What components & amp?

[Spencer78]

Hi,

I would like to upgrade the sound system on my Pirelli Edition.  It has the standard sound system with an RNS510 headunit, 6 CD Changer in the arm rest along with an AUX input.

I want to keep the RNS510 unit as I like the standard Nav but really want to improve the quality and depth of sound without going too bassy or losing boot space from a sub.  I'd also like the car to look as standard as possible so is the best route component speakers with an amp in the parcel shelf?

I have a budget of around £500 for speakers and amp (fitted), so in your experiences what would work best with the RNS510?

[dalco]

With a Budget of £500 I would recommend just improving the front end for now.

Firstly Sound Proof the doors as much as possible - £100
Upgrade the 6 speakers in the front, £150- £200 ->
Amplify them - £150 ->
Cabling & Signal convertors - £100 aprox for decent product.

This will be the best way by far to spend the budget rather than spreading it thinly across the hole car on product thats just no good.

Are you fitting it yourself or paying for installation?

[Spencer78]

With a Budget of £500 I would recommend just improving the front end for now.

Firstly Sound Proof the doors as much as possible - £100
Upgrade the 6 speakers in the front, £150- £200 ->
Amplify them - £150 ->
Cabling & Signal convertors - £100 aprox for decent product.

This will be the best way by far to spend the budget rather than spreading it thinly across the hole car on product thats just no good.

Are you fitting it yourself or paying for installation?

Thanks for the advice Dalco and that sounds like a good plan.  If I go with decent fronts, I can always upgrade the rears when funds allow.  I'd have to pay someone to fit too so I'm assuming to fit the list of stuff you have above that'll around another £100 or so.......

Do you have any recommendations in terms of which speakers and amp to go for with the money?  I heard Rainbow 3 way components were good with their amp.....

[dalco]

The Rainbow Comps for the Mk5 are Excellent Speakers, There is a Handful of cars these speakers particularly work well in, The Golf Mk5 and the BMW 3 Series are among the top 5.

I usually pair them up with either an Alpine PDX amp's or the New JL XD / HD Range of amps depending on the customers budget.

All 3 of those models of amps fit perfectly under the seats, which is easier for installation and also discreteness.

If you want to really get the best from the system using the Stock unit the perfect interface for signal conversion is the Audison Bit-Ten. It allows a completely Clean and high output signal to be passed onto the amp, clearing out all the nastiness the stock unit puts out. It can also be connected to a Laptop to allow fine tuning of the system. Good thing is it works with any stock unit from a mk5 golf to a Bentley GT. Very Cool !!!

[Spencer78]

The Rainbow Comps for the Mk5 are Excellent Speakers, There is a Handful of cars these speakers particularly work well in, The Golf Mk5 and the BMW 3 Series are among the top 5.

I usually pair them up with either an Alpine PDX amp's or the New JL XD / HD Range of amps depending on the customers budget.

All 3 of those models of amps fit perfectly under the seats, which is easier for installation and also discreteness.

If you want to really get the best from the system using the Stock unit the perfect interface for signal conversion is the Audison Bit-Ten. It allows a completely Clean and high output signal to be passed onto the amp, clearing out all the nastiness the stock unit puts out. It can also be connected to a Laptop to allow fine tuning of the system. Good thing is it works with any stock unit from a mk5 golf to a Bentley GT. Very Cool !!!

Thanks Dalco.   

Now for the stupid questions, showing my complete lack of knowledge in this area.  I've been shopping around for the bits you listed above but if I am replacing the 6 front speakers, what size Rainbow components do I need?  Also, what number of channels do I need for my amp?  I'm looking at the Alpine PDX's or the JL Audio XD's as the HD's are big money.  I'm just not sure for instance if the JL XD 200/2 will be sufficient.......... and if not, out of these two ranges of amp's what model would be good to pair up with the uprated components?

[dalco]

The Rainbow Comps for the Mk5 are Excellent Speakers, There is a Handful of cars these speakers particularly work well in, The Golf Mk5 and the BMW 3 Series are among the top 5.

I usually pair them up with either an Alpine PDX amp's or the New JL XD / HD Range of amps depending on the customers budget.

All 3 of those models of amps fit perfectly under the seats, which is easier for installation and also discreteness.

If you want to really get the best from the system using the Stock unit the perfect interface for signal conversion is the Audison Bit-Ten. It allows a completely Clean and high output signal to be passed onto the amp, clearing out all the nastiness the stock unit puts out. It can also be connected to a Laptop to allow fine tuning of the system. Good thing is it works with any stock unit from a mk5 golf to a Bentley GT. Very Cool !!!

Thanks Dalco.  

Now for the stupid questions, showing my complete lack of knowledge in this area.  I've been shopping around for the bits you listed above but if I am replacing the 6 front speakers, what size Rainbow components do I need?  Also, what number of channels do I need for my amp?  I'm looking at the Alpine PDX's or the JL Audio XD's as the HD's are big money.  I'm just not sure for instance if the JL XD 200/2 will be sufficient.......... and if not, out of these two ranges of amp's what model would be good to pair up with the uprated components?

The new PDX-F4 is a stonker of an amp, This will allow 2 configurations of set up.

Either tons of power by bridging them into 2 channels, (Left and right door) or a front & rear speaker set up.

The PDX-F4 is the equivalent to the XD400/4 but on a direct comparison I believe the PDX has the edge. It seems to have just that little extra umph!! The sound quality is very good with crisp, natural sound reproduction.

I would personally use the PDX-F4 and later add in a monoblock and a small subwoofer in the boot, The JL 8" slot Ported box is very popular right now, Bags of quality, very slim at only 5.25 inch's deep and has plenty of punch if needed. It's about the size of a brief case !!
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_enclosures.php?menu=8&prod_id=474

OR if you wanted to prepare for the future and have everything in 1 amp the JL XD700/5 is an all in one 5 channel amp that will still sit under the seat!! £500 for the amp alone though   This will do Fronts, rears & a sub if you want to complete the set up.

[jedi-knight83]

I'm looking at upgrading my system but keeping my OEM MFD2 headunit... which will eventually be upgraded to a RNS 510

My friend has the Rainbows in his car and yes they sound awesome but they are about £500! Is there a good option that sounds 70-80% as good but that is a lot cheaper? What about the FOCAL ACCESS 165 A3 3 WAY?

Also to power the fronts what about the Alpine PDX 2.150?

And then the Audison Bit-Ten? I presume I can just plug the speaker outputs from the HU into this and it puts out line level RCA? But this does 5-CH. I only need 2 or 3-CH (There is already a little box thats been installed behind the HU to provide RCA for a sub... this currently just feeds off the rear speakers.) Anyway is there a cheaper alternative to this?

Basically i'm not looking for show winning sound... just a nice upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

[jedi-knight83]

bump

[dalco]

Ill post reply tomorrow when I'm at the shop, I'm about to go to bed and it won't be a 2 sec reply ! 

[jedi-knight83]

Ill post reply tomorrow when I'm at the shop, I'm about to go to bed and it won't be a 2 sec reply ! 

thanks man