In order to get a decent SQ/volume compromise I'm having to take a little bit out of the treble and have to forget about bass completely. What are my options?
* 2 channel amp from ebay + a wiring kit. I assume any old amp, even a £50 halfords one will be better than the 18ish watts RMS the HU can provide? With this theory, can I just pick up the cheapest amp i can find on ebay and be glad that it's a big improvement even it's not the most versatile or powerful amp in the world?
* Alpine KTP-445 power pack. I want a strictly OEM look so not having to route a power cable, power-on cable, RCA cable and then splice into the existing door loom is very attractive! However at £100 this seems disproportionally expensive compared to a "proper" amp ebay job? These don't seem to come up second hand very often either, though they seem to hold their value well.
* Can I focus on installation/setup? Presumably dynamat etc will do nothing to prevent distortion, but it will give a "fuller" more complete SQ?
* Is there much I can do to limit the amount that each speaker is having to do? It seems that even the standard speakers are suprisingly ok if they don't have to do much. I thought about HPF'ing the front woofers at around 300 Hz therefore sending the lower frequencies to some LPF'd woofers in the rear (I appreciate this would in no way be a replacement for a sub, however I want music not vibrations, I spose I just want a tiny bit of this addictive "kick") On the subject of filters, they only seem to exist in the form of crossovers (which aren't applicable to my idea?) and inline-pre-amped filters (ditto)? Has anyone had any success with attaching home-made filters just before the speaker? (the bits can't cost more than a £ or two from maplins and you could make the filter to the exact cut off frequency you wanted. Stick a £1.50 potentiometer in the mix and you could even make yourself a filter with an adjustable cut off frequency I guess)
* What does "nominal" mean r.e speaker power. Is it a replacement term for RMS?
Apart from appreciating good SQ, I'm really no audiophile (sp?) so please do correct anything I've said or missed!
P.S. Alpine CDE-101RM HU (50w max, has one set of RCA pre-outs for sub OR fronts) and the el-cheapo lower-spec black/grey pioneer custom fits (35w nominal, 130w max)
Thanks in advance!
* 2 channel amp from ebay + a wiring kit. I assume any old amp, even a £50 halfords one will be better than the 18ish watts RMS the HU can provide? With this theory, can I just pick up the cheapest amp i can find on ebay and be glad that it's a big improvement even it's not the most versatile or powerful amp in the world?
* Alpine KTP-445 power pack. I want a strictly OEM look so not having to route a power cable, power-on cable, RCA cable and then splice into the existing door loom is very attractive! However at £100 this seems disproportionally expensive compared to a "proper" amp ebay job? These don't seem to come up second hand very often either, though they seem to hold their value well.
* Can I focus on installation/setup? Presumably dynamat etc will do nothing to prevent distortion, but it will give a "fuller" more complete SQ?
* Is there much I can do to limit the amount that each speaker is having to do? It seems that even the standard speakers are suprisingly ok if they don't have to do much. I thought about HPF'ing the front woofers at around 300 Hz therefore sending the lower frequencies to some LPF'd woofers in the rear (I appreciate this would in no way be a replacement for a sub, however I want music not vibrations, I spose I just want a tiny bit of this addictive "kick") On the subject of filters, they only seem to exist in the form of crossovers (which aren't applicable to my idea?) and inline-pre-amped filters (ditto)? Has anyone had any success with attaching home-made filters just before the speaker? (the bits can't cost more than a £ or two from maplins and you could make the filter to the exact cut off frequency you wanted. Stick a £1.50 potentiometer in the mix and you could even make yourself a filter with an adjustable cut off frequency I guess)
* What does "nominal" mean r.e speaker power. Is it a replacement term for RMS?
Apart from appreciating good SQ, I'm really no audiophile (sp?) so please do correct anything I've said or missed!
P.S. Alpine CDE-101RM HU (50w max, has one set of RCA pre-outs for sub OR fronts) and the el-cheapo lower-spec black/grey pioneer custom fits (35w nominal, 130w max)
Thanks in advance!