I am planning on upgrading my ICE in 2 parts - speakers and then headunit, in my 5 door.

Over the weekend I installed some Component Infinity Reference Speakers in the front and some infinity reference coaxial in the rear doors. I put some dynamat on the front doors.

The stock speakers are crappy light things - I think they're the same as a 1992 MX-5! Anyway, after some handy manipulation of MDF I finally got them all in and boy am I disappointed - they sound worse than before!! Everything is working as it should, woofers/tweeters etc. but it just sounds tinny. There is some bass there but not much at all, the main part missing is the mid range....

Are these the symptoms you would expect if the speakers were out of phase or is it purely because the stock headunit it crap - I would expect some improvement with new speakers!? I set the crossover on the components on -3db for the tweeters.

Any guidance is appreciated!

 

With the head unit turned on and playing some music, try turning the balance to the right or left (does not matter) and see if the amount of bass /quality increases with music playing on just one side.

If it does sound does improve turn the balance back to middle (both left and right speakers). If at this point the sound is tinny and horrible you have established that the speakers are no wired up correctly, you need to swoop one of the speaker terminals to the crossover around and you should have solved your problem.

Hope that makes sense and do not swoop the speaker wires around with the radio turned on.

 

I never thought of that! I think it does sound better just coming from one speaker!

I'll check tonight and swap if thats the case!

Thanks

 

I would put components in the back also...

I think a sub is the only answer for decent bass though.

 

Well, after work today I whipped the door panels to check the polarity and everything was as it should be. I double checked all the cross over points, checked every connection - not a problem on either door.

I put the panels back on and thought oh well must be the headunit. Turned on the stereo and bingo - a much richer and better sound! not sure what happened but the quality is now what I expected it to be!!

Thanks for all the advice anyway!

Now I just need a decent head unit.

 

Glad you got it sorted. I've got exactly the same in my wagon and it sounds sweet. Will recommend an underseat subwoofer - alpine SWD1600 or Pioneer TX????(can't recall model) - really adds to the sound without being obnoxious.

Have a look at a Kenwood KDC-W7534U head Unit. It should be cheap on the net, and I find it works really well with your speakers. Has USB connection as well. Oh and the face mechanically moves down and out each time you load a CD - thats its bling bit! Can't comment on any other units, but recommend going and having a listen at a sound shop.

 

I was originally thinking about just sticking with another double din for ease of fitting. What single din fascia did you use for your kenwood and where did you get it from?

Cheers

 

have an anniversary one in mine that had a pocket underneath from subaru.

now home to a centre channel speaker!!

 

I only had a single din unit in the car before I started, so didn't need a fascia. I recall from some other posts that a lot of people use a Forester fascia. Do a search for fascia on here and you should find enough info.

 

I have a single din Ripspeed DVD 722b which is driving my infinity reference 6x9's and some sony 6.5's up front and it sounds fab. HU cost £149.99 from Halfords (a deal on at the mo) and it has a little 3.5" screen built in to play DVD's!! Not the top of the range job but I recommend it.

I have a WRX and it did have a stock kenwood double din fitted, so it was quite an effort to fit the single as it had a flip down fascia which would catch on the ash tray and not open out fully! I decided to scrap the pockets and ash tray and custom make some MDF blanking panels into which I mounted my boost gauge and cigarette lighter. Sprayed both blanking panels silver (colour coded with car) and covered with 6mm thick clear plexi glass to give it a nice shiny effect. I then bought some nice little blue led bulbs and mounted those behind the plastic surround wired to the cigarette lighter light feed and now I have a nice blue lit center console. The edges of the plexi look brilliant in the dark!

It's not an A1 job as the panels need filling out a little to close the gaps from the surrounds, but it suites me and it was fun to do!!

 

Thought it was worth revisiting an old thread - I have just fitted some Infinity's to the front doors (also got an average Sony headunit, better than the standard one though). At first they sounded as you described - no bass and generally not very good. After a day or so though they have improved a lot - this is common with home audio speakers where they need a good running in perriod, I guess it is the same with car speakers as well.

 

I've seen this too. A friend paid a LARGE amount of money for speakers that he'd auditioned in a shop, but when his brand new pair were set up at home, he was disappointed to say the least.

The dealer came out, brought the shop demo pair, and they were awesome.

They offered him the demo pair at a discount, or to keep his new ones, run them in for a week, then they'd have them back if he wasn't satisfied.

He took the second option and is now really pleased with the speakers.

Alcazar