need advice on good sound system

iskwezm · Aug 27, 2005

ddonaca351 said:
I'll put my Clarion / JL / Infinity / Rockford / Alpine / etc... up against Kraco / Sparkomatic / Pyramid / Audiovox / etc... anyyyyyy dayyyyy

DD

I never mentioned those brands,but let put your "big names" against what I got and what I spent and see who comes out ahead.

iskwezm · Aug 27, 2005

TOM B said:
Now Im really confused.
You say my pioneer DEH-15 is junk. I dont think I need a Ipod thing. I like Listening to Cd's and the radio.
Iskwezm you say buy a multi componant speaker and that sounds good for my space restrictions but what is a "crossover" and how do I hook the 2 front dash speakers as a crossover.
Ddonaca351 you say that I should have a 40x4 amp, is that for the front speakers and does that stand for 40amps per speaker?
And when I buy better speakers how do I know there "better" Do I look at the watts rating or....
Sorry for the dumb question but
Maybe Im to old to learn this stuff, When I bought this mustang It came with an AM radio and ONE speaker!!!

A crossover separates the frequencies so your highs(tweeters/mids) are producing lows and your lows(woofers) are trying to produce highs

you misusderstood me,sorry,..most amps today have built in crossovers,so when you have your dash speakers on the front channel,you can cut some of the bass to them so they dont distort,the kick panels can take a little more,so they get a lower frequency cutoff.I prefer coaxials,NOT COMPONENTS,for the money you wont miss anything.If you were nearby or if shipping didnt kill it,i could set you up with a some good quality components(I buy wholesale and have a shop) and not screw you in the process with stuff you dont need.

BlueMonster65 · Aug 27, 2005

lots of opinions

what i see so far is alot of good ideas but alos alot of opinions. so heres my idea for a good system for your convertible in steps that i think you should start with:
1.) add soundproofing to your car in the trunk, under the back seat, under your feet to the firewall and in the doors, and behind the rear quarter trim panels. i like the cascade vblock but dynamat works very good also.
2.) the kick panel speakers are actually a good location, they provide a good time alignment between left and right sides for stereo imaging. don't get speakers for the center in the dash unless you want a center channel. it will ruin stereo imagining. component speakers are a good investment but are not required for good sound. they come with crossovers and its just like wiring a regualr coax speaker. if you can fit it go with one 12" sub or two 10" subs otherwise get as much power for the one 10" as it can handle.
3.) you need more power. not a lot more power but fair to say 50watts x4 amp for the speakers in your intereior and at least 100watts x1 for the sub. pay particular attention to how the product is rated. you need to be concerened with RMS ratings, not peak power. there is a big diffeence between cheap amps and good amps. for example spend money on a rockford fosgate and you will not be dissapointed. but buy a profile or sony and well you probably will be dissappointed.
4.) add rear speakers to the quarter trim panels i've seen small 4x6 plate type speakers work well there, or add them to your doors, you can get the factory door type grills and put 4x6 speakers behind them. convetibles are tough because there is not alot of room and you have alot of road noise.

i'm not sure if you want to keep it stock looking or not but you can always make new door panels to house some larger midbass speakers and tweeters. this does tend to be alot of work and very costly if you can't do the work yourself.

TOM B · Aug 28, 2005

Well, ok, what should I look for in RMS and when you say 50x4 is that 50 watts per speaker.

BlueMonster65 · Aug 29, 2005

yes

yep that is 50watts RMS by 4 channels. RMS means root mean square and it is the maximum continuous power an amplifier is capable of providing over a specified frequency range usually 20 to 20k Hz at a specified distortion level anything under 1.0% THD(total harmonic distortion) is acceptable . i theory if you multiply the RMS power by the square root of 2 you will get the maximum power. some inexpensive amplifiers boast high power ratings like 250watts x4 channels but that is a peak power output and usually at high distortion like 10.0%. on ther other hand some inexpensive amps are a pretty good deal so make sure you really look at the specs and if you can give one a demo listen to make sure it is what you want.

for some good technical information, great customer service and decent prices check out www.crutchfield.com should you find something you want to buy there, email me, i can possibly save you some money by refering you. www.partsexpress.com is another site that has lots of technical info although their prices are a bit high sometimes you can get good deals on closeouts.

iskwezm · Aug 29, 2005

from what i have seen,Crutchfields prices are only good on closeouts,they're prices are really high to me,theres plenty of other websites that sell at almost what i can buy at(i buy wholesale prices)

