wondering where to go next with the ice

[belfast nick]

i have new speakers (front and back) new tweeters and a 1000 watt sub running off a 250w amp.. so now im not sure what to donext as there are two ports outa the amp and that extra post is tempting me to do something... wondering should i bridge them or get an amp with larger output and use the existing amp to power some parcel shelf speakers... or should i get another sub or large speaker??? if it involves money i may leave it for a bit...

will bridging the amp give me 500w (as its a 250watt)???

 

[Cartunes]

dude, there's not a lot of information in the above.
there's loads of variables which would decide where one goes next and many of those will be purely personal!!
for example, if you are using ploppy gear, then get less ploppy gear! Instant quality improvement..........

to answer your subsequent question, bridging an amp usually ups the power, though with some quality amps (e.g. jl) this is not always the case

 

[pablo]

best system imo is a good HU, 4ch amp, single sub and good front components. leave the std rears in running off the hu for a bit of fill.

anything else is overkill imo. so id suggest have good quality speakers, hu, amp and sub. installation is also key with good sound deadening etc.

where do you feel your system is lacking at the minute?

 

[Cartunes]

oh boy, on the improvement note.... I was with Baron today in his new store in ballymena, hai..... he's just taken delivery of a set of top-end speakers...... thousands of pounds for a 3-way component set.
YUM YUM

 

[belfast nick]

dont know if it is lacking... its a mile away from the twelve yr old paper cones in it before.. just annoys me that my speakers arnt preforming to there ability and that i know i can go silly with it... probably not do alot just yet, maybe bridge the amp and look into getting a more powerfull one...

just finding that once ive gotten my head round the wiring and theory of it that i wana expand it...

 

[m00k]

what is the actual kit you have at the mo?

break it down for us wi brands and model numbers to give an idea, where the speakers are installed (standard location? mdf ring? plastic fitting kit? any sound deadening?)

HU
Amp
Sub
Speakers
Good wiring?

 

[belfast nick]

have a sony head unit.. not a hundred percent on model, will update better later but its putting out 4x50w wasnt too dear think there around 100 new, from argos
have vibe tweeters and door speakers... halfords special think they where £40 or £50, bass in front doors panels and tweeters in corner of dash. have 2 sony speakers think 250watt max and cost £40 from halfords in the back... are direct replacment for the standards, in the corner of the parcial shelf (also used the standard wiring for these).. have 250watt amp in back not sure make at the mo and a 1000 watt kenwood sub in boot

appreciate alot of info and not the clearest without model numbers.. will update later

 

[m00k]

well gives summat to start wi tbh, don't get over hung up on power ratings that are quoted, most of them are pants!!! specially in the lower end of equipment.

being honest what you have isn't that great, it'll be better than standard equipment but thats probably where you're finding it lacking.

The internal amp on the HU is gonna be poor at that sorta money unfortunately, sony of old werent the worst but now they seem to go for flashy lookin units rather than stuff that sounds good.

My 1st system was a disaster when i look back, I had a 4x35 sony HU runnin the 4 standard speakers in the car aswell as 2 sets of 6x9s and 2x 8" speakers.... awesome - I think not!!!

now my ideal system would be along same lines as pablo -

Good HU up front - Alpine/becker/pioneer

Decent set of components - you don't have to spend the earth but even on a budget £100 can get you summat very reasonable brand new the likes of DLS/focal/diamond/genesis/alpine type r's are great for the money!!

Decent sub - depends on ur budget, i'd go for one reasonable sub and a reasonable amp rather than buy 2 cheaper subs and have an amp struggling to power them to potential!!

The get an amp to run them - decide what you can afford, but i recomend the profile series from genesis for decent bang per buck, always lots of it on talkaudio forums/ebay for sale but obviously be as careful as u can buyin 2nd hand stuff. a wee profile sub and profile 2 or 4 would be great

don't scrimp on the cabling/installation too, sound deadening is a must to get the benefit from the front speakers a minimum i've ever done would be one sheet between the 2 front doors to at least deaden in around the speaker area but if you can get a sheet to a sheet and a half on each door then maybe some in the boot and boot lid to stop rattles etc it would help!!

obviously it'd be expensive to go out and get all this at once, but summat to think about for upgradin bits and pieces as ya can and look out for bargains!!

I got a lot of my kit second hand and i'd no issues...

Genesis monoblock was £1k new, got it for 500quid second hand
Diamond Hex components £600 new got them about £220
Genesis Dual mono amps were 600quid each got them second hand bout 200-250 each

none of them have given me any bother and most of the higher end stuff has been well looked after in general...

but hopefully that gives ya summat to think about?

