Help with upgrade!
 

Hello everyone!
I'm looking to upgrade the sound system and I have a few questions for my Toyota 86.

It's the GTS line up.

I'm essentially an audio noob so please excuse any poor decision making! I'm after an overall boost in clarity in my system, I feel the mid range is a bit lacking, the highs are a bit tinny and the lows just don't exist. I'm not after a head thumper but I do like a smooth bass. Music I'm into include jazz, general pop, trance and at times, instrumental.

So far, my thoughts have been:

Head unit:
Alpine INEW940

Speakers: (would 6.5'' fit??)
ALPINE SPS610C TYPE S 6.5" COMPONENT SPEAKERS 2 WAY SPEAKERS 80W RMS SILK DOME TWEETER
(would the tweeters they come with do the job?)

Amplifier -> I have no idea at this stage. How many channels for what I need (to run the subwoofer) -> 4? 6?

Subwoofer:
SWS-10D2 (10'' Alpine Type S)

Please let me know what you think and what you feel I should change!
Thanks
Pete

If you want to use a Sub ...
2 Channel plus Mono
3 Channel
4 Channel plus Mono
5 Channel

and to the speaker - it is hard to say. Where will you put them? Below the grills? to the A-pillar? Play direct or indirect?

If you have no idea ... go to a car hifi shop (or better two). They can tell you, what is possible

What will the different parts of the amp offer?
2 channel -> powering 2 speakers + sub in a 2.1 sort of sense?

Speakers I'm looking at factory positioning although I'm open to other ideas.

I will pay a hifi shop a visit - just finding it hard to get time off work.

Most hifi shops in Australia will have no clue on the requirements and what speakers are even in an 86. The best bet is on these forums, but that being said the Australia initial audio setup is different to the US.

For me I'm running a Sony XAV-601BT and was going to run a Alpine PDX-M12 [mono] with hopefully two side enclosure boot mounted 10" subs.

I am running a 7 Channel Set up, complet from DLS ... for some ideas and details pics see here

Okay, updated my potential set up -> visited a local store today

Head unit:
Alpine INEW940

Question -> I want to have the head unit use the stock USB and AUX set up below the A/C controls -> is that possible at all? The local store said that it wouldn't be possible without voiding warranty but he hasn't worked on a 86/FRS before. What have other people's experience been?

Speakers: (would 6.5'' fit??)
ALPINE SPS610C TYPE S 6.5" COMPONENT SPEAKERS 2 WAY SPEAKERS 80W RMS SILK DOME TWEETER

At this stage, it is a difficult decision. I'm not wanting to spend (almost double the price) so much on ALPINE SPR60C TYPE R 6.5"" 2-WAY COMPONENT SPEAKERS 110W RMS but if it is really that much of a difference, I won't mind too much. I suppose what is stopping me is if I go for the Type S speakers, I can place some Type E's (4'') at the rear and use a 4 channel mono amp for the entire car. If you guys believe the rear is a bit overrated in this small car and sound stage is difficult to create/differentiate then I'm happy to leave the rears as they are (amp'd but unchanged from stock) and go with 2 channel - mono amp.

Amplifier -> have been looking at this if I'm going for rear speakers Alpine PDXV9 - 4 + 1 Channel Power Density Digital Amplifier 100W x 4 (4ohm) + 500W x 1 (2ohm) RMS Switch-mode Digital Amplification Low Resistance, High Current Speaker Terminals

But otherwise -> for 2 channel and sub would this be good? ALPINE MRX-M55 X POWER MONO BLOCK AMPLIFIER 1 X 550W RMS 2 OHM 1 X 350W RMS 4 OHM

Subwoofer:
SWS-10D2 (10'' Alpine Type S) -> not sure if that's going to suffice, not TOO heavy on bass.

Okay, so far i've got a few questions
Current set up is:
HU: Alpine INEW940
Front: Polk Audio MM6501
Amp for speakers: Audison SRX4
Sub: Alpine Type S SWS-12D4
Amp for sub: JL 500/1v2

Now, sub and what not sound fantastic. Love it.

However, mid range and the highs feel a bit off. Mid is a bit too weak and strained. The highs are piercing. Gets annoying actually.

My question is, can the Polk Audios be tuned to be a bit sweeter and punchier mid bass or is that a quality of the speaker itself that can't be helped too much?

i believe that is a quality of the speaker.. every car audio component tweeter sounds shrill and harsh to me though....

So no way unless I change it?

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For an aftermarket headunit, I think you should probably go to something higher quality than type s Alpines. Either type Rs, JL components (if you want to be spendy), or JBL components (the MS-62Cs are actually reasonably priced and are for 80Wrms, so the same amp you were looking at should power these just fine).

If you were sticking with stock HU and amping that, then type S's would be a pretty decent upgrade. But with the better audio you'll get with nice HU and amp, I'd get better than type S's.

personally, i preferred the type s components over the type r's when i demoed them side by side a few years ago.. they were one of my top picks for $200-800 price range until i took a gamble on some dayton tweeters and peerless mids... they had an overall smoother sound, where i found the type-r's to be more 'in your face'.. though the tweeters on the type-s were still a little too shrill for me..

in that time, i had also demoed much of jl's component lineup, and had really high hopes for them because i like jl as a company, but i was dissapointed in the midbass output, and the similar tweeter harshness other brands had that i didn't like..

infinity has always seemed to have a good midbass, but has a tweeter that is usually the brightest around.. i haven't really found a car audio company with a tweeter i like yet...

I liked the type R tweeters, but the type S tweeters really did not handle vocals well at all.

The JLs had a nice warm sound, I found.

Don't have type s components, I have that as a sub. Components are Polk audio mm6501.

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Question, if I were to upgrade to morel elates 2 way 6.5s, what amp would be recommended?

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