Hi Everyone,
Having bought my 100hp only a few weeks ago (very proud owner) i decided to upgrade my speakers as i didnt have the version with the 6 speaker system. I also had a spare reverse parking sensor kit from parking dynamics and decided to install that aswell (yea i know not needed but sod it i like my gadgets and in london it proves useful for tight spaces and parking quickly!)
Anyway i couldnt find any decent information or threads to help me with choosing speakers or installing the PD1 parking sensor, the way to go about it, size and type of speakers etc.
So decided to write up all that i've done so far to help other Panda and 100hp owners!

Parking Dynamics PD1 - this is a very good piece of kit, unlike other sensors which require for holes drilled in the bumper and lots of cables, this kit is very simple and easily installed, id say taking the bumper off is harder then actually installing this product.


Anyway when installing this youll need to use two antenna's in parallel with each other,not the recommended single like installation. The 100hp bumper is much denser and the crash bar sits directly behind it. Youll need to cover the crash bar in cloth tape (gaffa) this stops it interfering with the sensor ( having done trial and error several attempts to get this damn thing to work properly) i ended up taking the bumper on and off countless times till i got it working without any hiccups. It works superb now and the great thing is you dont even know by looking at the bumper that it has sensors!

Speaker Upgrade and Cabin noise reduction.

Music and a decent speaker system was very important to me, unfortunately the little 100hp music system needed work and i wasnt happy with the noise and little rattles coming from inside the car especially while playing music. I didnt want to go mad so kept the original head unit and decided to spend extra on decent affordable speaker replacements.

I decided i would have to do a "Proper" job, if the door panels were coming off and new speakers installed all round i would spend time insulating and sound deading the door panels to help reduce outside noise/vibrations and to get the best overall sound from the larger and more powerful component speakers. This makes such a difference i can tell you, initially when you tap the car door panel its hollow and tinny. After adding the sound deadining material and noise barrier material it made the doors denser and reduced airborne noise travelling from outside was reduced! Made a huge difference!

silent-coat-mat-sample

cheap and excellent value compared to dynamat and vibe products, i ordered 5 pieces and it was more then enough to do all the doors.

second-skin-overkill

This was placed inside the door panels. Messy job using spray glue and putting this stuff in, but well worth it. All of this will help make the speakers sound better and louder!

Front Door Speakers

hertz-dieci-dsk-165


I went for Hertz Dieci 165 speakers (16.5cm) as they can be used on low power stereos and are meant for upgrade type installations.

The maximum speaker depth you can go is 61mm in the front, any more and it may foul against the window and its cables. These just fitted and were much larger units. Youll need a speaker adaptor plates to:


The rear speakers are smaller (13cm) but with the adaptor plates you can go 16.5/17cm again choose a low profile speaker. I went for alpine replacement components, not needed as its only rear fill, you can use co-axial speakers. I just decided to go components all round:

alpine-sxe-1750s

Last but not least a subwoofer! Having researched it all i decided to go for the kenwood baby underseat subwoofer:

ksc-sw01

very tiny and fits under the passenger seat with plenty of foot space ( last thing to install!)

Ok ill update more when i can! apologies for no links,i couldnt post it as i wasnt allowed to put URLs up!

Looking good.

Be interesting to see how you get on with yur prking dynamics, I only had the one strip supplied and the system wasn't that good, and worse when I fitted my towbar, so went for the good old fal safe method of the sensors. lol

Good write up. Although you can get a decent sound out of the original set up by playing with the settings I'm sure it will improve greatly with better speakers. I will be interested in the subwoofer your fiting as i may upgrade mine this year if i keep the car and would prefer something tucked away under the seat rather than something that fills my whole boot.

paul100hp said:

Good write up. Although you can get a decent sound out of the original set up by playing with the settings I'm sure it will improve greatly with better speakers.

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I agree with Paul100HP about the standard speakers, yes they look and feel awfully cheap, but i've messed around with the EQ, treble & bass to get a good sound. I'll only upgrade the speakers if they fail. I've used Dynamat which helps to improve the quality.

Will replace the standard Headunit with a touchscreen one.

Really guys? I know the fiat 6 speaker system sounds excellent, i only had 4 dual cone speakers (honestly they are crap). I played with all the EQ settings and levels and got fairly good sounds. For me i needed more clarity so only option was to upgrade the speakers. No comparison either, it sounds ten times better and much louder at lower volumes.

In time ill replace the headunit with a double din touch screen unit or use a O.E fiat unit from a cromar something?

Subwoofer goes in the weekend

Tbh IMO the speakers in the Pandas are shocking when compared to the unbranded Bose speakers Fiat use in other models.

I have been considering upgrading the front speakers on my 100hp. Quick question, are the speaker adapters essential or can speakers be fitted straight into the existing holes?

AlanHod said:

I have been considering upgrading the front speakers on my 100hp. Quick question, are the speaker adapters essential or can speakers be fitted straight into the existing holes?

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Hi Alan you certainly need the spacers otherwise it will foul against the window plus it only has 3 fixing holes. So yes they are essential buddy.

