Spec me some ICE

[TW]Fox;15398639 said:
They look good.

I guess the 6x9's that are fitted as standard are not just subs - what will it sound like with 6x9 subs in the rear and speakers in the front? Will it sound odd compared to how it does now?
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Surely in the back it's going to sound rather muted. Or is there components in the rear doors too?
 
Janesy B said:
6x9s are only good for adding volume. They're a complete waste of time for adding more bass.
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i'm going to disagree with that. I've got some jbl ones in my punto. (the local chavs must be so jealous) but in all seriousness they kick out a good punch. And it beats carrying a sub in the boot.

I had a sub install in my merc as well, but seeing as the petrol tank was in bettween the rear seats and the boot, only a tiny bit of the bass actually carried, the rest just vibrated the boot lid. So the next best thing would be to fit 6x9's really.

either that or one of those little subs which goes under your front seats, but i didnt really fancy that.

[TW]Fox;15398639 said:
They look good.

I guess the 6x9's that are fitted as standard are not just subs - what will it sound like with 6x9 subs in the rear and speakers in the front? Will it sound odd compared to how it does now?
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Thats what I've had in most of my cars, I like the way it sounds, you get nice clean crisp sound from the front components backed up with bass. Doens talways necesarilly sound as if its coming from behind you. I guess that depends on the car. Once you fiddle about with the faders, normally you can get it sounding great. Can be annoying for passengers in the rear though.
 
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I imagine it would be fine in the front as you have the midrange and tweeters in the doors. It would just be the people in the back that wouldnt get the same level of volume they had before, but since normal 6x9 aren't great anyway I doubt they will be missing out on much and if you can replace the fronts with better quality ones that would fit in the original mounts it should make quite a lot of difference.

Would need to power them all though but not sure if the standard headunit would have any preouts to connect to amps?
 
I'd look into some Hertz 6x9's.. they have their place sometimes, especially in systems without a sub...

You can get quality ones! But you pay for the privilege like anything.

And they will provide some bass and warm the sound up - you will struggle to get much bass from aftermarket front components.
 
BigglesPiP said:
They will sound flat if you don't have anything else:
Freq. response is 35Hz - 500Hz. You hear 20Hz through 22kHz, they need something else on both sides, particularly above.
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I didn't mean just replace those, and not sure what speakers are already in the car that can be replaced, I used to drive my car and not sit in the back so didn't really worry about additional speakers for anyone there, they could still hear the music fine, just quieter.
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
i'm going to disagree with that. I've got some jbl ones in my punto. (the local chavs must be so jealous) but in all seriousness they kick out a good punch. And it beats carrying a sub in the boot.

I had a sub install in my merc as well, but seeing as the petrol tank was in bettween the rear seats and the boot, only a tiny bit of the bass actually carried, the rest just vibrated the boot lid. So the next best thing would be to fit 6x9's really.

either that or one of those little subs which goes under your front seats, but i didnt really fancy that.



Thats what I've had in most of my cars, I like the way it sounds, you get nice clean crisp sound from the front components backed up with bass. Doens talways necesarilly sound as if its coming from behind you. I guess that depends on the car. Once you fiddle about with the faders, normally you can get it sounding great. Can be annoying for passengers in the rear though.
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They punch like any other decent coaxial speaker. I listen to dubstep occasionally and it's a waste of time in my car as the 6x9s simply can't go low enough.

I suppose it depends what you listen to, I find rock/metal can really flatter a sound system, Drum and Bass can make a good system sound crap.
 
Janesy B said:
They punch like any other decent coaxial speaker. I listen to dubstep occasionally and it's a waste of time in my car as the 6x9s simply can't go low enough.

I suppose it depends what you listen to, I find rock/metal can really flatter a sound system, Drum and Bass can make a good system sound crap.
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Yeh, I mainly listen to electro house, trance and a load of other stuff. I guess with dubstep its more rolling basslines, which are very hard to produce without a decent sized cone.

However, I've noticed especially with hatchbacks if they are mounted in the parcel shelf it totally depends on the boot itself, and whats in the boot. If its nicely sealed they can move a lot of air about. If its free flowing and open they tend to have less of an effect imo.

The JBL's i've got at the moment are actually pretty decent. Surprising how good they are for 6x9. I also have a set of 17cm round jbls, they aren't a patch on the 6x9's to be honest.
 
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It's unrealistic to expect bass extension for music like dubstep and drum and bass from 6x9's but they can surprise you... What kit do you run in your Fiesta then Janesy?

The cone area of 6x9's does cater for decent bass extension to an extent but the airspace used also plays a large part and if the back shelf is somewhat sealed from the boot cavity it'll limit the depth and warmth of the sound and may make things a little sharp and tinny.

