6x9s in a 306

I'm a big fan of Focal splits, the Utopias are awesome, but would be a bit too much for you, I would think. We ran the second from the top and were very happy. They're French too, so that's good!

My personal opinion is that Alpine, Pioneer, Sony, and Clarion make some pretty ordinary splits. My advise is to take your time and listen to a lot of speakers, take your own CD with you. My recommendation is to get a tweeter that is quite soft, as the 306 makes the tweeter really harsh.
 
Yeah i know alot of those commercial brands are quite ordinary, i was looking at Focal but they cost heaps maybe some Blaupunkt's (did i spell it right) or maybe even Cadence. But i've definetly got alot of listening to do before i get a set.
 
Pug307:
What do people think of MB Quart?
Click to expand...
Good quality stuff, it's german made i think? I've only heard good about them, would be to expensive for us students/part-workers though :( .

Btw do Bose make any aftermarket car audio or do they just come come with cars??

<small>[ 22 August 2003, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: purrr-geot ]</small>
 
You know, Bose really isn't that amazing.

BOSE=Bloody Ordinary Sound Equipment. Just coined it up. Actually, funnily böse means evil in German :)

I know it's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's a very inflated brand. Not bad in any case, but not what it's made out to be. The trouble is, it's about the only premium audio brand that Average Joe knows. But as a friend in audio tells me, Bose have fantastic margins, so those who are selling tell you it's good!
 
Bose are great for home theatre but I can't say for car audio cause I haven't heard one. From my experiences JVC are very underated and very well priced. As for most things you need good quality accessories:

Sound deadening, wiring (often forgotten),install and set-up, etc...

This can make an ordinary system sound half decent however without can make a good system sound ordinary. My 2_cents
 
Here's my two cents: Take that $800 bucks you've got and go and buy an Alpine CDA-9815 head unit. Start with the quality head-unit, then save your bickies, then buy quality speakers (see Chri's16 advice) then save bickies, then.... (so on and so forth)
 
I had a friend who works in the home hifi business, he swore that bose was garbage, i mean we have a set of their speakers and i have no problem with them, but he said that you dont get what you pay for, they dont make their own speakers, theyre cheapies from china and that bose offered to build one of those special rooms to display their gear, they told them where to go! in a nutshell you can do better for your money.
 
Pug307:
What do people think of MB Quart?
Click to expand...
Macquered runs MB Quartz and I've heard some competition stuff from MB quartz and it's very good. In same class as Focal and AVI.

Asanka, you get what you pay for, even entry level Focals are very nice. IMO, don't skimp on the front speakers.

As for BOSE, yep, rubbish in car audio. They are available in Audis and from all I'veheard from my audio guys is that they're rubbish. For that matter, almost all premium sound as OEM in cars is rubbish. That is, upgrades, such as Harman Kardon is rubbish. quite a few upgraded cars have been through my car's shop to have it ripped out and replaced with good quality after market gear for half the price. The except to this is the Magna Rallisport which has an Eclipse system in it...it's an exception as it's the same stuff you can buy in the shops, so it's not really OEM...

I disagree with the advice on a good deck, unless you get something like Eclipse's top decks, let your good quality amp do the work. My next system will be full Eclipse with Focals.
 
GTI124:
IMO, don't skimp on the front speakers.
Click to expand...
Very true advice.

I was in a 307 that had the rear parcel shelf factory subwoofer system (I don't know whether I'd call them subs), and whilst it added bass to the system, you'd have the front door speakers popping and buzzing.

The front speakers are the most important in any system, IMHO.
 
There are several things ppl are missing here when selecting front speakers. There is not point in spending $400+ on your fronts when you are mounting them in the standard holes of, say a 306. These are a terrible location and mount. Even my 6" JL's vibrate the mounts when running off the headunits 15w.

If you are going to spend $500 on speakers, you will get hugely better result if you spend $300 on the speakers and $200 on getting them mounted properly and the doors sounds deadend. If you are getting really serious about your music then you have to start looking at getting speakers mounted on-axis angled toward the listener.

