New speakers

I have equipped my panda with the best speakers I found on the web for a reasonable price - Infinity Reference - and replaced the factory fitted
ones in the front. I read that these speakers are so great, great sound and cost only about 100 euro. I expected the huge difference from the factory ones. At least that is what most reviews say - how much better these speakers are than the factory paper ones. I also paid for the work and some adapters fitted. The first impression was like nothing changed. Later I noticed the trebles are much better pronounced and later I noticed the sound overall is more natural, later it seemed the bass is a bit less desperate. Also classical music now sounds much better - more natural, but overall the result is far from impressive. When the whole orchestra plays or the while band plays the chorus, the sound is kind of empty. And when I play it louder than 20 on the scale of the factory fitted radio, it sounds not distorted but just desperate.

Do you think that the weak spot is still the CD player and weak amp? Because what I hear is worse overall than what I used to have some time ago in a different car - a Sony CD player with some Explod Sony speakers.
That equipment was a bit more expensive but maybe my speakers now are more natural sounding but overall the result is weak.

Or maybe I should get the rear pair as well. Or a subwoofer. I don't know what the weak spot is now. But if I buy a more powerful CD player with more power, it won't go with the power of the speakers I already bought.
What do you think?

I'm taking things quite a bit further than most:

http://www.fiatforum.com/i-c-e/13325...ure-heavy.html

Whatever you run, the system is only as good as it's weakest part, in your case it will now be the headunit.

When I soundproofed the doors before fitting anything else, the factory gear was improved quite a bit - so Dynamatting does make a difference.

I will eventually run a sub to complement the front end, but I demo'd it to someone the other day and they thought I already had one in. That's with the amp crossover highpassed at around 70hz.

Next on the cards is doorbuilds, you can tell where the singer / guitarist etc. is stood, but the stage is just a little low.

That's interesting - I will condiser using Dynamatting. What head unit, not too expensive would you recommend that would make difference and match the Infinity Reference speakers power? They have 60W / 180 W. I only need something that plays CDs.

They might also get better after a few days I think, I think speakers break in, at least subwoofers do.

I was happy with the standard headunit, until I put my new one in, then I noticed a difference in quality straight away

Yes they need a good few weeks of playing before they break in.

As for which headunit, I can't really recommend one, mine is 10 years old, doesn't have a built in amp and won't play CDRs.

General opinion on here is that you can't go wrong with Alpine or Pioneer, I'd pop along to a local dealer and have a listen to a few different brands

Speakers do break in so you shouldn't be maxing for a while. I had Infinity Reference in my MG ZT running off a Sony Xplode HU and a 450W Infinity Reference amp. The sound was very good and detailed but not much in the way of real bass so I added a Vibe 10" active sub.

I would say if you want to improve things further go with a small sub. I am going to look at the compact units that fit under the seat as well as upgrading the speakers. I am not going to change the head unit unless I can't do the MP3 player mod.

So long as you don't send a clipped (distorted) signal you can spank them. I'm fortunate enough to have had my amp scoped so know how hard I can push it before clipping.

as far as i understand no matter what brand or quality, headunits have at most 55 W power, as opposed to my 45 W (the standard Panda blaupunkt)
so it is not about power but sound? is there a difference between how different headunits play CDs? and isn't it all useless when you play MP3 as MP3 has worse sound than CD? I might get something that plays MP3 but then I don't expect much difference

I will wait what happens after a few weeks of the speakers breaking in, I might be happy with the sound after all.

That 55w is a basically a load of cack.

It's an absolute maximum, wind behind you figure - usually at around 10% distortion which even if you were deaf would be unacceptable.

What you need to look at is the RMS figure, this will be around 15w.

There is a difference in how CD players play, it all comes down to what components the manufacturer uses - this thread could get very technical!

For example, Alpine tend to have a "bright" sound, Becker have a "warm" sound - you need to have a listen to each so you can understand what I mean.

Many will argue, but I prefer the sound of CD - MP3 just doesn't cut it for me.

I am absolutely lost about the power of head units. There are basically three kinds - 45 W, 50 W and 55 W. Is there a big difference between these? ANd how do my speakers go with these powers? I would study something about the power of hifi but have not found any guide on the net.
I just want to know what power of headunit fits what power of speakers.
Now when i turn the volume over 20, which is pretty loud, the sound is desperate, not destorted but just plain stupid. My speakers are 60W. That is the lower number.

Power ratings are generally quoted in two ways:

Maximum and RMS (or continuous power).

Your speakers will handle 60w RMS, basically that means they'll happily play all day with that. The maximum power is what they'll handle for short bursts before breaking.

When you turn the headunit up and it starts to loose it's "musicality" then that's distortion creeping in my friend.

The speakers you have will be able to handle far more power than any headunit could provide, to get the best from them you really need an external amplifier.

Just having a troll about the 'net and found this:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pion...rs-p-5812.html

Lots of people raving about this, plus it's got a decent onboard amp as far as headunits go.

Alpine every time for me! I've found that the sound quality from the box is great, and the control over the sound is brilliant, so you really can set it up just how you want.

OK - I have a few questions, quite simple:

is there a big difference between 45 W headunit and 50 W headunit, powerwise? or is the quality of built in amp more important than its
power?

and is the amp of headunit quality more or less important than the CD player quality? i mean what determins the final result more?

Don't worry about the headunit amp, worry about the quality of the CD components.

There'll be no difference to the ear between 45w and 50w. Twice as loud needs four times the power.

Find a headunit YOU like the sound of, trust your ears, not someone elses.

thanks for the tip - so you mean when i play something louder, especiallz when it is the full band or orchestra and the sound is kind of empty, it is not the speakers fault, but the CD player? It has nothing to do with the power of the headunit? It sounds like the speakers are too small but then my high-end Epos speakers at home that are 10 times more expensive and sound absolutely amazing and can handle loud, full orchestra sound easily , have the main speakers as small as my car speakers, the only difference is the huge depth of the speakers, they are about 40 cm deep while of course, the car speakers are pretty shallow

if it is so about CD player quality, is there some reviews where the CD player quality would be mentioned? I have looked for the reviews for ages but only find lists of products and price and almost no reviews at all, only randomly reviewed headunits