MarkL

Hi all,

First post to this forum and ICE is absolutely not my field, so go easy!

I'll shortly be replacing the standard head unit in my UK-spec MY98 Turbo with a Sony CDX-MP30. I realise I am not going to make the most of even this modest unit with the standard speakers, so I am thinking of replacing the front speakers at the same time. I don't want to spend a lot of money; just want something that will give a worthwhile improvement. The trouble is I have next to no idea what will fit and what will be suitable. I want something that will basically be a straight replacement and not require extra work.

Is the Infinity 52.5I (£59.36) the kind of thing I should be looking at? Any comments on suitability or quality of these speakers, or recommendations for alternatives?

guppy

I have just replaced the speakers in my MY98 turbo I went for a set of pioneer component speakers (sorry can't remember the number off the top of my head)£120. To fit the speakers in the door I used an autoleads adapter kit £10 this has got a bracket and connections to fit the scoobys original wiring. The tweeters were mounted on the small triangle on the door where the wing mirror adjuster usually is. I found this location to give the best sound.

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

MarkL,

Don't go for the 5 1/4", go for the 6", or something close to that. You'll get a much better sound from the slightly bigger speaker. People on here seem to like the 605cs, which is more than the ones you're looking at, but worthwhile.

MarkL

Thanks for the responses. My understanding (from the Infinity website) is that both the Infinity Kappa 60.5cs and Infinity Reference 605cs are 6 1/2" component systems. The 60.5cs are a bit too pricey. I only see a 605cse (rather than the 605cs) on the MCS-Direct website, but I guess they are the same unit.

Will a 6 1/2" speaker fit as a replacement to the standard 5 1/4" units? I was under the impression from browsing some posts on here that 6" would fit OK but 6 1/2" caused problems. Also, I'm not too keen on the idea of fitting seperate tweeters and a crossover box.

Any comments or advice very welcome!

Alas

Hi m8
I just fitted a pair of infinity Kappas 62 to the front of MY97. Basically all that needed done was the shield on the back of the door unit had to be cut slightly to accom the speaker. Other than that dropped right in. Tweeter is attached so no messing about there. If I can fit them anyone can.

Most people reccommend the Infinity 605cse and seems to drop straight in from the posts I've read. Lowest price I've seen is 79.00. Drop and ad in here or in wanted as that's how I got mine.
Cheers
Alasdair

stephen30

I go some infinity ones that dropped straight into the front of mine (MY97 UK). Went into Halfords and bought them off the shelf for about £65 or so. All I had to do was connect the OE wires to them. There is also a ring shaped bracket that comes with them which you attach to the car. I think they were the 6.5 inch ones. They have a tweeter in the middle so no faffing about. I reckon it took me 30 mins a side to fit them. I was also new to this ICE business.

Steve

Just had a look at the infinity website and these are the ones



http://www.infinitysystems.com/caraudio/product.asp?ProdId='REF652I'&Ser=REF&Cat=MEL
They are REF652I 6-1/2" 2-way


[Edited by stephen30 - 11/10/2002 6:05:37 PM]

[Edited by stephen30 - 11/10/2002 6:07:18 PM]

stewart_mcg

Hi Mark,

I was out looking at ICE today - is the Sony head unit (CDX-MP30) any good? I was looking at exactly the same thing. Did you get the little remote control (RX-4s) to go with it?

Anyone else have a similar set up?

Cheers

Stewart

audio g man

Hi,

The 605cs & 605cse are exactly the same thing, Infinity just whacked an "e" on the end for 2002.

I have today listened to a set of the new Focal 165A and I like em. I may still buy a set Chiark.

MarkL

Hi Stewart,

I've only had the Sony CDX-MP30 in the car a few days now and I'm not any kind of expert on ICE (although I've spent sevaral thousand on my home hi-fi!), but I'm very happy with it. Does exactly what it says on the tin and noticeably better sound than the standard head unit on my MY98, even with the dismal standard speakers. Radio reception also seems to be better. Plays 700MB CD-RW discs recorded in Joliet (long filename) format with high bit-rate VBR MP3 files without any skips or problems so far. I didn't get the remote for it, but at £140 quid for the head unit from MCS Direct, I think it's a bargain.

Mark.

Flat 4x4

MarkL

I have zero fitting skills and like you, didn't fancy wiring up to anything non-standard.

I got the Infinity's due to recommendations here, but found that I would have needed to make spacers or wire in a tweeter.

SO, I got some Kicker co-axials which fit in the OEM Subaru housings. I needed a crimper and some spade connectors, that's all.

Probably don't sound as good as the Ininity's but far better than the originals and easy to fit for a complete novice.

MarkL

Ok, problems, problems... Hopefully someone here can help.

I went ahead and got myself some 5 1/4" Infinity Kappa coaxial speakers. They have about the same frequency response as the 6 1/2" Inifinity Reference coaxials, and also the same depth (the 6 1/2" Kappas are deeper and I want to make sure they don't foul the window mechanism). The factory fit speakers unscrew from their angled plastic mounting without any trouble, leaving a nice point to fit the new speakers to, but the problem is the factory mounting bracket (at least on my MY98 UK car) has three screw holes (plus an additional three "studs" that slot into holes in the factory speakers) and the Infinity speakers have four screw holes, so they don't line up.

The Kappas do come with a plastic mounting ring (also for attaching the supplied grilles), but this obviously also has for screw holes. However, I figure I could drill some additional holes in this plastic ring, use them to screw the ring to the Subaru mounting bracket and then screw the new speakers to the plastic ring. I wondered if there were any mounting kits that could be purchased to fit replacement speakers, which would save all this hassle. I called a couple of car audio places to see what the deal would be if they fitted them for me, but they all seemed to want to make up some custom MDF brackets and charge upwards of 45 quid, which is just about what I paid for the speakers.

In the worst case I could return the speakers and look for some alternatives that would be easier to fit, but dammit I'm on a mission now!

Anyone got any suggestions or advice on how to proceed? Any help would be very welcome.

dnb

£45 for MDF spacers? Hope that was for installing everything as well...

BTW where did you get the speakers from - I need to change mine shortly (after too many drivetrain expenses this year...)

If it were me, I would jigsaw out some MDF or ply spacers, or use the plastic ones supplied, as I don't like parting with extra money to finish a job. It can't be that difficult to drill & countersink some holes in a piece of plastic!

[Edited by dnb - 11/19/2002 4:10:34 PM]