BlueMonster65 · Aug 29, 2005

good for you

hey, i'm really glad that you can get stuff at wholesale prices, but if you can get crap at even cheaper price than i can then well its still crap and i don't want it. i am merely suggesting that crutchfield has good basic tech info and customer service. Should TOM B find something he wants he should feel free to buy it from whomever he wants,including you if you can get it.

cgstang · Aug 29, 2005

I agree with the componet set for the front. I bought those molded kick panels with i believe 6 1/2" speakers in them. Then I bought a rockford fosgate component set and used the tweeter up front with the speakers that came with the kick panels (the RF ones were too deep to fit) and used the RF mids in the back just for filler sound. I have a 4 channel amp in the trunk and a cd player in the dash. I don't have expensive stuff and I think it sounds pretty good. My car is pretty freakin loud and it has no problem keeping the sound pumping. I could tell a huge difference in quality after the component set.

iskwezm · Aug 29, 2005

BlueMonster65 said:
hey, i'm really glad that you can get stuff at wholesale prices, but if you can get crap at even cheaper price than i can then well its still crap and i don't want it. i am merely suggesting that crutchfield has good basic tech info and customer service. Should TOM B find something he wants he should feel free to buy it from whomever he wants,including you if you can get it.

thats fine,go pay 300 bucks for a 250 stereo and feel good that you get great customer service.I NEVER said he had to buy from me,I said I dont sell what people dont need. You seem to know what crap is and isnt,so im sure you can tell everybody all the mainstream names and what so great about them

RGS0907 · Aug 30, 2005

iskwezm said:
I think componenets ar a waste of money unless your going for a SQ type system.Most coaxial speakers are a woofer/mid with a separate tweeter and a crossover,yet people think a component is something special and gives better sound,not true.

It looks as if there are finally more choices for 65-69 cars where you don't want to chop the dash or plumb wireing all over the car... Has anyone actually tried the new Sony or Audiovox that's now available? I'm just looking for a simple one-box solution that brings me at least into the 1990's!

http://www.the-direct-source.com/in...1_221&osCsid=32a51234a9eab0bcbb6f8f0c67289128

iskwezm · Aug 30, 2005

RGS0907 said:
It looks as if there are finally more choices for 65-69 cars where you don't want to chop the dash or plumb wireing all over the car... Has anyone actually tried the new Sony or Audiovox that's now available? I'm just looking for a simple one-box solution that brings me at least into the 1990's!

http://www.the-direct-source.com/in...1_221&osCsid=32a51234a9eab0bcbb6f8f0c67289128

if you have 64-66,your pretty much stuck with the "mustang" stereos if you dont want to cut your dash.The 67+ have a DIN size opening so anything will fit.The Audiovox seems a bit pricey,i would stick to name brand in that price range(Pioneer,Kenwood,Panasonic) and any of these will accept a add on changer if that what your looking for.

RGS0907 · Aug 30, 2005

iskwezm said:
if you have 64-66,your pretty much stuck with the "mustang" stereos if you dont want to cut your dash.The 67+ have a DIN size opening so anything will fit.The Audiovox seems a bit pricey,i would stick to name brand in that price range(Pioneer,Kenwood,Panasonic) and any of these will accept a add on changer if that what your looking for.

The new Sony's etc. seem to be a clean install with 200 Watts all in one unit, I would like to hear some good reviews before I plunk down $300+. I thought that my '70 would accept a DIN sized head unit, but I had always heard that they don't sit flush in the dash, instead they stick out a bit..

iskwezm · Aug 31, 2005

RGS0907 said:
The new Sony's etc. seem to be a clean install with 200 Watts all in one unit, I would like to hear some good reviews before I plunk down $300+. I thought that my '70 would accept a DIN sized head unit, but I had always heard that they don't sit flush in the dash, instead they stick out a bit..

the 200 watts is max,youll only get a useable 80 maybe.Which Sony were you looking at???I personally like the Pioneers,my buddy work for Alpine and tells me all the problem he sees,so I dont care for those.

ddonaca351 · Sep 1, 2005

TOM B said:
Now Im really confused.
Ddonaca351 you say that I should have a 40x4 amp, is that for the front speakers and does that stand for 40amps per speaker?
And when I buy better speakers how do I know there "better" Do I look at the watts rating or....
Sorry for the dumb question but
Maybe Im to old to learn this stuff, When I bought this mustang It came with an AM radio and ONE speaker!!!

