[familylugg]

Hi there, trying to sort out a plan for the audio in our bus...

We need a new aerial (for MW and FM, I assume) as reception is flakey at best (usually when the football club from north london ending in nal are about to score, or admittedly, concede!) Forum auto censoring won't let me name them!

I'm also tempted to fit DAB whilst I have the dash apart, and new speakers (well, I don't want to have it all apart too many times!)

Has anyone fitted the Alpine EZi-DAB unit, and if so, how is it?

There are cheaper units out there that do some of the same things, but this does look very smart and has the Aux input plus USB that my current head unit lacks.

Also any thoughts on dashboard speakers? I'm looking at these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Face...8?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item35ce44f7b8

Again, does anyone have any experience of these?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JesterSevens]

From the speaker point of view I wouldn't bother spending that much on 4" speakers. Save the monies and put it towards putting some pods in the doors to fit 6.5"s. I replaced my standard ones with alpines and the difference was marginal.

 

[upspex]

I second that T:

 

[Or_GazM]

One point, there are 2 guys I've had dealing with at Thompsons...James and Lee.

Both very happy to discuss options about speakers/amps.

They were also VERY happy to find my result that the 1500W amp I bought from them actually started to clip at 75W RMS!!!!! (But I was still happy with the quality of the sound.)

As the amp had 2x25 amp fuses, it was obvious it would never supply anything like the claimed power!

Don't knock the dash speakers....if you put a 220uF capacitor in series, you can get very good power output them without distortion (but you do loose whatever bass they would struggler to produce anyway.)

I use them as mid/tweeters...with 6.5" bass units in the doors....good balance of sound (using the front/rear headunit outputs).

 

[familylugg]

That's really helpful - thanks!

I do have a few components for upgrading the sounds, so will probably be back picking your brains again soon!

Is there anyone who is a guru of T4 sound?

 

[Or_GazM]

"Is there anyone who is a guru of T4 sound? "


No such thing, as everyone has a different idea of where and what to fit.

MY set-up is the 4" speakers in the dash (used as mid/high range), 6.5" Vibe woofers in the 'velle doorcards.

Then there's 2 x6x9s (DO NOT BUY ANY...they are the worst speakers made...any manufacturer...I just had a "quality pair" spare in my garage), and a pair of 6.5"....all fitted in the taigate, with baffles between them.
These are powered by a seperate amp (says 1000W on the box, but actually gives a true 65W per channel!)
If I was doing it again, I'd fit 8" bass, 4" mids and then tweeters in the tailgate....would be much better sound.

Then there is the 2x 10" woofers in a cabinet mounted at one side, over the wheel-arch, powered by another amp (1500W....actually 75W!)

I test these amps with a professional setup, so do actually have an accurate measurement.
Do NOT believe any manufacturers claims....there is NO "normal" headunit that gives more than 5W rms per channel.
4x40 or 4x50 are common claims...but that is "peak audio output"
It's like saying "My van does 0-60 in 3 seconds"...yeah, it will..if dropped out of an airplane!

Yeah, there are some high-end ones that give more...but don't expect any change from £1000 for one!
If a headunit has a 10-15A fuse, typical, then it's physically (as in the laws of physics) to get more than that power output.

What you have to remember is.....a high quality Hi-Fi system can fill a room with good sound with 20W per channel...just look at Quad/Cambridge or any of the "old-school" manufacturers.

You have a van the size of a small bathroom....how much power do you really think you need?

Groups like The Beatles/Shadows/Rolling Stones (sorry, Google them if they are too far before your time) used to fill concert halls using 30W valve amps (maybe 50W for the bass).
The Odeon Cinema in Leeds used the exact same speakers as my home setup (Leak 2075)....rated at 100W RMS each....and that was good enough for a room "HOWWWW big?!?!"

