mx5cartalk.com

I've got a JVC mp3 head unit with an Audison 5ch amp, running a Pioneer Bullet 5\" split and 10\" sub in each door. Also have a 10\" Hz sub in the boot in a custom box. The 10's in the doors are running as woofers while the Hz 10 acts as a proper sub.

I like this setup, but I feel the low range rear fill supplied by the Hz sub could be better, and is quite limited by the poor acoustics of the mx. Also the doors tend to rattle a bit with so much power coming through them, so a fair bit of sound proofing is required.

I think it is quite difficult to get good sound in an mx, especially in the low range, and with the top down. I think you really have to put in a more powerful system than most cars, and be careful to ensure there aren't any holes in the frequency range, especially down low. Most mx systems I have heard tend to be quite tinny as the low frequencies just disappear into the atmosphere or something! Especially the headrest speakers, I don't like them at all. I'd be interested to hear how other people have tried to solve the problems...

sharyl wrote:

very dodgy picture and i've been saying for a few months that i'm going to fibreglass it but i haven't got around to it yet
1 x 12"
2 x 10"
2 x amps (one hello kitty one )
alpine head unit (one day everythingwill be alpine when i have money)
soon to get some kickass speakers in the headrests and doors

Noice!!

I've got a pioneer DEH-P5550MP deck (ie a nice MP3 one. No flip down screen or anything since it's about 2 years old). Speaker wise I have a 12" Rockford Fosgate in a custom box and Pioneer 6x9's (I forget the model) in boxes both in the boot. For fronts, I went and bought the bose speakers/tweeters from Mania. The Sub is amped on a simple 2 channel amp (which is of course bridged).

Now for the commentary...
The bose speakers actually don't really sound any better than the basic factory speakers. I'm yet to put the bose factory amp in though, but hopefully once that's in, it'll help push those bose speakers a bit harder and I can get the response I want out of them. If they still sound like crap after I get the factory amp in, I might try run the factory amp to the basic factory speakers and see if that makes them go a bit better.

The boot is a bit of a mess, but everything works in there. The bass from the sub actually comes through into the cabin really well.

The 6x9's actually don't seem to add too much, but since all this audio stuff was left over from my old car, it wasn't like I went and bought the stuff just for the MX. I've been contemplating whether or not it's possible to mount the 6x9's in the rear wall behind the seats, but haven't had enough time to take the carpet off and have a look. I don't want speakers in the windblocker as I reckon it'd look crap (personal opinion).

As for the sound, it's pretty good I think. Seems like I might have nothing on what other people have, but it's fairly adequate. Although it did sound better with the basic factory fronts I think for some reason.

I had what I thought was (and still do think so!) a good setup in my NA's...

Consisted of Alpine CD tuner head unit, Alpine 6.5inch DDDrive splits (costly but worth it), and Alpine 2ch x 90W amp. Also had some of that sound deadening mat lining both doors. Sounded great, and could get more than enough volume, with no distortion and very clear at high vol with the roof down. Before the install I thought I would need to get a sub, but those speakers could handle low frequencies very well, so I found a sub wasn't needed. Mostly listening to rock, but also handled the occasional big bass dance track aswell. Plenty of power and volume for the MX

I intend to install it into the NB when I get time, so will see if it still sounds as good as I seem to remember it sounding

In my opinion, spend as much as you can on high quality mids, tweeters and amp, before considering a sub. You then might find you only need one smaller, more responsive sub, as opposed to a boot full of 12's.

DVD/MP3/Radio (cheapo ebay)
In dash dvd screen (cheapo ebay)
pionee 6\" in rear shelf, mtx spilts in doors.

The sound isnt the best but thats cause of the poor quality head unit.
With the volume up its fine for top down highway driving.
And if we the other half gets bored she can watch a movie on those long trips.
Screen also comes in handy for selecting songs off mp3 discs.