In my last system I had Jaycar 4" 2-way coaxials in the kickpanels and Jaycar 6" mid bass in the doors. $250 total excluding custom crossovers. Even with a 5 year old headunit and basic Pioneer amp this setup still sounded sweeter than many other competition system and gave a sound stage just as superior.

Basically, a good front stage is about mounting design first, speaker selection second.

As for subs in rear parcel shelves, apart from being missiles in waiting, they can provide a basic level of bass. Not all people are after brain shaking bass or sub-40hz response. Boot space and cost are also valid reasons for people selecting free-air sub design. Don't get me wrong, free-air can give a reasonable sound, though you have to select the right driver for the application.
 
You guys are bringing back some memories now....snif, snif.
Reading this and other Car audio threads make me wish i was installing again,.. bohoo snif.

Just my 2 francs on a few things.
*306 and audiophile acoustic sound don't work best. Why?-- simply peugeot build very cheap interiors. The soundedaning is minimal and of low substance, The DASHBOARD on all N3 and N5 306 is only held on by hinge clips at the top and a few screws. Nothing is tied down well, and the actual plastics, materials are poor in that they are not sound friendly. Go sit in a late model BMW or Lexus.

**Im a very firm beliver in "you feed average, and then you amplify average".
That dosn't mean that the head unit has to a be a top-line Nakamichi or the Eclipse 8092(not here yet), or the Alpine F1.
I think the fair standard for a good CD/tuner combo is. 3 pairs of RCA, front, rear and SUB. All altleast 4V, the higher the better. Backed up by a bass, mid and high Eq. Then sensible ergonomics. Forget fancy screens and wacky extra panels, they don't score you any extra points at comps and don;t add naything to the sound. Also buy CD's folks, i personaly hate the quality of MP3.

** 6x9's and parcel shelfs. To anyone who is doing it. Its not a fav of mine BUT, IF YOU MUST DO IT SAFE.
When i was instaling we had a car a week from a DIY come in and complain that the 6x9 came flying forward. A baldy secured speaker on a parcel shelf is a missile in a emergency brake or head on. One even punched right through the windscreen!!! So just make sure its tied down tightly please.

** wiring in a 306. I put up a thread in the Common faults or problems section in another part of this forum. Its on wiring amps and so forth, in a 306.

** As for brands, i prefer, as brad sugested spending on instaling, the staging, sound dedaning, sealing, resonance testing, Real Time Anylising etc. all pay of.
But for the average guy, Put on some sound dedaning on your front speakers, make sure they are sealed and screwed down tight!
Actual brands: Top end head units- Nakamichi, Eclipse, Macintosh, Alpine F1, Becker and Sony EXD.
Average guy head units- Rockford Fosquate, JVC, Clarion and Pioneer.
Top end Amps- Butler, ADS, DLS, Audioson, PP, Orion, Soundstream, and Alpine F1.
Average guy amps- Kenwood, Fusion, CrossFire and Signat. Rockford if price alows.
Top end speakers- Audio Dynamics, Macintosh, Boston, JL, Butler, Focal, MASS, Mb Quart, and DDDrive Alpines.
Average guy speakers- Focal (lower range), Pioneer, Kicker, Phillips and some Alpines. Some Jaycar gear too.
Top end Subs- JL audio, ARIA X-range, Focal, Alpha audio, Kicker, Rockford F., CV, Orion, Earthquake and Phoenix Gold.
Average guy subs- Fusion, Cross Fire, GS desings and some Jaycar gear too.
Top end extras- Audio control, Phoenix Gold, Orion, Sony EXD, Alesis(but customised for in car), Apoge, and Dynamat or SoundOff dedaning materials.
Average guy extras- those litle neon tubes you can get at poncy stores or the markets....LMHO.

--ok enough - Chris.
 
CHRI'S16:
Also buy CD's folks, i personaly hate the quality of MP3.
Click to expand...
I agree, I really notice it when you're listening to music with some form of 3D sound processor. At home I have Boston Digital BA7500s attached to the computer which have some form of Dolby processor inside the subwoofer and when you listen to MP3 music, there just seems to be something missing. Same goes for the Dolby sound processors in the Volvo, something is just missing with MP3 based music, it's as if there's not enough "info" for the head unit to deliver the right effects.

It's still better than radio of course.

BTW - what do you think of Dynaudio?
 
CHRI'S16:
Also buy CD's folks, i personaly hate the quality of MP3.
Click to expand...
Ah... which is precisely why I don't use MP3 anymore. Apple has moved to AAC which is SO much better than MP3 it's not funny.

Did you know the MP3 format is over 20 years old? It's positively ancient. It's only become popular in recent years. AAC, invented by Dolby Labs in 1997 sounds better, has smaller file sizes and wow, it blows me away at how good it is, providing you make the AACs from your own CD's of course.

Anyway... it'd be nice if I had more money to spend on audio in the car but right now it's not going to happen :eek:

Derek.
 
Pug307:
something is just missing with MP3 based music, it's as if there's not enough "info" for the head unit to deliver the right effects.

It's still better than radio of course.

BTW - what do you think of Dynaudio?
Click to expand...
your bang on there Justin. MP3 sample rate is of the top of my head at about 32Khz, and normal CD is 48Khz, so literaly there is music missing. Remembering its Compresion type of sound material. Cant wait for Super-CD music to be common.
Dynaudio is VERY!! good but its just rebranded Boston gear (beleive it or not) and even most companie like JL, Boston and even Alpine actualy hire contracting manufacturers like VIFA and Fuji to build them speakers but to their specifications. Like VALEO builds components for several car brands.
For my personal taste i prefer the warmer sound of the JL audio XR range, the best midrange in the business. or the niiicee harmonics of the topend Focal.
Dynaudio are great if you like things 101% super corect, clinical, almost hospital clean sounding. Not as much warmth, having said that id like to hear a pro set up Dynaudio stage with BUTLER tube amps. They are the LEXUS of speakers, but lack feel and soul. were as Focal or Mb's for example are like the Pug or alfa equivalent.
The other thing is the crossovers are SUPERB, IF!! IF!! you get good ones, the top-end are suposedly hand built, but that means that sometimes they are inconsistent. When we did top end cars we always built custom crossovers, taylored to the individual cars acoustics. That's the trick to getting top end staging and imaging.-chris
 
DeKa:
CHRI'S16:
Also buy CD's folks, i personaly hate the quality of MP3.
Click to expand...
Ah... which is precisely why I don't use MP3 anymore. Apple has moved to AAC which is SO much better than MP3 it's not funny.

Did you know the MP3 format is over 20 years old? It's positively ancient. It's only become popular in recent years. AAC, invented by Dolby Labs in 1997 sounds better, has smaller file sizes and wow, it blows me away at how good it is, providing you make the AACs from your own CD's of course.

Anyway... it'd be nice if I had more money to spend on audio in the car but right now it's not going to happen :eek:

Derek.
Click to expand...
WOW!!!... news hound Deka. Im not aware of the AAC fromat. Has anyone heard a S-CD yet??.. wow. simply the best.-chris
 
OK, so every one can poke fun at how ironic this is!! i installed on and off for over 8 years now. And worked on some fancy car such as original Cyber SIXCRX (back then he had $20,000. worth of gear!).
My S16 has an old Kenwood cassete player, which has a faded screen driving the factory crap speakers in the front doors, of which only 1 works.- oh dear.-chris
 
Thanks for your reply Chris, I know the Dynaudio sound nice, but I haven't heard some of the brands you mentioned, so I was interested to see how they compare. The speakers do look nice, almost clinically nice actually.

Car audio is pretty interesting IMHO, I was reading some posts by an audio engineer on another forum. Actually, I have a lot of respect for car engineers in general - if you realise how much thought goes into designing a car, you would too. Just listening about how engineers fight for space at the back of a car, you've got the fuel tank people against the rear seat people, then there are the boot people who want space, but the suspension need more to put this member in, but the exhaust people complain they haven't been given enough space to upgrade the system for the past two updates. We just drive the cars - easy eh?

