audio help needed

hi. new member here. got my car couple of weeks ago and want to improve my audio.

i am not looking for anything spectacular and would like to stay in $1000

price range. i have read several threads and i think i have a good understanding

of what i need to do. i still have a couple of questions though...

 

for starters i want to begin with some good speakers that i could keep in case

later i want to add an amp etc... my current choice for speakers:

pioneer D-series TS-C160R - 6 1/2'' diameter, depth 2 3/8'' (60mm)

these should fit both front and back - i just won't use the tweeters

in the back. i haven't heard how they sound, so suggestions are welcome.

i understand i need spacers to limit vibrations - any suggestions or just a

piece of rubber between the speaker and the door is enough?

 

subwoofer: Pioneer Premier TS-SW841D - 8'' - i know this is small, but

i think it will fit my needs for now, plus it will fit in the space under

the rear window - i won't even cut the cardboard and can just throw it out later.

suggestions are welcome, but i really don't feel like a box in the trunk.

question here is: should connect it to any one of the speakers signals -

front, back, right, left, doesn't matter? do i need a special crossover,

or should i just connect to the wire before the pioneer crossover?

 

i am also planning to use 'Dynamat 10435 Xtreme Door Kit'.

and most importantly: i am planning to do the swap myself. if i was to

sign up for the STIS site, does the documentation i can download from there

have instructions on how to disassemble the doors?

thanks in advance.

speakers for the doors... id recommend ED Elemental Designs www.elementaldesigns.com for more info and what not. hell of a speaker with a pretty damn cheap price tag. they will give you plenty of room to grow on. the tweeters are essential though (if you were talking about not using it on a component set up, seperated mids and tweeters (if you needed that lol)). also the rings are actually help with the depth the speaker sits at. the rings bring it forward enough so that the window doesnt run into the magnet of the speaker itself . pioneer makes an alright entry level speaker but you can find a lot more that will do you a lot better then those for the price range.

 

subs... dont go pioneer period lol! an 8" will act more like a lower note hitting mid then an actual sub in my opionion... buuuuut if thats all you want its what to go with. the ED subs are also damn nice id go with them if you would like to match. i assume you mean with the back window the hole that is covered? if so then i dunno if the 8" will fit or not... prolly going to have to do some measuring to see there. a box will make it sound a ton better though... just fyi there.

 

for power you will need an amp to go to atleast the sub... you can get one amp that will power everything if you'd like... some perfer the all in one kind of thing. signal stuff will have to be done with the rockford or jl processor to get you the signal needed (i think, might be a wire in option i dont recall). cross overs will come with the speakers you buy all you will have to do is plug them in. you wont need any others tuning will come else where though if thats what you were conserned of.

 

deaden... dynamat is good stuff, a bit of a pain since things need to be totally clean and then heated before laying the deaden down. if you want my personal recomendation i love Hushmat, works freakin fantastic using it on this car as well as my last car. the black backed is easier to work with, but both work well. you dont need to clean anything, you dont need to heat anything, you just peel and stick, press it down and you are done. it's a total cake walk! if you want it... get it from a retailer off of ebay (what i did this time) most places will stick you for 300 to 400 for a bulk box kit, but he sold me mine for 160 plus 30 in shipping. soooo it worked out pretty good.

 

as far as taking appart the doors... i kind of just found out how. there is a retaining clip that needs to be popped out behind the handle you use to get the door released/out of the car. then there is a screw behind it... next there is part of the handle to pull the door closed, pop it off, then there is a screw in the top and bottom of it. next pop off the pannel and unplug everything and disconnect the wires for the door.

 

whew lots of typing... lol!

I aso want to know what you guys did to wire the subwoofer because I will be doing the same with my car. I got an amp and a sub and want to know what's the best way to get not oly power but also audio to the sub and amp

i went with the rockford processor... if you search around you can prolly find a little more info on a line out converter or something else to use. you have to splice into all the lines with a processor though to get signal.

 

power is ran off of an amp kit... whatever gauge your amp will need.

Seth, has this one covered. Damn, now that's a response!

 

I'm with Seth, Pioneer Chicken? Good to eat, but you can do much better for your car. (their signature series is supposed to be pretty good though)

 

Elemental design is good, but I'm down with CDT. Been testing the Polk DB series and they rock in the bang for the buck category. Do a search on CDT and check out some of the crazy pricing out there. Lots of shops blowing out last years models. Best midbass response will come from a sealed baffle. Having air leaks around the speaker defeats the purpose of your efforts. 3" of mounting depth will require a 1" spacer. IA rings are what I used for convenience, but they're pricey.

 

As for using the rear deck to hold an 8" sub, I don't know if you can dampen that thin shelf for a sub, infinte baffle or not... A corner loaded sub, is the best of both worlds. Keep most of the trunk space and your spare. Since you're a do it yourselfer, follow some of the how-to's on fiberglass and build your own enclosure for under $100. Very rewarding, just time consuming.

 

For me, getting the door panel off the first time has been the hardest part of the install. After the first time, you can have both doors apart in under 5 minutes.