ICE advice please!!

[samk]

the sound is a bit useless in my van - tinny and sounds like some range is missing. I dont know what i'm doing with this stuff so any insights will be really useful. main areas i think wont be up to scratch are the amp, speakers and wiring. all this was done by the previous owner. I'd really like to know if i've got enough here to make a reasonable set up or whether i need to replace anything. I'm not after the most amazing sound but a good standard would be nice!


AMP - inphase IPA500. 2 channel max output power 450W (sum of all channels @13.8 VDC 4 ohms ) this is copied from manual - no idea what it means!!

the system - no concerns over this


the amp



front speakers



rear speakers



the rear speakers are pioneer - think they may be 60w but cant be fully sure without checking again - i'll do that soon.

Sorry, due to my ignorance with such things i've probably omitted crucial info but any insights would be useful. i.e, shouldnt I really have a 4 channel amp for 4 speakers?

oh, and wiring looks a bit ropey - some decent new cable around but not sure if its connected properly so think it's gonna need a total re wire GULP! have to do this anyway actually as currently the wires for rear speakers run across floor where the carpet used to be

[Bad Dragon]

Hello hello,

60 W isnt much. I did used a bit more power.

4x 175W 3way speakers from JBL and a 1000 W power amp.


Together with a normal radio/usb/SD and cd/mp3.

And a active Subwoofer from JBL as well.

The Gelhardt frontspeakers are only in use when I do have people sitting in the back. Otherwise they will go nuts there.

Sound is absolutly great.

Greetings from Robert

[samk]

looks great Robert! a bit full on for what I have in mind but maybe i'll go for a slightly tamer version!

that little sub woofer looks cool

[silverbullet]

Robert,
Those alloy roll-top cabinets look the business! Were they custom-made or your own work?
I would like to do something similar, but can't find mini roller-shutters. Can you point me in the right direction?

Samk, you definitely need more wattage as it seems like you are running out of "headroom". In other words, the signal peaks need more wattage than you've got available and the amp is "clipping" and distorting. Typically you will need 2 to 3 times the amp output power for a given speaker rating. So 200w per channel into 60w/channel speakers should be fine. I know it sounds wrong, but this is OK. Hope this helps.
Of course you may have mis-matched impedances which will give similar results- what can the amp put out for a given load? e.g. 200w into 4 ohm

[Bad Dragon]

Hello Silverbullit,

try this;

http://www.ikea.co.uk

Greetings from Robert

[samk]

Sliverbullet, thanks for the advice. So, would the cheapest way to get 'decent' sound for now be to keep the existing speakers, upgrade the amp and re wire?

[kendall]

run your four speakers off the head unit with the bass turned down, then add a sub running off your amp, you'll get something off ebay for 20 quid or so. On a budget that sound best.

[samk]

Kendall, that sounds like an interesting option - thanks!

[eatcustard]

Dont turn your base down it will sound poo.

Just add an amp + Sub via your AUX on your head unit.

lots on ebay