Speaker upgrade - Alpine

[StuartW]

Well done & good tips there, sounds like a very worthwhile upgrade

 

[Mr.Cambio]

What is the problem with the stock speakers? I find them ok, not perfect but overall better than the other cars i have owned over the years. Can it be that 1st period 4200 had a better speaker system?

 

[safrane]

I understand the if the car has the Auditorium upgrade the speakers are cloth rather than paper cones? This may be why some sound better than cars with a similar basic system utilising paper based cones.

 

[Mr.Cambio]

Thanks, that sounds like a decent explaination.

 

[Dodger]

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.

 

[MAF260]

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.

 

[conaero]

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.

 

[D Walker]

I haven't put mine on yet!!

 

[Dodger]

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.

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????!

 

[Dodger]

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.

Sweet fa I can do about the head unit. Just got to smile and let it be.

 

[MAF260]

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????!

I have the 165VRs which are nla. They were about £400 when new, pretty decent speakers for the size. There's no bass because the head unit and amp in the 4200 are utter ****, the drivers have little depth so need a very good replacement and the door cavities don't help by being quite shallow and having loads of holes (which can be mostly remedied with Dynamat or similar). The car needs a subwoofer - there are pitiful efforts in the rear shelf that are supposedly meant to provide some low frequency, but I've removed mine (weight saving!) as they're a pointless speaker. You should notice quite a lot of difference by changing the front speakers, but you're not going to get a great sounding system due to the hardware fitted as standard. Fortunately the GS has a different dash and the ability to fit a decent head unit - this made the biggest positive change in my car.

 

[EVOeng]

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????!

I personally found the focal tweeters to be too bright.
It just didn't sound natural to me. On my Range Rover install, I put these in the rears:

http://caraudiosecurity.com/hsk165-2-way-16-5cm-components

Unfortunately, I sold the car shortly afterwards so they didn't get much use. I've got the 2 way and 3 way versions available if you are interested?

 

[Team GCR]

My MCV's Alpine speaker upgrade was completed this afternoon (crikey what a difference) paired with a Becker Cascade to keep everything looking at least close to OEM but also giving me Bluetooth and Nav etc.,..

Alarmingly the passenger door speaker had a 'tide mark' on it and was fubarred so I am guessing when the car lived outside in London the drain holes got blocked and the door bottom filled up with water.

Anyway the guide proved very useful. Thank you, Matt.

 

[conaero]

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!

 

[BennyD]

We'll have to get Contigo to disconnect all his speakers. That way, he might be able to hear his exhaust!

 

[RSM Masser]

We'll have to get Contigo to disconnect all his speakers. That way, he might be able to hear his exhaust!

And I suppose you don't have any speakers in yours?
l

 

[Team GCR]

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!

Hi Matt,

Meant to reply to this ages ago but with everything going on it slipped my mind.

I tried it with and without the rear shelf and yes you are correct it sounds better without.

However I then decided to add a small sub under the seat https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-pwe-s8_p-33197.htm and on then trying the system with and without the rear shelf speakers and it now seems better with the rear shelf speakers connected. I can only conclude that with less bass for the rear shelf seakers to worry about they then contribute to the whole in a more positive way.

Yes there is a small weight penalty but I used Dynamat Superlite sound deadening and at the same time the factory/dealer fit tracker was replaced with a considerably smaller and lighter modern unit so it is probably about even stevens.

 

[FIFTY]

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

 

[spkennyuk]

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

The auditorium amp is located in the boot of a 4200 on the right handside behind the seats. So you would not see it looking at the back of the NIT. You might be able to see it with a boroscope or similar by looking through the battery compartment panel but i cant confirm that for you. Im sure somebody with the auditoriun amp upgrade will be able to confirm for you.

 

[FIFTY]

Pretty certain I don't have it Kenny I was just reading on Maseratilife if you have the auditorium amp then you don't have access to loudness and EQ on the dash screen which I do so I guess that's yet another option mine doesnt have.

No matter I think this clarion mini amp will work can someone with a better electrical engineering brain than me have a look at the instructions for me please? Link http://www.clarion.com/gb/en/user-s...x.html?pdf=/gb/en/pdf/XC1410_EU_manual_EN.pdf

Pinout diagram for the back of the NIT http://www.pinout.net/browse.php?catid=19&conid=378

All of the plugs/pins seem to corrolate to me I think it might be a winner plus it will easily fit in the void