Audio upgrade advice?

[scsi]

Hey guys -- I'm new here and am happy to join you. I've got a 98 EX Coupe that I am trying to upgrade the audio in.

My company gets a substantial discount on Harman/JBL/Infinity products, as well as MonsterCable, so I'm going Infinity all the way. My goal is to get my car to sound like my home theater system: clear sound, rich bass..

I just put a pair of Kappa 692.7I in the rear, and am having some serious rattling issues back there (I did before the Kappas, too). I took the rear shelf off and tried to weatherstrip the whole thing, but it still rattles like hell. It sounds like ass and is pretty frustrating. Any thoughts about that?

In the future, I plan on putting some Kappa 60.7CS in the front, then a REF475A amp, and eventually a Basslink for the trunk. Of course, MonsterCable all around.

What are you alls thoughts on that setup? How does putting a sub in the trunk afffect the clarity of the bass in the cabin? I am thinking that the rear shelf might stop rattling as much if I pull some of the lows out of the rear speakers and put them on the sub. has anyone found that to work?

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Chingfue]

Dude, with all that rattling, i think the sub is probably just going to make it rattle some more. I'm telling you dude, from my experience it's probably not going to be perfect. It's either the trunk or the rear license plater or the exhaust or something. Personally, i spent well over 2,000 on a competition setup and i blew away my competitors but it still rather a little bit for mines even though i did everything.

 

[J-Tizzle]

Dynamat really helps with the rattling, it should really be done before anything else. You don't have to use Dynamat since its expensive, but any sound deadening product such as blue skins will work pretty well. It will help a lot with the rattling, but you will never get rid of the rattling completely.

 

[Jersey8]

i bought new rockford fosgates in my rears and they started rattling too. i just played around with the mounting screws while i had the music turned up until the the rattling went away. problem solved.

 

[Beelzebubba]

....
My company gets a substantial discount on Harman/JBL/Infinity products, as well as MonsterCable, so I'm going Infinity all the way. My goal is to get my car to sound like my home theater system: clear sound, rich bass..

The shape of the interior is a problem. The interior of most cars is not accoustically friendly. I've been working with mine and it sounds pretty good but I'm still limited.


If you are using the factory head unit you might want to consider a Factory Sound Processor. They are not cheap though. Plan on $150.00 up to $600.00

 

[waldo223]

What kind of head-unit are you using?

 

[eggyhustles]

if you get a good enough component set for the fronts and amp them..you don't need rear speakers...so i'd swap out the rears..

 

[scsi]

Thanks everyone for your response! I really appreciate it ...

To answer some of your questions -- I have a Clarion DXZ545MP head unit (some asshat stole my, get this, stock cassette deck... yeah.)..

What I've done thus far is take a bunch of the foam-rubber weatherstripping and apply it to every contact point I could find between the rear shelf plastic and the body, and also applied some between the speakers and the body. It helped some, but not enough.

So, eggyhustles, you mentioned some good front components on a decent amp should reduce the need for rears -- since the price is right, I was going to go with an Infinity REF475A amp, and Kappa 60.7CS components up front... I was going to also get a Basslink for the trunk. Its not volume I'm after, just clarity.. I want it to sound good.

What are some alternatives to Dynamat that I can apply to the rear?

Thanks,
~s

 

[vjf915]

if you get a good enough component set for the fronts and amp them..you don't need rear speakers...so i'd swap out the rears..

you may not NEED the rear speakers, but it will sound so much better if you still have them.

 

[scsi]

But maybe with the sub picking up the lows, and the front components carrying a decent amount of the work, the rears wont have to work as hard, thereby reducing the rattle? ... I hope.

That rattling is going to drive me to insanity. It's mildly infuriating.
~s

 

[Jimmy2times]

i wouldn't go with the basslink. i just dont like it imho. it is a clean alternative to amps and wires and all that s**t.

i'd dynamat (or wutever). that's the only part of my system that i haven't done yet.

