Building new ICE system

[jizy]

Can anyone help me with what components I need to upgrade the sound system in my saxo. Is it easy to do your self or will taking to audio specialist be better.

Listen to a bit of everything but mainly DnB and rap. Would like to install flip out head unit. Prob get most of stuff off eBay. Need a list if anyonecan help.

cheers,

[waynne]

First step is the head unit. Get something that is good quality. Personally id go for a JVC DAB but Sony, and even Kenwood have some good stuff in their range. Then you upgrade the speakers in your car OR ad a power amp and massive woofer with crossovers etc...

When buying speakers look at the acoustic range rather than just the peak power 20-22,000 hz is a really good spread but probably a little wider than most speakers can offer .

[Stiggy]

also try and stick to one brand as well, and try and get the RMS ratings to match as best as you can, you do that right every speaker will compliment each other and get a good balanced sound without to much distortion

[p4paco]

drive to your nearest BIG Halfords with a CD, [with Not too much swearing in the Rap], and spend some time listening to the different speakers in your size,
If you have a good ear, you might notice that some speakers are designed to sound REALLY good ad medium volumes, and some only come to life when they are cranked up [probably due to the thickness of the rubber surround & weight of cone].
Then go Price shopping on the Net.

Wayne had a good point about the Frequency Range. But if you have got knackered door speakers, its STILL definately a good place to start,
factory speakers on most cars are made of paper, ad degrade after a few years.
Decent speakers will sound better then the standard items straight away, (with a half decent Factory headunit), i think Components are a bit expensive tho, considering Co-axial speaker are quite good these days. (i have Vibe 5& half inch Co-axials), [but the 6" Vibe didnt sound as good as a differnt brand - cant remember what it was]
i've noticed that Components only really step ahead of Co-axials when they are hooked up to a seperate Amp.
Or if the placement of the speakers is bad (ie, pointing at your foot), then Components can hel alot with sound staging [making the sound appear to come from where you want it to, instead of your Feet]

For those who dont know, Components have a seperat tweeter to the MidBass Driver/speaker. Designed to be fitted seperately, but near to eachother.

Co-axials have a tweeter mounted infront of the midbass driver/speaker, Designed to fit in the same space as a standard speaker.

Dont worry too much about sticking to one brand, but it is important to look at the RMS ratings.

Most imprtantly,DO NOT listen to the salesMan's idea of what speaker sounds good, if you are able to listen and make your own choice. Many sales people are biased to the product that has a higher profit, or towards the one they fitted in their Nova. LoL

music aint about facts of figures, it about what makes you feel good.

[waynne]

Good point Paco4. Speakers also need running in and do not perform at their peak efficiency until they have had a good few hours to bed in. I noticed this with my new hifi at first the sound was ok but after a few days it had noticable improved and become much richer and you could hear detail in the sounds that you never noticed before. I dont know if you should crank up the volume to full at first but would guess that you operate at max 30% volume for the first hour or so and then gradually increase.