My girlfriend elaine has quite a nice simple install in her astra

Alpine HU (cant remember model)
Diamond D6 components
Running off genesis profile 4
Standard rears running low power off HU for some rear fill
Single diamond m5 sub running of genesis profile sub amp

one of the amps was added at a later stage and is hidden in the install

 

[Boydie]

Cant say much more than what m00k has said as its excellent advice

If you are wanting a great system, you are going to have to spend the money

Sound deadening is great if you can be assed paying and installing it and knowing the exact areas to put it

Also, if you are building your own boot build you will have to get the corret cubic capacity for the sub woofer - the manufacturers website should be able to tell you how many litres it needs in the box

Also, from experience and from the general opinion on here, 1 sub is better than two - personally, 1x10" sub from a decent manufacturer with decent power would be great (is great )

 

[Cartunes]

Is there something about the system that you are unhappy with?

The gear you have sounds very average indeed, so maybe upgrade to decent quality gear and stay away from anything with a sony label?

Firstly, make sure your car is soundproofed and the speakers you have are properly fitted.

I worked in research and development for car audio manufacturers for some years and could squeeze good performance from cheap speakers with proper installation and crossover settings. Even today, I get customers coming to me with really poor sounds and I find that most have just slapped the gear in there with no notion of how to fit it properly.

Look at things like installing speakers into Dynamat - this seals them and stops rattling around the speaker. Dynamat the doors too to limit external noise. Theres a hundred things you can do without buying new gear! Watch out for the UPGRADE bug, it sucked thousands of my spare cash over my 20's.

"Buy WISE, buy ONCE" is my new motto.

 

[belfast nick]

man you think you have your stuff together and then you talk to someone who knows theyre stuff LOL... cheers for the advice.. think itll be a slow build up of audio... only reason i went halfords and argos is cos i get vouchers when i do overtime in work... but the second hand gear is really cheap... apreciate the advice. think hu will be my next purchase... prefereably with usb port..

 

[m00k]

yeah well the HU is the source at the end of the day, if its giving out crap signals and sound to start with its even harder to improve it at the other end,

as cartunes says, installation is deffo one of the most important bits, i had a wee corsa to run about in and wanted something that sounded a bit better than standard, picked up a wee alpine sys, 10" type r sub, 5 1/4" alpine type r components and a wee alpine amp. With some sound deadening and building soem decent mdf mounts for the components it really suprised me what it produced!! think in total it cost me 150quid for sub, amp, comp's and sound deadening, already had a hu

 

[belfast nick]

been looking into the sound deadinging stuff.. is it just a sticky bluetac kina thing you stick to the inside of the door??? and is it just the front doors or all doors???

 

[pablo]

dynamat extreme is a bit easier to work with tho dearer. you want it on any panels that buzz. so the outer door skins, the inner door skins, heavy around the actual speakers, boot floor. one layer is plenty if using extreme.

you can go mad but do the basics then any other stuff that buzzes badly. the deadening is there to add weight to the panels and stop the tinny buzzing.

I think maplin might also do stuff called brown bread which is similar but cheaper.

 

[m00k]

used brown bread yrs ago in my first wee install as it was cheaper, tbh it was as good as the normal dynamat i found... but the dynamat extreme is deffo good gear!!

bare minimum 1 sheet between the 2 doors to cover mainly in around the speaker are and trim thats gonna rattle but if ya can put a sheet or sheet and a half in its great.

easy enough to work with, just needs a heat gun and bit of patience, sticks on handy enuff once warm!!!

older stuff used to peel off but never had a prob wi the new bits

 

[m00k]

if ur lookin an idea of where it goes, i've door cards off the car at the mo took a quik pic, and the build outta boot so quick snap there too,

chunk missing at the bottom to let the windows get stripped out

inner door

boot,

spare wheel wheel can help a lot when done, and the boot lid too dependin on car, if its a megane ur using, french cars vibrate like crazy from what i found!!

 

[pablo]

tidy mook

 

[belfast nick]

so what do you do when you get a flat LOL... how much of the stuff do you rekon i need and what sorta price you talking... also do you know if halfords do it, as i have some vouchers on there way to me.. cheers for the info btw

 

[Boydie]

Get a tin of tyre weld for flats!

 

[m00k]

yeah tire weld does the job...

its endless how much you can do but its heavy and not cheap, i reckon a sheet for each door and maybe a sheet or even 2 split between the boot/bootlid would suffice?

halfords should do it

pablo i take it thats sarcasm on the tidyness lol... boots a mess at the mo, needa get the build outta the attic and get it back upto audio advice to get it fired in!!! havent had a system goin for a year now, its nice to get into elaines car to know wat sounds are like!!!