ICE Upgrade - Getting there slowly

[dw_uk2000]

Have been planning to update my car audio setup ever since I bought it in December, slowly but surely I'm getting all the neccessary parts together. As this is my first decent attempt at a ICE install it would be nice to know I'm on the right track.

Just bought a Soundstream XTA880.2 Xstream amp that will power 2 x Focal 27-V2 subs mounted in a custom box that will hopefully point through the ski pass (still got to work out the best solution for this). Are the amp and subs a suitable combination.

Will be either keeping the original rears or removing them completly and adding some Focal 165V2slim up front powered by another Soundstream Amp.

I'm hoping to use the standard head unit with the following Connector (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5758640297) , will this be ok to give a good enough signal to the amps?

Am I going along the right lines?

[benny boy]

if you are adding subs to your ice set up i think you need to up grade the speakers as well or your subs will drown the speakers and you will have to much bass and not enough vocal. also i have never heard of this brand of amp my personal choice of amps are alpine or rockford fosgate how ever rockford are not as good as they use to be your head unit is one of the most important part of the system along with wiring you cannot beat alpine for quality of head unit best on the market and produces great sound quality also if you are runing more than two big amps i would buy a power cap :cool:

[Afif]

soundstream amps are quality from what ive heard [ok. I havent personally heard the focal subs at all so couldnt comment.....

As always going down the route of line drivers ect... might be an option for keeping oem headunit but honestly ive heard there will almost always be some noise and lack of quality compared with an aftermarket headunit. Although you wont notice it much at all with subs you will once you upgrade to components up front.

The idea about front components powered by amps is a great idea. Remove the rear speakers and leave the holes for the bass to get through :D.

[Raj]

Soundstream Rules [jam [bow [jam . I have been running with Soundstream from ever since I can remember. They are excellent quality and they made to very high standard. Excellent for the price. The Focal Subs are quite sweet sounding and should sound fine with the amp. You definitely need to upgrade the fronts and deffo drive them from an amp. The rears you can leave as standard (as these can be faded to just provide rear fill).

Afif has heard my set-up (at the last mimms meet), it is a very simple set-up but sounds clear and precise. One amp, uprated fronts, standard rears and one 12" sub.

[Afif]

Afif has heard my set-up (at the last mimms meet), it is a very simple set-up but sounds clear and precise. One amp, uprated fronts, standard rears and one 12" sub.

yup yup. Really like your fronts man.

[dw_uk2000]

Cheers guys [cool

sounds like I'm on the right track.....going to be a while before I can get everything together but hopefully it should sound ok.

Would it be better to get a single 12" instead of two 10's? Have a saloon with fixed rear seats and would like to hear some nice bass in the cabin.

[benny boy]

i had one 12" rockford fosgate sub and that produced more than enough bass but only because i ad a good amp and head unit but depends on whot you want :D

[Raj]

The Soundstream you have for the subs will be more than enough to get good bass through into the cabin fro a single 12, as long as it is a decent branded sub and in the the right enclosure. The enclosure is the most key aspect of your bass, if the box is not right then the bass will not sound right. As I said earlier, a single 12 can [jam , but it always down to what you want from your system. Bassheads will think one 12 is not enough, peeps into tight crisp bass will think one 10 is enough, it is down to the kind of person you are and what kind of music you listen to.

[dw_uk2000]

Wow, just had the amp delivered! What a beast.... it's huge [jam

Think I'm going to have to get the MDF out and make a false floor to sink it into.

Now I'm thinking I might just start with a 12" enclosed sub (Focal 33R LUX (http://www.raysmith.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=2&products_id=38)) and the front components (Focal 165 V Slim (http://www.raysmith.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=2&products_id=25)) and see if this combo works.

Now I guess it's unwise to use this amp to power the Sub and comps! Would it blow the fronts?

[dw_uk2000]

Here are the amp specs....which still dont mean much to me

No. OF CHANNELS: 2
OUTPUT (watts):RMS @ 4 Ohms 220X2
RMS @ 2 Ohms 440X2
T.H.D.: 0.05%
FREQ. RESPONSE (Hz): 10 - 30k
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO: >96dB
DAMPING FACTOR: >200
INPUT SENSITVITY: 200mv
CROSOVER SLOPES: 12dB
CROSSOVER FREQUENCY: High-Pass(Hz) 30 - 500
Low-Pass(Hz) 30-150
SUBWOFFER EQ: 0 - 18dB
DIMENSIONS (INCHES): 26.8x12.4x3

[Afif]

the rms of that woofer is 400. Ideally you want to bridge the two channels which are 220 each on your amp to produce 440 rms into the sub. Then obviously you need another two channel amplifier for your components [ok.

[beemer82]

Also on a saloon, if your rear seats don't have a centre armrest then this will mean that it is a solid metal plate behind the seat. Where you would normally have the ski hatch/centre armrest there is a metal panel that is tack welded in. If you remove your rear seat and the carpet from the boot you will see the square panel. It is a good idea to remove this as it makes such a difference to how much bass gets through into your car, all you need to do is use a hammer and chisel and break the tack welds, allowing the panel to come out.

Its about a 20-30 min job and is very easy.

[Afif]

ill keep that in mind [ok.