Speaker upgrade - Alpine

[Hedgetrimmer]

Many thanks for your responses on where the place the crossovers. I am going to have a go at the installation myself now next weeks follow all the excellent advice on here.

 

[MAF260]

Just put my crossovers in today.

I put mine behind the speakers attached to the inside of the door skin. Gorilla tape, padded tape and Velcro were my chosen weapons to hold in place. Had the doorcards off but you could install them through the speaker opening. Doorcards had to come off as I wanted to route the tweeter cable cleanly.

The only other location to install is in the opposite end to the speaker because of the window regulator and how the glass drops. I chose not to do this as it means taking off the doorcards to tinker at a later date.

Does it sound better with the crossovers installed?

 

[rotorheadcase]

I'm pretty sure, on the 3200 anyway, that there is no crossover installed from the factory. The "tweeter" is actually a piezo horn (rather than a silk or mylar dome) and the electronics in the horn filter out the unwanted frequencies. The midrange driver looks to be getting the full signal as you could hear it trying to cope with the higher frequencies when the horn was disconnected.

Fitting a true component system with matched crossovers makes a night and day difference.

Neil

 

[Nando]

Does it sound better with the crossovers installed?

Hi MAF260 -

It does sound better but I don't think this is down to the crossover but using MDF spacers/mountings on the mid-range speakers.

Still not perfect for the following reasons and perhaps someone on here may know the answer...
- If I use the fader control and move all the sound to the front of the car, it does - but removes all bass. No idea why this is.
- Occassionally, I lose all sound from the speakers. I think this may be down to a frail connection somewhere which will be a mission to discover. I'm running a recently installed Loudlink which may be the culprit.

Cheers
Ryan

 

[Hedgetrimmer]

Hi Ryan.

I think the Focal is designed for big installations therefore they will be sensitive to power supply. The higher end manufacturers tend to be conservative with their power output therefore an RMS of 80 on your speakers may well be on the low side compared to more mainstream manufacturers who tend to overstate. Your symptoms suggest that the head unit is under powering them and you may need an amp. I am not an expert by any means but something to think about.

 

[Guest 1678]

I have just followed the instructions and updated the speakers (rear shelf and mid-panels, fronts to do) - thanks to all who made the job possible. Instructions really helped.

The difference in sound is noticeable. I now have some rather naff ASK speakers available should anybody want to recreate that authentic tinny sound!

Thanks again.

Damon

 

[conaero]

Did you Dynamat the mid panels?...it does make a real difference.

With regards to the fronts, I installed a crossover then realised the tweeter has its own source so I think I have overdone it. I might strip out the crossovers and use the original source from the amp.

 

[maverick]

I have just bought all new alpine speakers as matts post , there have arrived today so will be installing them next week as iam away in France for the weekend . I'll try and post up a before and after sound clips to show the difference . Also I might look at putting a sub in the boot but just need to find of where to take the feed from etc .

 

[MAF260]

Also I might look at putting a sub in the boot but just need to find of where to take the feed from etc .

Easy enough, John. The power and earth cables are straight forward due to the battery location. You will need to run RCAs and a switchable power feed for the amp from the head unit. Power feed can be attached to the electric antennae wire. Remove the kick panels and rear seat and run the cables through the car to the boot. It's a bit of a faff, but worth it. I think these cars need a subwoofer to complete the overall sound within the car.

 

[maverick]

Cheers maf

 

[conaero]

My amp (GranSport LE) is behind the battery, can you not run the sub straight from there, making it a very easy job?

As your the audio expert MAF, what do you recon about me installing corssovers where they are not really needed on the front speakers, see my post above?

Will it cause poor sound putting a crossover for the tweeter off the dedicated woofer wiring?

 

[safrane]

My GS LE with the Auditorium upgrade has a non standard head unit from Alpine. Previous owner paid £1800 for it...no idea if the speakers are still standard though...but nothing on the reciept for them.

