nomadicS2k

Door cards seem to be about 75-100 a pair. If you get slim enough tweeters you could cut them into the door cards. The components mean a seperate tweeter which has approx 1m of cable from the crossover so you can place them where you wish.

lovegroova

Coaxials have the tweeter incorporated into the woofer (take a look that the photos in the links above) which means in an MY01 car, all the sound is directed at your feet - this is not good

Getting components means the sound will be nearer your ears which means it's a lot clearer.

Changing the doorcards is very easy but I understand completely if you don't want to faff about!

Toully

You might need an aerial adapter too. I was half way through my HU install when I found this out! Quick trip to Halfrauds with the centre consol in bits was entertaining!

I got the 2 adapters that lovegroova recommended. They do (or at least mine do) change the functionality slightly on the steering controls. My volume button works if you press it in small increments, if you hold it, it selects the next / previous track. Thats in ipod mode though. I got the Alpine iDA-X311RR from LostCost audio, also recommended by lovegroova. I didnt see the need for a CD HU so I went for a Media Reciever as the ipod will replace the CD and it has a USB connecter for flash drives etc. All installed in a matter of mins, once I got the aerial adapter and the sound is much better. I think it came to under £160 all in, which I was chuffed with. I didnt have to do anything with door cards though.

jammer2209

Disagree with some of the above. For a start, there is no point talking about 50w head unit, since that is max output rather than RMS. Also, there is no point in spending £100 on 100w RMS speakers when you're only going to be giving each of them 15w.

The whole system is only as good as the weakest point. I can see the point of a good head unit for functionality - usb etc, and dash controls are money well spent. Component speakers are too much effort without any gain if you're not going to involve an amp, especially if you're going to fork out for doorcards too.

I'd spend:

£20 dash controls
£40 co-axle speakers
£15 speaker brackets/connectors
£25 sound proofing (or the door will rattle if you want plenty of bass)
£80-150 on HU depending on functionality

That's about £200 - don't see a great deal of point spending £300 if you're not going to amp it. I'd get a 200w 2-channel amp of ebay second hand for £40, then use the rest of the budget to get a professional to do a tidy install where they piggyback the speakers. Or do it yourself and spend the remaining 60 quid on better speakers, or more on HU.

Just my angle

RichwiththeS2000

Sounds like a plan jammer.

I'm not expecting it to be a show winner, just a nice step up from the OEM piece of junk

Will pretty much any head unit work with the steering control adapater? some sort of universal standard thing?


Any more recommendations for speakers? (coax)

lovegroova

There's an element of buy cheap, buy twice.

A more expensive HU usually gets you better quality sound to start with (never mind amplification which is usually better than in the cheaper units as well). My very expensive HU makes a huge difference in sound quality. Take a look at the Pioneer range too - they've some good stuff.

But, you pays your money....

You can get adapters for pretty much any make of HU. See th £14 link - it shows you the part numbers for other £3 adapters.

Speakers-wise, within any given price range, they are all much of a muchness really, especially in the ranges we are talking about.

Jammer is right about sound deadening - a very useful tip indeed.

unclefester

Coaxial speakers are ok .... but there are some cracking component sets around for around the hundred pound mark and will improve stereo imaging / bass response no end.

jammer2209

Completely agree about brilliant components for £100, but no point unless you're going to amp them. At this level there is hardly any difference between coaxle and component.

Also, having speakers down by your feet is no problem at all and it reduces any imaging issues (speakers at ear level that result in getting to your right ear far quicker than your left ear due to the distance the sound waves travel - making it sound distorted for both driver and passenger).

There is definitely a difference in head unit qualities, and also functionality. There is a great equaliser on my JVC one. My Sony one was far too complicated and difficult to set up. Have liked previous Pioneer ones.

When buying a head unit check they have steering wheel control compatability. If unsure, look for a hole in the back that will fit a 3.5mm jack (that's what the steering controls use.

Regarding speaker brackets, use ebay and buy the 6.5" mini ones, and Honda Accord speaker adapters. They'll allow you to connect the speaker harness in the car to the speakers without crimping and are £2 well spent (unless you like crimping).

veehexx

... or do what i've done with the tweeters:





JBL 6.5" components, crossover mounted in the door, and tweeters angled up towards people.
i spent around £200 on the speaker & amp side of things, and £200 area on a pioneer head unit.

lovegroova

Having listened to lots of systems in S2000s, there is a marked difference the sound quality due to speaker positioning. Even the best system I've heard with coaxials was nowhere near as good as a budget system with components.

The better head units also have something called time correction which removes the "right ear before left ear" problem described above. Of course, that problem still exists with coaxials. The logic of sound being "distorted for both driver and passenger" is pretty flawed.

Getting decent speakers now means you can add an amp later if you wish without having to go through the palaver of replacing the speakers again - buy cheap, buy twice.