new car... need serious help

nipper76 · Post by **nipper76** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:25 am

Hiya Peeps

Ok i just brought a pug 406 2.1 TD LX (98) and oh boy is it standerd.

as i look thorugh all your pics of your mods, the more i realise something needs to be done.

so i need loadsa good ideas, and any cheap goodies that you might have knocking around that would look good.

im on a tight budget but im sure their are ways.

my first goal is putting my 6x9's in, their just isnt any room for the magnet to fit through the metel part of the parcell shelf, as m sure you have all found out. whats the easest, but good looking alteration to do to make them fit?

thankyou peeps
dan

Davva2004 · Post by **Davva2004** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:31 pm

Hi Nipper,

To be honest with you the OEM 6x9s in the parcel shelf are pretty good quality, I've been putting 60 watts RMS through them HPF'd at 100Hz for a few months now and they've never let me down, I only use them for rear fill anyway.

My best advice for a sweet sounding ICE system is forget the rear speakers, leave the stock ones in there, you're only ever going to use them when you're carrying passengers in the back or just fancy a bit of rear fill. The stock front speakers are actually pretty decent for midrange and treble, being Clarion components.

Spend your money on a decent head unit and a sub & amp combo for the boot first... I got a Pioneer MP3 head unit for £99 with loads of good features like high pass filters and sub level control, I then bought a bass bundle of JBL GTO 1202D sub, JBL GTO 75.2 amp bridged to give the sub 300W RMS, and a sub box for £139. I have the stock front speakers high pass filtered at 125Hz running off the HU, the sub low pass filtered at 100Hz, and the fade control set 75% front / 25% rear... and it sounds fantastic, not just in my opinion but in other peoples opinion too as it gives fantastic clarity, sweet highs and thumping lows with a soundstage that doesn't make you feel all the sound is behind you. Considering it cost me around £250 all in, including a wiring kit and delivery, it's cheap as chips and makes a massive difference - best ratio of boom per pound.

My next step is to buy a nice set of Alpine components for around the £100 mark and use my JBL 2 channel amp to power them, then put another GTO sub in the boot and a 600W RMS mono amp to run the two of them.

If you're ever around the Dudley area drop me a PM and come and have a listen, I think you'll be surprised how good £250 worth of kit can sound considering you can pay more than that just for a head unit!

Captain Jack · Post by **Captain Jack** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:03 pm

viewtopic.php?t=972

Have a look there.. my bog standard 2.1TD LX

It's amazing what some leather seats, a new head unit/amp and quality speakers (Focals!) can do. Of course, don't forget to chip it.. will take it up to 140bhp from 110.

Regarding the rear speakers, if you look at my pictures at the rear of the car, you may just be able to see that I've created some spacers from MDF to lift the entire speaker, thus avoiding the stupidly small magnet hole. Cover the spacers with some grey cloth and it'll look like it's from the factory.

Head unit wise... you won't go wrong with an Alpine unit. Sound quality compareable to top end brands. My R9833 cost £150 from fleaBay and it sounds awesome even without the amp (it actually sounded better than my old Sony unit WITH the amp).

Hope this helps.

CJ

Post by **Welly** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:11 pm

Davva2004 wrote:

I've been putting 60 watts RMS through them HPF'd at 100Hz

rear fill.

high pass filters and sub level control,

JBL GTO 1202D sub,

JBL GTO 75.2 amp bridged to give the sub 300W RMS,

high pass filtered at 125Hz running off the HU, the sub low pass filtered at 100Hz, and the fade control set 75% front / 25% rear

JBL 2 channel amp to power them, then put another GTO sub in the boot and a 600W RMS mono amp to run the two of them.

This man knows nothing about ICE then

Davva, best mate, My rear speakers say JBL on the covers and I can't put the volume above number 6 without it blasting my head off, the Bass is very powerful and treble is good, would my 'exec' spec have an AMP somewhere? and are the speakers all JBL's (allways wondered you see and you the man!)

Davva2004 · Post by **Davva2004** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:33 pm

Hmmm... I've checked all the speakers in my Rapier and they are definitely Clarion, however I'm aware that the 406 3.0 Coupe has a premium stereo system which was JBL kit throughout, and yes those speakers are amplified. Couldn't tell you where the amp is though, it may even be built into the head unit itself as a smallish 4 channel 50W RMS amp would only pull about 10 amps, easily handled through the stock stereo loom. There's a good chance that the Exec model has the same premium system fitted, but i'm not 100% on that... can only comment on my own car I'm afraid.

Davva2004 · Post by **Davva2004** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:06 pm

Cheers for clearing that up Supa

Davva2004 · Post by **Davva2004** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:35 pm

Get busy with the screwdrivers! Wonder if it's a JBL amp?

Post by **mjb** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:41 pm

Must be a d9 thing. My d8 exec doesn't sound that great and it certainly ain't amped

Blue406 · Post by **Blue406** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:10 am

My speakers play sound, a nice bass too. No complaints here. And its the standard D8 system.
Then again, I'm not bothered as long as the speakers don't crackle. I don't play my music all that loud anyway, I like to hear what my car is doing and listen for problems!

Post by **Welly** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:18 am

supafrisk wrote:Whilst I was cleaning out the exec this morning, I noticed a plastic box behind the drivers seat with ventilation holes. There's something green underneath and I haven't had chance to remove the cover yet as the car has been down Gary's for oil and filter changes today, but I would hazard a guess that the 'cover' is actually the amp housing. I think my coupe's got one too

Ahem......That will be the ECU for the leccy seats silly.

Captain Jack · Post by **Captain Jack** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:40 am

Amp on the Coupe/D9 Exec will be in the boot behind a flap thing on the left hand side (by the left rear lights assembly).

miniman · Post by **miniman** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:56 am

Thats where my auto changer is.
Any other ideas as to the whereabouts of this elusive amp??

Captain Jack · Post by **Captain Jack** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 12:04 am

Hmm.. what about under the parcel shelf in the boot? That's where they had that CD drive for sat nav hidden...

miniman · Post by **miniman** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 7:58 am

The amp is definately on the drivers side of the boot. I removed the carpeting last night for a quick peek, and hey presto- there it is!
It is a JBL amp, but it is just a black plastic box with a tiny JBL sticker on it.
Im going to rip it out tonight and check it over for faults with the front right input/output.
More info tomorrow..........

Post by **Welly** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:06 am

miniman wrote:The amp is definately on the drivers side of the boot. I removed the carpeting last night for a quick peek, and hey presto- there it is!
It is a JBL amp, but it is just a black plastic box with a tiny JBL sticker on it.
Im going to rip it out tonight and check it over for faults with the front right input/output.
More info tomorrow..........

That's funny that, and has got me thinking........ages ago on here I posted about my ''massive pops'' from speakers and never really got to the bottom of it

Every now and again I get big pops from the speakers and it scares you to death, I wonder if it is bad connections to the amp???

I will have a looky looky.