Speaker wires in Cup/mk2 172

[Rich-D]

I decided to change the speakers in my Cup over the weekend as the standard items are sh!te to say the least...

Anyway, I foolishly took the speaker wires out of the plastic connector for the drivers side door speaker without checking first and so I know dunno which was +ve & -ve so does anyone know?!

The wire colours are some daft Renault scheme, none of the other speaker wires follow this scheme, my mates mk1 has different coloured wires & so does my mates Kangoo van, so I am stuck.

Can someone check please or does someone know???

The +ve one is the wire nearest the release clip side of the plastic plug.


TIA

 

[KDF]

Doesnt matter too much, the worst case would be an out of phase speaker but you would be able to tell as the bass would sound "farty".

If you want to get it right get a 1.5v AA battery and connect it to the speaker wire, watch the speaker cone, it will go in or out, if it goes out do the same to the other one and if that one also goes out then you know what - and whats + reverse the battery the other way round if the original goes out but the other speaker goes in.

Sorry a very complicated explanation of a simple task.

 

[Rich-D]

Cheers for the reply...

Anyone actually know which colour is which?!

 

[captain_clio]

what speakers u put in mate, and how does it sound?

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by captain_clio on 22 July 2003

what speakers u put in mate, and how does it sound?

I already had some Sony ones (xs-F1320SL - 120w - 2way) from my old car, which I paid about £30 for at the time and Ive fitted them in the rear.

Plus I bought some new JBL ones (gto526e - 130w - 2way) in Halfords for £40 and fitted them in the front doors.

Wanted standard fitement speakers so its neat and discreet.

Sounds much better and you wont believe how sh!t the standard items are when you take them out and have a look at them!


But, the standard Cup head unit is only 4x22w so underpowered and the speakers need more power to drive them properly and so they would sound better with a decent head unit in there...

Which is next on my list, as I wasnt paying £300 for the matching Renault CD changer, when I already have a 10-disc Kenwood changer and am gonna be getting a new Kenwood head unit to go with it.



I have also got another pair of brand new JBL speakers (gto625e - 180w - 2way) but they are 17cm so too big to go in the Clios standard fitment holes, which is a shame. Again I bought these for my last car and the magnets were too big so I would have had to hack the doors to bits, so never bothered.

Got a pair of very good JBL (spot the theme) 6x9s too, been used but not much (P-923 - 250w - 3way) that I had in the shelf of my old car, but they are just sat in the box now and aint been used for months.

Also got a sub, couple of amps, etc... but took it all out of my 106 GTi when I started doing trackdays as it weighs you down and just never bothered re-fitting it all.


Think it might be a good time to sell all my spare stuff...

 

[captain_clio]

are the JBLs in the front 2 way coaxials, with a silver rotating tweeter? if so, how do they sound with the standard tweeters also on the dash? is it all very high pitched?

also, whats bass, and the volume like?

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by captain_clio on 22 July 2003


are the JBLs in the front 2 way coaxials, with a silver rotating tweeter? if so, how do they sound with the standard tweeters also on the dash? is it all very high pitched?

also, whats bass, and the volume like?

Yeah, the JBLs are the ones with the silver rotating tweeters...

Was concerned thaty with the tweeters in the dash it may be too biased towards treble, but it seems fine.

Bass is much better, volume is slightly better, but you still get distortion at higher volume caused by the head unit not having enough power.


For £40 they are good though and waaaaay better than standard!

 

[Rich-D]

Well, I had a bit of time tonight so I had a look at the wiring and sorted it...


Now the front speakers are actually in phase they sound much better and those JBL ones are a LOT better than the Sony ones in the rear, so I am now thinking of getting another pair and taking the Sony ones out.

For £40 they really are a good buy and huge improvement over standard.

 

[captain_clio]

ive got some in the rear at the moment, they piss on standard ones

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by captain_clio on 23 July 2003

ive got some in the rear at the moment, they piss on standard ones

I was amazed at how mailto:cr@p">cr@p the standard ones are...

