Fiat Cinquecento Help With Speakers / Head Unit

[Incywincy]

Hi everyone,

I'm a complete newbie (to both the forum and the car mod scene) so bear with me

I was hoping to upgrade the head unit in my Fiat Cinq Sporting to the Alpine CDE-9845R Link

I would also like to upgrade the speakers and was looking at maybe the Alpine SXE-1025S Link or the Alpine SPE-1002 Link but I'm not really sure about the differences between the two.

As this is my first upgrade I was hoping to keep it as simple as possible and I would be grateful for any advice on the following:

1) What cables will I need to do the upgrade (eg, I think I need something like an Autoleads ISO wiring adapter. Do I also need an FM aerial adapter or anything else?)

2) How easy is it to change the speakers and do I need any adapters or do they just plug in?

3) My main reason for upgrade is that the original radio is a cassette player and I want CD/MP3 - however, if I am going to upgrade, I would really like an improvement in sound quality as well. Will replacing the speakers give me an improvement in sound? ie. is it worth changing them if I am putting in ones the same size as the originals?.

Any other advice would be welcome

 

[CinquePunto]

Right first of all, the difference between the 2 speakers is the power handling, ideally you want as high a handling as possible (within reason) so you don't get distortion, but you also dont want too high a handling, or the speaker will draw too much from the HU.

Right...

1) You will need a wiring harness adapter (e.g. Autoleads), if the existing stereo does not have ISO connectors, or I have one lying around somewhere... Aerial should just plug in

2) Speakers will slot straight in, but you will have to cut wires and attach terminals to them as they have big yellow plugs on the end (which don't fit most speakers), You will also need to check grille clearance, but I left mine off because the speakers looked nice

3) The standard speakers in the cinq are, lets be fair, sh**e... so any speaker will be better. because the standard speakers are small, you are only really going to get an impovement in the Mid/High range, but if you like most music, you need a bit of bass to even this out.

You can obviously get a sub, but 6x9s will do the trick if space is limited (get a stealth shelf to protect your investment and get better sound, bonus!)

Hope this gives all the info you need, do not hesitate to ask any more questions.

If you found this useful, don't forget to "report this post to a moderator" for reputation.

 

[Incywincy]

Thanks for your help, I found this very useful.

I don't think I'll go as far as 6x9's yet but maybe in the future......I'll see how my first upgrade goes