| shahram72 |
Hi all, this is my first post here. I just bought an 04 EX-L off ebay and am happy with it. I've had pretty elaborate systems in all my past cars and thought I would be satisfied with the stock system in this car. Well, the other day I put in a Linkin Park CD and the stock system just couldn't play it at any reasonable level. What the heck is that 10" woofer doing? How can a 10" woofer do so little? It amazes me!
So this is what I want. I am going to start with upgrading the door speakers. I'm going to use Alpine SPS-17C2 from Crutchfield because I have always been happy with Alpine's cheaper stuff and these are only $50 a pair on sale.
My original idea was just to add an aux in somehow to the stock CD/TAPE player for my mp3 player and an overhead DVD player, but I think the stock head unit does funny things to response levels at differing volumes. Any ideas here? I'm thinking of a new DVD receiver but I don't want to use the single DIN kit, I like double DIN, but there is no easy way to fill the gap left by the larger opening. Also, they are really expensive. Anybody have eny experience with the cheap hong kong ones from ebay?
I also want a flip down screen for the back but am scared of taking the headliner apart, I also want the subwoofer replaced. I think a Kicker free air would be good. Is there a box in there? I already have a decent sub amp. I have an old Hifonics Thor series VII (the good ones). It's like 17 years old and I just pulled it from my F-150 where it pushed a JL Audio stealthbox. It puts out 400w real RMS so it's plenty.
That's all for now, any ideas are apprecieted. I have been reading most of the other threads but am still a bit confused. |
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| woodeye |
My 2 cents:
Forget the stock "subwoofer" position. The stock speaker is very shallow and trying to fit an aftermarket speaker in that spot requires a lot of customizing, vibration dampening, etc. Not impossible, but not worth it in my opinion.
As far as the the double DIN trim pieces, the ones you see on Crutchfield and the ones on ebay are exactly the same (Metra). Useable, but sometimes requiring a little tweaking for a perfect fit. |
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| shahram72 |
Thanks for the help. I see now that metra makes a double din kit for this car, so I'm good there. I don't know that I have much choice for a subwoofer because I cannot lose space and any decent box will eat up space. I just need some bass I can actually hear, anything is better than stock, that thing is useless. So the stock one just sits in the body cavity? I would have to dynamat the inside and outside surface for sure. Kicker free airs are good, but I'm not sure it would fit, I know I need a spacer. I'm used to listening to a JL Audio stealbox in my F-150 that had 2 8" JL subs. I know I won't get that sound without a box, but I think a vast improvement over stock should be acheivable.
Hey anybody know anything about the cheap DVD recivers from Hong Kong on ebay? The quality should be about the same as the cheaper domestic units, I can't afford an AVIC. I'm tempted to try cause they're so cheap. |
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| newblu |
| You mentioned you like Alpine. If you're willing to install used equipment there are plenty of w200's (double din, DVD) on Ebay that are under $500. |
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| shahram72 |
OK, I've done some more thinking and research, and I have a better plan now. I am going to buy a new Pioneer AVH-P4000DVD unit. They retail at about $500. I hope to find it discounted somewhere. Sucks that it does not have HD Radio, however, but it plays DivX and has a fixed faceplate, which I want. It also has a built in x-over which will save complexity and money. Lots of adjustments for that x-over too considering it's a built in unit. It also has a 3 band parametric EQ built in. This must all be done with a DSP chip or it would be expensive. Anyway, I am going to replace all the door speakers with Alpine S series which are already ordered but lost in transit at the moment. And I am going to use an Alpine 2 channel amp from my previous car to power the 4 speakers. I did this before and it worked great, I have no need for fader control. I'll add a cheap brand overhead 9" monitor. Then I'm going to use my Hifonics series VIII Thor amp that is almost 20 years old to power the sub. It's an awesome amp, I can't replace it. I'm not sure about the subwoofer itself. What should I use? Will I get good results with a free-air application? the stock sub enclosure is free-air, right? Will a Kicker competition fit, or do you guys recommend something from JL audio? What have you guys used and been happy with? I've read the threads on this, but I'm unclear if these were used with a box of some type or just fit into stock location with a spacer from MDF or something.
The other thing is the stock tweeters in the dash. I don't think they'l hurt to leave em in, but do they work off the front channel, meaning they'll work if I route the audio through the stock harness? And am I showing my little Alpine amp lower than a 2 ohm load with the tweeters left in the mix. I am assuming they are just wired in parallel to the front door speakers. |
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