NMX516 wrote:In my opinion, spend as much as you can on high quality mids, tweeters and amp, before considering a sub. You then might find you only need one smaller, more responsive sub, as opposed to a boot full of 12's.

Yeah, it's definitely the way to do it. That's why I like having 6x9's. They handle the low down stuff that's too high for the sub. Gets a pretty good frequency response that way.

Meanwhile, all you people with these damn clean installs is starting to get me thinking about doing mine properly now... what type of cost and how much work are we looking at to get everything mounted somewhere nice?

It's a big dated but ..

Alpine CVA-1000E
ALPINE CDA-9815 6 Disc MP3 Stacker
Alpine V12 MRV-F407 Amp
Pioneer 8\" 3 Way Front Speakers
Pioneer 8\" 3 Way Rear Speakers

I have a pair of Clarion amps to replace the Alpine one with but haven't found the time to do it properly. It's only been a couple of years

sharyl wrote:

very dodgy picture and i've been saying for a few months that i'm going to fibreglass it but i haven't got around to it yet
1 x 12"
2 x 10"
2 x amps (one hello kitty one )
alpine head unit (one day everythingwill be alpine when i have money)
soon to get some kickass speakers in the headrests and doors

It's generally not a good idea to mix sub sizes ya know

marcusus wrote:
Meanwhile, all you people with these damn clean installs is starting to get me thinking about doing mine properly now... what type of cost and how much work are we looking at to get everything mounted somewhere nice?

In parts mine has probably cost around 1300 bucks
sub 200
amp 450
cap 350
wiring 75-100
MDF 45
Vynil 50
glues and sound deadning 50
screws 10
probably took 2 - 4 hour stints to get it done

could have done it all in one day but would get in trouble

Just comes down to how much you can do yourself
and the finish you are after

Mine is still not finished I have to do a trim piece along the top of the box
and a cover for the back panel

Then do the front install on the back parcel shelf etc

maxwolfie wrote:It's generally not a good idea to mix sub sizes ya know

He should know...
His Amps is currrently velcroed to the floor

(hides)

Not when you're stuck in traffic or sitting in 5th for hours on end.

im planning on trying to build the best sound quality system with the minimum weight... it wont involve amps or subs

Good quality sound and minimum weight?? ........ IPOD !!!!

kula wrote:im planning on trying to build the best sound quality system with the minimum weight... it wont involve amps or subs

The Alpine DD speakers are by their design, much lighter weight than other 'normal' speakers. They use a much smaller magnet than others. Likely to need an external amp for them though depending on headunit output...

Kula: A small amp will weigh next to nothing and give WAY better sound. If you are spending good $ on speakers, it's pointless running them off the headunit.

sharyl: Mixing sub sizes is a not the best for sound quality and accurate bass reproduction as subs of different sizes will not produce the same sound for a given frequency. Plus they are loaded differently, which will actually make a bigger difference to the sound. Also, how is this setup amped? Of course it depends what you are after at the end of the day.

Putting speakers in the headset is the WORST thing you can do if you install 'kickarse' speakers in the doors. The biggest you can use are 4\", and they will be so close to your head it will absolutely kill the rest of the system. Spend your time and money on decent door speakers and a good install with mdf panels and sound deadening. Do not go an 8\" and tweeter, as again, this will sound like puss compared to a decent 5 1/2 or 6\" split system. 8\" mid bass simply cannot reproduce frequencies high enough to match the tweeters low end roll off. At best you'll get to 2khz with the 8\" while the tweeters are good down to 5khz. This leaves over an octave of midrange unaccounted for. An 8\" 5 1/2\" and tweeter 3-way setup is the best if you want to bring midbass to the front of the car.

Something I learnt pretty quickly when I started out in this game was that the best system is an intelligent one, that's had thought and time put into it rather than amps and speakers. My carefully installed Jaycar 3-way split system and 12\" sub off a 120w amp blew almost all other systems away in the comps I went in for sound quality.