Heya
okay, it's come to crunch time of the audio system purchase, but i'm a lil confused as to which is the better option to do. heard mixed thoughts for audio, so not sure.

options:

6" splits 50wrms w/ 6.5" 2 way coax 75wrms and 4x100 amp

6.5" splits 60wrms w/ 6x9 2 way coax 80wrms same amp as above

and then theres the front speaker only systems with the following sub

12" 300wrms carbon fibre sub with 2x150wrms amp (1x380wrms)

front speakers either
the 6" splits, 6.5" splits or 6.5" 2 way coax w/ 2x80wrms amp

what are peeps recomendations?

TY

oh btw thought i might also add, the entire rear behind back seat will be sound deadend and the front doors to. Also I am right ear only mono deaf, as in my left ear doesnt work, so mmm, kinda makes listening to stereo weird.

[ Edited on 7-11-2006 by 53racer ]

[ Edited on 7-11-2006 by 53racer ]

definantly splits up the front doesnt really matter on size or power handling, just make sure they are good quality speakers.

Personally ide go with the sub and some cheaper speakers for the rear (how often do you drive from the back seat??)

6x9's are a waste of time with a sub, and are no replacement for a sub either

Depends on what you want and what music you listen to...
But in general, put the front speakers in the footwell (next to the a-piller) like dasdaubbers not in the doors. Doors have poor acoustics. Go the 6.5" splits - make sure you givethem a little enclosure that suits the speakers. WRT to the sub, depends what music you like...I like the bass but find that they are tiresome to listen to after a while (maybe I'm getting old). But if you want them definately go for some rear fill if you go for a sub. But like 76 camper said, don't worry about 6x9s with a sub, smaller speakers (2-way or split) will do this job nicely.

Hey, yeah thanks for the info, I love Das's car, but I could never do the kind of work he has done. the footwell enclosure idea is sweet, but far to much for me to accomplish, let alone to find someone willing enough to do it for me and not charge more than the car is worth.
was personally going to make a custom design door enclosure which incorps the door trim.

had my friend ring me up when he found out i was looking at finally doing the audio and he suggested the following

6" splits 50wrms in front with 6" split woofers only in rear (removed tweeters) and 4x50wrms amp due to it perfectly matching the speakers and will give decent audio,
then due to that setup if i ever find im lacking bass i could add a 10" sub

what u guys reckon?>

A few years ago I installed two 10" subs in a mirrored perspex box under the bonnet of a 66 Type !. Nothing beats a vw for soundstaging, imaging and equal path length distanc speaker location than a Type 1. Got some photos somewhere.

ended up with 2 sets of 6" splits and a 4x100 amp. after looking into it i think its the most beneficial.

I'm curious to see how you guys have mounted the front splits?

Today I paid the local audio shop a visit, the guy tells me he's done a few bugs, and that the front kickpanels I have don't do a good job, as the front speakers will not have much air to breath and sound good.

I'm not keen on putting speakers in the doors, at the moment I only have a pair of 6x9s in the rear and they don't sound that good. That's too much credit actually, they sound crap

Thanks!

[ Edited on 18-11-2006 by Lams ]

I've just installed some 6" 50w splits in the front door panels in the bottom corners.... in some moulded spacers.... it is just enough room, and they are focused nicely, so they only need to be run thru the head unit...... with a back shelf that houses a fat little 360w subbie and some decent kenwood 180 w 6 by 9's mounted facing forward running on a 4by 100w amp... with a nice sony head unit...... easy for me to say it sounds freaking awesome now... if ya bump into me at the show, I'll show ya......


havent got photos of the front ones yet
love to see some photos cal68!!!

[ Edited on 18-11-2006 by Scarlet ]

id suggest looking at das first resto for ideas

Hi guys,

I thought I'd throw in my 2c for what its worth. I am by no means an expert but I did do a hell of a lot reading during my audio installation. I've mentioned it before, but http://www.caraudioaustralia.com  is a great source of info.

My kick panels were only me second ever fibreglassing project (after my sub box being the first)....so it's not beyond everyone's capabilities! Here are the pics of the kick panel installation:

http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/album221 

In terms of general advice, work out your budget, invest the most amount in good quality front splits (6.5s will give you better mid bass), then the next most important is the headunit , then the sub (one 12in is enough - again just my opinion). Obviously keep some money aside for cables and fittings.

Jaycar has a really good reputation for both splits and amps (a four channel will suffice for what you are after so you can bridge two channels for the sub, and the other two can drive the splits).

In terms of split enclosures, the aim is to have the volume matched to the splits thiele-small parameters (acoustic properties of the driver/s) - so for example the dynaudio front splits I ran in the ragtop had an ideal sealed enclosure volume of around 10.1L. Most people use the door cavity in modern cars to get the required volume (you still need to take care to seal it as well as you can - not easy in an old veedub!). To get close to my required volume I had to wrap the kickpanels around in front of the pedals etc.

Even so I could only get about 7.2L so I had to port the enclosures (again using a recommended port length and diameter calculated via program (available on CAA forums)). It was important to have the enclosures sealed (ie. an air-tight box [complex shape of course]) for best sound quality.

It is all relative to what you want to achieve - I wanted to have a high quality system that was of a standard to compete at car audio events etc. If you are just happy to enjoy some tunes but are not too worried about achieving "perfect sound"....then sealed enclosures aren't really necessary. My brother in law's karmann ghia has just the single skin f/g kick panels available from US suppliers combined with alpine type S splits and an alpine amp - it sounds good and he is happy with it which is the main thing!

Sorry I have rambled.
Alan

Here is the kick panel mid construction:

Hey Das

Thanks for the input

as it be all my audio stuff is jaycar, being a worker, soon to be ex worker, ive taken mass advantage of the staff purchase privelege.

so yeah, ive rigged the amp and speakers to my ipod, and it seemed rather decent, no bass due to open air seating on a box, but yeah, the kick panels would be good, tho im not a personal fan of them, but i dont have the capabilites with fibreglass, nor do i wish to pay someone to do it.

the way im thinking of doing the doors should work, with the doors having an open kinda design in that theres a hole in the middle, i was gonna make a box like design for air for the woofers to be sealed into the doors that incorps the door trims.

the rear is greatly no problem, obviously. but yeah.

being deaf in one ear, i greatly dont see the point in spending money on audio, as i cant hear 50% of it, the jaycar audio is decent and inexpensive in my situation, so hence why ive chosen it, plus it honestly doesnt look to bad, cept for the oversized crossovers.