I've just become the latest person to go down the Alpine route - it's the first mod I've done to my car! I've done both the mids and rear parcel shelf. Like everyone else I found that the mids don't fit the gap so I've used Dynamat and silicone sealant to ensure they don't leak. I went down the route of taking the rear seat back out and popping out the grilles and using a stubby screw driver to get the rear speakers out rather than taking everything out.
Someone else on here said that when they sent all the signal to the fronts there was no bass, I agree with that and mine are still standard for the moment. Is this normal? It sounds like they have a resistor/crossover already installed and only have treble? I see the rears have no tweeters and look to have a capacitor on the input.
While I'll say they are an improvement they aren't stunning but that might be because of the standard fronts so I'm going to throw some money at the door speakers to see it this makes a difference. I'm looking at Focal for the fronts and having them professionally installed as I think there might be a bit of fiddling which I don't fancy.
All in all I would say it is a worthy and cost effective upgrade as the speakers are only a few quid and, other than the loss of a bit of skin on my thumb, it is very easy for most normal people to do. Thanks for a great guide.
Cheers.
I have Focals in my GS (very few speakers fit the narrow depth) - you don't need a professional to fit them. The drivers are a straight swap, you just need to remove the speaker grille from the door and it's a few screws. Unless you are planning on a decent sound system you could leave the standard tweeters in place and probably wouldn't notice much difference. My car has a lot of upgrades to the sound system - speakers, amps, custom-built sub enclosure etc. I have a load of lightweight Dynamat to fit in the doors to improve the sound quality (which is fairly decent already). The rest will go on the floors and bulkheads to improve the reduction of road noise and drone from the exhaust at certain revs.
It's the standard head unit it's pants. My Becker GranPrix is brilliant. I also disconnected the rear shelf speakers and could not believe what an improvement it was.
Fair call. I was thinking about some of these bad boys - https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/focal-ps165fx-flax-cone-6-5-17-cm-2-way-component-speakers-kit.html
Do you think they would work or is it over kill?
Interesting that you say just change the woofer, how can it have so little bass????!
Fair call. I was thinking about some of these bad boys - https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/focal-ps165fx-flax-cone-6-5-17-cm-2-way-component-speakers-kit.html
Do you think they would work or is it over kill?
Interesting that you say just change the woofer, how can it have so little bass????!
And I suppose you don't have any speakers in yours?We'll have to get Contigo to disconnect all his speakers. That way, he might be able to hear his exhaust!
Robin, I found disconnecting the rear shelf speakers made it sound better, all you have to do is pull the armrest, undo the 4 bolts and it fall forward and you can slip your hand in and pull the multiple from the speaker. I found as you increased the sound, they could not handle and vibration and distortion was evident.
Give it a try.
A better head unit also makes a world of difference too as you have done. Mine has the upgraded hi power Beker GrandPrix, awesome!
This is a pretty awesome thread... I have decide that for Xmas I want a full set of Alpine Speakers to replace the stock speakers as they sound crappy and wear thin quickly on long journeys combined with the road noise - also dynamat-ing the floor isn't a bad idea did it work MAF?
Front: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...goryId=318422&productId=1324718&storeId=10001
Mids http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...9&categoryId=318422&langId=-1&catalogId=10151
Rears: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...goryId=318422&productId=1324754&storeId=10001
No mention if the cross overs are included in the fronts, is it safe to assume they are in the box?
I'm not sure if my 4200 has the auditorium upgrade - I think it doesn't because IIRC when installing the loudlink I saw all the speaker cables plugged into the NIT. Is it worth splashing out for an amp? I understand the 4200 system is pants so probably but I want to do it myself so can I install an amp in the centre console off the back of the NIT utilising the existing speaker cables? Or is there not enough space in there..?
If I decide to go down the amp route then I think the front and rear speakers are fine but would it be worth getting 3/4 way 5x7 coax insta of the cheap 2 way alpines?
Last question pretty obvious one I need a six channel amp right? Four channel will not power all the speakers... sorry for the stupid questions I haven't done car audio since I replaced the 6x9s in my first car 14 years ago
Edit, figured out the last one the mids and rears can be paired on a 4 channel amp I am pretty sure the 4200 head unit fades front to rear not front mid rear so there will be no loss of function. So I need a 4 channel amp that's small enough to fit in the void under the centre console like this https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-ktp-445a_p-26445.htm or http://www.clarion.com/gb/en/products-personal/speaker/XC1410/manual/index.html#Fm-1Anchor