VX Audio Speaker/Headunit Problems *Help Needed*

[VX Appeal]

Hey guys, thanks to you who have been helping me over the past few days.. I had too many topics going and it was getting too messy so I decided to combine them into this one topic.

Refer to the following topics but reply here.
Rear Speaker/Door Card Issues *Help Needed*
Quick VX headunit question

Anyway the basic summary goes like this:
- I thought that the previous owner had taken out both the rear door speakers and parcel shelf speakers before selling it to me.
- It turns out that the rear door speakers are still in the door, all wired up - however they don't work.
- The previous owner tells me he had an AMP in the boot, a SUB under the carpet in boot and 6x9s in the Parcel Shelf.

I first took off the rear door card:
Here's a pic of the door card off:


The speaker still in there:


The wire still hooked up:


It was then suggested to me that I try a multimeter on the connection so I did that today.. It spiked to 5ohms with the headunit playing.

It was then suggested that I plug the rear door speaker into the front door speaker to test if it actually works, so I tried to do this today.
However, I found that the front door speaker was soldered in place and had a different sticker on the back, I'm guessing it's aftermarket?

Here are the pics of the front door speaker:



The soldered connection:


I'm stumped now... The rear speakers are obviously receiving power so they should work.. If only there was a bloody fader option on the headunit which I've been unable to find.

What do you guys rekon?

[astormsau]

Dude bit off topic but that front door speaker is aftermarket and to be honest, it hasn't been installed properly because the suspension is all deformed (rubber bit around the speaker cone). Try backing off the screws and see if you can tighten them up without pulling the rubber out of place... when correctly installed they would have better bass than they currently do... if the suspension is torn then you will need new front speakers for them to sound any good.

Drew

[VX Appeal]

Hey mate thanks for that, I didn't even notice.. Just pried off the glue and re glued it in a better spot as well as loosened the screws, it did the trick.


Haha, as you can see I'm pretty messy with the hot glue ... but you can't see it anyway so I'm not too fussed on cleaning it up too much.

Cheers

[Langas]

It was then suggested to me that I try a multimeter on the connection so I did that today.. It spiked to 5ohms with the headunit playing.

You need to disconnect wiring from the speaker to test it with the multimeter; you want to see if the resistance of the coil in the speaker is around 4ohms.

A quick trick to determine if a speaker works or not is to get a AA battery and connect it to the speaker quickly - It should crackle if it works.

Have you had a look at the headunit wiring yet??

[VX Appeal]

You need to disconnect wiring from the speaker to test it with the multimeter; you want to see if the resistance of the coil in the speaker is around 4ohms.

A quick trick to determine if a speaker works or not is to get a AA battery and connect it to the speaker quickly - It should crackle if it works.

Have you had a look at the headunit wiring yet??

Hey mate, did disconnect the speaker and it registered like 5 ohms but I may have had the multimeter on the wrong setting.
Then I accidentally put it on another setting and as I put it on the "gold wires" behind the speaker and the speaker started to crackle...

Had a look at the headunit too, it all looks plain and simple.. no obvious flaws.. It was a pain in the ass trying to get it back in aswell..

[Langas]

I could have sworn the VX headunits had a fader option...The only ones that didn't were ute ones.

The next question - I'm assuming you are running a standard eurovox headunit and not an after market Pioneer/Kenwood/Alpine etc?

[VX Appeal]

Standard Eurovox - Model Number: 92089 323..
The car didn't come with the Eurovox manual and I was unable to find one on the internet.

I've looked everywhere for a fader option..

Cheers

[acarmody]

Push the volume button in for the fader option I think. Should be bass, treble, fade, balance. Been quite a while since I had a Eurovox in my car.

[VX Appeal]

Push the volume button in for the fader option I think. Should be bass, treble, fade, balance. Been quite a while since I had a Eurovox in my car.

Hey mate, this was the first thing I tried.. On my model it goes: "TREBBLE, BASS, BALANCE"

Cheers

[Langas]

Ok, I have the book infront of me - Just took a photo of the page for you....

Its a big image!

http://users.on.net/~langford/eurovox.JPG

I strongly suspect you have a UTE headunit (Utes only had front speakers hence no fader option - this is what the booklet says too).

If the previous owner was running a sub etc then chances are he was running a different headunit and he has just put this one back in to sell it.

[VX Appeal]

Ok, I have the book infront of me - Just took a photo of the page for you....

Its a big image!

http://users.on.net/~langford/eurovox.JPG

I strongly suspect you have a UTE headunit (Utes only had front speakers hence no fader option - this is what the booklet says too).

If the previous owner was running a sub etc then chances are he was running a different headunit and he has just put this one back in to sell it.

Good find mate, appreciate it..
I still keep in touch with the previous owner, he ran a different headunit straight after buying the car (He was the 2nd owner). Chances are, he doesn't even know it's a UTE headunit

I guess this is why the rear speakers don't work ... UTE

Cheers mate

[wrx884]

yeah same thing with the VY/VZ units not sure if these r the same but u can unlock the 2 rear channels using the tech 2 unit, holden should b able 2 tell u.

But if ur goin 2 do ur own set up ur best off not worrying about the head unit and just go buy another 1 and start ur system from scratch. those front speakers wont b doing u any favours either.