Thunderbug said:

I agree with Paul100HP about the standard speakers, yes they look and feel awfully cheap, but i've messed around with the EQ, treble & bass to get a good sound. I'll only upgrade the speakers if they fail. I've used Dynamat which helps to improve the quality.

Will replace the standard Headunit with a touchscreen one.

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If it's the 6 speaker system then you are good to go, if not then replace both the the headunit and speakers.

vish100hp said:

Hi Alan you certainly need the spacers otherwise it will foul against the window plus it only has 3 fixing holes. So yes they are essential buddy.

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Thanks for that! Just got to decide what speakers to get now!!

Mid and tweets are in, alpine tweeters look at home. I didnt flush mount the front tweeters as i angled them for better soundstaging

I am an Audiophile and I find the sound on the Active is ok, it is not HIFI buit not quite lofi either. It is what I expect on what it is a very cheap car, if this was a Focus size car then I would agree it is crap.

Worst sounding car I have known was the Punto MK1 the front woofers were too small and they sounded truely awful.

I might upgrade my head unit on my Panda as I could do with an AUX input, I am using an FM transmitter atm which is crap. I don't think I will upgrade the speakers though as it seems like too much of a big job.

Does the head unit on the Active not have an AUX select? If it does you can connect a 3.5mm jack lead into the back of the head unit and voila you can use the AUX to play your Ipod etc. I did this on both my 100hp and previous MJ.

I agree, FM transmitters are just useless.

No I would need one of these for that:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fiat-Panda-Bl...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4aa885cf8b

I have a much more basic Blaupunkt unit which is half height, I assume though my Panda will take any head unit without the need to buy the adapter as it already has one.

Not my car but mine is idenitcal you can see the head unit is half the height of other Pandas.



My existing head unit is slightly scratched due to when some scrotes tried to knick it so I would quite like to replace it for cosmetic reasons too. I don't mind a none standard head unit but it does need to match the rest of the colour and I would need to check it dosn't cause issues with my insurance.

I think all you can do is change your head unit really.

I've never heard of changing your head unit affecting insurance. I've changed head units on many cars I've owned. Never considered it anything to do with insurance really.

Finally got the sub in, took me alot longer then expected having found i had to do extra work, such as cutting a shape into the carpet to flush fit the sub and screw it down to the floor pan (carpet is raised slightly with soundproofing)

I found a connector cable which seems to be the connection for the subwoofer? This helped as laying the cables was easy enough and followed all the rest of the cables to the bulk head and headunit.

Will write up more soon!

Speakers ordered today. Went for some JBL (CS-6C) components that look like fairly standard speakers, which is what I wanted. Just going to change the fronts first. Will let you know how they are once fitted.

trackdayqueen said:

I think all you can do is change your head unit really.

I've never heard of changing your head unit affecting insurance. I've changed head units on many cars I've owned. Never considered it anything to do with insurance really.

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Yeah I need to decide what to do, the CD player actually sounds quite good (ten times better than the Punto MK1 for example) and because of the crap speakers I don't think I will get any sonic benefits in upgrading the head unit, but I really could do with that aux input.

My finance agreement says I am not allowed to modify the car in anyway but I plan to keep it for ever anyway and if I do hand it back I can put the original unit back in it.

How easy would it be to change? I may get a garage to do it.

AlanHod said:

Speakers ordered today. Went for some JBL (CS-6C) components that look like fairly standard speakers, which is what I wanted. Just going to change the fronts first. Will let you know how they are once fitted.

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Good stuff Alan

If your hands on and used to pulling things apart this should be a breeze. If i remember three cross head screws along the bottom of the panel, one behind the door handle/tweeter.

The door handle is cover istricky to get off, i snapped one clip faffing about with it, start from the front when taking it out (the arch side) while simultaneously pulling the other side...youll know what i mean.

Then the two arm rest bolt and pull the door card off without breaking the clips best to get a proper tool like panel popper.

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/second-skin-panel-popper.html

You'll need to cut the original speaker wire and clip on some spade connectors, then you are good to go.

Have fun!

V

vish100hp said:

Good stuff Alan

If your hands on and used to pulling things apart this should be a breeze. If i remember three cross head screws along the bottom of the panel, one behind the door handle/tweeter.

The door handle is cover istricky to get off, i snapped one clip faffing about with it, start from the front when taking it out (the arch side) while simultaneously pulling the other side...youll know what i mean.

Then the two arm rest bolt and pull the door card off without breaking the clips best to get a proper tool like panel popper.

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/second-skin-panel-popper.html

You'll need to cut the original speaker wire and clip on some spade connectors, then you are good to go.

Have fun!

V

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I've changed speakers before so I should be fine. I've already had one of those covers off and noticed there was no screw in the hole!! On my old Grande Punto the speakers were riveted in. Are the front speakers in a panda the same?

The speakers I have ordered have a wiring kit/loom (with a tiny in line cross over) with crimped ends for the woofer and tweeter. Just need to connect the existing speaker wire to the 'loom' with some crimps. Simple