Speakers

[J77]

Hi all,

I know this has been covered a few times already but......

What really is the best/easiest/cost effective approach to improving the sound system in the car? I have a 172 with an aftermarket JVC head unit (installed by previous owner) and would like to improve the speakers. So any help on the following would be great.....

1. People have said you can remove the dash tweeters without taking the dash top off, I have no intention of taking the dash apart so how exactly do you get them out?

2. On the basis that I decide to leave the dash tweeters in, what are the best speakers for the front doors?

3. I have a set of good 6x9's (i can hear the booing already) from way back when and thought as I have them already I may as well install into the shelf (a cheap second hand one and then cover it).

4. If I don't go down the route of replacing tweeters and door speakers, can you really get away with nothing in the rear? Which people seem to be suggesting.

Cheers

 

[Gus]

1) - tweeters are virtually impossible to replce without the dash coming off. dont let the dash removal scare you though, it is a lot easier than it seems. I would leave the tweeters in though as they have a built in crossover and the replacement ones might not, plus there isnt a lof of room between the tweeter mount and the top of the dash so the replcement would need to be roughly 15mm in height or lower.

2) any of the 13cm speakers that have less than 58mm mounting depth are possible.

 

[da rok]

Ive managed to remove my dash tweeters with out taking the top of the dash off... the little vents unscrew and pop out then with a fair bit of swaring you can get em out... but good luck getting anything back in with out taking the dash off.

An option to make the sound slightly better would be to disconect the rear speakers and wire in the 6x9s on the boot bench...

Although just running the front speakers dosnt sound like then end of the world... it deffinatly wont boost ur sound qaulity...

As for the fronts, if u get front speakers with tweeters already in them u can chuck the dash tweeters... which are likely blown because of the more powerfull radio you put in... which is what happend to me... at the moment im running pioneer speakers back and front with a kenwood radio, sound is pretty deacent... depends if you are one of those people who roll with enough bass to alter the rotation of the earth or... someone who jus wants good qaulity ballenced sound

 

[J77]

Thanks for the response....

I'm going to give the dash work a miss I think, what Pioneer's are you running front and back?

Cheers

 

[Willo40]

I am interested in this thread, I have a Sony head unit in my 182, even thought it has a graphic equalizer, I can't seem to get any bass through the speakers, I am not looking to have the windows shaking, just looking for a bit of decent sound out the speakers...

Willo

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

A sub.

Cut the low freqs to the main speakers thru the HU.

Done.

 

[J77]

Boot space!

 

[Willo40]

A sub.

Cut the low freqs to the main speakers thru the HU.

Done.

I am not really looking to have a big sub in the boot, I am probably a bit older than the average Clio driver on here...lol, don't they do any half decent speakers that swap out?

Cheers
Willo

 

[J77]

Ha ha, same boat exactly!

 

[da rok]

Not sure exactly what pioneers i have, stuck them in a few years back... they wernt that expensive though... 180 rand per pair so about 10 pounds... they do crackle when running deacent bass, but its only at volumes where u cant hear the passengers screaming anymore lol

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

I am not really looking to have a big sub in the boot, I am probably a bit older than the average Clio driver on here...lol, don't they do any half decent speakers that swap out?

Cheers
Willo

So put a small sub in the boot ? :S

If you upgrade the speakers, you're going to want to amp them too as most HUs are generally waff.

You'll need to do component speakers as co-ax ones will have the treble at your knees, but finding something decent which matches the size of the 13cm ones in the doors might be tricky.

http://www.halfords.com/sat-nav-audio/car-audio/sound-systems/edge-edb10-10-v2-active-subwoofer .. job done.

Admittedly the colour scheme is a little 'interesting' but you will barely notice the size in the boot. Can always rattle can the whole thing black !

 

[Steven103]

I would leave the tweeters in though as they have a built in crossover and the replacement ones might not

I'm surprised you're saying skip the tweeters after your spending spree lol! Also the standard tweeters don't have a crossover, just a high pass filter which all of the after market components tend to have as an absolute minimum. Hope you're still enjoying your new toys & are playing around with the HU to get the most out of them!


Interesting that so many people skip the tweeters, they're the bit you notice starting to struggle first! (voices/symbols/guitars turn to mush/crackles well before you notice the low frequencies give up in the door speakers)

I've tried a lot of subtle/non-chav combinations and if I was doing it all again, without doubt I'd go:

1) Alpine headunit with standard speakers (Alpines tend to have the most setup options for the money, letting you really get the most sound quality out of your speakers)
2) Alpine HU & underseat sub (be careful about what you buy, very few will actually fit in the odd-shaped Clio floor)
3) Then if you want add some cheap-ish components mainly for improved high frequencies

or 4) Skip expensive un-amped components, inline amps, subwoofers in the boot etc. and just bite the bullet with a 4 channel amp on ebay hidden under the seat - similar amount of effort, cheaper and much better results.

 

[Pauleds]

I've just pulled some tidy looking speakers out of the front of my clio, I will have a look at what they are but they are bigger than the standard size so have 3 new screw holes but still fit behind the original speaker grill.

 

[Willo40]

I've just pulled some tidy looking speakers out of the front of my clio, I will have a look at what they are but they are bigger than the standard size so have 3 new screw holes but still fit behind the original speaker grill.

Cheers mate..

Willo

 

[J77]

Thanks for the response everyone.

 

[Gus]

If you are getting an underseat sub I would look at getting an alpine SWE 1200 purely for the excellent fit. The sound quality is good too, but wont be quite as good as a big box in the boot. But if you are like me (37) and dont want a chavvy box in the boot it is definitely the way to go.

 

[Willo40]

If you are getting an underseat sub I would look at getting an alpine SWE 1200 purely for the excellent fit. The sound quality is good too, but wont be quite as good as a big box in the boot. But if you are like me (37) and dont want a chavvy box in the boot it is definitely the way to go.

Oh I am only a little bit older than you, that looks ideal......

Cheers
Willo

 

[Goodj]

As said.

Sub.
fettle the settings on your HU so low frequencies don't go to your OEM speakers.

done.

The standard speakers in a 172 are actually fairly decent, so unless you want to give nuff sik boomz (which, by your own reckoning, you dont), swapping out speakers is an unnecessary expense

 

[MiseryStreak]

I have a JL Audio amp (e4300) and 12 inch subwoofer in an XL Series box with all of the necessary cabling to fit a Clio 172/182. It's free to whoever can pick it up from Brighton and sort my front speakers out that now don't work. ICE is not my forte. I'll throw a cup of tea in too (well I might not throw it).