My setup:

-alpine headunit
-6.5 type S speakers up front
-6x9 type R's in back
-75 watt x4 ch. alpine amp
-400w alpine mono amp
-12" alpine type r in a crappy box

good choice on the kappa's. the ref are alright but aren't nething special. if ur getting components up front, i wouldn't completely get rid of the rear speakers, u'll be able to tell there's a hole in the sound.

gl with the setup man.

 

[Genuine Rolla]

There's this stuff you can find at home depot called "water and ice". its basically like dynamat but a whole lot cheaper. BUT..you need to install it when the car is as warm as it can be in side or the sun is shining on your trunk lid.

 

[scsi]

Water and Ice.. I'll check that out. Trust me, there's no lack of sun + heat here in Central Texas.

Jimmy2times -- ANy particular reason why no to the basslink? I'm interested in keeping things simple and compact, since I'm not looking for a system that'll rattle windows, just something that sounds good. And doesn't rattle anything.

 

[dannieboiz]

There's also another material at Lowe's called Peel and Seal. It's in the roofing section and should have a silver aluminum backing. The feel and everything is very much like dynomat. I've never used it before so I can't comment on how well it works but many claim they are just like any sound deadening materials out there.

As most mention, if you got a good amp for the front, the rear can be powered through your deck. It's only for sound fill that's all. If you got a 4 channel amp, bridge it all to the front. You can never over power your speakers if tuned correctly.

For my civic, I'm gonna just throw in a basslink, I'm getting it for free. Can't beat that. LOL

Fronts, either CDT HD or MBQuarts. It'll be a budget system since it's my beater so the sound system will be on a beater budget as well. LOL

 

[eggyhustles]

So, eggyhustles, you mentioned some good front components on a decent amp should reduce the need for rears -- since the price is right, I was going to go with an Infinity REF475A amp, and Kappa 60.7CS components up front... I was going to also get a Basslink for the trunk. Its not volume I'm after, just clarity.. I want it to sound good.

What are some alternatives to Dynamat that I can apply to the rear?

Thanks,
~s

rammat second skin is better than dynamat..and much cheaper...the phoenix gold rsd component set is a excellent set that will not break your pockets(89.99) this certain set has car audio forums goin nuts since its such a great speaker at such a low cost..while rear fill is nice to have for rear passengers..it's not needed..a properly amped component set upfront is just enough

 

[B16EKHatch]

rammat second skin is better than dynamat..and much cheaper...the phoenix gold rsd component set is a excellent set that will not break your pockets(89.99) this certain set has car audio forums goin nuts since its such a great speaker at such a low cost..while rear fill is nice to have for rear passengers..it's not needed..a properly amped component set upfront is just enough

this is what i used a whole roll of in my car. RAAMmat BTX
you dont have to but i used a heat gun to aply it.
http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?p=pr&cert=21f7fdc24186dd4fe04647cb84e46245

 

[t4r6n]

good info. lookin to sound deaden my ek. new motor mounts and exhaust rattle the whole car.

 

[spook4thecia]

this is what i used a whole roll of in my car. RAAMmat BTX
you dont have to but i used a heat gun to aply it.
http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?p=pr&cert=21f7fdc24186dd4fe04647cb84e46245

Definitely sound deaden. If done right, it will improve your midbass dramatically. And I second the RAAMmat, Rick is extremely helpful and the product is great and very affordable

Also, I would really suggest going a little higher end than Infinity and only doing a front stage with some nice comps and get a nice sub for your (obviously) sub-stage. I keep my factory rear's attached just to get a little extra loudness when I'm driving around, but when I really wanna show off my system, I disconnect the rear's. If you get nice comps and sounddeaden nice HU nice amp etc you really don't need rear's. I get more SQL without them

 

[Civic11]

Got to watch all that weight those things add. It's that catch I guess, especially if you guys are into performance. It does make an improvement and makes your car less like a tin can on wheels

 

[eskateboarding7]

just out of curiosity how much of a cut do you get on monstercables? Because from my undestanding monstercables cant be discounted because of the lifetime warrently and such.