Have fitted system to daughters car Daewoo Lanos and it is real tinny. Purchased better rears and that improved a lot but still not good. When system was in her old car it was brilliant
Any sugestions sound system guru's

Also she wants sub but thats all new to an old bloke like me, Whats a good budget sub amp

Scott C

Firstly,

What did you put into her car? name model's if you can (no, not Elle Mcpherson......models of the speakers/head unit etc)

Oh also, what music does she listen to?

What is your realistic budget, start to finish?

Is the treble turned all the way up? might want to adjust the head unit.

Yeah check the settings on the headunit. When we picked up my sisters TJ the sound was absolutely dreadful. Had a fiddle with it and found the Mids and Highs were at 10+, and the Lows at -10, no wonder it sounded **** lol

i know this may be stupid but check no damaged wires, i had a bitch of a time with a screwy rca which made my fronts sound shocking, also could be speaker location?

Firstly,

What did you put into her car? name model's if you can (no, not Elle Mcpherson......models of the speakers/head unit etc)

Oh also, what music does she listen to?

What is your realistic budget, start to finish?


Old Pioneer hu eclipe 41/2 inch fronts pioneer rears 6". Not sure of model of HU but as i said in old car was good with sony 6" 2ways and have updated to 3way pioneers.

Music is what evry 17 year old listens to

Budget not wanting to go over 500 for sub / amp if possible

Yeah check the settings on the headunit. When we picked up my sisters TJ the sound was absolutely dreadful. Had a fiddle with it and found the Mids and Highs were at 10+, and the Lows at -10, no wonder it sounded **** lol


Played around with it a fair bit and got it to the best we could.

Ok, dont put the 'bass' up on the H/U too much, you'll destroy speakers real fast.

The reason it sounds tinny is your front speakers, 4-4 1/2" speakers should only really play from around 150Hz onwards, which means it will sound tinny.

For decent front speakers, that put out a reasonable amount of bass (from 70Hz onwards) I've found Clarion entry level coax speakers to be pretty damned good, even running off H/U.

Now, does this H/U have RCA pre-outs? If so how many?

Sub/amp - Have a look at these powered subs (with inbuild amplifier...)

I personally like entry level fusion stuff in small hatch backs, and many people will say they are crap as they are fusion - for the money, they do what they need to. Plus for $227 it includes wiring, amp, and sub and box.

http://www.ryda.com.au/Fusion-EN-AB1120-Active-12-Sub-Enclosure-p/enab1120.htm

This next one might be a bit better, more discrete, and less likely to have a shoe put through the cone lol

http://www.ryda.com.au/Fusion-EN-AT1100-Active-10-Enclosure-Tube-p/enat1100.htm


Since the bottom sub is only $190, you could spend a bit more on decent front speakers, with some speaker spacers, you can fit 6" in the front doors with cutting into the door trim :redface: Doesnt look great, but without bigger speakers up front the sound will always be tinny, and in an attempt to stop it chances are you will blow front speakers.

Size of speaker does matter, but I'm guessing you would have pulled out the same size speakers and replaced them with direct fits.

I have been told that stock 'paper' cone speakers can create a reasonable amount of bass (however distort rather quickly when u turn up the volume) - so you're replacements may not have the ability to recreate the lower frequencies even though they are better speakers.

Also, please please please check that all your speakers are in phase. Basically, all the positives and negative outputs on the headunit are going to the positive and negative terminals on your speakers respectively.

If a pair of speakers are firing in opposite phase, then you will get definite bass cancellation. Easy way to check this, is run only the front speakers, and unplug one of them and see if you get any difference in sound.

See how you go.

One set of RCA's only.
I also have capacitors on the front speakers. Cant remember why but put them on many years ago.



Ok, dont put the 'bass' up on the H/U too much, you'll destroy speakers real fast.

The reason it sounds tinny is your front speakers, 4-4 1/2" speakers should only really play from around 150Hz onwards, which means it will sound tinny.

For decent front speakers, that put out a reasonable amount of bass (from 70Hz onwards) I've found Clarion entry level coax speakers to be pretty damned good, even running off H/U.

Now, does this H/U have RCA pre-outs? If so how many?

Sub/amp - Have a look at these powered subs (with inbuild amplifier...)

I personally like entry level fusion stuff in small hatch backs, and many people will say they are crap as they are fusion - for the money, they do what they need to. Plus for $227 it includes wiring, amp, and sub and box.

http://www.ryda.com.au/Fusion-EN-AB1120-Active-12-Sub-Enclosure-p/enab1120.htm

This next one might be a bit better, more discrete, and less likely to have a shoe put through the cone lol

http://www.ryda.com.au/Fusion-EN-AT1100-Active-10-Enclosure-Tube-p/enat1100.htm


Since the bottom sub is only $190, you could spend a bit more on decent front speakers, with some speaker spacers, you can fit 6" in the front doors with cutting into the door trim :redface: Doesnt look great, but without bigger speakers up front the sound will always be tinny, and in an attempt to stop it chances are you will blow front speakers.

Caps on the front speakers?

The only thing I can think of is to block lower frequencies so your speakers dont blow, a cheap form of a crossover, which is used on most entry level speakers still.

The Capacitors would be cutting out the lower frequencies.

Why have u put them on?

when i fitted a pair of 4" speakers to the front of my Pajero many years ago they did say that it would keep it from going to low and save the speakers. I have just always put them on when transfers from differant cars

Not a bad idea for 4" speakers, but on different speakers they may block out different frequencies, and this is where it gets too technical for me, something to do with resistance, uH figures, and etc :redface:

heaunit would sort the too lower frequencies out

heaunit would sort the too lower frequencies out

Not particulary.

Most H/U's will just send the full signal down the line, unless you have a HPF on it.

Since 4" speakers dont really like anything below 150odd Hz, its a good idea to Cap them, to stop blowing them.

Until you get the sub to cover the lower frequencies, I would try running the system without the capacitors and see what happens.

Just don't turn up the bass too much.

The risk with running these capacitors is that you may be filtering the low 'sub-bass' frequencies, but you may also be filtering out the midrange frequencies too.

do you know what size capacitors u have put on the fronts? ie 220uf cuts out ~80hz and below

nOT SURE WHAT SIZE THEY ARE ??

I think if you're gonna put the sub in soon, best is not to worry about the tinniness for now and just put up with it til the sub goes in.

The Sub will end up covering the lower frequencies anyway and you'll end up with close to full range sound.

Thanks all for the info.
Will try a few things but will do an amp and sub soon.
also wants wheels.

Funny how the little girls can get daddy under the thumb
Trys to figure how to hide a set of 17's from mum :D :D