hi guys just wondering if any of you have budget stereos installed in your bugs?
I found myself a good CD deck out of a new car. I've been told that the beetle works well with 2 big speakers in the back in boxes? 4" × 7"?
would love to see some budget setups please!
speeding is bad!
relax - god's in charge
just buy the tandy surface mount 6x9. they go quite well. or a cheap set of 6x9s. my first stereo cost a total of $150 and that was 4 speakers, a set of 60w 6inch and a set of 80w 6x9s
“We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free.” Bill Hicks
the chaos project - click me
don't spend your money on an stereo, buy some nice new induciton, webbers kads ......... much nicer noise 🙂
I have no sympathy for my car, only the wallet that pays for it!
Go hard or go home!!!!
For budget speakers I'd strongly suggest checking out jaycar's range as they have quite a good reputation for that end of the audio spectrum.
You are right though, a pair of 6x9s in the back (if no sub is used) will do a good job for most situations....you will notice a huge difference when adding speakers up front though as thats where you want sound coming from (eg. watching tv, seeing a band etc - most sound is from the front, not behind you).
cheers
Alan
mp3 player, and set of 6x9s cost me $230
recently upgraded however.
So true. speakers up back in a speaker box are great!
I think the sound reflects off the back window and goes straight through everyones heads.
I think there are some kickpanel speakers for vw that you can get for the front. I don't rightly remember. Anyone else know of these?
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
i bought the kick panels from classic veedub in sydney for about $90
“We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free.” Bill Hicks
the chaos project - click me
BiX wrote:don't spend your money on an stereo, buy some nice new induciton, webbers kads ......... much nicer noise 🙂
in a 1200 beetle? kidding right? :P
so do you guys think it's worth it to install front speakers?
speeding is bad!
relax - god's in charge
I had a simple cd player in my beetle,
4" front speakers in doors and a 12" sub and good 2 channel brigable Pioneer amp in behind
the back seat and it used to sound really good.
4" speakers are perfect for treble and can handle a
little mid range, and the 12" sub took care of the bass.
Total cost:
Headunit - 180.00
Front speakers - 80.00
Sub and box - 200.00
Amp - 490.00
(The total cost was not a problem as it was made up of stuff
laying around the shed i had bought for previous cars,
Sometimes the simple things in life are the best. 🙂
1958 Beetle, 1966 VW Beetle, 1996 Holden Statesman!
Its an obsesion for engines and fuel.... 😏
hmmm blue_62 that sounds tempting...
speeding is bad!
relax - god's in charge
i got a simple stereo.
pioneer deck
pioneer 6x9's (leftover from previous install so havent been removed yet)
pioneer 6" in back "doors"
pioneer tsc1625 splits up front (excellent front speakers, reccomend them to ayone)
pioneer 2 channel 760bridgen to one running a pioneer 12"
pioneer 4channel running the splits and 6x9's at the moment.
6"'s just run off of the deck.
'
oka...so its not so simple
and coming from me.
it all gets too much in the end.
im actually considering chucking it all out.
Anthony
[Edited on 11/6/2005 by 71superbug]
One thing to consider is that a shitty head unit won't power good speakers properly. There is no point in having great speakers with a crap head unit becuase you won't get the quality out of them anyway.
I bought a pair of 6x9's new on sale for $100 and got a fairly good set. And I bought a really good head unit second hand for a fraction of the price.
I installed the speakers first because it was a quick job and they sounded alright with the old head unit, but once I installed the new head unit they sounded MUCH better.
Alan is right though, it is nice to hear something infront of you. I'm going to get two tweeters and install them behind the grill up front where the original speaker is. Just so there is some trebble up front. But this is really not needed, just nice.
the headunit I got is off an mk4 Golf, IMO a very good factory unit. that is if my gf doesn't want it for her car, then I'll have to go and spend more cash on another one.
Anthony I would love to have a system like yours, but I have 2 problems
1. the beetle is slow enough as it is right now, all that extra weight would mean that it won't go up hills anymore!
2. my wallet is not well fed...
so andy do you mean you have a pair of 6x9, and you're going to put a pair of tweeters up the front? I know there's the grill on the driver's side, but how are you going to mount in on the passegner side?
speeding is bad!
relax - god's in charge
lams, if you want a good quality system for your bug i would say.
get a good deck (cornerstone of a good system)
get some of thos epioneer tsc1625's for up front (good trebel and midrange)
and some 6x9's in the back.
you will have what you need to cover most aspects of sound and will sound good.
Anthony
I have a pair of 6x9's in the back. Both in boxes because there was no where else to put them and the boxes make the sound better anyway.
And, I'm going to put both the tweeters behind the grill on the drivers side. More often than not I'm driving by myself and when I'm not the passenger can deal with it... The 6x9's are enough, just a bit up the front would be nice.
My headunit second hand was $300 and $100 for speakers and $60 for boxes. So $460.
In my old car I got small speakers just because they would fit in the original spots and a new head unit for $400 and it is absolutely shit in comparison.
thankyou both
I'll see what I can find after the exams
Had been planning to put a speaker up the front and today I was in the city and had a look in strathfield and found two 4" speakers for $14 reduced from $40. Figured I only needed one but if I blow the first one I can replace it. Wasn't expecting brilliant sound but the 6x9's already sound great, I just wanted some noise up the front and it worked great.
Pain in the ass to put in though. the hole isn't really the right size for the speaker, but I don't think the hole is 5" either so probably some old size. Also because most modern speakers have a bit that sticks up in the middle it didn't really want to mount flush against the dash (I could of made a spacer but that would have been a lot of effort and there isn't much room behind the speaker). I just used the two top screws and it is holding fine. No one will ever know.