 

[Hoovie]

I had an Alpine EZi-Dab in my Citroen DS4. I didn't fit it myself (came with the car) so can't comment on the side, but as user, I found it nice and neat and wish I took it out when I Px-ed the car earlier this year to then fit in the T4

On the downside, the reception was not great, I used to blame that on where I live, as Digital Radio is not very good round here and my usual driving areas, however my new car (Citroen DS5) has built-in DAB and I can get a lot more stations and hang on to them for longer compared to the Ezi-DAB.

I never used the aux inputs or USB from the EZi-DAB but can see they could be useful. Are you planning the unit using this via an Aux input on your current head-unit (this is of mine was setup), or via a radio frequency? (Not sure if it offers that?)

Oh, on advice from other posts here, I replaced the dash speakers with Rockford Fosgate speakers - way better then original and not too pricey. I posted an thread about my install here - http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=329067 (there is some slight modding needed)

 

[upspex]

"Is there anyone who is a guru of T4 sound? "


No such thing, as everyone has a different idea of where and what to fit.

MY set-up is the 4" speakers in the dash (used as mid/high range), 6.5" Vibe woofers in the 'velle doorcards.

Then there's 2 x6x9s (DO NOT BUY ANY...they are the worst speakers made...any manufacturer...I just had a "quality pair" spare in my garage), and a pair of 6.5"....all fitted in the taigate, with baffles between them.
These are powered by a seperate amp (says 1000W on the box, but actually gives a true 65W per channel!)
If I was doing it again, I'd fit 8" bass, 4" mids and then tweeters in the tailgate....would be much better sound.

Then there is the 2x 10" woofers in a cabinet mounted at one side, over the wheel-arch, powered by another amp (1500W....actually 75W!)

I test these amps with a professional setup, so do actually have an accurate measurement.
Do NOT believe any manufacturers claims....there is NO "normal" headunit that gives more than 5W rms per channel.
4x40 or 4x50 are common claims...but that is "peak audio output"
It's like saying "My van does 0-60 in 3 seconds"...yeah, it will..if dropped out of an airplane!

Yeah, there are some high-end ones that give more...but don't expect any change from £1000 for one!
If a headunit has a 10-15A fuse, typical, then it's physically (as in the laws of physics) to get more than that power output.

What you have to remember is.....a high quality Hi-Fi system can fill a room with good sound with 20W per channel...just look at Quad/Cambridge or any of the "old-school" manufacturers.

You have a van the size of a small bathroom....how much power do you really think you need?

Groups like The Beatles/Shadows/Rolling Stones (sorry, Google them if they are too far before your time) used to fill concert halls using 30W valve amps (maybe 50W for the bass).
The Odeon Cinema in Leeds used the exact same speakers as my home setup (Leak 2075)....rated at 100W RMS each....and that was good enough for a room "HOWWWW big?!?!"

All that kit just to listen to the "The Wombles Greatest Hits" !

 

[familylugg]

Thanks guys - I am well aware of the "big numbers, big prices" syndrome in car audio. I'm an AV technician by trade, so know just how loud a well designed 50W can be (and it is very loud!)

That's why I thought I'd ask a few old hands what they have used and found to work.

I couldn't agree more about the 6"x9"s - I don't know a single manufacturer of pro audio who uses anything other than a circular driver. My kit is Turbosound, Tannoy, Nexo, JBL and Funktion one - if circular drivers work for them, they'll probably do the job for me!

I'm planning to put a pair of new 4" speakers in the dash, as high mid/tweeters (maybe with a separate tweeter, but time will tell!) some full range 62's in the doors with some sound deadening or possibly in the as yet unmade centre cubby, as our doors have no speaker pods. I need to dig the amp out of the cupboard to see how many speakers it can drive, as I have a sub to collect this weekend and would like a second pair of full range speakers to replace the VW rear/side ones.

The Wombles are ok - It's One Direction I worry babout!

Me, I'm fully au fait with Beatles, Stones etc - being a child of the 60's!

So, A system that makes Led Zep, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and the Wombles sound ok is my aim!

And thank you for the user report on the EZi-DAB - it's good to get "!real world" feedback.

 

[upspex]

Sorted T: T:T:T: