ICE Newbie

[CalvinR]

Im looking at improving my cars ICE, I have a fairly good cd/usb player at the moment which cost about £110 so looking at getting some good speakers and sub.

Budget is around £200

What would you spend that on?

2 front speakers
2 back speakers
sub & amp?

What should I go for?

[markc20xe]

mtx do some good stuff, jbl as well and they are cheap as well, go for a 10 or 12 inch sub max aswell

[billham]

If only got £200 to spend i would'nt worry about a sub, as if you get good enough speakers like decent pair 6x9 or next size up then run them thru a amp then paired up with good set front set speakers, be more then good enough will have plently of bass.

[Rysee]

I got some Vibe SEK 50 which are £70 in Halfords for £38 delivered from a shop on ebay

[Jack]

I'd spend £200 on quality speakers. You won't realllly get a decent sub/amp for that money, unless you get lucky on ebay.

[craig green]

Go for 2nd hand old school quality branded stuff on ebay.

I would buy some new speakers from the likes of alpine or Pioneer's TS range, then get a nice Kenwood or Alpine V12 amp. Buy new cables obv. Then when money allows add the sub.

It al depends where you will mount the speakers. Butchering door cards is sacriledge tbh, but speakers are best heard upfront. You wouldnt go to a gig & stand with your back to the stage. But you are limited to size in a Nova, but some 4" speakers can be got in upfront somewhere & then put an 8" or 10" sub in the boot.

Avoid 6x9's unless solely using the headunits onboard amp. They sound gash, esp when run with a subwoofer & you have to again crucify a parcel shelf to get them in. Comments about sopund coming from the rear still apply. Rear fill is good to have, but from some stonking great 6x9's is just overkill.

My current setup is a Rockford Fosgate 4x40w, bridgeable amp (£25), 12" budget sub & some Pioneer 6x9's. All run off the amp. This goes against what I have said, but I am on a budget, the rear speakers are on an existing, knackered shelf I've had for years & I havent decided what to do about fr speakers. But in an ideal world I'd make some door builds to house a pair of 4" Alpines & then ditch the 6x9's altogether.

[shrtwrec20]

Running a full Vibe system in my car except Headunit ofc. Sounds great!
But I think the wiring alone would finish off your budget lol

[craig green]

Cheap gear well setup, can sound better than top drawer stuff slung in by a noob.

Correct routing of wiring & an hour or 2 playing with the levels in a secluded location with a decent CD (dire straights* or similar) helps massively.

Something recorded properly, not a burn-off of big bass hits 99 etc.

[shrtwrec20]

try setting up a system to play heavy rock/metal.

Not as easy as you'd think ;)

[craig green]

Exactly! dance music sounds good on anything tbh. I use Dire Straights & Madonna or similar for setting up my ICE. Best to raid something from your parents CD stash. LOL
It';s always worth swapping speaker polarities about as often the amps can be labelled wrong, not always but sometimes the case, even just on one output (corner).

Then throw in a decent dance CD, say Chemical Bros & be blown away..

[shrtwrec20]

And be sure when you do come to wire it up you run the power and remote down one side of the car, and the phono/audio cables the otherside to avoid interferance. :)

[CalvinR]

Cool, thanks for the advised everyone