I've heard (and previously had) some good sets of 6x9's which do drop surprisingly low and I listen to the same kinda music as you but for a simple hatch a set of front comps and a sub in the boot is easily done. A small sub in Fox's boot would do naff all, would need a fair bit of power to be heard in the cabin.

I would imagine Fox isn't quite a full on bass head and I think a good quality set of 6x9's would work fine for him. Definitely be looking at Hertz Dieci and Energy ranges in this budget. Quite a bit of finesse to the sound for even the 6x9's and the components are very nice for the cash.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm after a similar setup to Fox, again, with no sub, but I don't have space for 6x9's, and the rear speakers are near impossible to get to (in rear "cards").

Are there any decent coaxial solutions that would provide adequate sound quality as well as punch, and an amp to suit that doesn't require pre-outs?

The trouble is, I couldn't bring myself to fit a standard fit stereo as it would ruin the integrated look of the centre console, my only option is a touch screen stereo made specifically for my car, which is nearly £600 and still isn't really that good.

On the subject of 6x9s, I used to have some amplified 6x10s in the back of my old Escort (lol), they were pretty good bass wise, IMO.
 
[TW]Fox;15398717 said:
I tend to listen to quite a variety of music - anything from chart trash to trance and the odd bit of Linkin Park etc.
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I should think a decent pair of 6x9's would suit fine, the sort of music you mention will have nice tight punchy basslines, so the speakers will handle it well.
 
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It's very hard to get any form of warm bass from aftermarket co-ax's and comps without spending good money and looking into soundproofing and sealing airspace in the doors blah blah. It's long winded and requires a good budget I guess...

You can sit still with your engine off and get a bit of bass from most things. As soon as you start driving, the road noise and general vibrations from driving around be it from your engine, tyres etc will cancel out any bass you'll hear from your speakers so a sub/amp is the only real solution for most people.

As Thomas. PLease. says, 6x9's will match those music tastes fine. Trance is more punchy rather than hugely bassline led with 30-40Hz rumbling basslines lol. Same for the rocky sounding stuff.

It'll be fine, I'd stick to full range too.
 
Many many Moons ago, I had a Denon DCA 3400 AMP driving some 6x9's (I can't recall the make I'm afraid) it was a superb piece of kit and its still going strong in a Friends TVR! (perhaps the most reliable component in it! :D )

You won't need a sub with decent 6x9's, compared to what you have now, it'll sound like its got one anyway! :D

I'm not up to date on current ICE, far from it. But I whole heartedly suggest you at least check out Denons current range (assuming they are still around which I think they are and they are in budget - my amp cost around £280 approx 22years ago! :o )

I suddenly feel old. :(
 
So does anyone want to have a go at speccing some specific speakers? I dont know whats good, what isnt and how much to spend :(
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Many many Moons ago, I had a Denon DCA 3400 AMP driving some 6x9's (I can't recall the make I'm afraid) it was a superb piece of kit and its still going strong in a Friends TVR! (perhaps the most reliable component in it! :D )

You won't need a sub with decent 6x9's, compared to what you have now, it'll sound like its got one anyway! :D

I'm not up to date on current ICE, far from it. But I whole heartedly suggest you at least check out Denons current range (assuming they are still around which I think they are and they are in budget - my amp cost around £280 approx 22years ago! :o )

I suddenly feel old. :(
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I had a Denon amp driving my hifi speakers at home for a while ago. Wish I never got rid of it. Really was excellent :(
 
Talkaudio forums are a good place for advice (well used to be years ago), you should be able to get mounting plates to make the correct size speakers fit in place of the current ones (in case they aren't a direct fit).

Do you know what sizes the factory fitted speakers are?
 
[TW]Fox;15398449 said:
I'll be retrofitting the BMW 16:9 navigation and television in the new year.
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Out of curiosity - is there any point? The old 2d navigation in beemers is pretty poor by today's standards, it's worse than just about any £50 stand alone sat nav unit. Plus of course, usability of analogue TV is practically zero these days, especially in your neck of the woods.
 
v0n said:
Out of curiosity - is there any point? The old 2d navigation in beemers is pretty poor by today's standards, it's worse than just about any £50 stand alone sat nav unit. Plus of course, usability of analogue TV is practically zero these days, especially in your neck of the woods.
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With up to date software, why would it be any worse than a £50 stand alone? (which imo look crap stuck to your screen) the OEM is far more "up his street" I'd think. :)

At a guess, I doubt Fox is that bothered about watching TV in his car.
 
How about this 6x9 tri-axial speaker for blaupunkt all round?

http://www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/spkr1_7.asp

Very nearly as low as those genesis speakers (35Hz vs. 40Hz), but these go all the way up to 22k, rather than 0.5k.

You'll need either a 2 channel amp that can go down to 2 Ohms per channel (unlikely), or a multi channel amp than will do 4 Ohms per channel.
 
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