Frist speakers

[ShahrumSmith]

Hi guys. I'm jut starting out and am new to car audio. I have an Alpine CDE-185BT headunit. But that's all I've upgraded. I don't have a massive budget. Where do I go from here? I want to buy one thing at a time and make the system good over time. I was thinking speakers next? I was looking at these Alpine SPR-60C 330W 17cm 2-way component speaker system - SPR-60C from Alpine but I don't know how good they are? I want my ears to be ringing when I get out the car, and I also want to feel the base pumping throughout. I would get a sub in time, but was thinking speakers first. Thoughts?

Additionally:

What would it be like to fit?

And what are thoughts on sound deadening things like Dynotmat?

Thanks all. Any help is much appreciated.

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[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

You are gonna want to seal and deaden your doors and then think about buying speakers.look up some tutorials on here.

 

[ShahrumSmith]

Why's that? Does it improve it that much? And does it cost loads?

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

Why's that? Does it improve it that much? And does it cost loads?

When you have unsealed doors air escapes from the holes in the inner door cavity.since sound is produced by the movement of air you do lose considerable output. And it's not expensive compared to most things in this hobby.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

I wouldn't worry about sound deadening and if your current door speakers aren't damaged i wouldn't spend money on upgrading them from the start. The biggest single difference you can make to your system would be to add an amplifier to them. If it were me i'd recommend that you buy a 4 channel amp. You'll run your door speakers off of two channels and when you make your bass speaker purchase you will already have an amp for them. Nothing you will do will make as big of an improvement as an amp.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

I wouldn't worry about sound deadening and if your current door speakers aren't damaged i wouldn't spend money on upgrading them from the start. The biggest single difference you can make to your system would be to add an amplifier to them. If it were me i'd recommend that you buy a 4 channel amp. You'll run your door speakers off of two channels and when you make your bass speaker purchase you will already have an amp for them. Nothing you will do will make as big of an improvement as an amp.

False.

Equipment is only as good as the install. You can have the best equipment in the world and it will sound like ass in an untreated door. On the flip side you can have mediocre equipment with a properly sealed and deadened door and it will sound better than the best equipment in an untreated install.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

False.
Equipment is only as good as the install. You can have the best equipment in the world and it will sound like ass in an untreated door. On the flip side you can have mediocre equipment with a properly sealed and deadened door and it will sound better than the best equipment in an untreated install.

Well we can just agree to disagree. So you think that some aftermarket speakers run off of the headunit will achieve what this guy is looking for? No way i would ever recommend a brand new car audio customer to sound dead his doors at his first priority. I'd be willing to bet as far as legitimate shops not very many of them would either.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Well we can just agree to disagree. So you think that some aftermarket speakers run off of the headunit will achieve what this guy is looking for? No way i would ever recommend a brand new car audio customer to sound dead his doors at his first priority. I'd be willing to bet as far as legitimate shops not very many of them would either.

Hands down a properly sealed and deadened door is the cheapest most cost effective way to improve.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Well we can just agree to disagree. So you think that some aftermarket speakers run off of the headunit will achieve what this guy is looking for? No way i would ever recommend a brand new car audio customer to sound dead his doors at his first priority. I'd be willing to bet as far as legitimate shops not very many of them would either.

Shops that do NOT advise customers to seal or deaden at the time of the install are not so legitimate IMHO. Compare any speaker out in the open playing vs the same speaker in an enclosure. The enclosed speaker ALWAYS sounds a lot better. Same situation with car speakers. If you dont do anything about the rear wave, it'll come around out of the gaps of the car door cavity and cause phase issues with the front wave. Its done the same time as installing aftermarket speakers and recreating factory seal and proper baffle. Best to do both at once. All is necessary.

Any proper shop with actual knowledge that knows the importance of a good install will do everything that needs to be done to get their customers sounding out of this world amazing vs the average joe schmoe/al and eds/best buy or whatever with their sub-par installs sounding absolutely mediocre.

