Car audio buying advice

[HersheyPAGreg]

I'm looking to get some advice on an audio system for my 80 Spider. I'm hoping to get decent sound on a limited budget, hopefully under $500 when it's all through. I don't know much at all about audio equipment so I'm looking for advice on what I need and what would be compatible. For starters my car currently has an old AM/FM cassette player and there are two speakers in the front, none in the rear. I'll be scrapping these old pieces and buying something new.

For a new receiver, I would mostly use the FM radio and play songs on my iPhone. As far as loudness goes, I'm just looking to be able to hear the music reasonably well with the top down. I'll probably want to add rear speakers and an amplifier. I've done some reading on this site and elsewhere but haven't really made sense yet of the power aspects of all this.

I have some links below for a receiver, speakers and an amplifier, could anyone tell me if these would be compatible power-wise with each other and if they'd be sufficient for what I want to achieve?

Thanks in advance,

Greg

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-bui ... Id=4352800

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/kenwood-bui ... Id=2602031

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-6-5 ... Id=4330830

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-240 ... Id=9563374

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/kicker-cx-s ... Id=7707052

[124JOE]

if you want to play music from your phone you want a sterio with bluetooth
i have a alpine from 2014 that has a plug for my phone
as for the rest i have boston acustic 2" speakers mounted under the dash"hanging"
2 6x9s on the back seat and 2 10"woofers in a box on the back seat
also in the trunk i have a 400watt amp that has 6 outputs 2 for tweeters and 2 for mids"6x9"
and 2 for woofers
its a special amp

it IS loud
i have had this set up for 15 years although i changed the sterio a few times

[lglade]

I just put a Blaupunkt Barcelona 230 into my car; it was modestly priced but has all the features that I wanted. AM/FM radio and Bluetooth to my IPhone with a USB connector on the front. You can use it's internal amp or add your own. It looks good too...not too high-tech looking for a 30+ year old car, nor too antiquated. It was also a little less deep than some other units making it an easy fit into my console. I replaced the speakers in my map pockets and am sorting out some rear speakers now.

[bluespider262]

I would start slow and see what you need from there.

Replace the head unit with a new 40w/ch unit for about $100, and replace the existing under dash speakers again with something around $100 for the pair. For the head unit, get bluetooth and a USB port that is on the front. I wouldn't even mess with CDs anymore, esp. in a car environment. JVC makes nice units w/out CD and they are only 3 inches deep which makes them very easy to mount in a spider. When shopping for speakers, look esp. at speaker sensitivity, stated in db. The higher you can find, the louder the speakers can theoretically go given the same input power vs. lower sensitivity speakers, and you want ever last ounce of sound in a convertible.

After replacing just these core components, you might find that's enough. But if at that point you find you need more of something...more volume, more deep bass, etc. the cost starts going up quickly.

I lived with 5x7" dash speakers in my old Jeep for years and it got plenty loud on the highway, and remained clear and not distorted, but the bass didn't go deep at all. I had to spend a little more than your budget on top of that to get reasonably deep bass on the interstate, and it took me two tries to find a good amp/sub combo, so it technically cost me even more. But its shockingly good now.

Bass in a convertible is tough. Since a normal car is "sealed" it greatly boosts the bass whereas a convertible has little if any reinforcement to help get the sound levels. So you need more amp and better woofers vs. a closed top to get similar results.

I'm not going the same route in my spider. I'm going to keep it conservative and probably just update the head and under dash speakers.

Did I mention how hard it is to fit a sub behind the rear seat of a Jeep CJ?

[HersheyPAGreg]

Thanks for the replies guys. The advice to start slow and see what I need from there makes sense. I googled 40 w/ch head unit and stumbled on to this: http://www.sony.com/electronics/in-car- ... ex-xb100bt

It has a built in amplifier (one less thing to install) and paired with Sony's XS-XB Series speakers it should be loud enough to go with just 2 speakers instead of 4. It probably doesn't fit in my dash but maybe I could put it in the glove box instead?

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Greg

[124JOE]

yes with a few mods you can put it in the dash
also its a bit flashy you may want to put it in the glove box

[bluespider262]

That looks like a nice unit but keep in mind Watts are not linear. It won't be twice as loud as a 40-50W/peak head unit. Frankly that $100 is probably better invested in a 200W external amp than more watts in the head unit (that you won't even notice since its only about 3DB louder than a 50W head unit.) Sony has a 500W 2 channel amp for less than $100 and that will give you much cleaner headroom for less money.

For anyone looking for good options for ~ $100 this is a nice unit and pretty hard to beat for the money.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_403 ... 10BTX.html

I had the S210 in a Jeep I sold last year and it was a great head unit w/ really good sub tuning settings vs. most heads of this price range. Lots of filter settings for the sub outputs make properly dialing in a sub - if you add one later - very simple. This is one step up from that and has Bluetooth where the 210 needed an add-on for that.

