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[razzo]

As there has been a few posts about speaker upgrades & going Bose or non Bose route, just wondered what would be a good system for a non Bose equiped Omega without involving major surgery

[Martin_1962]

I fitted Infinity components

[Dave DND]

Advice on replacement speakers from somebody who has built some very large systems over the last 16, including Manufacturer demo cars, competition winners and even a few World Industry Firsts.

Go for a well known brand, don`t buy cheapies or the entry level range, and to keep the sound as balanced as you can, keep all the speakers from the same range / manufacturer as can prevent any cross harmonic cancellation of the sound.

Deals aside, I would not recommend spending less than £100 per component set (pair) as the cheapie speakers around the £50 mark offer little over the standard ones. Spending £150 upwards would probably need an amplifier to do the speakers justice, and don`t go overboard with too large a sub - 10" is fine in the boot for a good rounded sound, leave the 15" and upwards to the Chavs and their Saxo`s.

My daily runabout has the high end Clarion speakers, which sound excellent without breaking the bank - and for sheer indulgance, I have a ultra high end Focal system in another. I have built several demo cars for Kenwood and have also had some surprisingly good results with their mid range stuff.

 

[sev]

Dave, would you be good enough to give Razzo and the rest of us an illustration of a nice install in your opinion, perhaps across a low and mid range budget?

I've been looking into this quite a lot and am still none the wiser!

The harder I look the more confused I become!

The last install I did was with a kenwood head unit and infinity reference fronts and 6x9 rears on top of the shelf on my old rover.

What in your opinion would do the MIG justice?

Is an amp truly necessary, and if I stick a sub in the boot - are there any that will still allow me to use the boot!

I was looking at the single din becker and blaupunkt HU's that have satnav / bluetooth phone capability and ipod links all integrated... untill I saw the price  

The only other thing I really like is the kenwood 5220BT but thet would mean butchery to shoehorn double into single din - which I really can't be arsed with!

Also, I suppose that if I mounted anything on the rear shelf i'd have to commit surgery on the parcel shelf trim as I don't think it's got holes for the speakers under the flocking, given that the blanking plates haven't been knocked out.

Really as you said in the bose post - I think that I can get all the satnav / phone / and jukebox functionality all in one unit now, and it will be current and not look like a load of bolted on bits with wires running into the fascia.  All I want from the sound is a nice clean sound rather than the stuff that would vibrate your doorskins off.  After reading all the previous posts and also the archive early stuff, I really see no reason to keep tradition with the OEM Bose.

[Dave DND]

Choice of head units and speakers are really up to you, and there are so many out there, its really a case of what you want and what the budget is.

If you are not looking to go too mad, and do not want the complications of an amplifier and/sub - then look around for some component speakers (seperate tweeters and x-overs) as a guide, you will notice that many manufacturers have a few different ranges - an entry level range, for those who do not want to spend any money and yet still think they can set the world alight with the sound, ignore this range, and look at the next level up.

Whether is be Focal, Clarion, Infinity, Kenwood, they will all be fairly comparable in price and I would look to spend around £100 to £120 for a decent set of components. These should take a small amplifier at a later date should you want to go down that route, but will at least sound awesome if powered only from an aftermarket head unit. Essential to keep the speakers from the same Manufacturer, by all means put the mid range in the front and the budgets in the back, if thats all you can afford, but dont mix makes.

The headunit is a minefield - loads of gadgets / mp3 etc etc, but again pick a good brand. Blaupunkt/Becker have truly excellent tuners but a little feeble when it comes to cranking up the volume, Pioneer / Kenwood have some good sounds and an excellent range of accessories to expand into, Sony appear have lost the plot over the last couple of years, but my favourite remians the Clarion units. They also do a 24 bit CD player (exceptional sound quality) and also have some models that have a 728 colour choice for the display, so that IT CAN match the miggy nightime display and also have a full range of bluetooth / nav add ons. Check out the Clarion website and give me a yell before you order anything !! Clarion will cost a few quid more than the others, but will be a stereo that will probably outlive your next few cars as you will definately transfer it from one to another. Other thing to point out that we thrive on Kenwood / Pioneer / Sony repairs here, but have not seen a faulty Clarion within warranty for nearly 8 years now !!

Double Din in a single Din hole? Don`t even go there on the Omega !!

[Dave DND]

What sort of budget are you playing with for head unit - budget for speakers, and what features are you after?

I`ll see if I can point you at something specific

 

[Martin_1962]

One thing I will mention is that it is a bid fiddly to mount cross overs within the doors on prefacelifts, facelifts are easy.

AFAIR I mounted them either just above or just below the check strap hole, and above the bass driver.

Facelifts go in the armrest

[sev]

What sort of budget are you playing with for head unit - budget for speakers, and what features are you after?

I`ll see if I can point you at something specific

 

lol, thanks dave, I know about the hole! the only way I was going to work round it was to lose the ashtray and commit major medievalness on the opening - but I gave all that jazz up years ago!

As for the proce I'm undecided at the moment, the paramount is getting the chassis and mechanicals sorted and after that, i'll start to look into tart!

I'm out of touch with the market so i'll look at the clarion website definitely, but I agree with sony, and I never liked the sound quality.

You hit the nail on the head though about taking the install from car to car, so I want something with some legacy contingency.  I'll drop you a PM but I really did like my infinity speakers so perhaps I'll stick with those next time around - or go for a one brand setup complete.

thanks for your advice.  

[Martin_1962]

My Sony H/U is good but then it is 9 or 10 years old

[Dave DND]

My Sony H/U is good but then it is 9 or 10 years old

10 years old? thats a proper Sony! Back in the days that gave them the name they appear to be trading with now. I also used to be a big Sony fan until around 3 or four years ago, when the reliability went through the floor - as far as this years model range, all I can really say is that it is terrible, and marginally better than next years range that will replace it from what I can see.

[TheBoy]

My Sony H/U is good but then it is 9 or 10 years old

10 years old? thats a proper Sony! Back in the days that gave them the name they appear to be trading with now. I also used to be a big Sony fan until around 3 or four years ago, when the reliability went through the floor - as far as this years model range, all I can really say is that it is terrible, and marginally better than next years range that will replace it from what I can see.

I used to be a Sony fan until around 6 years ago as well....

[Martin_1962]

Hmm TVs one is 24 years old the other 9 years old

Amp 10 years old
Home MD 9 and a bit
Car MD just over 9
Sony VCRs 26 years old and 19 years old
Sony video camera 5 years old and playing up

Can I get a MD head unit repaired if it broke?

However looking at new video cameras, price, features & format keep pointing to Sony models

[Martin_1962]

I know what happened, their name was good but the prices were high, so they brought in cheap ranges to catch more customers, unfortunately the cheap stuff gave them a bad name, and stuff which used to be good also had corners cut.

My camera works after a smack and Iwould get it serviced if the service was cheaper than a new video camera.

They are slowly earning their market back, their top end kit is still good and the PS3 is very good value for what it can do.

[Martin_1962]

I bought my MD head unit in a sale down from £250 to £150 because MD was not selling well

MD-CDX5970 AFAIR.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Hmmmm...I wonder.

I have designed a few sub setups based around lower end speakers where you design the enclosure to be the limiting factor on frequency response (this is how you can suffer cheaper speakers as they are no longer the dominent factor in the equation) and then electroncialy compensate in the preamp with suitable filters.

I wonder if this technique could be applied to the awful and limiting cavitiy that is the door?