What kind of ICE you have?

Post by **Chris_C** » 03 Jun 2007 11:49 pm

No worries mate! I'd have done the same, that looks cool in the box, is the same as mine! Can we have a scan of the blue leaflet for the blue leaflet section though, we havn't got that one!!!

Post by **germ** » 04 Jun 2007 07:17 pm

ive built my parcel shelf 3 layers of wood -as my car didnt come with one.

i recieved my component set of speakers and installed them

2 10" subs " 5"mids (mounted in oringinal space in rear quarter with custom baffel. 2x tweeters and cross over for all of that

each speaker is 500watt still got to do front speakers so no pics yet

nice amp/cassete find i know i have this ^carp

but i would or had somthing like that for sure for the retro factor.

although thinking about it it wouldent fit

cars too modern anyway.
cheers
will

Post by **trabitom99** » 04 Jun 2007 09:57 pm

Chris_C wrote:Can we have a scan of the blue leaflet for the blue leaflet section though, we havn't got that one!!!

OK! Is Aymat still doing that or can one of you guys post it up?

It'll be interesting to see what the sound quality's like. The mid 1990's Grundig fitted to the GLT at the moment manages the same (feeble) power without needing an external amp. But it doesn't worry me too much, most of the time the tape decks's pumpin' out my daughters' nursey rhymes

BTW just in case I'm not the only one who's willing to endure weedy wattage for the pleasure of owning an original accessory - here's the link to the company I bought it from:
http://www.caraudioteam.de/sonderaktion ... aktion.htm
they've still got one left ...

Post by **d3k4y0** » 05 Jun 2007 12:36 am

germ wrote:ive built my parcel shelf 3 layers of wood -as my car didnt come with one.

i recieved my component set of speakers and installed them

2 10" subs " 5"mids (mounted in oringinal space in rear quarter with custom baffel. 2x tweeters and cross over for all of that

each speaker is 500watt still got to do front speakers so no pics yet

nice amp/cassete find i know i have this ^carp but i would or had somthing like that for sure for the retro factor.

although thinking about it it wouldent fit cars too modern anyway.
cheers
will

I really hate it when the music is behind me, bass at the back isn't a problem as the human ears can't localise low frequency that well but it has to be well balanced otherwise it gets on my nerves! I don't think I'd be able to stand a full range set-up in the back of the car with nothing in the front, I'd want to turn around and face the boot all the time!
Music has to be either on top of me or infront of me, never behind me!

Post by **foggyjames** » 05 Jun 2007 01:18 am

I just picked up a set of the Dynaudio 3-way components from the front of a C70. The 4" dome midrange driver sounds...like it needs a lot of processing to sound nice

It would be interesting to see what the original head unit does in terms of EQ when in 'Dynaudio mode' (which it does have....several 'modes' depending on which car it's in, and which speakers it's connected to).

cheers

James

Post by **germ** » 05 Jun 2007 02:02 am

d3k4y0 wrote:
germ wrote:ive built my parcel shelf 3 layers of wood -as my car didnt come with one.

i recieved my component set of speakers and installed them

2 10" subs " 5"mids (mounted in oringinal space in rear quarter with custom baffel. 2x tweeters and cross over for all of that

each speaker is 500watt still got to do front speakers so no pics yet

nice amp/cassete find i know i have this ^carp but i would or had somthing like that for sure for the retro factor.

although thinking about it it wouldent fit cars too modern anyway.
cheers
will
I really hate it when the music is behind me, bass at the back isn't a problem as the human ears can't localise low frequency that well but it has to be well balanced otherwise it gets on my nerves! I don't think I'd be able to stand a full range set-up in the back of the car with nothing in the front, I'd want to turn around and face the boot all the time!
Music has to be either on top of me or infront of me, never behind me!

ive just bought i nice set of speakers for the front so dont worrie xD

its just amazing .. there is no distorsion on the rear its great but if i wanted any bass from it i think i would need a amp of some kind.
the bass seams little but its quite good very well balenced

i can adjust every thing so its no problem it has original volvo fronts so i cant really put full/the same load on them as the rear. but that will change when i recieve these speakers

any way bass isnt important to me the quality and being able to hear it is the most important.

Will

Post by **redline** » 05 Jun 2007 08:06 am

the BX came with a sony cdx m700r mask head unit laying in the boot , wasn't expecting it to be any good but wired it up yesterday and its all working ,
the shuttle I kept from the redline is compatable as well, all I have left to do is fit my good old JBL 360's (again from the redline ) to the rear shelf and wire in the amp ,
then I will see how the standard speakers perform ( being a 16 valve ,it has the more up market 6 speaker system as standard )before I decide wether or not to upgrade them

Post by **Chris_C** » 05 Jun 2007 10:02 am

Tom, if you post up the scans, one of the mods can put the leaflet in the correct section for you!

Also, for what its worth, the numbers for power on the HU arn't worth much. My old JVC HU and my alpine V12 are both rated at 4x50... The HU would distort at comfortable hearing levels, and max out not much futher up, I've never got the alpine to full volume

Will, running 10's off the HU isn't a great idea, in theory it "should" be ok, but I bet they are outside the rated impedance output for the HU.

