shorty87

iTrader: (1)

Heya, I've just got a Kenwood 8220bt head unit, was wondering what the best speaker (and amp if needed) set up would go well with it? I am totally green with ICE so don't want to put crap speakers with a really nice HU!

The specs on the Kenwood are here:
http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/car-aud...oth-navigation

I have a 2001 STi that its all going into

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

amp would be better but the headunit should power good speakers ok.
depends on your budget, but oem speakers are crap in imprezas and really need replacing with bigger sized ones and spacers.
the problem with the fronts are the are very shallow as to avoid hitting the window when its down, so need spacers to avoid this problem.

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

I saw these speakers would them being "slim fit" sacrifice the sound? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2708362502...84.m1423.l2649

Probably say I have a mid range budget, around the £300 mark ish!

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

the problem is no matter what make slim speakers will be crap, i know this as i went down that route and ended up binning them and buying bigger speakers and spacers,
also you really need to dynamat the doors as they are very rattly.
first you need to decide what you are going to do ,i,e, amp them or run from head unit and go from there, also i would recommend fitting components to the fronts.
i replaced mine with hertz speakers.

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

Cool, thanks for your help would've been pretty miffed if I ordered the slim fit ones and they were crap!

What size are your speakers?

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

6inch in the front and 5.25 in the rear, you will need to cut a bit of metal to get the rears to fit in the hole and the fronts need spacing out to avoid the window when dowm.
also you will need spacers, mine arent amped as i just wanted to improve the sound which i have done and am more than happy with the result.
but if your looking for a vast improvement you will need an amp and a sub as this set up is not very bassy.

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

I think I'll go for just a speaker upgrade, I'm looking for sound improvement too am not overly fussed about bass levels
I used to have a golf and the standard speakers in that were really good in my opinion so I'm hoping to reach that sort of standard ideally

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

the sound deadening is a must as it stops all the rattles and distortion. the stereo is much crisper sounding now but its not really a cheap or easy upgrade though i think all in its cost me £250 for the speaker and sound deadening and a few hours of faffing to fit.
saying that though im a bit of a tart and spent half an hour removing the badges from the grilles and sticking them to the oem door panel,but i dont like anything that looks non oem.

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

They do look really smart like that though! Worth the effort!
Cool, so sound deadening, spacers and decent speakers and probably the best part of a weekend for me (electrics aren't my strong point?!),
how much would getting someone to fit this kind of set up cost roughly do you reckon?

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

there is no rewiring required on the rears and on the fronts its just a matter of splicing the wire for the crossover, simple job.
the speakers are simple, bit of messing to remove some excess metal with a cutting disc on rears but fronts require nothing to be cut or modified, sound deadening is easy to fit just time consuming, realistically i would think four hours is fine to complete the job.
no idea how much to cost to fit but i would diy it personally.

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

Cool, will give it a shot, how much sound deadening was needed? Found some but unsure how much to order! Did you cover the whole inside of the door?

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

i did inside of the door behind the speaker, and about 60,70 cm all around and the inside of the panel also all around speaker.
i used one sheet of this on each door.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220898947985#ht_2398wt_905

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

Headunits in!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Don't fit any speakers you haven't heard. I bought mine after doing blind testing at halfords, and was surprised to find I'd chosen Sony both for front and rear.
I still love the sound.

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

whats it like to use??
looks a nice bit of kit, i love my pioneer but the boot up time is a pain.

shorty87

iTrader: (1)

It's really good! Plays DVD's, has handsfree and the satnav works with music playing over too, I'm really chuffed!!
I timed how long the startup was and from turning the key to music playing takes 25secs, not quick but not noticeably slow either, whats the pioneer unit like as I was looking at theres aswell?