40x4 is short for 40 watts per channel for 4 channels ( front right, front left, rear right, rear left) You can run a 2 channel amp, and just wire up the speakers in parallel, but you will either have front and rear, or right and left, but not both... If cost is a major issue, and you can only afford a 2 channel amp, then (imho) I would run just 2 front speakers, and not put anything in the rear deck.

DD

RGS0907 · Sep 1, 2005

iskwezm said:
the 200 watts is max,youll only get a useable 80 maybe.Which Sony were you looking at???I personally like the Pioneers,my buddy work for Alpine and tells me all the problem he sees,so I dont care for those.

I'm trying to find a decent deck that will fit cleanly into my dash. Several vendors are starting to offer cd head units with repro bezels cut to fit the wider size of the DIN units. The secret audio or custom-autosound radios have a real quality problem according to many posts on these sites, but there are now a few alternatives.
http://www.the-direct-source.com/in...1_221&osCsid=f87115ffc269181570f9ad5f9038fb71

One thing that bothers me is that I can't find any of these units (Kenwood, Audiovox, Sony) on the factory websites. They must be 'custom made' or worse, made by another company under their name.

I'd like a clean install without a separate amp & I'm thinking of replacing the door speakers with woofers & put a pair of tweeters in the top of the dash where the mono speaker usually goes. The separation won't be great but it will be miles better than what I have now.

Gellpak · Dec 18, 2005

iskwezm said:
if you have 64-66,your pretty much stuck with the "mustang" stereos if you dont want to cut your dash.

Not true. Install the head unit behind the door of your glove compartment. You lose some storage space but it fits nicely, the remote works through the door, and it stealths the system... keeps the car looking more stock and keeps thieves away.

EDIT: Whoops, sorry to bump a 3-month old thread.

97fxdwg · Dec 19, 2005

I've got the molded kick panels with good pioneer speakers and they sound so Freakin' Tinny. What can I do to prevent that?

Sorry for semi-off-topic but we seem to have wandered anyway.

mudbilly · Dec 19, 2005

97fxdwg said:
I've got the molded kick panels with good pioneer speakers and they sound so Freakin' Tinny. What can I do to prevent that?

Sorry for semi-off-topic but we seem to have wandered anyway.

i have speakers mounted in the door and used this and am happy with the difference....basically it deadens anything coming out of the rear of the speaker so that the only sound is coming out the front.

http://www.cascadeaudio.com/2sk1.html

i have also bought enough of this stuff to do the all the doors and rear panels, but haven't got around to doing that yet..............

http://www.cascadeaudio.com/2dk1.html

plus i am trying to figger out how to isolate the trunk from the interior......i have a deafening drone at certain RPMs and it seems to be coming in from the trunk which is basivcally wide open to the interior with the ragtop.....

if anyone has done something like this please post what you did.

Tim65GT · Dec 19, 2005

Originally Posted by mudbilly:

i have a deafening drone at certain RPMs and it seems to be coming in from the trunk which is basivcally wide open to the interior with the ragtop.....

if anyone has done something like this please post what you did.

I bought this steel trunk divider from American Pony. It’s 18 ga. thick and came with mounting screws and a tube of sealer.

I scraped out most of the 40 year old seam sealer and junk from the floor before I put primer down. Then I used all new seam sealer and painted everything.

I installed a new sound deadening kit from Mustangs Unlimited:

(It’s heavy tar like impregnated mats) I mounted the one that normally extends into the trunk, but instead, I mounted it to the steel trunk divider with plastic push through Christmas trees.

Also, when I put my 6x9 speakers in, I made a new rear dash insert and covered it with black vinyl and put a thin layer of foam on the bottom of it.

I can’t say what the difference is with just the trunk divider, ‘cause I did everything at once. It seems to work pretty well. It’s a lot better than the factory cardboard stuff anyway.

I might have a hard time accessing my rear shock bolts though.

iskwezm · Dec 19, 2005

97fxdwg said:
I've got the molded kick panels with good pioneer speakers and they sound so Freakin' Tinny. What can I do to prevent that?

Sorry for semi-off-topic but we seem to have wandered anyway.

you can either sound deaden the sheet metal behind the speaker or buy some foam speaker baffles to "enclose" the speakers,mine are the same and i used the foam baffles, and it helped

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