Looking for a HU+Speaker solution

[shpongled]

Hello everybody! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I decided to change the factory tuner and speakers on my car and I need your help!

here's the list of requirements:

• first thing -- quality over quantity (if quantity is used for loudness, as in dB)
  the goal is to get quality of sound and a "sonic resolution" (but not in audiophile terms //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif) and not the vibration of plates and letting everyone know whats playing //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

• the previously mentioned goal should be done only by changing the HeadUnit and front door 2-way-system speakers (which are 6,5''), so no sub, extra amps or such...

• money available is 350-400 $ (USD), some of you might say - "you can't get any quality for that money" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif , but please, try to suggest a best-buy solution

• HeadUnit must have USB support, optimized for larger (external USB) devices, not iPod! (some devices are optimized for iPod, which renders larger USB devices very slow when searching)

• HeadUnit must have somewhat a buffer, so that CDs don't skip on every bump on the road //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

• electronic music will be played on the system with some real instruments and such (which means kick-bass quality isn't of most importance, but still important //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif)

• quality of sound that will be played: originals, MP3 320, or in worst case MP3 VBR V0/V2

Here's the list of current candidates for HU:

Pioneer DEH-4000UB

Pioneer DEH-5000UB

Pioneer DEH-P6000UB

JVC KD-G351

JVC KD-G632

JVC KD-G731

Here's the list of current candidates for speakers:

Hertz (160 W peak) forgot the exact model

DLS in the same quality range as Hertz

Alpine SPE-17CS

Pioneer TS-H1704

Pioneer TS-H1703

Pioneer TS-E176C

Focal 165 A1

One member on a car-audio forum suggested the following:

JVC KD-G731 + Focal 165 A1 + front car door damping

Any suggestion is very welcome! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Click to read more...

 

[shpongled]

I got a new suggestion for speakers today, so please comment //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

JBL GTO650 (some say it's better than Focal 165 A1 -- please comment!)

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Get a Premier 690UB and try to find these

Might be a little over your 400 dollar budget, but well worth it.

I want to try the Boston Pros, but I haven't heard them.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx 10+ year member]

I can tell you that you will not be pleased at all if you do not amp the speakers. No way you will get any decent loudness or midbass without amping them. I would buy a headunit for ~$200, an amp for ~125, and speakers for ~175 to get the most out of you system. Pioneer seems to be a better hu for hard drives, so I'd go with one of those. You can get a nice 4 ch. amp and run it bridged for example a zx350.4 will do about 170w rms bridged at 4 ohms. Then I would invest in some nice speakers and sound deadening. I personally have the Rainbow slc-265cs and I love them, good quality and they get loud, but they lack midbass, so if you don't have a sub they might not be that great. Try hertz, but they are expensive.

 

[shpongled]

thnx for the reply! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

@TurdFergueson2

please tell me why that HU (690UB) unit and those speakers (TS-C720PRS)?

@xxBURT0Nxx

budget is very limited as you can see //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif thats why i mentioned that i'm interested only in quality of the sound, not the loudness...

it can play 20-30W RMS, but if it's decent sound (since i'm into originals) the goal is achieved //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

EDIT: it seems DEH-P690UB isn't available in Europe... :/

 

[xxBURT0Nxx 10+ year member]

I guess, I would just reccommend that you save up and buy an amp too.... just my .02 but maybe others will be able to help you without buying an amp.. idk.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

thnx for the reply! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
@TurdFergueson2

please tell me why that HU (690UB) unit and those speakers (TS-C720PRS)?

@xxBURT0Nxx

budget is very limited as you can see //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif thats why i mentioned that i'm interested only in quality of the sound, not the loudness...

it can play 20-30W RMS, but if it's decent sound (since i'm into originals) the goal is achieved //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

EDIT: it seems DEH-P690UB isn't available in Europe... :/

Dude, I didn't even notice you were out of the country. I suggested the DEH-P690UB from pioneer from having used it for a while.

The speakers I have not heard one bad thing about. They are the ones I will be possiblly getting soon. I have a lower end pair of components from Pioneer and I like those, so I can only go up from those.

But for your budget, I would suggest those, but I am not sure how European electricity and american stuff works though.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

A car is a 12v system around the world...

An amp will make the biggest difference in the sound of the setup. It doesn't need to be much power at all. The greatly reduced distortion compared to the "amp" in the HU is night an day. Even a cheap 25-50w amp will make a world of improvement. In fact used to be that 50w was considered a lot for front speakers.

A set of decent coax speakers on an amp will sound better than a good set of components on HU power pretty much every time.

 

[shpongled]

thnx for the suggestions guys! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

i didn't knew that HU's "amp" can bring significant distortion

btw. one of the biggest issues with amp's for me is space, i can't afford to waste any space in the car (it's a small car //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif)

so i wonder which HU's have decent built-in amps? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

it's a waste to buy decent speakers if the HU by it self can't use more than 70% of the quality right? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif (please remember that i'm interested only in quality, not loudness!)

 

[xxBURT0Nxx 10+ year member]

Most decks have the same MOSFET 50x4 which puts out 22-27 wrms. Not enough to power speakers for sq imo. I would venture to say that a pair of $80 speakers will sound better off an amplifier than a pair of $250 speakers will sound off a head unit almost every time.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

There are some really small amps out there. I've got some amps from the early 90's that are about the size of a paperback book. The Alpine PDX series come to mind as some of the smallest for the power that they put out. You can simply put the amp under the seat if space is an issue.

You don't need a lot of power, but headroom will help keep the distortion to a minimum. That's what the HU amps lack is headroom. Most of them can't do 17w with distortion limited to 1%. Figure with a 1w reference (which is really not enough to get the sound level above the noise floor of most cars) you're looking at a dynamic range of a whole 12dB. Going to 100w gives you a 20dB range.

 

[shpongled]

me again //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

well you guys talked me into it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I'm gonna go with the amp, but first I need to gather some more money...(in 3-4 months or so)

but for now, which HU? Pioneer vs JVC? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

on two places so far I heard that JVC has better sound than Pioneer? hmh? please help //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[.... 10+ year member]

I've ran pioneer for like a decade and lovd them all ( except for the 5700- that thing sucks ) and recently tried a jvc kd avx-33 and I hate the radio for a bunch of reasons...

 

[shpongled]

Hey guys... it's me again //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I got a decent discount so I went for Alpine...

Here's what I got installed now:

Alpine CDE-9882Ri

Focal Access 165 A1

After 10-20 mins of listening I found this to be completly true:

I can tell you that you will not be pleased at all if you do not amp the speakers. No way you will get any decent loudness or midbass without amping them.

Got some great "sonic scene" of the music, but after going above "21" on the volume meter the midbass sounds distorted and bad... but bellow that it's just amazing!!
So I'm now starting to save money for the amp... it'll take some 3-4 months, but I can wait //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I want to buy a decent one, since the HU & speakers are pretty decent (imho) and the goal is to use their full potential //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Also, about the space - helotaxi mentioned there are small amps available on the market... I don't know is it possible to store an amp somewhere up front, like in the glove-box or such? I guess a small one is enough since the speakers are 120W peak?

Here's some info on the speakers:

Focal Access 165 A1

2-way separate

Tweeter TN 44, aluminum inverted dome tweeter

Separate Crossover 12/12dB/octave (4,8kHz) with adjustable tweeter 3 level settings

Max. power handling 120W

Nom. power handling 60W

Sensitivity (2,8V/1m) 92dB

Frequency response 60Hz-20KHz

Every suggestion is very welcome guys, and thanks a bunch for the help so far!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wave.gif.002382ce7d7c19757ab945cc69819de1.gif