One shop i've been through actually puts on a real time analyzer analyzes vehicle peaks and even accounting in how the seat fabrics affect or obstruct the sound. They pick out quality raw drivers best With the best response curve that matches your vehicle's acoustics and after installing, they RTA tune the vehicle properly with a DSP. Before all of this, they deaden along with mass loaded vinyl creating an amazing listening environment.

 

[rlowride]

most people dont have 1000 dollars to put in 80 dollar door speakers. Most casual listeners just want better sound than factory speakers can give... I would imagine this guy isnt pulling into the lanes to compete yet...

Some of you forgt what its like to be young or on a budget..

Those alpines will sound better than factory. An amp wll help them sound even better... a small sub will bring it all to life.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

most people dont have 1000 dollars to put in 80 dollar door speakers. Most casual listeners just want better sound than factory speakers can give... I would imagine this guy isnt pulling into the lanes to compete yet...

Some of you forgt what its like to be young or on a budget..

Those alpines will sound better than factory. An amp wll help them sound even better... a small sub will bring it all to life.

Its not hard to pull off the plastic on a door yourself. Your missing the point. We arent arguing that it wont sound better. In some cases it wont. As Jeff stated the back waves will rattle around in the door causing cancellation. Its physics. Its a real thing. $100 worth of deadening product and materials to seal holes fixes this. Dropping in new speakers and an amp does not.

The point is for the cost of the speakers he is putting in, it is a more cost effective solution to treat the doors properly and go with a cheaper set of speakers than it is to go straight to that set of speakers with no door treatment.

 

[ShahrumSmith]

Wow thanks all. Yes I'm a student and not on the biggest budget, but I'm willing to spend what necessary on a very good sound system.

I have a number of questions though:

Do I just deaden all the doors?

Would it be easy for me to do?

Why does the amp improve the system?

Also with the deadening, this might sound really stupid, but I have an Mk4 Golf, and there's no noticeable rattle. I think it's very sturdy, I know when I whacked music up full blast in my last car (Renault Clio) I could hear the car rattling, but that doesn't seem to happen in the Golf.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Wow thanks all. Yes I'm a student and not on the biggest budget, but I'm willing to spend what necessary on a very good sound system.
I have a number of questions though:

Do I just deaden all the doors?

Would it be easy for me to do?

Why does the amp improve the system?

Also with the deadening, this might sound really stupid, but I have an Mk4 Golf, and there's no noticeable rattle. I think it's very sturdy, I know when I whacked music up full blast in my last car (Renault Clio) I could hear the car rattling, but that doesn't seem to happen in the Golf.

Just the front mainly, you mainly want to seal up the gaping holes of your car, sound deadening CLD peel and stick material might not even be necessary if the car is built sturdy like you say it is. The problem is the big giant gaps in the door cavities, those need to be covered up and sealed. You dont have to use dynamat(very poor choice in deadener brand btw) You can use mass loaded vinyl (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-4-ft-x-8-ft-Acoustical-Barrier-DB348X96BX/100663624 is cheap and is enough for both doors) or sheet metal if you have tools to do so.

Video on it here.

You can use home depot weatherstrip foam tape as a substitute to save some money.
With an amp giving 100+ watts rms to your speakers, its basically breathing life to them. A lot better sound quality reaching full potential, a decent bit louder etc.. All sorts of sound quality and loudness gainz.

Check out keep_hope_alive's (member on here) build log in the build log section of the forum.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

You can also get closed cell foam between panels to reduce rattle. The rattles will reveal themselves the second you add power. There are blue mats in the camping section at Walmart. They are 3'x8' long mats of Closed Cell Foam you can cutup and put in your doors between panels to prevent those rattles. They are like $4 a mat and 1/2" thick.

 

[831area]

If you buy an amp, I recommend Infinity Kappa Four. Search it on ebay they're like 226 bucks or you can get it refurbished from the Harman page on an auction for like 100+tax\ and its 600 watts.

125wx4@4ohms

150x4@4ohms

300x2@4ohms bridged

It is a really good amp I have it and I love it. Plus it is really cheap.