Recomend it to anyone who just has speakers at the back. Even just some music infront of your makes it sound much better.
cool... so you've got 1 front speaker now and a pair of 6x9s?
I had a listen to eircooled's system, which is one pair of 250W 4 way 6x9s running on their own, mounted on a parcel shelf. it sounded great!
today i went to northfield and had a listen to the 3 way alpine speakers they had on sale for $120 at one of the stands. The guy at the shop told me he recommends 2 way, as the more little speakers there are in the 6x9 would mean more crossover points and destroy the sound. I wasn't impressed with the sound, it was an expensive headunit too...
andy what speakers are you running? I'm thinking of getting these
alpines on ebay
or these
pioneers
wish I knew how to compare the specs!
[Edited on 20-6-2005 by Lams]
speeding is bad!
relax - god's in charge
Lams the guys at Northfield Moorooka really know their stuff and give great advice. I have bought all my gear from there and have been very happy thus far. Not that it will help as I am not a mega dollar customer or anything, but if you mention you got in touch with them as you saw my (Alan) stuff on here, you might get a discount. Being a member of
www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums entitled me to a 10% discount - every bit helps.
You are right about three and four way speakers - bit of marketing hype. Best to stick to two way at the most for 6x9s. Money (And therefore priority) should be spent in the following order:
1) Front speakers (most important) - splits preferable
2) head unit
3) sub (not as expensive as you might think)
4) rear fill (not necessary in most cases).
Installation costs obviously have to be factored in (eg. sound deadening, cables etc). I'd suggest to start with whatever deck and invest in a good pair of splits for up front. Leave the rear for now as they are the least important. Consider later getting a sub (and most importantly a box tuned for that sub - one size does not suit all!) when $ permits.
It is your choice - you either compromise on all aspects of the system to get it complete straight away.....or you buy things one component at a time - yes it will take longer for you to get a full system, but you will end up with something much better.
Have a look at the for sale section on
www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums as there is often a lot of really high quality gear for very cheap. Buying second hand will also get you stuff that is much better than you could otherwise afford new. Of course you won't get warranty, but obviously look for stuff that is not too old etc and you will be right. As said earlier, talking to Drew or Brian or Chris at northfield moorooka will yield a lot of useful info - obviously be honest with the amount you have to spend and they will give you advice based on your budget.
Alan
man i wish i could behappy with a pair of 6x9's and a speaker up front.
:cussing:cussing🙁🙁
but seriously...my bug started off with an xplod deck and sopme sony 6"'s in the back. then got the rest....just start off with a decent deck (if you plan on ever getting a sub be sure to get a feature called "sub control" on the deck). as this will help with the tuning of the sound greatly should that time come.
i had a deck recently that was brand new. just installed. just sat in my bug for 4 months while the bug wasnt on the road. so never used....when i found out it didnt have sub control. i bought a new one. still have the old pioneer one actually.
it is a VITAL thing to have unless you like bass that overpowers all other elements of sound in your car.
Anthony
I've got sony 3 way 6x9's. And yes, one 4 inch at the front.
I still have most of the music sent to the rear speakers and just a bit to the 4".
Before this car I have never really bothered too much with really good car audio. Just some speakers to go in the stock holes and a basic head unit. I figured a really good head unit and a couple of decent speakers would be a good start for this. If I want to upgrade later I can. But I'm not really that worried about it. With a loud air cooled engine there seems no point in paying thousands to have the sound muffled anyway. I can crank mine up as loud as I could ever want it without distortion so I'm happy.
Fleurs beetle has a pair of wonderful 4" 20 year old weathered speakers sitting in the rear parcel area on the floor with speaker wire twisted on. Sounds great when the motor is running. They slide around a bit when you corner because the magnets are not strong enough to hold through the carpet
[Edited on 20-6-2005 by Helbus]
I'm buying myself the following for my kombi, all available from Jaycar but i am getting them at cheap prices, all up should cost between 5 and 600:
Pair of 6.5" Precision Splits - Apparantly the best sounding set of speakers under $2-300, but it might be worth your while to test some out.
12" Precision Carbon Fibre Subwoofer - Part of the new precision range of products, modelled in WinISD it looks to out-perform the other subs the same price. Works in sealed 50l boxes or vented 50-70l.
4x100WRMS Precision Amplifier - Best bang for buck amps, look great too.
I'm also getting some Bostik sound deadening sheets for the doors and large panels, cost is $50 for 24 sheets. (530mm x 190mm x 1.7mm thick)
It might be a little overkill for a Kombi, but it should sound great on the surf trips! 🙂
[Edited on 20-6-2005 by hallph]
well after a few weeks of no progress, my car is finally playing CDs and mp3s and wma's!!!
the headunit is a pioneer DEH-4750MP from ebay ($275 shipped)
and the speakers are a pair of alpine 6x9's behind the rear seats ($175 from AVD)
It sounds better than I expected and I think for a $450 system this is quite good! 🙂
good thing this HU has a remote control, because I don't want the HU to be seen! can you find it?
nn[ Edited on 19-7-2005 by Lams ]nn[ Edited on 19-7-2005 by Lams ]
speeding is bad!
relax - god's in charge
Good stuff Lams - I thought those Alpine 6x9s from Brad would sound good!
When you are ready, adding a pair of splits up front will make another huge difference.
Cheers
Alan
