Question: Any Suggestions For Upgraded Sound System?

[Elliott]

I'm interested if anyone is willing to share success they've had in upgrading their sound systems. Options using or replacing the stock radio. I have what I believe to be the original AM/FM Cassette radio. Original front speakers, but not very hearty. Back speakers are gone, replaced by some Pioneer speakers sitting on the back deck. I've seen systems on-line that fit across the back deck; sub-woofers, etc. The stock rear speaker set-up looks pretty weak & flimsy, so do most of you by-pass that and go with something completely different, maybe something that mounts on the deck? We just want a better quality sound than the stock system, most likely focusing on the rear speakers and realizing that space is a premium. Not overly concerned with CD or MP3 options. We've only owned our vette for 4 months and haven't really had a chance to talk to other vette owners or see other cars, so I thought I'd start here to see what people have done and are happy with. TX Dave

 

[spikebot 81]

I did a interior overhaul last winter and new sound was part of the upgrade. Nothing to fancy. Singal disc cd pioneer no amps no sub woofers. Alpine speakers front and rear. Looked everywhere for rear speaker boxes but couldnt find anything that would fit decent and allow for the t top storage. I built my own custom boxes and wraped them myself. You will need to make the dash opening larger to allow for the new din design stereo or buy the new console with the opening already cut out, as I did. The front speakers mounted up ok but the magnets are larger and it was nessasary to grind alittle plastic from the back side of the dash above the glove box. I listen to the 2 1/2" magna flows more than the stereo but I'm happy with the system.
DEH2100IB pioneer am/fm cd player with Ipod control 139.99
SP609 alpine 6x9 3 way coaxial rear speakers 129.99
SPS406 alpine 4x6 coaxial front speakers 89.99



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[KANE]

With the Sony covers... although any set of speaker covers would look nice. Point is that custom enclosures really help the 6x9s in the stock locations.

 

[73shark]

Crutchfield as they can tell you what will fit and connection harnesses.

 

[Elliott]

With the Sony covers... although any set of speaker covers would look nice. Point is that custom enclosures really help the 6x9s in the stock locations.

Where did you get the custom enclosures?

 

[KANE]

Where did you get the custom enclosures?

I bought off-the-shelf enclosures and then painted & modded the sides so they'd fit.

 

[Evolution1980]

I bought off-the-shelf enclosures and then painted & modded the sides so they'd fit.

Kane, how did you attach the boxes to the rear deck? My rear speaker mounts are effectively shot/gone, so I'm trying to figure out how to affix the boxes. As with most speakers, if one wants any semblance of bass response, it's going to require an enclosure as opposed to the 'free air' setup of the OEM 6x9's.

 

[coffeejolts]

My suggestion for audio is to keep it as un-intrusive and invisible as possible. Buy a good set of 6x9 speakers and mount them in the stock ports in the back. Then get a good set of 4x6s and mount them in the stock ports in the dash. I've heard that the infinity reference models are good 6x9s and that polks work well in the front. Those are what I am planning on using, but I haven't bought them yet.

If you need more thump in your rump, buy a pair of small ultra thin subwoofers and mount those underneath the seats. I'm not sure about the power seat, but I am pretty sure you can fit a Pioneer Premier TS-SW841D under a manual seat (2 9/16" deep).

Then get yourself a nice head unit and an amplifier. I suggest buying something that you can plug a usb stick into. After using the sync system in my Flex, I hate messing with CDs. A decent head unit with usb input will run around $200. Figure $150 for a four channel amp, and another $150 for an amp to power the subwoofer.

If you buy an Alpine head unit, you can use the KTP-445 (45w per channel) four channel amp which mounts inline, behind the dash. That frees up space so that you only need to worry about a place for the subwoofer amp. I'm pretty sure that you could fit a small subwoofer amp underneath the rear storage compartment.

Just guessing on prices:
alpine head = $200
alpine 4c amp: $150
sub amp: $150
TS-SW841D sub: $160 (maybe two if they will fit?)
infinity reference 6x9s: $150
polk 4x6s: $100
wiring: $50
shallow sub box: (mdf at home depot) $10
total: ~$1000 and a few hours of your time