VE speakers and upgrade

[bonners]

What's peoples opinions on doing a speaker and amp upgrade to the VE?

Could I do a decent upgrade, including splits in the front, bigger speakers in the rear, an amp and a sub for less than a grand installed?

[DCV1NU]

If your after a decent setup then no, half your 1k budget would already be used for install then add cabling & sound denting & there's 1k already. If you double your budget to bout 2k you can do a full decent upgrade, personally I wouldn't bother with amping the speakers if you run decent splits/coxials.

[BEARWOOD]

For that sort of money i'd drop the rear speakers for now and concentrate on good front splits and a good 4 channel amp. A decent install would nearly cost your budget by itself with dynamat. In my opinion and from recent experience you will not get what you want for $1000, youd be better off doing it in stages so you get what you want in the long run.

[jono0309]

If you can't do it yourself, its like engine mods, you will just have to keep paying for labour. I would just leave it alone as $1000 won't get you anything good with installation, if anything.

[SimonNQ]

Just add a sub, you would be surprised how good the standard system can sound with a decent sub !!

[T2000]

Can be done.

Lots of DIY and some careful buying will get you close ;)

Here is some detail of how I did it in my Berlina:
http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=105890

[bonners]

Thanks guys. It's been a long long time since I actually really did any stereo installs in a car or looked at pricing


Just add a sub, you would be surprised how good the standard system can sound with a decent sub !!

can the stock amp take the sub?

[T2000]

Thanks guys. It's been a long long time since I actually really did any stereo installs in a car or looked at pricing



can the stock amp take the sub?

Sort answer... No. The standard amp is pretty pathetic imho.

[bonners]

So you re suggesting a sub in a box and a new amp to drive it. But a sensible amp to drive new speakers later

[HEKYEH]

Get a 4ch amp. Ch 1 & 2 to drive front splits. Bridge Ch 3 & 4 to a sub. No need to upgrade or touch the rear door speakers. Done.

[whiteknight2211]

Sort answer... No. The standard amp is pretty pathetic imho.

I swear that amp is just to make up for voltage drop and nothing more..

[SimonNQ]

Adding an amp for the front speakers just brings in too much chance of alternator whine. I would upgrade the speakers first, add a sub then if it is not loud enough then look at another amp etc......

[BEARWOOD]

Oh ye i can get you a new in box set of Boston Acoustic SR60 splits for a real good price if you're interested as i got the wrong size for my Navara.

[T2000]

If you are serious about your 1K budget...
My advice would be to get 2x free air subs for the parcel shelf & drive them from a fairly decent 2 channel amp. Then just replace all 4 door speakers with decent 2 way jobbies & add a 30cm square of flashtac behind each.
This will sound 10x better.

[bonners]

I guess I was chasing a simple and cheap upgrade. I have other things I would rather spend coin on.

If i could get something cheap and running nicely in the car then I would be happy.

[sixlta]

I just installed a set of Rockford fosgate splits, sound deadened my doors, and what a improvement, I can't get over the difference, cost me all of $250, and sounds 100x better, now I just need to sort out the subs, which are rattling something behind the seats,

[CalaisBoy]

Bonners,
what about upgrading the splits, rear 2-ways and even replacing the stock subs with some good quality 8" ones. Then see if you want to add an amp or two later? Or even do the speakers and add a small sub in the boot with a small amp.

I recently did this (with the new shelf subs but without new amp) and am quite happy with it. I just followed some "how to's".

Of course it doesn't match an amped system but it sounds 300% on before.

I did it all myself for about $400-$450 for Hertz speakers and small Kicker subs.(I can check this cost if you like). Note that I also disconnected the centre dash speaker.

Biggest problem I had was not securing wiring properly and having to take dash and door panels off again to fix the wiring rattles.

[bonners]

So I had a setup installed yesterday. Rockford Fosgate splits in the front and rockford fosgate in the rear doors. Both sets of speakers running off new Rockford amp. Fusion passive sub and amp, parcel shelf speakers removed. PAC SOEM-4 LOC.

Sounds Awesome........

Pity about the bloody alternator whine.

[Big_Valven]

:S

Installers really should be used to working on VE Commodores by now... I'd be taking it back and asking them to install it properly...