Post by **SteveP** » 05 Jun 2007 12:04 pm

Chris_C wrote:Also, for what its worth, the numbers for power on the HU arn't worth much.

+1 external amps own...

Post by **trabitom99** » 05 Jun 2007 12:29 pm

Not that I'm a totally OTT purist or anything, but some of the door cards are getting quite rare (earlier reds, blues, greens). Obviously I don't want to tell anyone what to do with their own property, but it might be worth bearing in mind the value a rare door card might have on Ebay before taking a hacksaw to it

Post by **germ** » 05 Jun 2007 02:38 pm

well they work fine to very loud level without distorision.

bass is weaker than expected/worse than my old bass boxes (they were lower wattage)

the thing you have to watch out for is the differnce between rms and max or peak power 50RMS is better than 50max/peak 50rms = roughly depending what it is 2 times the its wattage in peak

hu's may say 50x4watts this = 25watts rms in most cases
external amps tend to have the rms marked and not the peak

thats maybe one reason to why they are better..but also they are more dedicated.so you would expect better quality.

if you wanted to know my hu is 4x 45 watts peak normal and there is boost to 4x60 if optional fuse is there so ofcouse iam using it on that.
4x30watts rms. why dont i have a amp? becouse i cant justify the cost right now.

Will

Post by **d3k4y0** » 05 Jun 2007 03:10 pm

I never had any benefit from an external amp, but then I don't listen to music at uncomfortable levels anymore!

My old Blaupunkt HU and speaker set-up was very capable and the sound I'd conjoured out of it was pretty tight, but I was never going to win a sound-off!

Post by **Chris_C** » 05 Jun 2007 04:07 pm

Were the old bass boxes on an exteranl amp Will? Eirther built in to the boxes or separate. Its not so much the power thats an issue, but as current gets pulled from the source, not pushed to the speaker, if the impedance is too low, then they will stress the amp in the HU. A lot of HU's are measured in RMS, but very very dubious. External amps have the advantage they have the entire casing to use as a heatsink, so the output stage doesn't have to fight the heat so much, which can really sap effiency from a semiconductor amp. My V12 and my sony amps have both hit the thermal trip a few times (the sony much more that the V12, very very inefficient design, but I got it for pittance along with a 10" cone).

The main current side of the amp is usually hooked up to a heatsink the size of a postage stamp, which is why you really really don't want to overdrive them, they can't loose the heat. One thing I used to do on my old HU before I got an amp was to have the blower fan on 3, that shifts the air behind the HU and at least gets some airflow around it.

I've found SH amps pretty worthwhile, just make sure you get it from someone you trust, the one down the pub will only be pushing on the car theft stats

The extra clarity I got (my rear shelf is very similar to yours in terms of speaker sizings) from the mid down was huge, as you'll get more punch, i.e. less muddy sound from a nadgers more power.

Post by **germ** » 05 Jun 2007 11:22 pm

the bass boxes were small 6"sub things no amp inside

my hu has built in fan that goes on when 4x60 is working

in the instuctions it says it can even power 4 speakers and a dedicated sub

but lowers overall power...alot

ill save up for an amp at some point but for now its perfectly cool and a million times better than stock

look iam perfectly competent with electronics as iam semi qualifyed, radios ive done a long time. iam sure that there is no danger for my equipment. dont worrie

my dads an electrical enginier so i will ask him just to make sure,

i want a amp but ive spent soo much on this car in such a small amount of time...you know , eat sleep and petrol is main consern at mo

damn volvo's

Will

Post by **foggyjames** » 06 Jun 2007 12:10 am

Ought to be ok on impedance - I think most HUs can drive down to 4 ohms. The bigger problem will be a lack of power, and the associated increased likelihood of toasting drivers. You're far, far more likely to pop a driver with too little power than too much. I've currently got my newly acquired Dynaudio components hooked up to one of my big power amps (delivering around 650w per channel to the load in question).

The question of power measurement in audio systems is the topic for a textbook, not a forum post...but needless to say even RMS measurements, which most people would consider 'safe' are massively open to manipulation. What's the nature of the test signal? What's the integration time on the RMS meter? What are the environmental conditions? How much is the sales guy willing to talk absolute crap to get a product sold? So it goes on...

There are all sorts of things which limit the output capability of head units, but the big two are thermal capacity (already covered beautifully, but also remember that even with an uber heatsink, the damn thing is still installed in a little box in the dashboard!) and power supply - putting in a usefully large power supply would take up far too much space - so there's naff all on the rails, and they run into distortion quickly. You can get around it by using efficient speakers, but most decent quality car speakers are actually pretty inefficient.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule, and I was very impressed with Dave's set up (and Andy's, for that matter)...but...in general...head unit amps are next to useless. Or to put it another way, however good the system may sound with the HU amp, I've yet to hear a scenario where an off-board amp wasn't a significant upgrade.

cheers

James