Come at me with all you audio questions!

[Dumdum]

you know all the ones you know you wanted to ask but never had anyone to ask... if I know the answer I’ll happily share! Subs, amps, stereos, speakers etc...

And dare I say it... sound deadening...

 

[youngarthur]

I gave up on amps/subs in the car a while ago, as I never got the sound I was looking for.I now use iPhone, HiFi M8 Dac/Amp, and a decent pair of earphones, or iPhone, with iSINE 20, a good combo, for on the move.( Less weight for track use!.)

 

[Dumdum]

The issue I have with earphones in a car is hearing noises around you, for example sirens of the emergency services in the most part... I suspect the boys in blue would do you for careless driving if you were in an accident wearing them and you failed to hear something due to them... whether the prosecution went ahead or not is a different matter

 

[Doogle]

Any easy way to get a bit more bass from cheap aftermarket speakers without spending mega bucks? They are a tad better than stock and certainly clearer but I wasnt expecting miracles from £17 a pair JVC's.

 

[Dumdum]

Any easy way to get a bit more bass from cheap aftermarket speakers without spending mega bucks? They are a tad better than stock and certainly clearer but I wasnt expecting miracles from £17 a pair JVC's.

A bit of sound deadening and sealing holes in the inner door skin is the best way... adds a bit of weight but done right not too much

 

[Doogle]

A bit of sound deadening and sealing holes in the inner door skin is the best way... adds a bit of weight but done right not too much

The front speakers for example are partially encapsulated behind by a plastic hood, if a piece of sound deadening was sealed across the rest would this help? Or is it more complicated than that?

 

[Dumdum]

The front speakers for example are partially encapsulated behind by a plastic hood, if a piece of sound deadening was sealed across the rest would this help? Or is it more complicated than that?

It would help seal the back of the speaker from the front (this stops cancellation of lower frequency’s), but it also may compromise bass response as it may well be a touch small for the speakers... think of the size of a compact bookshelf speaker at home and your probably not far off requirements

 

[RichCUp]

Any suggestions on a mechless bluetooth head unit? Not bought a head unit in a long long time so not sure what to go for! Not looking to spend a lot so these are the ones I was looking at:

https://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-stereos/pioneer-mvh-390bt-bluetooth-car-stereo

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/head-units/mechless-players/alpine-ute-72bt-media-receiver
https://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-stereos/sony-dsx-a410bt-car-stereo# (not sure on the looks of this one..)

Thought about a DAB unit but not sure how much hassle it is installing the antenna and whether it looks a bit naff when fitted?

Also, do you need a fascia or does the bit of trim that comes with the HU do the job?

Ta

 

[Dumdum]

Any suggestions on a mechless bluetooth head unit? Not bought a head unit in a long long time so not sure what to go for! Not looking to spend a lot so these are the ones I was looking at:

https://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-stereos/pioneer-mvh-390bt-bluetooth-car-stereo

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/head-units/mechless-players/alpine-ute-72bt-media-receiver
https://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-stereos/sony-dsx-a410bt-car-stereo# (not sure on the looks of this one..)

Thought about a DAB unit but not sure how much hassle it is installing the antenna and whether it looks a bit naff when fitted?

Also, do you need a fascia or does the bit of trim that comes with the HU do the job?

Ta

See my thread for a decent 37 quid antenna for dab that was a decent fit and a straight swap for the factory aerial as for the two listed above, for Apple I’d go alpine purely for the interface, other than that it’s a toss up between the two, personally I prefer the pioneers sound, I just had a dab pioneer which is in my progress thread on here also

 

[bedoef]

Whats a good replacement for the speakers in the car? Just looking to see if there is a straight swap to something better?

 

[Dumdum]

Tbh as I’ve not really expired this Avenue I can’t really comment, but...

