I am looking at upgrading my audio system. I would like to see what the community thinks about my selections, but would also like some recommendations. Please read below.

Head unit: I have always been an alpine fan, but there single din units are just not on par with the other manufacturers. I chose Pioneer because of the 4v pre-amp voltage and the rear usb connection(s) (would like to hide Ipod/Iphone in glove box). I can't really see any differences between the two units in terms of performance, other than the MIXTRAX feature and the flip down face.
DEH-8400BH:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130P840...H.html?tp=5684
or
DEH-9400BH:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130P940...H.html?tp=5684

Front speakers: Not really sure, looking at the reviews I chose this set of polk components. Open to any suggestions.
Polk db6501
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB65...01.html?tp=105

Rear speaker: Would like fill in the rear with some nice bass, but don't know if I should go with a coaxial speaker or potentially one of these small subs 6 1/2" or 8". Optimally if I could get nice lows out of a rear pair, I would ditch any ideas of a sub/amp in the trunk. Also what sort of modification would need to be done to the rear deck to adapt one of these smaller subs. Please help!

Amp: Will make a decisions once the set up has been chosen. Any specific manufacturers that I should lean towards?

Sub: I love the speed of my Evo, but I also love a nice sound system. I have a 500 watt JL slash v2 amp sitting in my closet with a 10W6v2, but the set up with box and everything weighs like 80 lb. In my IS I had it to where my system could be removed easily with a bracket system I rigged up, so I could easily pull the spare (I built the box to allow for the spare tire to just squeeze by), or remove the set-up to drop the weight. If I did opt for a sub in the rear I plan on building a rail system that the box could slide in and out of as well as locking it in place. Open to any ideas, again like I said above, if the system can produce decent lows without a sub, I will throw the sub set-up in the girls car.

All advice will be appreciated. I plan on posting this in another forum catered to audio, but figured it would be nice to receive feedback from the evo community. Thanks.

 

dont mean to thread jack but i had a question. I too am also looking for polk components right now... why does crutchfield say the db6501 will fit but the mm6501 will not? they are the same diamater is it because the mm series is to deep? Also amazon says the mm6501 will fit

heres a link to the mm series
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-AA6...1999336&sr=1-3

 

I am glad you said that. I saw that it fit, but on Crutchfield's website it only says the rear deck. I don't know why it wouldn't fit, all the information on the forums say that we can accept up to 6 3/4". The rear mount depth is not available online, it may just be that they wont fit with the stock speaker grill, or maybe the tweeters don't fit without modification. I don't like ordering off of amazon because of their display, not nearly as much info as on Crutchfield's website. From what I can tell in the pictures thats a coaxial set of speakers, but what the hell do I know.

I am not sure but thanks for the heads up. I plan on making the order this weekend for the head unit at minimum. I will call and ask about fitment.

 

i usually shop on amazon and then take the item number they display and search crutchfield for the specs. but about the mounting as far as i can tell the only difference between db6501 and mm6501 is the the top depth in db is 1-11/16" and the mm series is 2-9/16"

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ot-system.html

^^^ This is a thread that discusses in some detail the physical, sonic, and aural constraints posed by our cars. The traditionally naive approach exemplified by buying gear on spec, bolting it in and expecting better sound doesn't necessarily work here. Good luck.

 

Ive been building stereos for some time now and I own a 2012 lancer. I am getting ready to out fit mine with a kenwood double din player. For amps I use two. The Rockford t3002 and the Rockford t1000.1bd. Subs I am using two powerbass 2xl dual voicoil 10's they use a very small box that only requires .75 cubes per woofer. For Mids and Highs I also use Rockford 6.5" mids and their soft-dome tweeters. As for a signal processor I am using a DEI 4000 unit that produces 4volts preamp output. This amount of preamp voltage allows me to keep my gains real low and allows the amps to drive the system with very little distortion. I do have a spare yellowtop battery in the trunk along with 2 1 farad Rockford capacitors. The system overall was not that expensive and many of my friends think I am using much larger woofers than what I have. The powerbass 2xl 10's use a small box but still produce very thunderous deep bass. I prefer a sealed box as I get tighter bass but it still gets very low.

 

Yeah I don't think I want quite that much additional weight in my car, adj fire. Plus I am not a big bass head just want a little boom. If that was the case I would throw in my jl sub/amp combo.

Honestly, after reading the thread by FJF and some of his other posts, I think I may go with an amplifier before the speakers. I have been looking at the JL XD700/5 amp.

My question now is (please chime in FJF):
Will this amp be too much for the stock speakers?
What is the power handling of the stock speakers (non-SSL)?

I chose a five channel amp as I plan on attempting the under-seat sub option. The pioneer shallow mount 8" subs can operate in a sealed box with .20 cubic feet, and I could potentially pull off a ported box according to the optimal dimensions in the manual. I think it would be pretty sick to have two 8" subs ported under the seats. I am going to take some measurements today and see what I can come up with. If that damn hump was underneath our seats, I would be alot more excited about working in the area.

