Series II Sportwagon Sound Upgrade
Second post tonight but really great site.
I've read a lot of the threads about sound system upgrades and just wanted some opinions.Why do Holden spoil great vehicles with such lousy sound systems?
Went to a local dealer about an upgrade and he recommended Morel splits in the front, an Infinity amplifier and two ways for the rear, with Dynamat in the doors. Around $1000
Now I may be 54 but I like the music loud in the car(for me, not the world around). stuff as varied as led Zep to Ministry to mumford and sons.
I know a lot of you guys spend a lot of time and money on your sound systems so any advice greatly appreciated.
cheers
some people dont like the speakers in the ve, but coming from a series 1 ute the speakers were shithouse, getting distortion and no bass, but my series 2 wagon is far better and dont have this problem anymore.
The Mad Dutchman
Barraboy,
So far I haven't seen an easy way to get better sound from the S2 iQ system. Its mainly because there is no RCA outs from the headunit.
I too expected better sound from the iQ debut but I'll have to live with it for the time being. I'm pretty sure the speakers have not changed from the S1, so I would blame the headunit.
VE II SS-V Sportwagon
Blown VT LS1 450rwhp
There were no RCA out son series 1s either. That didnt stop people!Originally Posted by Thumpin
You can have RCA outs added to series 1 headuints not sure about S2s yet.
On my S2 I fitted a focal amp which takes high level in(speaker wires) and then converts it and amps it. You can also fit a Line level converter and amp. I used the focal amp as it does both.
You Ride I Ride
We had the S2's wagon doors and cargo area lined with dynmat and it did make a different. I am a 50 (blur blur blur) year old bass player and my wife loves classic rock (triple M radio). We like a full sound, but not so loud that the car beside me is screwing up their face. I really hate those inconsiderate F#$ks!. Being a bass player I also like to hear the bass in the mix. The dynamat helps but is only one step in the right direction as it doesn't completely improve frequency response. Overall the speakers in my S2 wagon are alright but eventually we will also upgrade. To do so we read the audio threads on this site and a few other sites and continue to gather info. We are planning to add amps and plan to mount them either under the rear seat (if there is room) or better still, mount them on the under-side of the panel that covers the spare wheel well. That panel needs to be strengthened, which is an easy enough task. Mine is not a show car so I dont need to show off my amps or speakers and I need cargo space to carry flight cases.
Don't get me wrong as I'm just fish'in here...
I am correct to assume the S1 SSV's had a separate amp mounted in the boot area?
Also, did the S1 SSV's have a separate sub-woofer?
Everyone talks about amping the S2's. Is the S2 sound issue primarily due to drive power, speakers or the preamp in the iQ headunit? Does anyone know the iQ's output figures?
VE II SS-V Sportwagon
Blown VT LS1 450rwhp
Not sure about the the amp in the SSVs.
Sound quality is both power and the fact that the stock speakers are shit.
I put Focal K2s in my doors with dyanmat and it sounds awesome!
Hey, just wondering if you have any trouble with a bit of a popping sound when you start the car? Do you know if the focal amp has signal sensing to turn it on?
I've just fitted an alpine 4 channel amp (high level in), and turns out it has signal sensing to turn on, and is causing it to pop??
Donating Member
I am currently running some Hertz HSK165 splits and HCX165's in the rear doors straight from the head unit and it sounds awesome, so much better than the stock paper cone shit the wankers at Holden put in the car. I did dynamat the doors which helped too.
If you don't want an amp you need to find some speakers with high sensitivity. The Hertz splits i am using are rated at 93dB which is on the upper side of speaker sensitivity and a perfect match for the iQ system.
I was in the same boat as you... no doof, doof music, but wanted to improve the sound somewhat.
Bought my car new and within a month changed all of the el-cheapo $2 iMoss Korean Krap speakers in the doors with Polk db650 speakers and disconnected the speaker in the middle of the dash. Sound is really nice and balanced now (at least to my ears!) and it all looks 100% stock. The problem with the standard speakers is the poor low frequency response - my guess is they probably only go down to around 70Hz... regardless of what speaker you decide on, you want to get as low as you can get - the Polks are 35Hz and up to 22kHz at the high end so a much bigger and fuller bass sound. They'll also handle 200W peak if I ever want to put an amp in later.
The only minus with the Polks and not a big deal, is that you need to wind the volume up a bit more as they are 4 ohm.
I bought the speakers from the US at something like $60 a pair - if I recall the all up cost was less than $200. A bargain for the big improvement in sound quality.
I'm looking at going the audioson bitone to run the show. Then I've got some morel speakers to go in the doors and want to go a small (prob 10") sub to sit flush against the rear seat with an alpine digital amp to run it all. Nothing big but will be a nice upgrade.
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