6 replies to this topic

[kzk260]

Hi guys,

I'm chasing some advice or recommendations for an upgrade I'm wanting to do on my xr6 turbo. At the moment, it has stock (premium sound) front and rear speakers being driven by an Alpine CDA-9815's internal amp and a Polk 10" dvc sub in a sealed box being driven by a crappy 4 channel amp. I also have a car PC doing mp3, nav, tyre pressures, obd2, etc into a hacked input on the 9815.

The problem; a) it doesn't sound very good, and b) I think the head unit is introducing noise into the system. The noise is a "digital" beeping noise, not following any sort of pattern that I can tell. In fm and aux mode, it is there, but in cd or zero bit mute, it disappears. I've run a new ground a couple of times, even directly to the batt and I can't get rid of it. I also know it isn't the PC or the sub amp, as I have isolated those and it is still there.

So anyway, I'm thinking of upgrading the head unit with one that has a built in Bluetooth hands free module, so I can get rid of the Nokia kit (I have an iPhone if it makes a diff). Can anyone suggest a head unit with such a feature, CD, fm and an aux input? Is digital radio worth getting yet either (I'm in Perth)?

Next upgrade would be to the sub. I've heard that there are a couple of good 8" free air subs that fill the factory hold in the parcel shelf that sound reasonably good. Can anyone recommend me one? I would really like to free my boot space of the big box that is in there! Next would be the speakers. I would like recommendations for the front splits, and is it still general practice to either turn down or disconnect the rears anyway? I would also appreciate an amp recommendation to run the speakers and sub. I would consider a 2/4 channel and a mono for the sub, but would probably prefer a single amp for packaging reasons.

A few notes; I have a large box of dynamat style sound deadening here that should comfortably do the 2 front doors and the parcel shelf, and installation of the other gear is no problem as I've done it before. The sorts of music I listen too is varied, but it is mostly stuff like Powderfinger, Adele, Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House, Calvin Harris, etc. For this upgrade, I have a budget of approx $1000-1500 at the most.

Sorry for the wall of text, but i wanted to give you all of the info i think you would need Thanks for your help guys, it is much appreciated.

[scraverX]

Best way to know if DAB is worthwhile is to get onto the web and look up how many stations are available and what the coverage is like where you are.

If you want things neat and compact either use a 4 channel amp to run your fronts and bridge the remaining two channels for the sub. OR, I seem to recall Arc Audio have a 3 channel in the XXD range.

On the matter of speakers, most people do tend to get a quality set of splits for the front and either, fade out the factory rears OR disconnect. It's really down to personal preference.

[MAS Andrew]

It's the new ARC Audio XDi range ScraverX
The XXD was the old range..
You're right too, will do the job fine, along with ARC 8" woofers.

[scraverX]

MAS Andrew, on 27 January 2012 - 09:23 PM, said:

It's the new ARC Audio XDi range ScraverX
The XXD was the old range..
You're right too, will do the job fine, along with ARC 8" woofers.

Yes, the XDi's was what I meant - Thanks for that Andrew, I answered this at 3 am and my brain may not had been 100% on.

[shiny_car]

Presuming you're not including the cost of pro installation in that budget (which might cost $500+), I would break the budget down roughly into:

*CD HU with BT $350: JVC, Pioneer
*2-way 6.5" splits for front $300: http://www.mobileele...ponents_review/
*4-channel amp $600: Arc Audio XDi803 3-channel, Alpine PDX-4.100, Focal SOLID4
*8" sub $300: Arc 8 sub is RRP$249, so unlikely to be able to afford 2 of them

If going for infinite baffle sub fitment, obviously ensure the sub is designed for this. I've not examined the Arc 8 specs.

[TWENTY B]

Pretty sure he's looking at putting a new sub in the factory location..
They have an 8" mounted in the middle of the parcel shelf
I'm looking at doing the same but higher budget in my BF Fairmont Ghia V8

If you have access to a router and a few other goodies you might squeeze a 10" in the factory spot.

[shiny_car]

TWENTY B, on 31 January 2012 - 02:53 AM, said:

Pretty sure he's looking at putting a new sub in the factory location.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I've just modelled the specs of the Arc 8(D2). On paper, it doesn't really model well for infinite baffle application. However, proof is in the pudding, so if MAS Andrew says otherwise, I can't dispute it. Worth confirming.