JVC also has a similar model for maybe $20 less (EDIT - I see the price has fallen quite a bit on these - this is a really good deal for $85) but the sub tuning options are lesser and the display has less resolution so it looks a bit more unrefined than the Sony. I have this one in another Jeep currently and its also a very good, safe choice. It cost > $100 about a year ago so its even more competitive for $85.

Sonix is a great vendor. I've purchased systems for three vehicles from them the past 3-4 years and always very happy with them. Crutchfield is best avoided IMHO. Their prices just aren't competitive anymore.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_918 ... 30BTS.html

[DieselSpider]

We get a little crazy putting pure sound into a convertible. Open air and concert hall sound just don't work that well together. Big attraction for thieves too. The JVC Broadcast Digital FM unit for under $100 is the way to go and hide any amp or extra goodies in the trunk.

Turning the tunes off before pulling into your final destination will limit the sound system thieves attracted to your car since all they will hear is engine and exhaust.

[HersheyPAGreg]

That looks like a nice unit but keep in mind Watts are not linear. It won't be twice as loud as a 40-50W/peak head unit. Frankly that $100 is probably better invested in a 200W external amp than more watts in the head unit (that you won't even notice since its only about 3DB louder than a 50W head unit.) Sony has a 500W 2 channel amp for less than $100 and that will give you much cleaner headroom for less money.

For anyone looking for good options for ~ $100 this is a nice unit and pretty hard to beat for the money.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_403 ... 10BTX.html

Ok, I see what you're saying. So let's say I went with the Sony you suggest or the JVC. The Sony is listed at Peak: 52 watts x 4 channels
RMS: 17 watts x 4 channels, the JVC is listed at Peak: 50 watts x 4 channels RMS: 22 watts x 4 channels. For either of those, what power handling do the speakers have to have? Peak: ? watts RMS: ? watts. That stuff is something I still don't understand. If I wanted an amp, what power rating would that need to be?

Thanks!

Greg

[Nanonevol]

Then when buying speakers, you want to consider the sensitivity rating which relates to volume. A more efficient speaker will have a high sensitivity and play noticeably louder.

[124JOE]

well a 200 watt amp puts out good sound
and a 400 watt amp is even louder
just be sure your speakers are matched or the same but not lower
ie 200 watt amp needs 200 watt speakers or higher
or you will blow the speakers when you crank it up
however if you dont crank it up your chances of blowing a speaker is less

[DieselSpider]

Just do not go to far overboard on the speakers. A 400 watt speaker may not be a very high efficiency design and may not put out as much clean sound on a 200 watt amp as HED 200 watt speaker on a 100 watt amp. 100 watts of clean sound is better than 400 dirty watts.

[bluespider262]

Generally any $100 speaker's power capabilities will exceed a $100 head unit so I wouldn't dwell on it too much.

Sensitivity is what you are after. A 91db speakers vs. a 88db speaker is the same as literally doubling your amp wattage, i.e. going from 40W to 80W. So you want a higher number in your speaker to start with to maximize your chance of success in a convertible IMHO.

Basically that number is how loud the speaker gets w/ 1W of power at a distance of 1M from the speaker.

Generally you trade efficiency for power handling and/or low bass. Its a triangle - you can have two of the three essentially. So if you favor high powered, very low bass response speakers, they can't be efficient of they would defy the rules of physics. Smaller dash speakers can't do low bass anyways so there's no sense "optimizing" those for it so stick with something 90db or higher in sensitivity instead. Essentially its like a free amp upgrade vs. something in the mid 80's. If you need more bass beyond that we'll talk about strategies for a sub depending on your tastes.

These look good "on paper" but I haven't heard this particular line of JBLs.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_539 ... TO529.html

Note that they are about the highest efficiency speakers sonic sells in 5.25". They also have cast speaker frames. You will notice most speakers are stamped sheet metal. A cast frame generally indicates a higher quality speaker. JBL can be a mixed bag but they have essentially dominated the pro sound market since the beginning. Some of this technology trickles down to their consumer products. They have butyl rubber surrounds, which will last forever. Foam is also common but only has a life of about 10-20 years before it disintegrates. They also have a cloth tweeter which should sound less shrill than a metal dome.

There's some 5.25" JL audios that also look decent - cast frames as well - but few db less sensitive @ 89db IIRC. I wouldn't go below that in sensitivity.

Avoid things with chrome skulls, etc. on them.

[HersheyPAGreg]

Thanks for all the advice fellas, I appreciate it

Greg