car speakers

[mank!]

one of the speakers in my car has just completely stopped working, it's been fucked for a while but i've managed to cope.

my car is shite and there's no way i can afford a new car, but i have a decent cd player (sony cdx-r3350) and might as well invest in some good speakers as well.

however, i have fuck all idea how to go about this so recommendations and guidance would be preferable.

my car is an m reg renault clio, if that's any help

 

[Tom]

www.caraudiodirect.co.uk

www.talkaudio.co.uk

 

[Trem]

Pioneer are my fav car speakers for no reason other than they give good quality for not loads of money. Blaupunkt are also good.

Any of the makes you know really(Kenwood, Pioneer, JBL etc) will suffice.

I reckon any speaker will be a vast improvement on a knackered one Manklar, so don't worry too much about which is great and which isn't.

I didn't help much did I?

 

[mank!]

i'm more interested in size of the speaker, can i effectively choose any size or do i need a particular size to fit?

and how the hell do i fit it?

chances are i'd go for sony as i'm a sony fanboi

 

[JBP|]

Go to halfords they will fit them for you.

 

[Tom]

i'm more interested in size of the speaker, can i effectively choose any size or do i need a particular size to fit?

and how the hell do i fit it?

chances are i'd go for sony as i'm a sony fanboi

You pull the original speaker out. You then buy one thats the same size. Then you put the new speaker in.

Thats about it. Pay attention to the impedance and wattage, make sure that the impedance is the same (usually 4 ohms), and that the wattage is equal to or greater than the originals. Sensitivity is helpful, although I doubt your car speakers will have that on - its a measure of how much sound you get for putting electricity in.

Oh and you might as well do left and right at once - or it will sound funny. Front and back, will make no odds, its only a cheap system as you say.

 

[old.user4556]

Mank,

For Clio speaker upgrades on your spec of Clio - I recommend here http://www.cliosport.net/forum/ (i'm a member from my Clio days). Ask about speaker sizes in the ICE section (i can't remember them off the top of my head, probably 13cm) there and general fitting. They also used to have a guide on how to change them, but that seems to have gone.

If the Mk1 Clio was anything like the Mk2 Clio, the front speakers grills just pop off and you can get access to the speaker in the door that way without removing the door cards. Beware that there is an OEM plug on the end of the speaker wire: you will need to cut this off and fit spades for non-OEM speakers. Additionally, you may or may not need fitting adaptors (pieces of plastic that allow proper mounting in a weird shape hole).

In terms of speakers, Sony speakers aren't really that great.

"Better than OEM", anything between £50-£90 for a pair of 13cm coaxials will be pretty decent, but if you're wanting awesome sound you can pay absolutely silly money. Vibe, Alpine, Pioneer and Infinity are all decent makes that spring to mind. Have a look at Infinity's silk dome tweeter coaxials.

Upmarket speaker makers that are a very good buy if you're into serious car audio are Rainbow, Focal (JMlab), Genesis, Boston Acoustics.

In the £100+ category, I recommend Genesis Profile 13's at about £150. They are component speakers though (seperate tweeter, bastard to fit yourself) and probably not what you're after - but try to get a demo of them if you can: they do sound awesome and incredibly warm.

I used to have Focal Polyglass V2's in my Clio 182 and they sounded absolutely awesome. Incredible clarity and superb midrange. Expensive for car speakers, but well worth it since i was big into car audio and did a lot of driving.

Fitting: you could try Halfrauds, but letting Halfrauds loose on your car is like taking your brand spanking Merc to Kwik Fit - I would try a local ICE specialist who will probably work out about the same as Halfrauds and do a much better/tidier job.

 

[Bodhi]

13cm speakers? How the hell you supposed to get bass out of them?

I've upgraded car speakers on 3 separate cars now, best option is to either put some 6x9's on the rear shelf or hook up a sub. I've done the latter on mine at the mo, just running the normal door speakers in tandem with a 1200W sub (sending everything below 100Hz to the sub naturally to save my old speakers) and it sounds obscene. Although my driver's door mirror won;t adjust electrically any more, as the bass has broken something inside it (it was rattling for ages, now just wont work....).

Basically


Get a sub.

 

[old.user4556]

13cm speakers? How the hell you supposed to get bass out of them?

Obviously depends on what he's wanting, but Mank never said anything about hooj bass (just replacement speakers) so seemed an over-complex recommendation.

But I totally agree, decent bass requires a sub. I had an active sub in addition to my 13 cm components and it was quality.

 

[mank!]

sorry for lack of response, ive been sidetracked with other stuff.

i don't want a sub, amp, fucking massive speakers or anything like that. all i want is something that will play music without crackling when i take sharp corners.

cheers for the advice, going to have a look this weekend.

 

[Tom]

mank your best bet is to remove the old speakers (do both, not just one), take them along to Halfrauds, and say "mate whats the cheapest speaker you do in this size).

Don't get speakers that are too deep as they might not fit in.