They have a plastic chassis, cheap paper cones, the magnets are tiny and the whole speaker is very lighweight.

Wheras the JBL ones are in complete contrast and theyre still only cheap!

 

[captain_clio]

how does it all sound?

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by captain_clio on 23 July 2003

how does it all sound?

Pretty damn good now actually...

Still debating whether or not to stick with the standard unit and get the 6-disc changer (been offered one 2nd hand) or to bin the standard unit and get a new Kenwood head unit (probably MP3) to go with the 10 disc changer I already have?!


Good thing about sticking to standard stuff is its all neat, tidy & original, but then again I know that it will sound much better with a "proper" head unit in there and I already have a changer.

 

[Rich-D]

Well, I bought a new head unit...


Its a Kenwood KDC-V7090R model, top spec MASK with the vario colour changing display!

http://techtronics.com/uk/images/kenwood/kenwood-kdc-v7090r-X.jpg


A guy at work had it in his MG-TF which he recently sold, so I got it off him.

 

[The_Gza]

Rich - can you remember which colour was positive/negative in your car?

Im doing some fitting of my own this evening and it would be handy just in case I forget and disconnect the wires without taking note! I take it the JBLs fit straight in? No fiddling about/cutting plastic etc required?

Cheers

 

[captain_clio]

they fit right in and sound.........níííííícéé - considering, they are no 15" subs

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by The_Gza on 28 July 2003


Rich - can you remember which colour was positive/negative in your car?

Im doing some fitting of my own this evening and it would be handy just in case I forget and disconnect the wires without taking note! I take it the JBLs fit straight in? No fiddling about/cutting plastic etc required?

The +ve wires are the ones next to the clip on the speaker plug.

Youll understand what I mean when you take them out & look.



Yeah, the JBLs are a direct fit, no messing about...

 

[The_Gza]

Excellent - all 4 fitted in less than an hour this evening

Must be some kind of record for me - managed not to stab myself, blow anything up or generally feck it!

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by The_Gza on 28 July 2003


Excellent - all 4 fitted in less than an hour this evening

Must be some kind of record for me - managed not to stab myself, blow anything up or generally feck it!

Did you get the JBLs then???

They sound much better than standard, but they sound even better with a decent HU powering them...

 

[The_Gza]

Yeah - got a good deal on 4

Ive got an Alpine CDA-7893 powering them

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by The_Gza on 28 July 2003


Yeah - got a good deal on 4

Ive got an Alpine CDA-7893 powering them

So should sound sweet then!

Takes a bit for new speakers to "loosen up" and sound their best, but they sound good already.

You pleased with them?!

 

[The_Gza]

Quite pleased - still need to set it all up properly. Difficult to hear em over the noise of the exhaust anyway

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by The_Gza on 28 July 2003

Quite pleased - still need to set it all up properly. Difficult to hear em over the noise of the exhaust anyway

What zorst you got?!

How LOUD is it then???

 

[The_Gza]

K-Tec - the original noisy one!

Did you have a 106GTi at one point Rich? China Blue with white Speedlines?

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by The_Gza on 28 July 2003


Did you have a 106GTi at one point Rich? China Blue with white Speedlines?

Yup, that was me...

 

[vavavoom172]

Hi The_Gza,

You said you got a good deal on 4 of those speakers. how much did you pay for them? any chance of getting me some?

Phil.

 

[The_Gza]

Soz Phil,

The reason I was getting a good deal was due to the fact they were the last 4 in the shop - hes not got anymore left now (it was the gto525e I got which were the previous models but looked exactly the same).

Cheers

 

[vavavoom172]

just bought myself 4 of those jbls from halfords yesterday, gonna wire them up today. hope they sound alot better than the originals, see you have started a trend with those speakers now. next on the list a decent stereo and wire in my sub and amp which i have. If I wanted to fit 6x9s in the rear shelf are they easy to wire in because the rear 13cm speakers will be using the connecton to the head unit wont they???? help i really dont know.