Car sound systems

Praetorian

I recently bought another car and I'm disgusted with the sound system in it.

Can anyone recommend a good company in the Dublin area that specialise in packages, head unit / speakers / sub amp. Please let me know if the companies or shops that you recommend do installations as well.

I got a price from a company called Cartronics for the following

All Pioneer (seem expensive)

Mp3 head unit €229
4 Pioneer speakers €320
Sub woofer with amp built in €299
With free installation

Bit strapped for cash after buying the car, so I'd prefer not to spend a fortune.

Funxy

I recommended this site on a thread yesterday, and although its in sterling it still has good products for less then what you normally pay in ireland http://www.caraudiodirect.com

Dearg Doom

The force is strong in http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/.

Praetorian

I'm sure the prices are much better online, but where would I get all this lovely hard ware installed?

kevmac

I highly recommend Auto Protect & Audio Systems in Palmerstown.

I have had three top-of-the-range Clifford Alarms on my last few cars and one Kenwood head unit, underseat amp and speakers.

Contact: Brendan Moore 01 6262152/087 2384394

I have no connection bar being a past customer.

byte

You could also try BeSecure for ICE and they do a mobile install service too. They're based in Dublin somewhere

Funxy

Also even if you buy the hardware somewhere, anywhere that sells these or garages in general will do the installation based on labour costs. So best thing it to enquire about how much they would be to order these parts in plus fitting and then see what it would be just fitting and see if it works out cheaper importing

Praetorian

A friend of mine has a lot of experience with this kind of thing, so he's going to help me install the hardware. So I have some questions!

I heard Alpine are the best, is this true? I've had a sony head unit in the past and I loved it. Can I mix and match? I believe the 4 speakers that will fit in my car are 13cm. Will all 13cm speakers fit? Do I need to buy cable? Also, to save space I would like to get a sub woofer with an amp integrated (is this a bad idea)?

drdre

i used louie in dublin before. the 1st timehe was cheap but then afterwards he quoted me 600 to install a 7"screen in a car. where as i used a guy that used to work for him before and he was quoting me only 200. so that does sound EXPENSIVE. anyway the other guy was caraudioclinic.com and the guys name is liam

FX Meister

I like the built in option myself. I have the Pioneer TS-WX206A, with which I couldn't be happier, and I also tried the TS-WX20LPA but prefered the sound from the one I bought. Pioneer also do a small type sub that fits under seats, that may suit what you are after. Subs do take up a bit of boot space but I can take mine out if I need to.

byte

FX Meister wrote:

I like the built in option myself. I have the Pioneer TS-WX206A, with which I couldn't be happier, and I also tried the TS-WX20LPA but prefered the sound from the one I bought. Pioneer also do a small type sub that fits under seats, that may suit what you are after. Subs do take up a bit of boot space but I can take mine out if I need to.

Do you have the under seat sub? If so, how much did it cost?

I've currently the Pioneer DEH7500MP and it's the best thing since uhm, radio!

FX Meister

Nah, I have the TS-WX206A which is a better option in my opinion. That's a great head unit, I had a 7400 until it got nicked and now I have the 7700. Hoping to get the iPod apapter for it and an iPod next month. I would recommend a sub though for a nice full sound and your head unit will control it. The sub that I have I paid €300 for at the time.

Ba$tard

Praetorian,

It all depends on your budget and how good you want your audio to sound.....

Do you intend to use an amp for front/rear speakers or run them off the headunit? Headunit or less than 50Watt RMS to the speakers then no, you dont need to re-wire to the speakers.

Alpine are not the best by any means The guy who told you that is probably a dealer for them There is no REAL best, because all high-end speakers have different characteristics which can suit particular envoirnments / listening needs in different ways.

The best active subwoofer enclosure I have heard is the Infinity Basslink range, but yet again, that was my own opinion with my own ears.

Not all 13cm speakers will fit in to their enclosures/pods....ok, they all conform to a diameter of 13cm, but some more powerful 13cm speakers have a deeper basket which will not fit into the pod. I have to cut and fabricate the doors in my Civic because the Infinity 165mm Perfects are far too deep for the current door cut-out. Pioneer used to have a good custom car information page on their site, try it out. I am not saying buy pioneer! I wouldnt if I am amp'ing the speakers.

Found something
http://www.crutchfield.com/ go to the section 'What Fits My Car?'



What model is your car?

Praetorian

Thanks for the detailed response Ba$tard. That site says that only 4inch speakers (10cm) will fit into the rear of an impreza. I hope they are wrong I was told by a so called expert that 13cm would fit.

Ba$tard

what year Impreza? and body? (not 'fit' but saloon, sportback, etc)

heggie

that might be the rear panel speakrs (4cm), but what most people do is mount some components or 6x9's on the rear shelf