 

Ported box is going to be too big to fit under either of the seats, sealed + padding is really your only option

from when I was figuring out all my audio stuff (which is still sitting in my room...no time recently nor the resources / space to build my sub box) what i essentially learned was:

• speaker's dont matter. when stationary they will make a difference, but when moving there's so much road noise and the acoustics of the car are 'meh' at best so they don't make a worthwhile difference
• trunk sub is lackluster, under-seat seems to be the best option. some people go for one under each seat, i personally started with one 8" and will get another if i'm not satisfied
• rear speakers aren't necessary as the front serves as a "stage" so it sounds like the music is coming at you as opposed to surrounding you. if you have a 5-channel amp, use the rears, otherwise stick to fronts + sub. if you don't want fade, you can wire the front left and front right together to have the rears active

as long as you're not blasting music like a ghetto-fab queen, stock speakers won't blow. they're more likely to blow without an amp at higher volume because they get a distorted signal and try to play it and damage themselves. a 700W amp is quite large though

 

The XD700/5 is an excellent choice.

IIRC, the mids are rated at ~15w. Keep in mind that the number in itself has no real relevance. None. The stock speakers will sound distorted long before any damage will occur, but they do have a dynamic ceiling. Meaning, they'll only play so loud. If your aim is to have an excruciatingly loud system, these are not the right speakers.

< grin> Two subs are always a cool idea. The actual aural benefit can be somewhat small. Doubling the drivers will allow for ~3dB more amplitude, all things staying equal, and also produce less distortion. This can have significance in a situation where such improvements are easily heard. Whether that's the case in a car as aloud as an Evo on the move is another question, altogether.

 

Did you like your under seat box? Are you still running it?

My car isn't really that loud either. I have a high flow cat and resonator in my exhaust (full tbe). Sure its loud when I get on it but while cruising I can't hear my car with the stock radio at about 25-30 volume.

So should I be worrying about wave dynamics (cancellations...etc) as much as you emphasize?

 

I like it very much. No thoughts of changing anything.



Absolutely. I'm willing to bet that my Evo is quieter than yours, but it's not like it matters compared to what quiet actually means.

 

Well I guess what I'll try to do is fashion something similar to your set up. Few questions:

Does your car have that same hump in it underneath the seats?
I was thinking that I could maybe increase the volume by building a ridge down the box and then sanding the inside down to a smooth slope. It would fit better, and provide more volume. Would this sacrifice sound, if so how much?

What drivers do you recommend? Is a 10" driver possible?
I know its been awhile since your install, and new products have been released.

Appreciate your input FJF.

 

Don't get me wrong; this isn't the best possible audio setup by any stretch of the imagination. On the overall scale of audio sound quality, it ranks slightly above two soup cans connected by a string. It's just that, unfortunately, we can't do appreciably better if listening to music in a moving Evo is the goal.

Yes.

In theory, it should provide better sound, all things staying equal. In practice, not so much. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't do something more slick than my own box if I had the actual carpentry skill.

I suggest the most sensitive driver than can work effectively in a given volume enclosure. All staying equal, the bigger the better. Keep in mind that we're not that concerned with (low-frequency) extension, as much as the driver's ability to penetrate the noise and produce some semblance of quality. Meaning, being able to readily identify the beginning and the end of every note, but not going as far as having a hope of hearing the individual stings slap against the fretboard.

Let me take a quick look at what's out there right now and I'll post back tomorrow. Do you have a budget in mind?

Always happy to talk audio.

 

Lots of info here...I think the P9400 head unit will end up being best. I've heard some nightmare stories about people getting dust and crap on the eye of the cd player that wasn't a flip down and exposed to the elements, especially if you dig driving with your windows down. People may say that the motor on the flip-down player may die out, but I've had three different flip-down units and all have worked perfectly (the one I kept the longest was 5 yrs old and still going strong).

As for speakers, I personally would focus on the highs and for crisp-ness. Subs were made for bump, so use them for that...If you're looking for bump, don't beat up speakers trying to over-push them or turning up the bass settings on your deck. Your deck will put out approximately 14 watts RMS and aftermarket speakers can take about 50 RMS, so amplifying them is a solid option and the amp you have is a boss for that The Polk components you picked out are solid, the only other two I'd suggest would be
Diamond Audio D364.5
and
Alpine SPR-60C



Subs are always a nice add-on, but like you said, weigh a ****-ton...Have you considered a shallow-sub? Here's a comparison of what you have, and what you could do and cut a bunch of weight (the Alpine sub weights ab 13 lbs)

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...00SWRT10&g=520

The price is high at Crutchfield, so if you wanna order it, get it here:

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...ice_Comparison

I've ordered a ton of stuff from there and the customer service is just as good as Crutchfield. The amp you have would be able to power that Alpine, so no extra amp purchase would be necessary.

As for adding a sub to an aftermarket head unit, its super easy, that's why they make sub preamp outputs, which the Pioneer deck has. Another consideration would be a crossover, which would clean the sound up a bit more

All in all, you've picked some solid stuff out and I think that the car will sound awesome with the right adds, sorry this post is so long, but feel free to PM me if you have other questions!

 

I've actually looked at that shallow mount type r, it's awfully tempting because it would love my amp. Still it would have to be Box mounted in the trunk, so I will only save weight on the sub. Box will be heavy, and that amp is not light. I really like the idea of consolidating my system to one amp (speakers and sub), and run a small sub in cabin.

FJF:
Price shouldn't be an issue with these small drivers. Also won't the xd700/5 be a little too much for one 8" or 10" shallow mount. Most I've looked at have been 50-150 rms 300 peak, while that amp is providing 300 watts (jl is usually underrated too).