need advice on proposed 1st system

Hi

I have been doing a lot of reading (and measuring etc.) and I ready to buy my parts. I have a 1969 BMW 2002 and I am on a budget. Not interested in SPL, just decent sound loud enough to play over the engine :) Here's my plan:

* 2 x midbass/woofer placed under the rear seats. I plan to put the speakers into sealed boxes. I am looking at either the SPL Dynamics 6.1 or the Phonocar Hi-Tech 2/738

* 2 x 4" full-range speakers placed under the dash pointing down. I was looking at JBL GTO428's but I could probably spend more on this part of the system so recommendations would be appreciated.

* 2 x tweeters in the middle strut about chest height (there happens to be unsightly holes in the sides from when I took out the old seatbelts and I saw a guy doing the same on one of the 02 forums). I need these to have a very low profile, because they will lie fairly flat onto the car wall. Recommendations?

I plan to get a 4 channel amp and run the tweeters and the 4" of the front channels and the midbass off the rear channel. Any thoughts?

TIA

ed

There have to be better places for the speakers than those you have listed.

I am assuming because of the age of the car there are no standard mounting locations?

Kick pods like this would be were I would put them if not in the doors.


post some pic's of your locations and Ill try and help you out.

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Dodge Magnum in progress:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS - PPI Amps - Dayton Subwoofer(s) - Exodus Anarchy's - Vifa Tweeters - Kinetik Battery

Also what is your budget?
What equipment do you already have? (head unit?)

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Dodge Magnum in progress:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS - PPI Amps - Dayton Subwoofer(s) - Exodus Anarchy's - Vifa Tweeters - Kinetik Battery

I have nothing :) (well I do have a period correct radio that I as hoping to keep to maintain the look)

nice pic! is that your 02 (or a CS)?

The car has no standard speaker mounts (originally there was just one speaker in the center console).

I don't lock my car, mainly because anything that could be robbed out of it is probably worth less than fixing windows/chrome etc on a 40 year old car. I would like to keep it that way so probably my main concern regarding placement is security.

I know the locations are a bit odd but here is my thinking FWIW:

* midbass/subs

I have seen people putting 6x9s into the panel below the back seats, here is an example of this:



in the pic you can see that he has put 2 6x9s and a 10" sub into this area. I am not wild about putting a seat cover over a 10" sub for a lot of reasons so I am going to put 6.5"s where he has his 6x9s. I reckon this mid-range from a 2-way speaker is wasted at this height - since bass is more omnidirectional having the bass down low in the car should work fine.

* fullrange 4"s

my plan to have these on the bottom of the dash pointing down (actually angled a little toward the driver) was based on security. if the sound will be really bad with this location I would be willing to go for a custom kickpanel setup like shown here:



* tweeters

The reason I want these in the walls is because I want to fill a hole left after removing the half-installed ancient seatbelt mount that was in the car when I got it. This is the location I mean:



Ok, this isn't especially hidden but who robs a tweeter anyway? I would also consider having the tweeters in the kickpanels as shown above (but then why not just have a 2-way?)

cheers

ed

oh and my budget is around €350 or $500 (probably worth mentioning that audio parts are a good bit more expensive where I live)

my ears have always liked the way infinity sounds for overall clarity. the same also make jbl's and they are a bit better IMHO if you're looking for deeper sound.

I say choose your speakers based upon what you listen to.
as far as amps are concerned ive been pleased w/ the new PDX series from alpine. small in size, run cool and have pretty good s/n, distortion #'s. You can get better in both aspects but for the $$ i've been pleased. I can find PDX-5's all day for about 200 bucks. I have one that is 378 rms x1, 78 rms x4 and.   

I also hear the alpine R series are pretty good but i have never personally used them. The infinity produces quality bass, solid and hard. The SPL isn't but about 100 or so but w/ it is too loud for most folks that sit in my truck and can be pushed hard nearly distortion free w/ the way i have my gains, setting done etc..

good luck

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02 F-350 SD 4x4 and 94 project bronco.
PDX5 running 4 infinity 6x8
pending PDX6 & Infinity Perfect 10DVQ & Kappa 100.9w

I got the picture from Google.

Some mid bass woofers or small sub-woofers will work fine were those 6x9's are. I would build enclosures for what ever you pick so you can get the most out of them.

I would look on Madisound and Parts Express for mid / sub woofers. That is if they ship to where ever you are?