In general, you will want components, but don’t forget the Renault items are designed to work and fit the positions they are in, I am of the opinion that aftermarket speakers unless you properly sound deaden the doors and seal the inner door from the cabin generally there is no advantage to moving to a more expensive set of components unless your going to be adding a sub and amp to the setup to provide bass as more often than not aftermarket components aren’t designed to play bass, only midbass, mid and treble, so while you will maybe gain some clarity and a little volume (or not as often cars standard stuff is more efficient than aftermarket) so for me I would stay standard unless your going to be upgrading to a sub and amp otherwise it’s like gaining 25% power in a car and losing traction 50% of the time, it’s just not worth the pay off

What is worth doing is adding some sound deafening (two sheets should donit I reckon per door of dynamite extreme or similar) and effectively making your door into a better enclosure, this way you will get more bass out of the factory stuff and an overall better sound

 

[RichCUp]

Thanks for the info Dumdum I wanted to change the HU as the black finish has come off some of the buttons so I'll get a new one bought I think!

Is it possible to fit 6.5" speakers with a spacer/adapter? I've got some brand new DLS ones sitting the loft which I've never used

 

[Dumdum]

Thanks for the info Dumdum I wanted to change the HU as the black finish has come off some of the buttons so I'll get a new one bought I think!

Is it possible to fit 6.5" speakers with a spacer/adapter? I've got some brand new DLS ones sitting the loft which I've never used

Anything is possible, but that would require some fairly hefty customisation as I think they are a 5” fitted to the outside of the door card in a hole so to speak, so fitting anything else would mean cutting the ‘hole away from behind the grill and making a mount on the door itself from ply, be awkward but anything is doable with enough patience

 

[rcwsr]

@Dumdum with something like an Alpine UTE-92BT, would I need any harnesses for steering wheel controls and sub display?

I've given up on DAB for now, not sure if I'm up to fitting the replacement DAB aerial - and I'd really like the sub display to work.

 

[Dumdum]

Yes you’d need the appropriate adaptors to run the display and steering wheel controls, there’s a how to and what you need stickied I believe in here at the top

 

[Wolf197]

Head unit with Sat nav?

 

[Dumdum]

I always liked pioneer and alpine for sat navs, nicest user interface and decent quality gear!

 

[Big Ben]

I’ve got the uprated cabasse 6cd system that has the amp under front drivers seat.
Had to remove it after fitting recaros. How easy is it to just install a poverty spec head unit wiring wise?
I’ll have to pull all the cables back from under the carpet etc

 

[Dumdum]

Never done a Cabasse but done plenty of other amped setups as you describe, the most important bit is using either a good wiring diagram to get all the phases right ie + and - otherwise you will lose bass massively

You can also do this using a small aa battery, once you’ve got your speaker leads identified with a multimeter (3-5 ohms normally as a pair each) basically you whip the speaker grills off and using the battery you ‘pop’ each one, when you apply the battery the correct way around ie positive to positive the speaker come will move outward, if you get it the wrong way around it will move inward, simple, connect them up to an iso block (fiver I’d think if that from eBay) with all the striped leads as -ve and enjoy, the power side of things you will either do with a normal iso plug or if you want steering wheel controls use a connects2 type interface for your year car

On the iso plug white is front left, grey is front right, green is rear left, violet is rear right

 

[Big Ben]

Never done a Cabasse but done plenty of other amped setups as you describe, the most important bit is using either a good wiring diagram to get all the phases right ie + and - otherwise you will lose bass massively

You can also do this using a small aa battery, once you’ve got your speaker leads identified with a multimeter (3-5 ohms normally as a pair each) basically you whip the speaker grills off and using the battery you ‘pop’ each one, when you apply the battery the correct way around ie positive to positive the speaker come will move outward, if you get it the wrong way around it will move inward, simple, connect them up to an iso block (fiver I’d think if that from eBay) with all the striped leads as -ve and enjoy, the power side of things you will either do with a normal iso plug or if you want steering wheel controls use a connects2 type interface for your year car

On the iso plug white is front left, grey is front right, green is rear left, violet is rear right

Thanks for the detailed reply mate.

You don’t live anywhere near Herts do you!??