Kenny T.

I have recently been looking through brochures for a new stereo and fancy the panasonic phaseII with mini disc and 6 disc cd changer Approx £470. I have read on here that the standard speakers are worth upgrading also. Any suggestions?, I would prefer just to replace the standard ones less hassle. I would also like to fit a sub, but do I need to have an amp for that? I don't want to spend too much on this what is the additional cost? Is it worth it?
Kenny.

Nick

The standard speakers are well worth upgrading. I replaced mine with 6.5" Infinity components at the front & Infinity 6.5" Coaxial at the rears. I still use the standard speaker grills. The system is a little light on bass but is fine for my requirements. Ovals in the rear would improve the low end but be more obvious for the theft risk. If you want a sub woofer, you will certainly need an amp. The sub will improve the system (together with the amp) but you may sound like a Vauxhall Nova from the outside...

DAZ

ive just fitted a system in my scooby
it consists of one of the new pioneer head units (with the fancy graphics )it is a very good head unit with loads of features.these head unit have mosfit amps these will give you a high quality sound.
speaker i have had 6" and tweeter in the front with a passive crossover(this normally come with the speaker kit)and a 12"pheanix gold boxed sub in the back.if you are going to have a sub you will need an amp.ive had a pheanix gold m50 running in tri mode powering the whole of the system.it sounds the dog bollocks.if you have any more question email me.i have a fare amount of experence in car audio(from sound off in the past)hope this helps

Nick C

Be warned.
I took delivery of ny RB5 in April and have had an Alpine deck fitted and the Alpine 6 disc boot loader(one of the smallest on the market.
I also had Infinity Kappa mids and tweeters fitted in the front doors to replace the original equipment and then had Infinity Kappa rear speakers fitted and these are driven by a separate amp(Alpine) and to finish it off I have had a sub fitted in the boot with a separate amp to drive this.
Not a bad system I thought. It sounds crap compared to my last two cars (Audi and a Volvo) because the Subaru just is not built that solidly.
I have since had the front door panels off and sound proofed them and also gone to the trouble of taping the polythene linings up on the inside of the doors as these tend to make vibratory noises when the system is cranked up. I have also sound proofed the inside of the back wings inside the boot and also the bootlid itself as the bass just goes out of the car and does not stay in.All in all it is not very satisfactory.
To compound the problem, I have just bought my wife a new Mk.4 golf and the standard system in that just has front speakers and it blows my system away.
The moral of the story is that you should not bother wasting too much money on components etc and look at spending more on getting the car more solid. If you succeed in that please let me know.

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

Nick,

I've got an Alpine Head and Changer set up in my car, and I'm only running a set of factory speaker in the rear, with Infinity Kappa 60.1 cs components up front. No amps or a sub yet. I dynamated both front doors, and this has made the world of difference.

If I fit any more gubbins (I will if I keep the car) I'm going to try out the spray on sound deadening gloop. I've got access to a big compressor, and also a very special High Volume Pressure spray kit, so doing this shouldn't be any problem for me. I feel that with this stuff I can really attack the doors, bootlid and the rest of the boot area with avengance and hopefully with success!

I've found out that Dynamat is really only an expensive version of Synthetic Roofing Flashband (well it is better, but the flashband can be bought far cheaper and in greater quantity!).What did you use for sound deadening?

Cheers,
Tim

Lee

WARNING WARNING !!!

Do not use the spray-on sound-deadening in the doors. It gets everywhere and will knacker the elec windows.

It is meant for awkward shaped panels like the bootlid for example.

BIG TIP !

I improved the quality of sound in the doors by fitting a 1" thick panel of foam behind the door trim. This stiffens it up, reduces vibration and helps prevent sound leakage. And it only cost a couple of quid.

DAZ

one of the best ways of reducing vibration in a car door is fitting strips of dyno mat.this acts as a baffal and reduces the resenation of the door.
also i dont under stand how your wifes car sounds better than yours. with the components you have fitted you should have a very clear crisp sound. are you sure that the speaker are in phase with each other.if they are out of phase your systems would sound crap.

Nick C

I think the installer used Dynamat everywhere.
The kit that I have had installed is just so powerful that you cannot stop the car from rattling somewhere. The plastic grilles on the front door are a bugger and the sub that I have in the boot is a single reflex cone (I think thats how you say it) and as such it puts a huge amount of bass through the car. The amp driving it is probably not even on half power but whenever you try cranking the bass up the whole car just vibrates and consequently it sounds crap.
My wifes car is a Golf and being German it is solid inside which is just so different to the Subaru.
Without spending alot of money making new panels that dont move I do not know a way around the problem.
I have the RB5 (MY99) and the spoilers vibrate like crazy which is also very uncool when you want to turn the sound up and your car rattles on the outside. It does sound alot like the brake light cable inside the spoiler that is rattling but I am not sure.
Any comments!

Lee

My Sub shakes the bootlid down something rotten. Outside it sounds pants like you say. But inside I've got a decent sound that rumbles your seat in time with the tunez.

Luckily for me I don't spend much time listening to my system whilst strapped to the bootlid so I don't care

Nick

Tim

My system was fitted by a friend who is also a professional ICE fitter. He was VERY careful & fitted dynamat inside the front doors, he also left my some more dynamat to fit on the rear side boot panels. He carefully taped & resealed the polythene on the doors & also carefully taped up the mass of wires behind the head unit.

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

Before the Scoob I ran a VW Corrado, I thought for a long time how solid the car was, until I decided to upgrade the ICE. When I took the doors apart I discovered that it was just as flimsy as the scoob, just all the trim panels were covered in about an inch of foam!

It was amazing how much of a difference that this foam made, so I'm with Lee on this, definately worth fixing foam to the back of the trim to improve the sound deadening! As well as Dynamat to the door skins to reduce the drum of the big flat metal panel.

Incidentally to fit the front speakers I had to modify the plastic spacers quite a bit by trimming the lip off the splash gaurd, and filing the plastice ring down enough to fit the speaker cone frame. I ended up with the tweeters on the inside trim covering the door mirror wiring.

Tim

[This message has been edited by Tim W (edited 28-09-1999).]

Adam M

I have just fitted a pioneer tv, cd, etc. This is powered by two phoenix gold ZX 450s (lots of wattage). This has been combined with two petras hypercast 10 in isobaric formation, in a bandpass box. This is because the overall dimensions are unbelievably small and it hits bloody hard. The subs are almost unheard of in thios country because they are not officially imported, they have the greatest x-max and enormous power handling but also have a stiffened paper cone enabling awesome punch, otherwise unattainable with any subs I nkow of available in this country. The front doors contain speciallist 8 inch drivers witha compression driver in their centre. Like a coaxial only much better quality imaging, dispersion, more efficient and capable of louder volumes. plus 1 farad cap.
I would not have installed any of this without dynamatting everywhere. Two rolls in each door (all four) 1 in each footwell, 1 on each fire wall. 1 in boot lid and two on boot floor. No rattles anywhere.

You may think this extreme, but I bought twelve rolls in bulk and it cost me £150. This was also for dynamat super which is slightly lighter and more effective. Easily the best money spent on the sound.