Advice on upgrade

[JFH]

Hello,
Need advice on upgrading my system on my 87 GN. Currently it has the original concert sound and a Sony CDX 4250 CD player.
It doesn't sound that great. My 84 with a Kenwood and new 6x9 and 31/2 sounds alot better. I'd like to keep it close to stock with just the doors and rear deck. and the sound mostly up front. No dash speakers. Component set in door? Listen to mostely classic rock and Motown. Have about 600 to spend. Like it loud but not so the guy 5 cars away can hear it.

Thanks alot
John Hordych

 

[dconnor]

A good component 5 1/4" set (Cerwin Vega, Fosgate), some Q-logic kickpanel pods (~$150) & an amp to drive them should run around $600 for the package.

You have a lot of different options here actually, but if you want to concentrate on building a good front stage the kick panel pods or custom door panels like Wizard makes will be the best route IMHO.

Doug C.

 

[JFH]

Doug,
Thanks for the reply. Should I forget about the rear deck speakers? As for the HU I have Sony CDX 4250 is that good enough. Only one more Question, the amp, I was looking at one component system it was 90W RMS and 180W peak What size amp for that. Sorry for the dump questions, I'm a mechanic (heavy equip) and never messed much in stero. But it starting to look very interesting to me, and cleaner.

Thanks alot
John Hordych

 

[dconnor]

IF you decide to run a subwoofer losing the rear deck speakers is no big deal at all when you have a good front stage in place (sounds better IMO.) Without a sub I'd recommend some good 6x9"s (easy to install with an adapter) or some 5 1/4"s (which will let more bass into the cabin if/when you add a sub later.)

90 watts rms, a 75 watt per channel amp would be a good choice; plenty of juice but won't overload the speakers. If you go with some speakers in the rear deck, I'd recommend a 4 channel amp to power the doors & deck. And again when/if you decide to add an amp, you could then switch the rear deck speakers to being powered by the headunit & then use the 2 free amp leads for the sub.

IF I am remembering correctly, that stereo is 45 watts per channel & has one set of rca pre-outs? Sony's usually work well enough, not much on the "higher-end" bells & whistles but plenty good for most people's needs.

Doug C.

 

[darkfa8]

q-forms

if you're interested in quality enclosures, the Q-Forms are poor in quality. They are made with flimsy, thin plastic and are not sealed. They will resonate and not offer the best enclosure properties that a custom fiberglass kick-pod would.

Most people who have Q-Forms who realize this try and apply "fixes" to them by adding sound deadener to the insides, modelling clay and sealing techniques.

Regardless.. trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear ... doesn't work to well.

 

[mcss383]

re: Q-forms

but its lightyears ahead of anything else for the money, and unless someone has a trained ear and/or is going to compete they work perfectly fine and they will never know the difference.


Besides, most mid drivers don't need a perfectly sealed enclosure, a lot of them work best with infinite baffle. And a layer or two of fiberglass will strengthen them tremendously.

 

[darkfa8]

...

It is just my opinion that if you happen to be somewhat mechanically inclined and/or have used fiberglass before you can build your own kick-pods for roughly a 1/3 of the cost for Q-Forms and acheive substancially better results and have a near bullet-proof enclosure.

There are tons of kick-pod how-tos on the car audio sites (www.soundomain.com, www.carsound.com, www.termpro.com)

Something I learned a long time ago about "stuff", invest in quality now and you'll be glad you did later down the road. If by chance you later want to sell the pods, if they are of good quality they will fetch a substancially higher resale value than what you originally paid for materials.

good luck.