[VX Appeal]

Yeah it's time to redo the entire setup.. Perhaps you guys can list a few entire setup possibilities for me to play with? Would be nice to have a basis from guys who know what they're talking about haha..

Cheers

Edit: My only preference is a Double DIN Headunit - Alpine is my favorite brand but not exclusively :P

[Langas]

Alpines great

But I'm not bias or anything!!

[VX Appeal]

haha, I was looking at the Alpine CDE-W203E . What do you think?

Edit: Also suggestions of ENTIRE setup would be really appreciated (Not just headunit).

Cheers

[astormsau]

Depends on your budget, you have two main options.....

a. Get some 6x9's for the rear shelf and some decent 6 inch speakers for the front and a new headunit.

b. Run your speakers off the alpine headunit you like and put in a sub or 2... you need a headunit which allows you to high-pass your speakers... this means you will squeeze a bit more power out of the speakers in the cabin without killing them with bass. Then get a single amp and put 1/2 subs in the boot powered off the amp.

c. Go amp'd all round, get a 4 channel and run the interior speakers and also get a seperate amp for the sub. Other option is a 3/4 channel amp and just amp the front speakers and the sub... you can bridge two channels of the amp (combining them together) to run a subwoofer...

Can go into more detail if you want... whats your budget?

Drew

[VX Appeal]

Hey mate, more detail would be great if you don't mind..

As far as the budget .. I don't really know, if it's worth it - I'm willing to spend some money here.

Cheers

[Langas]

Mobile Electronics Australia

If you want to put a good stereo together - thats the place to start!

[acarmody]

Hey mate, more detail would be great if you don't mind..

As far as the budget .. I don't really know, if it's worth it - I'm willing to spend some money here.

Cheers

Can you at least give a rough budget:

My suggestions:
Front Speakers: Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - Audio Development AD6
Speaker Amp: Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - Mosconi AS100.2
Sub: Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - VIBE Space 12
Sub Amp: Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - SPL Dynamics S-1200D

[VX Appeal]

Thanks for the suggestion, I will get the head unit asap and then work my way into the speakers shortly after.

Thanks mate

[astormsau]

hey VX Appeal... have to get a rough idea of your budget.

Option A would be about $500 to do properly with an ok sounding system, option B is about $1200, modest but can produce good results, option C can be upwards of 2k. You buy different speakers for the cabin based on whether you are amping them or not.

In the front some high quality splits, around the $300 - $500 mark is best, there are various brands you can choose from such as JBL, Infinity, Focal, Polk and so forth, my preference has been for Infinity and Focal gear in the past.... You need to power these with a decent amp, so you would be spending at least $600 on an amp (4 channel) to power these speakers... you can either use the extra 2 channels for a sub or for running the rear doors.
Infinity - Car Audio or
Focal Polyglass speakers and subwoofers

In the rear, Infinity make a nice 6 inch speaker for the rear door, with a treble boost switch on the tweeter unit, enables the speaker to project a bit more high end up to the listener from the door.
Infinity - Car Audio These will run happily off a headunit or amp.

Sub - depends on how much space you have, you can get a nice 12inch Alpine Type R in an alphine enclosure for about $400... heaps of ofther options, Kicker, etc...

Drew

[VX Appeal]

Hey mate, thanks for your advice.. The $500 with an ok sounding system sounds too good to believe haha.. Is that with the entire setup?

$500 would be perfect to get it at least sounding okay, and then room to upgrade later on.. I'd be willing to spend around $750 at first (This is without headunit correct?)

Thanks

[astormsau]

You can get something like the following setup and use the 6x9's for some bass...

Headunit $339..: Pioneer DEH5250SD Mp3/CD Tuner | Car Sound, Car CD Tuner : JB HI-FI

$108 Front Doors: Pioneer - TSA1673S 3 WAY 6 INCH 220W | Car Sound, Car Speakers : JB HI-FI

$98 Rear Shelf: Pioneer TS-A6963E Car Speakers | Car Sound, Car Speakers : JB HI-FI

You will need about another $60 bucks for a headunit cradle for the single DIN headunit and grills for the rear shelf...

Alternatively same headunit and use 4 of the speakers recommended for front and put them in all 4 doors, then a basic kicker unit such as this:

Kicker KICKPACK Sub & Amp Combo | Car Sound, Subwoofers : JB HI-FI

Total system for $894 plus need about $30 for a sub wiring kit. You could get a better amp and sub for a few more $$$ which would punch a bit harder than the Kicker stuff.

Many people run amps to their cabin speakers, amps are worthwhile and pretty much a necessity when running splits in the front with an active crossover (ie a crossover box as opposed to inline resistors in the speaker wiring loom)... The thing is, you can get some good results on a budget by having a headunit which can high pass you cabin speakers (but the bass out) which gives pretty ok volume in the cabin and then just run a basic sub setup to add your low end.

Drew

[astormsau]

Repco sell a 10inch Sub pack from Fusion, its a self amplified sub ie the amp is built into the sub enclosure, gives ok results and is easy to install and compatible with pretty much all headunits, they are about $199...

[VX Appeal]

The headunit will come first, $400-$600. Something like this: Alpine CDE-W203E

And then after that I'll base the setup around it. Thanks for your help mate