Time for an audio upgrade
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Time for an audio upgrade
Been shopping and picked up this little lot to fit in the evenings / weekends to replace my blown original speakers and cassette deck.[/img]
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- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
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very nice! you will love the change in audio quality!
to quote myself from a old post in the audio section:
one final note, while you have everything open, check the quality/degradation of any wires and replace them if need be.
good luck and have fun ..... its worth it
to quote myself from a old post in the audio section:
don't go for the jaycar subs if you do go that route, definitely go for the fusion underseat sub as it will out perform (on its own) 2 cheap jaycar underseat subs (if I recall correctly, my fusion cost $220 on trademe)egotistical me wrote:a few days ago I replaced the blown stock headrest speakers with JVC 4" speakers and I have to say, for a job that took 30 mins from start to finish it really was worth the investment.
I just followed this walkthrough: http://www.mazda-madness.co.uk/2010/11/ ... -speakers/
If your MX5 doesn't have headrest speakers then you are really missing out
the lowend bass is kind of missing at the moment tho' so I have ordered a fusion 8" underseat sub and will see how it goes next week once it arrives and is installed/tuned.
unsure whether to have it mounted behind or under the drivers seat or to possibly put it in the end of the passenger footwell. Most probably going with mounting it behind the drivers seat.
if you want a decent underseat sub, many of the reviews i have read rate "BOSS" pretty highly but sadly money is not unlimited so I settled on the fusion which at just over $200 is pretty good bang for your buck. The Jaycar 8" retails for $159 and is good but not amazing.
one final note, while you have everything open, check the quality/degradation of any wires and replace them if need be.
good luck and have fun ..... its worth it
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- Tentative sideways sliding....
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A bit of help needed please !
I have managed to remove the old head unit this evening and put the old mounting brackets from it on to the new head unit but now have a gap underneath (it was filled in by a small tray with the old cassette deck). Can you buy a panel to fill this gap? The old head unit looks like it is about a DIN and a half in size so a rough guess would be I need a quarter DIN tray or infill panel. Any help or someone who has done this before and can point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
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my first thought would be a pick-a-part wreckers with late model car wrecks as the cavity is a generic size. Once I had once of a suitable size I would wash it then use some boot polish on it and it will look just like new.
Or, you could get creative and make one... you simply have to work out the mounting method.
Or, you could get creative and make one... you simply have to work out the mounting method.
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- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
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my gap above my headunit was approximately 20mm so I got some vent sealing strip (sold at bunnings for about $5 a meter) then cut three strips the width of the gap and stuck them one on top of another to make a rubber block with a sticky underside. this I stuck in the cavity and set it about 5mm behind where I wanted my flat face to be.
I then another piece to size for the hole and stuck it to the 3 layered block I had just put in.
it was a little fiddly, but took all of 10 minutes to do.
please excuse the crappy pics but I hope this helps
(the actual smooth finish looks nicer than my grainy cellphone camera can handle)
I then another piece to size for the hole and stuck it to the 3 layered block I had just put in.
it was a little fiddly, but took all of 10 minutes to do.
please excuse the crappy pics but I hope this helps
(the actual smooth finish looks nicer than my grainy cellphone camera can handle)
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Head unit in and working.
Got the head unit in and working this morning. Nice and simple to do as I just removed the mounting brackets from the old cassette player, screwed them in to the new one and used the wiring harness adapters from Repco to wire it in. Found solution to the small hole at the bottom of the new stero at work on a shelf (black Kappa board). Trimmed a bit to size and fixed it to the rear of the trim panel. Fairly happy with the result. Speakers next!
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All finished and just some minor tweaking to do
Everything now fitted and working after a fairly intensive day and a half of labour over the weekend. I clicked on a buy it now for $199 for a Fusion underseat sub as recommended by others and went to collect it to be be told that the store selling it did not have any left. They did however give me the option of either waiting for it to come in stock (I did not want to do this having stripped the car and filled up any spare space left in my small garage and within reach of our dog which likes to chew black plastic ! ) or to have a $449 Soundstream equivalent so I took that. Pictures attached of the strip (including the filthy carpets that were all vacuumed when the job was finished before the seats went back in). Happy with the result and I just need to go through the numerous settings on the head unit and tweak the settings on the sub to suit all types of music.
