General Sound system

[JoshRobo87]

Good day, my Doblo and I have done a fare few miles in the 8 months of marriage and the one thing that bugs me beyond even the slightly squeaky drivers seat is the sound system! I like all genres of music but like it really clear at when playing rock....LOUD, anything above 20 and your struggling, when I bought it I instantly saw the blaupunkt head unit and thought it must be pretty decent.......WRONG! To top it off the radio only finds classic FM! Ggrr

 

[Andoo]

Your last problem first, I would suggest checking out the antennae ground is clean. Or even the antennae itself....

The other problem isn't the head unit, but the speakers. They will be generic paper units which can likely handle all of 20 watts.

Bin them and replace them with a nice set of JBL equivalents or even a set of Vibes http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_865319_langId_-1_categoryId_265869

I had these in a Citroen, but removed them and plan to install them in the Doblo. Cracking speakers, but they do need some enrichment from a sub woofer

 

[legrandefromage]

Replacing the drive units is a start but its their location that doesnt help. I got fed up and installed a set of cheap hifi speaker cabinets in the back instead.

When I measured the oem drive units, they were a good 20db down on a normal off the Halfords shelf speaker - they were almost acting like a resistor rather than a speaker.

The speakers in the dash need a crossover network of some sort as they simply are not designed to handle any bass whatsoever. The door speakers are located in a way that there is no back pressure or a way for them to act as a sound board. Any low frequency from them is lost to air unlike an enclosed speaker design that reverberates and amplifies the sound so you hear it as bass and mid.

Other manufacturers can do a really good job on their audio whereas Fiat seem to leave it last.

Even the facelift model sounds just as bad.

Dont get hung up on wattage either - 1w can generate up to 100 decibels (db) so changing the drive units to 1 billion watt Halfords wont change a thing when the car stereo generates about 12 watts in the real world.


5 watts on a normal 'hifi' system is usually loud enough to have a party with. :slayer:

If Fiat had placed their standard speakers in a better way, we wouldnt be typing this.

 

[JoshRobo87]

Cheers guys, I'm looking at a set of new door speakers and a head unit with a USB port, will consider a sub/amp once I see if the sound is any better

 

[Andoo]

If I may offer one little bit of advice?

Try to get a head unit where the wiring harness terminates in the back of the stereo rather than having them hanging out the back.

Reason being is the SERIOUS lack of room in the stereo compartment in the Doblo!

I tried to fit my excellent DVD head unit, but the wiring was too short to fit under the dash and when the head unit was pushed home, it stuck out at least an inch :bang:

Just another silly feature of the "oops! we should have designed a dash where a stereo could go, but lets just stick a plastic bit on top" FIAT design department

Here is a link to what I mean....the plugs go into the rear of the stereo

Amazon.com: Boss Car Sterio Head Unit 16-pin Wire Harness Power Plug CD MP3 DVD: Car Electronics


As opposed to this....

http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/kenwood.html

 

[johnhififan]

I quite like the high position of the stereo but I know what you mean it is difficult to get the wires in with an external connector. I did just manage it with my pioneer by laying the cables flat such that they fold up behind the unit.

 

[legrandefromage]

Take the stereo out, shine a torch in and you'll see what is blocking everything - a big lump of bendy plastic. cut that out and just about anything will fit.

There are two screws that make access a wee bit easier but not much. To take the whole 'lid' off, you'll need to access the screws behind the fascia containing the window switches/ knobs etc. I couldnt be arsed with all that so yoinked out the interfering plastic just by lifting the lid a little from the back.

I'm for putting speakers in the rear door as I need the space a sub takes up.

 

[TomPlumb]

Nice

 

[TomPlumb]

Nice!

 

[actionman37]

i fitted an Alpine CDE-9880 in mine & also replaced the 2 door speakers as well as the tweaters in the dash. I chose Fly speakers as i got a good deal on them even though i've always used Alpine speakers in other cars.

Anyways, sound is greatly improved & the HU has a USB port so i have about 16gb of my own music to choose from instead of listening to rubbish radio!

Oh & yeh, getting the massive audioleads loom to fit behind the HU was a long winded job. Took me ages to get it all to sit out of the way so the HU could be fully pushed into place