Amp / HU dilema

Hi

So I'm just in the process of upgrading my car system in my Golf III and I've come to the point where I have to worry about my audio install.

Right now I have 2 sony x-plod 17cm 170W peak (30W RMS) speakers and 2 pionneer 10cm 110W peak (20W RMS). My HU is a JVC 45Wx4, although if I got it right, that CAN'T be 45W RMS from an HU right ? Would anyone know how much that would approximatively be in RMS ?

As soon as I try to crank it up a little, the sound gets crappy. So until now I wasn't sure why that was, but my theory now is that my HU is to weak and I'm experiencing clipping as I've read up in some other thread. Basically, when loud, it sounds "saturated" and kinda "crispy", its hard to explain.

Could it really be clipping ? Seems weird seeing how my speakers are really not that powerful. If it isn't, what else might it be ?

If it IS clipping I am experiencing I understand I have to get myself a decent amp and it should fix it. What kinda power would I be needing here ? Something small around 30W RMS like my speakers ?
If I do get one, do you think I would have some decent sound or are my speakers just plain to weak ? When I say decent sound, I mean nothing very loud.

Also, isn't there a way of getting a more powerful HU ? It would really simplify the wiring :)

Anyhow, if anyone has any input on that, it would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks

Paul

all internal amps on decks usually suck pretty bad, so i would suggest getting an amp just for the doors speaks. you could probably find a 25x4 wattrms for pretty cheap that will sound good. how much are you will to spend if you go in this direction? we have a different idea of decent sound probably, so to check if it is your deck that is the problem try fading the speakers all the way to the front giving the front ones a bit more juice and then to the back giving the rears a bit more juice. also try turing down the bass and trying to go higher, if you hear any audible difference your speakers are probably capable of more. the deck probably puts out 20wx4rms at the most.

Make sure your speakers are all in phase.  Out of phase speakers also sound like crap.

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Do it right the first time

hi there i sugest get rid of the sony's and get external amp garenteed result . even a cheap amp

I guess I was hoping for something in the area of 100/150$.

I tried the fading thing, and it gets crappy on both my sony 30W door speakers and the small 20W on the console. I played around with the bass / treble, it seems the higher tones are fine. When i put more bass in, it starts to saturate more.
I really have very little bass, is an amplifier going to help with that at all (i.e. without a sub) ?

Also funny thing, my sister also has a Golf III which is 1 year younger though (-> 1993) and she has way more bass than I do. Her setup is pretty much the factory one, except for a new sony HU. She doesn't have an amp or sub or anything, just 10cm speakers in the console and 16cm ones in the doors.
How come her bass is that much better although she has apparently the same basic configuration than mine ? Could it be that she has "bass optimized" speakers ?
I thought the only way to improve your bass is to hook up a sub to an amp.

Thanks !

Paul

still sounds like your speakers are out of phase.

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Do it right the first time

Okay, I'm not exactly sure what that means, "out of phase speakers" ? :)

What's wrong with the sony's ? Are they known to be crappy speakers ?

your + & - are round the rong way

Out of phase means you have the speaker wires crossed.   (-)'s are connected to (+)'s

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Do it right the first time

okay well thanks guys im gonna go check out this phase thing for now !

So I tried inversing the polarity on the left door speaker and I didn't really notice any difference. After a little bit of listenning I noticed it's really note the amount of bass that is to low, its the quality of the bass. You see when I set the volume / bass higher the bass starts to sound ugly; I get a vibration in the bass sound, and not the clean heavy backfround sound it should have.

Could it be that the door speakers are not properly fixed / isolated ? I had them built in by a auto mechanic so I guess he should have done his job well ?

Or is this a HU problem and something thaht would be fixed with an amp ?

thanks

Paul

Honestly even when those speakers are performing at their best..they wont be very good. I'm not a big fan of pioneer either. I would suggest atleats getting rid of the Sony's. Yes they are generally considered a bad speaker. Heres a list that might be helpful to you or anyone else brand new to the car audio world. Its from another forum that I am on.

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Dave

Pioneer Premier DEH-P660
15" Kicker CVR
Profile AP1000M
It's Loud

Paul, get yourself a small 2 channel amp, even a pre owned one and some good front speakers. You will have a grin for a whole week  when you hear the difference.

Okay seems like I'm gonna go for the 2 maybe 4 channel amp solution. My question is, is it possible to have some decent bass with only a small amp (30W RMS) and some small speakers (I can only fit 17cm in my doors) ?

Thanks