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grats on the soundstream, they are nice
once you tune the amp you will be good to go.... but bear in mind, mine took a lot of micro tweaking over 2 weeks to fine tune it to something I liked.
one other thing, that little gain dial is kind of pointless (it would have been better if it was a volume rather than gain) so once its set, it will quite happily sit there and gather dust, so you did a good call by hiding it away.
I look forward to hearing your feedback once you have had some time to get it tuned and enjoy it
once you tune the amp you will be good to go.... but bear in mind, mine took a lot of micro tweaking over 2 weeks to fine tune it to something I liked.
one other thing, that little gain dial is kind of pointless (it would have been better if it was a volume rather than gain) so once its set, it will quite happily sit there and gather dust, so you did a good call by hiding it away.
I look forward to hearing your feedback once you have had some time to get it tuned and enjoy it
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- Tentative sideways sliding....
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- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:58 pm
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- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:58 pm
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- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
- Posts: 1172
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:52 am
- Location: Northland
I'm glad you are liking the upgrade sofar, bear in mind tho' that it will take a while for all your speakers to run themselves in, so you get to look forward to your speakers getting smoother sound as they lose a little of that "just made in a factory" rigidity.
If you are a real audiophile you can replace all the capacitors on your speakers with good quality ones for a smoother mid range and treble. When I did my speaker upgrade (I went with 4x 4" & 2x 6.5" JVC speakers) I replaced all the caps and I feel it was worth it. The cost was $4-5 per cap and took me about 10minutes per speaker. I can get the capacitor identification code if you are interested.
Another thing you could consider is putting a filter on your speakers to filter out the low frequencies on your main speakers so that only your sub is pushing out the bass which should increase the lifespan of your speakers. I didn't do this myself as I couldn't be arsed at the time, but its something to consider.
I guess you could call me an audiophile or a sonic purist, but I really do love having good quality sounds in my car.
If you are a real audiophile you can replace all the capacitors on your speakers with good quality ones for a smoother mid range and treble. When I did my speaker upgrade (I went with 4x 4" & 2x 6.5" JVC speakers) I replaced all the caps and I feel it was worth it. The cost was $4-5 per cap and took me about 10minutes per speaker. I can get the capacitor identification code if you are interested.
Another thing you could consider is putting a filter on your speakers to filter out the low frequencies on your main speakers so that only your sub is pushing out the bass which should increase the lifespan of your speakers. I didn't do this myself as I couldn't be arsed at the time, but its something to consider.
I guess you could call me an audiophile or a sonic purist, but I really do love having good quality sounds in my car.
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Audio Upgrade
I have been enjoying this site since purchasing Na6 for my daughter in Feb.Just became a member yesterday so I can contribute and learn further. It's great to see common desires and knowledge being shared. I am looking at improving audio quality also. I have noticed that a common thread is a lack of bass response when replacing/upgrading headrest speakers. I do not wish to bag any persons choice of speaker as we all have different hearing ranges. What sounds sweet to one person may not be so good for others
I am contemplating installing the Fusion CS-FR4020. These have a lower range than other speakers which have been documented here already. Their range is 44Hz-24KHz. Their high frequency response is clipped less than others but price wise it may be the law of diminishing effect.
I have had Fusion in my boats for some time and have been happy with their performance. The pricing is sharp which leaves more money to throw elsewhere.
Would welcome any feedback regarding this.
Luckily my daughter does not have a licence yet so I have to keep the car in CONSTANT use. The company vehicle and fuel card sit idle.
Gotta love this great weather of 2013.
Does any Audio Trainspotter have constructive advice regarding this option
I am contemplating installing the Fusion CS-FR4020. These have a lower range than other speakers which have been documented here already. Their range is 44Hz-24KHz. Their high frequency response is clipped less than others but price wise it may be the law of diminishing effect.
I have had Fusion in my boats for some time and have been happy with their performance. The pricing is sharp which leaves more money to throw elsewhere.
Would welcome any feedback regarding this.
Luckily my daughter does not have a licence yet so I have to keep the car in CONSTANT use. The company vehicle and fuel card sit idle.
Gotta love this great weather of 2013.
Does any Audio Trainspotter have constructive advice regarding this option
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