As some of you know, I ditched my sub and large amplifier from the boot of my Z. I have never been a fan of having ICE on show and I wanted my boot back! So, my next process is to beef up the sound coming from the 4 speakers in the car.

 

Now the head unit is an Alpine IVA-W200RI - getting a little old now, but still a good system. It is 4x50w peak and 18w RMS - it also has a 6 channel pre-out.

 

 

I am a complete novice with car audio. I am not interested in a competition system as I can't think of anything more boring than taking part in a 'Sound-off' or ruining the car's performance and handling with half a tone of speakers etc. I want a basic system that sounds like the sort of thing you get in modern cars.

 

I want to do this by fitting an amplifier as I am not sure that my head unit does a good enough job. There's little mid-range and when you increase the volume, clarity is lost until eventually you get distortion. Now it's not terrible, but it isn't that great. I am not interested in fitting fitting larger (by diameter) speakers, so no 'get some 6x9s in the door' comments. I am considering fitting better door speakers with a tweeter component and a cross-over (fully hidden) based on the standard size of 16.5cm or pushing out a little to 17cm. The rears I'll leave as they're 2 way Alpine 13cm fitted in gutted out Bose speaker boxes.

 

The front speakers I am after are these : http://www.caraudio4less.co.uk/alpine-spr17s-2-way-component-speaker-system-p-162.html which are slightly bigger.

 

 

My doors have sound deadening in them and I am using the tin speaker carriers, also sound deadened and I have new cabling throughout.

 

What I want to do is fit a small hidden amplifier to power all 4 speakers that'll give me the sound quality you'd find in a new car. I want it all hidden away up under the dash (aware of airflow restrictions). Any advice gratefully received. I have spoken with Mark Derby about it, but can't remember what he said!

 

Small 4 channel amps are what I am really looking for - so any pointers would be great!

Edited January 3, 201411 yr by Funkysi
Shitty grammar.

Should be good. Sony usually makes a good piece of kit and here's why.

 

[video=youtube_share;EQa4HHkhwVg]

Haha! Love it!

These turned up today from C.A.D! Amazing service. Ordered them at 4.30pm yesterday - arrived today! :) Cheapest anywhere on t'internet

 

So what I've bought are some new Alpine component speakers.

 

 

....and an Alpine Power Pack. This ingenious little device plugs straight into the back of my Alpine headunit and boosts the RMS from 18w per channel to 45w. It's a tiny package-size, so I'll be able to hide it away discretely, remove the power lead to the battery and the extra signal cable that I had run to my old amp. I am NOT after some sort of crazy and pointless competition system, I just want increased clarity and a little more meat to power my new components.

 

 

Despite Mark advising against it, I read the reviews for this product and almost all of them are very positive about it, even Adam Rayner, editor from Talk-Audio raves about it and it fits the bill with EXACTLY what I am after. A nice discrete system with enough punch to match modern car systems. It's all I need and all I ever want really.

 

So, I had forgotten what was in the old brackets as I don't really pay much attention to car audio stuff, but for some reason, I'd fitted 13cm Kenwouldn'ts....they were pretty lifeless speakers with little definition.

 

Look forward to your reviews when you have it up and going Si. It looks like a nice compact kit without going over the top.

It should give me what I want. A nice crisp OEM sounding 4-speaker system. :)

Are you selling the old Kenwood's Si?

You after them are you? Yeah, I have no use for them now.

nice kit m8