the sub.
Speakers…go audition it yourself. It's like wine, what James Halliday recommends in his little book doesn't necessary translate to what you want. Likewise for speaker, what you like doesn't mean I'll like it vice versa.
Cables…just grab those off the shelf install kit will do, not like you're running 1/0 gauge powering bazillion watts.
Head unit - find one with built-in Bluetooth/streaming and able to plug in a USB stick. Anything else it's just aesthetics.
All depends on how much you want to spend, as numerous people have stated.
The 2001 JR Style Vectra is a solid car, so really you only need to dynamat the boot.
My Bro had a.. i think it was a 2003 vectra sedan, Alpine Type R Front Splits (Front Fill), Alpine Type R Rear 2 ways (Rear Fill), four channel alpine amp - prob 75WRMS x 4 or (50x4 will do the job) and a Alpine Type R 15" Sub, the sub being powered by a monoblock Alpine PDX Amp or the like
Yes pretty biased towards Alpine, as i have a currently run Front Type X Splits, Rear 2 Way Type R, and 12" Type X Sub, 3 amps - 4 channel bridged to the front split woofers, another 4 channel to power the front tweeters and the rear type R fill. And to power the sub a PDX1.1000. Yes it is a SQ and not SPL system, but very very fine on the ears
In the end it comes down to budget. If i know now what i didn't know back then i would have went high end from the start.
On the other hand if you want to do an elcheapo way, get some Clarion 6" Front Splits, Clarion Rear 6" 2 ways and a $120 Pioneer or clarion sub (usually included is the prefab box), Get an elcheapo boss audio 4channel amp to power the speakers and a 120WRMS pioneer 2 channel and power the sub with that.
But in the end people are either SPL or SQ, you obviously want SPL, but honestly mate, you gotta have it tuned to at least sound decent. Cheers
Oh and as for the Head unit, just go a elchepo with 2 or 3 preouts on the back.
Also the Vectra have a 120W alternator, which is good, just like most other Opel Branded cars
And also if you want to drop the price even more - buy second hand alpine or other brands.
I'd do things a bit different to most people in here.
I'd get a decent deck and speakers first. I'd personally go with a Pioneer deck… I've had issues with other brands and the 50x4 Mosfet chipset built into those decks are decent.
Then grab 4 decent speakers ensuring that your best ones are up front so that you have decent staging. Catchoftheday sometimes sell decent speakers for a good price. JB Hifi also have 30% car audio sales quite frequently.
If you still want a sub after that get a 1000w one with a mono block amp. Some people are happy with the bass they can get out of ordinary speakers.
And then if you still want to improve the sound a bit more, grab a four channel amp and run your internal speakers off of that.
Upgrading like this should give you the best sound for your dollar at each stage of your upgrade.
Go to JB HiFi, stick to your budget as JDM4LIFE mentioned, you might not need an amp/sub.
If you speak to an installer they'll recommend a compatible sub/amp combo, give you a discount if you pay for their install. It's worth it in the end. Keep in mind, 4 speakers, a sub, amp and headunit should cost a min of $1000 for a nice sound, not a loud sound. If you want something bigger/louder, I'd spend at least $1500 on sub and amp alone. I did on my old '93 Magna (back in 2001) with an already upgraded headunit ($1600 for the three) and installed myself. Worked like a dream. Had previous Sony 6x9 speakers in rear, was awesome for a bit of loud, a bit of nice music, not all doof, not all scream…
Since we're on the subject, I'm looking for a 2-din touch-screen dvd player with usb input (32gb) for video and mp3. The main thing is that I don't want to be limited to DIVX, as my Pioneer is (and at a funny resolution). Real pain in the arse to convert for.
I've had Chinavasion.com and Eeonon units (both Chinese with local warranty) before, and although they have all the fruit (even removable android tablets now at Chinavasion), they aren't the most reliable after a year or two. The Pioneer is very reliable, but very limited on the video playback as I said.
$500 budget.
These days $500 budget can you alot.
I recently set up a system for under $500 and it pumps well.
Try looking at firesport or gumtree for some good deals of subs + amp package.
Personally I dont trust Sony head units. They are just really dodgy.
This website sells some cheap gear which is brand new
http://www.supercheapeverything.com/
start with a sub and amp, then get an amp for your "good" speakers
then dynamat it