 

[hodroyd]

Matt,
The feed from a dedicated woofer circuit will more than likely already have bandwidth filters in the circuit, so in reality you should not get any high frequencies from a woofer circuit at all..!!
Cheers
R

 

[MAF260]

My amp (GranSport LE) is behind the battery, can you not run the sub straight from there, making it a very easy job?

As your the audio expert MAF, what do you recon about me installing corssovers where they are not really needed on the front speakers, see my post above?

Will it cause poor sound putting a crossover for the tweeter off the dedicated woofer wiring?

A subwoofer needs a dedicated a amp or 2 bridged channels from a multichannel amp. The amp in your boot will already be powering some of the speakers in your car and is also probably be too low a power output to use with a sub.
Depending on the head unit you may have a dedicated pre-out for a subwoofer - this allows you to control things from the head unit to get the sound you want. It's worth taking the time to run the RCAs through the car.
With regards the woofers & tweeters it really depends on the wiring already in the car. It's possible/likely that the tweeters are not run from a crossover, but just have in-line resistors fitted to the wires (Alfa Romeo do this). The only way of answering your question is a trial fit - run the factory speaker wire into the crossover and then use the new speaker cable to connect to the woofers and tweeters. See what it sounds like. If all OK then put everything back together. If you don't want to change the tweeters and have a frequency filter/control on the head unit then simy fit the replacement woofers and use factory cabling. You can then ensure only the desired frequencies are sent to the woofers (i.e. nothing too low) and the subwoofer takes care of the low stuff. Mount any replacement drivers on a MDF baffle and use sound deadening material like Dynamat on the panels to achieve the best results.

 

[maverick]

Maf I have the standard factory head unit in my 4200 are there RCA outputs on the back for the sub ? Also just got home and checked the new speakers and just realised I ordered the wrong fronts ,even though there are components there didn't come with the crossover ,so I will send them back and get the correct ones ,cost a little more but defintaly worth it .

 

[Mr.Cambio]

Matt....why are you mixing your head with so much trouble, instead of admiring the sunset of Greece? Oh well...admiring the women of Greece is the right phrase...

 

[MAF260]

Maf I have the standard factory head unit in my 4200 are there RCA outputs on the back for the sub ? Also just got home and checked the new speakers and just realised I ordered the wrong fronts ,even though there are components there didn't come with the crossover ,so I will send them back and get the correct ones ,cost a little more but defintaly worth it .

I don't know the answer to that, but am sure a learned 4200 owner will be along to confirm.
If there is no pre-out from the head unit you can always buy a speaker to RCA converter like the one below:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speaker-Output-RCA-Converter-Level/dp/B007546NLO
You'll have less control over the sub from the head unit, but you can make adjustments at the amp to control the sub.

 

[maverick]

One more question if I may , looks like there's no RCA output so can I piggy back off the parcle shelf speakers for the the feed to the amp using the lead you have sugested ,
Cheers

 

[Guest 1678]

Did you Dynamat the mid panels?...it does make a real difference.

With regards to the fronts, I installed a crossover then realised the tweeter has its own source so I think I have overdone it. I might strip out the crossovers and use the original source from the amp.

Matt - I did Dynamat, absolutely makes a huge difference. I will look at the tweeter set up when I have time, the front panel removal looks a little more fraught and I intend to take it slowly.

D

 

[Guest 1678]

I have just bought all new alpine speakers as matts post , there have arrived today so will be installing them next week as iam away in France for the weekend . I'll try and post up a before and after sound clips to show the difference . Also I might look at putting a sub in the boot but just need to find of where to take the feed from etc .

The three bolts that hold on the rear parcel shelf are an absolute pain - just remove all the mats and covers in the boot to gain access. The spear wheel well mat slips out with a little manhandling and the others have a couple of strategic plastic poppers. The difference it will make to unbolting/tightening is immense. Also, gives you a scary view of the fuel tank and the amount of wiring these girls have in the rear half of the car.

D