Upgrading Punto Audio - Need Advice!

[AJKing]

Hello there, this is my first post in this forum and the first time I haveever messed with a car's audio system, so go easy on me!

I have bought my Fiat Punto (02), its an mk2. The stock speakers(and head unit) are dreadful so I want to upgrade the speakers, but before I start spending money I'd liketo get opinions and suggestions on possible complications to what I have planned.

My aim is to change the following:


Head Unit:

Alpine CDE-114BTi


Tweeters in the front doors, both door speakers and connect them with anamp. Here are the parts I’m looking at using:

1" Vibe Black Air - 180W Max.

6.5" Vibe Slick 6 Co-Axial Speakers - 240W Max.

Legacy 4 Channel Amp - 300W


Speakers in the rear of the car, parcel shelf speakers. Using 2 separateamps for this:

4" Vibe Black Death Pro - 300W Max. - Powered by Renegade 380W Amp

6x9" Sony XS-F6937SE - 300W Max. - Powered by Legacy 300W Amp


Planning on connecting it all up to a Vibe Lanzar 8 band EQ to adjust levels to get the bestquality sound.

I know many of these parts are relatively cheap compared to whatis on the market, but I don't want to spend much more than £500, and theseparts (inc. wiring) will cost not much more than this. I understand this isquite a lot of wiring to get this lot working, but I'm more than happy to doit, I just need to know if there are any reasons this would not work or if thiswould sound bad? I'm looking for a clear sound, reasonable bass and I'm not interested in ridiculous volume levels.

Thanks

 

[HickRm]

Hi you will learn a hell of a lot for the guys/ girls on here. First off £500 is a really good budget for a start off sound system I did mine on way less and it sounds good.

I've had a look at the headunit and it seems ok I'm not sure of the price you can get it for but if you are going to have three amps then ideally you are lacking in the preout department as you will need 3. Try and get one that has a higher preout then 2v as this will help with sound quality.

For the set up I would have it so you have good component speakers upright, and a sub (rear speakers are a personal preference but most of us lose them as it pulls the sound stage out). And if you want a good sounding system lose the 6x9's as they arent used in 99.9% of good sound installs (pet hate of most audiophiles).

Hence my set up like most I would assume is Headunit, Amp running front components and another amp running a sub. I have a JL sub ran by a DLS amp and soon to be DLS speakers ran by JL amp (forget the names of everything as running on 3 hours sleep today lol

)

visit http://www.knukonceptz.com/ for wiring kits as they are ace.

btw.....JL make good sound quality amps for good value. Alpine are good for SQ and personally I wouldnt touch Vibe in £500 install or any for that matter as you can get better especially SQ wise. Brands that are good JL, Focal and DLS for the money, will help with specific ones in my next post when have more time.

 

[volxstu]

Have you considered second hand? That plan isn't going to give you great sound quality.
I'll start by outlining a list of equipment that makes for the best sounding system.

Reasonable head unit. Second hand from a trusted source will be fine. The more you spend on this bit the better the result. Time alignment will be great and you ideally want 2 sets of RCAs or more.

A set of components up front. This has the mid woofer and tweeter seperate. Then you can put them in the mirror adjust panel (or sail panel if you know the real names of things) or even better they can be put into the a pillars with a small amount of effort.

An amp to run front speakers.

Then you need a sub and amp. It doesn't have to boom the car to bits but normally mid woofers strugle to get lower than 70hz. There is so much in music from 20-70hz that it sounds wrong without it.

No need for anything in the back. It just makes things sound muddled. A good sound system will sound like the singers are on the bonnet and the instruments even further than that. Many of us even build our subs into the dash so the low frequencies sound right in front of us.

Avoid vibe, lanzar and all that jazz. Look for DLS, JL and the hertz high energy range, diamond etc etc.
Also rather than cause issues and expense by using a cheap external EQ, put the money towards a head unit with time alignment as these will have good EQs built in.

 

[AJKing]

Alright guys,

Thanks so much for the advice... It will deffinately help! What is your suggestion for the rear speakers of the car? Disconnect the stock speakers or just leave them as you probably won't hear them anyway

Any ideas where I can get a new drivers side sail panel? Its cracked and rattles slightly with the stock tweeter (don't ask me how that thing makes a vibration), so I'd rather get it changed before I put a component tweeter in there and have to fuss around with it again later...

Any suggestions for the components? There are so many and I want to be careful how I divide up my budget so I don't waste too much on the wrong bit!

 

[volxstu]

I'll have a look for some speaker suggestions tomorrow but you should be able to get a Sail panel from the breakers or eBay.