new deck for christmas NEED HELP

[ching blong]

I got a new deck for christmas an Alpine CDE-9874 im not really into car audio but since my dad bought me this i thought i might try and do somthing with it. first off i have a 1992 volvo 740 wagon it has a 4 spearker configuration 4.5s in the back and i think 4.5s in the front. the speakers in the car are stock right . what im wondering is how i can increase my sound quality on a poor teenagers budget?(approx $200.00 )The guy at the place i had the deck installed said that one 10 inch sub would really help. but if i put a sub in i need an amp and a box and i need to get it wired, right? I was thinking about maybe just replacing the stock speakers. I'm not looking to impress anyone but i would like my system to sound acceptable. thanks alot for the help

-Phil

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[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

yea change the stock speakers bro. then u can go from there

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

if you amp up your stock speakers it may help. i did that in my crx, went from h/u power to amp power on the speakers and it made a worldly difference... on top of that if you purchased upgraded non 16 year old speakers i bet it would help alot too //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

Speakers first.

Definitely.

From there, go one of two routes - if you feel you're lacking just plain out volume, or SQ at higher volumes (i.e, it distorts when you turn it up), then amp the new speakers.

If you feel those are fine, and you need a better bass response, then go with a sub and amp later.

Or just stick with the speakers. So really one of three ways.

 

[ching blong]

hey thanks alot guys. so i guess speakers is the way to go... is their a certian type i should get? and is speaker replacement a hard do-it-yourself job?

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

hey thanks alot guys. so i guess speakers is the way to go... is their a certian type i should get? and is speaker replacement a hard do-it-yourself job?

Ha, nah, not nearly so - especially if you get the same size of speakers.

It's a matter of removing either the door panels or speaker covers, however you need to do it to gain access - and unscrewing the old speaker, snipping off the wires, stripping the wires, connecting it to the new speaker, and screwing it back down in where the other was.

If you wire up an amplifier - it gets exponentially more complicated (relatively speaking) but it's still fairly easy to do yourself as long as you prepare ahead of time for what you'll need.

As for speakers? You say you have 4.5" speakers?.. That would be odd.

And checking crutchfield, you are completely correct. The sizes are quite odd.

Now - here you go. According to crutchfield, you can fit 3.5" speakers in the dash, 4" in the front door, and 5.25" in the rear doors.

You'll need to find good speakers of those sizes (for an easy installation - if you want a more high quality system, you'd need to do some modifications, and a bit of work) - and inside your price range.

I'd say look at spending around the first $150 on the front sets, and just $50 on the back.

If I had to make a recommendation - the Image Dynamics coaxials, http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=909 - would be good. I'd also recommend a brand such as Rainbow - http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=7070 - as an excellent sounding product. These would be operating under the assumption that you leave the dash mounted speakers alone. Which, as an fyi, might be good - your HU will only put out power for four speakers. So, you would need to decide on the combination you would want to go for. I'd say the rainbow's would be the best - but either one you can't go wrong with, and the ID's are cheaper, by about $60.

In my opinion, I would use one good pair of front speakers, and one cheap pair of rear ones. But that's up to you. Anyways, to recommend a *decent* cheap pair of coaxials that would fit - http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=6377 - the pioneer speakers I've seen usually sound decent, for the price at least - and the front is more important, typically.

Also, I'm recommending lower power speakers - on the assumption that you want an easy installation, with no mounting problems, and am not planning on upgrading with an amplifier later. If you want to upgrade later on with a more high quality system, you're almost certainly going to have to do some modifications to fit some larger speakers for the front. But, let me know - I'll give you different recommendations then, more suitable to your situation.

Now that I've made you read a whole page - yes, certain type, certain brand - you need the right sizes, or you'll need to do some work - and you want a good brand, otherwise it won't nearly sound as good as it's capable of. Protip: Stay away from Dual's and Sony's.

 

[ching blong]

wow thanks alot. theres only one problem for some reason i only have dash spakers and rear ones the front speakers have an indent , kinda like an outline of a speaker but theres no hole if theres no wiring which i doubt there is how hard would it be to wire those speakers? anyways so i will ethier have to replace the dash speakers instead of the front or undertake a major modifiation to put in front speakers. is their that much difference between the dash speakers ansd the front door ones?

i did some shopping around and im thinking about these

kicker3.5 in 2way speakers

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=2508

Kicker 4" 2-Way Speakers With Grills( id put these in the back because i think thats whats in there now the guy at the the place i had my head unit installed said they were 4" ones)

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=2509

i dont know if kicker is a good brand but hey were cheap

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

wow thanks alot. theres only one problem for some reason i only have dash spakers and rear ones the front speakers have an indent , kinda like an outline of a speaker but theres no hole if theres no wiring which i doubt there is how hard would it be to wire those speakers? anyways so i will ethier have to replace the dash speakers instead of the front or undertake a major modifiation to put in front speakers. is their that much difference between the dash speakers ansd the front door ones?
i did some shopping around and im thinking about these

kicker3.5 in 2way speakers

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=2508

Kicker 4" 2-Way Speakers With Grills( id put these in the back because i think thats whats in there now the guy at the the place i had my head unit installed said they were 4" ones)

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=2509

i dont know if kicker is a good brand but hey were cheap

If the guy there said they were 4", they might be - I'd usually go with crutchfield's guesses though first off. You can always check it yourself pretty easily. If it is a larger size, then you can just go with the 5.25" speakers. Not much of a price difference.

If you have dash mounted speakers, and no front door speakers, then yes, by all means, replace those instead - it'll be much easier on you.

So, if you want to go cheap - those kickers won't be bad by any means. They're not outstanding, either, but they'll probably satisfy you if your just looking for a small simple upgrade.

As far as budget brands go, I'd say going with kicker, pioneer, kenwood, alpine, or one of those mainstream brands won't be bad. Just don't expect something to blow you away and shake the car up, especially off the head unit alone, from them. But, it'll be cheap for you - and I can personally say that's always good. I really like the pioneer's, but I haven't personally heard the kickers, so I can't comment much on them. Regardless, it's got a decent reputation as a good brand.