What's S-CD? Is it something like a DVD for audio?

Anyone know the difference between a HDCD and a normal CD? The first time I played a HDCD in the 307 the first few tracks sounded quite weird, but I was told it's apparently "better quality" than normal CD - almost seemed as if the unit seemed to adapt after a few tracks (I thought there was something wrong with the CD at first).

Aaargh, I wish Peugeot put a little more effort into car audio, I reckon they designed the 307 for listening to AM talkback radio!
 
Pug307:
Thanks for your reply Chris, I know the Dynaudio sound nice, but I haven't heard some of the brands you mentioned, so I was interested to see how they compare. The speakers do look nice, almost clinically nice actually.

Car audio is pretty interesting IMHO, I was reading some posts by an audio engineer on another forum. Actually, I have a lot of respect for car engineers in general - if you realise how much thought goes into designing a car, you would too. Just listening about how engineers fight for space at the back of a car, you've got the fuel tank people against the rear seat people, then there are the boot people who want space, but the suspension need more to put this member in, but the exhaust people complain they haven't been given enough space to upgrade the system for the past two updates. We just drive the cars - easy eh?

What's S-CD? Is it something like a DVD for audio?

Anyone know the difference between a HDCD and a normal CD? The first time I played a HDCD in the 307 the first few tracks sounded quite weird, but I was told it's apparently "better quality" than normal CD - almost seemed as if the unit seemed to adapt after a few tracks (I thought there was something wrong with the CD at first).

Aaargh, I wish Peugeot put a little more effort into car audio, I reckon they designed the 307 for listening to AM talkback radio!
Click to expand...
Dynaudio are one of the best, just not my cup of tea. Plus we don't hae many cars using the gear corectly here in Oz. Some of the top Euro and US based pros, actualy go car hunting first, with a Resonance box (ie bass shaker), a Tone generator and a RTA (Real time analyser), they do this to find the perfect or near perfet car first>> then they gut it and seam weld the whole thing!lol- they then fit huge 18" or bigger wheels, and the lowest profile tyres they can fit and pump em up real high at the comps, why? well some of sub bass is lost on 'floppy' normal tyres. they compete that fiercly-
Makes all the hard work that designers and the engineers you mentioned, negated, almost.
S-CD, is Super-CD, its like the SuperVHS or SuperBETA of Audio. Even the CD's themselves are engineering master pieces. They are weighted and spun tested! It sounds amazing. Kind of like the first time i heard Digital 32 track music. Just sounds full and vibrant. with no sound compresion or gate limiting needed at all. It sounds active almost. Oh, and you need a special player too.
HigDef.-CD is also great, but few players can get the most out of it. Like you said Justin it can sound weird.

PSA need to improve their fit and finish before their gear will sound better.
But when and if i get my race-go kart. Im going to put my system back in my 306 and super clean and clear.-chris

<small>[ 24 August 2003, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: CHRI'S16 ]</small>
 
Mp3 quality SUCKS big time, I could stand it when I was using them dodgy stock Peugeot speakers but once you get a set of decent speakers the poor conversion of mp3's stands out, and you hear a constant hissing sound.

For some reason any 192kb or above mp3 file cannot play without having some sort of playback glitch, why is this, could it be due to the poor conversion from cda to mp3? Funny thing is that it obviously works fine in winamp but also works fine on my Mp3/cd/dvd player in the :confused: house.

cheers!

btw does anyone here download mp3's of kazzaa. I normally don't download commercial music as I’m more after the underground or good jazzy stuff which is a bit harder to find. However i downloaded a
Justin Timberlake song & a few other recent commercial releases(purrr-geot ducks for cover)and these songs playback fine at the start and just get cut off and replaced with a constant high pitched note midway through the song. Is this the method of trying to prevent people from Kazza???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top