Speaker Upgrade

LEK-89

LEK-89

LEK-89

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Joined
11 Oct 2008
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2,240
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Leicester
Would my Ford Fiesta MK5 2002 be able to cope with powering 2 x 160W front speakers that i would like to upgrade to? I have heard that you have to be careful sometimes particually with amps and subs as they can easily drain the car's battery down to flat etc. I am looking at a pair of Sony, JVC or Kenwood 140W - 160W peak / 35W rated 5.25" (13cm) size speakers to upgrade to and before i upgrade to them i just want to know if it is suitable to use them without them draining the battery? By the way i will not be using any amps or subs to power the speakers as i have got a pair of special Ford connection to Coaxial adapters so i can easily connect up to the speakers without any modding or soldering etc. I will also be upgrading the rear speakers to some 5.25" (13cm) in the near future too. Lastly can anyone explain the difference between the peak and the rated power?

Thanks guys - Liam
 
RMS is the sustainable power, Peak is the highest wattage it can take when the music peaks.

Do you have a standard head unit? Uprading the HU first will make a big difference to sound quality and volume. What's your budget. 35w sonys, jvcs and kenwoods will all be pretty crap.

Regardless, no. There's no way in hell 35w speakers are going to drain your battery.
 
Running any speaker more powerful than the stock ones off the head unit is a waste of time. I have a 6CD Autochanger Ford head unit and it is really poor when it comes to sound quality. Get your self a small amp and hide it in the glove box or the boot.

For the front speakers you will need an adaptor such as this: http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/1933.html

If you want 13cm speakers in the rear instead of the usual 10cm you will need: http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/1934.html
 
Yeah i've just got a standard Ford 6000 CD E-O-N unit, i've also got a 2 year old Sony Xplod Headunit too which i used with my old car but im not sure weather it would be worth replacing the standard Ford to the Sony Xplod one? Also i would need to get the headunit plate thing too. Janesy i found out running higher spec speakers on the original headunit does sound crap lol i tested some old 6 x 9 Sony speakers i had earlier on by plugging them into the rear ones. Thanks for the upgrade info Janesy i've already got the speaker cable adapters i will probs get the 13cm bracket adapters fairly soon. Well i'm not sure how much to spend really i've been told that the Kenwood ones are the best ones to go for anything under £50. What do you recommened WantoN?

Thanks guys - Liam
 
I reckon the sony headunit will sound better, the facia and harness adaptor can be had for a tenner on ebay.

As for the speakers, most people recommend pioneers at that price point.
 
Janesy B said:
I reckon the sony headunit will sound better, the facia and harness adaptor can be had for a tenner on ebay.

As for the speakers, most people recommend pioneers at that price point.
Click to expand...

Thanks Janesy, So if i replaced the headunit with my Sony Xplod (Sony GT220 i think it is) it would be safe to run this off the car's battery like the old Ford one too? As well as the new speakers when they get hooked up. If i remember reading the Sony headunit states that it has something like 4 x 50W if i am right & what does this mean?

Thanks - Liam
 
Of course! You'd need a serious system to start worrying about that!

It'll be 50 watts RMS which is the maximum power per speaker the internal amplifier on the headunit can give out so much more than a 50w RMS speaker will overkill unless you plan on adding an amplifier.
 
Janesy B said:
Of course! You'd need a serious system to start worrying about that!

It'll be 50 watts RMS which is the maximum power per speaker the internal amplifier on the headunit can give out so much more than a 50w RMS speaker will overkill unless you plan on adding an amplifier.
Click to expand...

Hahaha! Alright cool anyway i will look into replacing the headunit with my Sony ones when i get some spare time soon. The only other thing that is on my mind a bit is when i come to fitting the Sony player in the adapter headunit slot. At looking at some of these hadunit adapters on ebay they look quite thin & i am not too sure if it will hold the CD player very well because of the gap between the bottom of the player & the headunit slot and that it might wobble quite a bit or even collapse? I might be wrong though!

About the Harness i have got some sort of adapter that comes in a pair that is attached to the Sony head unit already, will i still need to get a Ford Harness though?

There are sooo many of them to choose from on ebay going for as little as a fiver! Could you possibly recommend me one Janesy if you have purcashed one from ebay before?

Thanks! - Liam
 
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You'll need a harness adaptor to make life easier, as for the adaptor, I have one but never used it but many people have used them and they hold the unit securely.

As for the speakers make sure you buy a component system and not a two way/coaxial speaker. If you have the two way speakers the sound will be poor as the speaker is very low down on the door. A component system will come with 2 woofers and tweeters, the tweeters will be connected by a crossover which you can hide in the door.
 
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Janesy B said:
You'll need a harness adaptor to make life easier, as for the adaptor, I have one but never used it but many people have used them and they hold the unit securely.
Click to expand...

Aahhh right ok, il look into getting one then. Thanks for your help Janesy!

Liam
 
It will come in a kit with the facia adaptor and removal pins. I have the kit under my bed, it's an autoleads kit and i'll give you the part number when i dig it out tomorrow :)
 
No probs :)

If you head over to ZSOC.com as there's a lot of useful info in the audio section and the bulk of it is for MK5 Fiestas.

-Bryan
 
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