I would look to spend your budget in this fashion based on my experience shopping around

pair of 6 1/2 - 8" woofers < $80
Pair of 5 1/4 - 6 1/2" Component speakers < $100
4ch amp ~ $150 - 200
head unit ~ $100 - 200

I gave ranges of the sizes because I dint know what will fit in the back and the kick pods. If your worried about theft then put a metal grill over them and then thin carpet or fabric over the whole area so people cant even tell there is anything there. It also looks like you should be able to fit the amp under the seat also if there is some air around it.

What is the radio you said you have?


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Dodge Magnum in progress:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS - PPI Amps - Dayton Subwoofer(s) - Exodus Anarchy's - Vifa Tweeters - Kinetik Battery

Hey thanks that's easily the most coherent reply I have gotten to my questions and I have been on like 10 forums.

My radio is an Amstrad model 9040 tape MW/LW radio - it's ancient.

I want to build boxes for the subs but I am having space problems. What would be your preference: 5/5.5" sub in sealed box or a 6.5" sub with no box?

I couldn't find any information on the old stereo you have ...other than its old and will probably be complicated if not impossible to use with modern equipment. So if you want to use it your on your own.

I found these Peerless SLS on here and was about to buy them before I found the Anarchy's that I decided to go with. This is the recommended box for them: Vented box of 0.4 cubic feet with a 2" diameter vent by 7" long, for an F3 of 44Hz.

I was also looking at the Tang Band W6-1139SI 6-1/2" Subwoofer.

You should build an enclosure for speakers in any case to get good results. You might consider making something like these enclosures for the front speakers.

I was also on the verge of buying these Pioneer's based on the reviews on them compared to the dozens of other speakers I looked at.

Trying to work off of the site you were using I would recommend the following system:

Head Unit:(all have the same audio features I look for i.e. 4volt RCA's, HP, LP filters)
Pioneer
DEH-9300SD
DEH-8300SD
DEH-6300SD
DEH-5200SD

AMP:
JL Audio J2 320.4 (my choice Re: Higher quality)
JBL GTO1004 (still not bad)

Speakers:
Pioneer TS-E170Ci (should provide good clarity)

Mid-bass:
2x: Peerless 830946 SLS 6.5" Woofer - 4 ohm
Or go with one Tang Band W6-1139SI 6-1/2" Subwoofer(my choice)
(Its up to you. The Tang Band will go lower and has been proven to be a good sub for its size were as the Peerless are simply not sub woofers)

I must remind you these are all my humble choices based purely on the time I have spent/wasted reading about this stuff on forums, reviews etc. and the specs of the equipment.

I do have a Pioneer Head unit and love it in every way.

Make sure to measure the areas before you buy anything.

Questions welcome.

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Dodge Magnum in progress:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS - PPI Amps - Dayton Subwoofer(s) - Exodus Anarchy's - Vifa Tweeters - Kinetik Battery

Again thanks for your help.

It took me some time to find a retailer that would send to Ireland for a decent price and my budget has suddenly become smaller so I am thinking of just getting the front stage sorted and then later I can add the sub.

Here is what I am looking at:

• The Pioneer TS-E170CI Component Set - no argument there


• For the head unit: PIONEER DEH-3200UB - this has only one RCA pre-out, but that shouldn't matter since I am only ever going to add one amp to this rig (?)


• For the amp - I suppose running this system from the head unit is not possible? If I could run it like that for the moment I would be happy to add the amp later. Otherwise, how about this JBL GT5-A604E 320-Watt 4-Channel Full-Range Amplifier? Or perhaps this Infinity ref75.4A 4 channel amplifier 4x75 rms @4 ohms? I hear Infinity stuff is quite good.
  

I will be adding the sub later, so my choices will have to take that into account.

Tell me what you think.

cheers

You will only have one amp but you will be sending two different signals to the amp. A front L&R and either a rear L&R or a sub signal.

Sooo you will need at least two RCA pre-outs. I looked through all of the HU's on that site and the cheapest one that meets that criteria is the Pioneer DEH-6300SD which IMHO is well worth the extra $40.

The infinity 475a would be my pick out of the two. (they miss typed the model)

Yes you should have no problem powering those speakers off of the head unit for now. However there is no way to power a sub woofer with that or any head unit.

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Dodge Magnum in progress:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS - PPI Amps - Dayton Subwoofer(s) - Exodus Anarchy's - Vifa Tweeters - Kinetik Battery