16 replies to this topic

[pcmanning]

A go at an FAQ for VX Audio Upgrades... Corrections/mods gratefully recieved, and somewhere to post it properly would be good (where have the other FAQs got to?). Hope it's not too bad as I haven't even got mine VXT yet - soon please!! Paul -------------------------------------------------- There's much discussion on the VX forums on the subject of I.C.E. in a VX. The VX is a noisy car (very nice noise though!) and so too much I.C.E. is probably a waste, having said that, having something you can listen too when the mood takes is a reasonable request, and the Vauxhall provided options are way overpriced (even dealers say so) and at lease in the case of the NA are pitiful, so here's an attempt at answering some the more frequent questions. Should I pay for the Vauxhall Sound Options? General advice (even from a dealer) is to leave it out as it's overpriced. Rather get the dealer to supply the car without, but get the dashboard facia with the hole cut for the head unit. The base speakers and aerial will be in car anyway with the wiring. Then buy your own headunit and perhaps upgrade the speakers. Are the provided speakers any good? In the NA they are VDO/Philips items and are considered very bad. In the VXT they are Blaupunkt units either two or four depending on how much you spend. They are apparently OK ish, but experience from others is that they should also be replaced. What's a good head unit? Flavour of the month at the time of writing is the Alpine CDA9812RB MP3/WMA/CD player - MP3/WMA gives the advantage of 10 CDs of tunes on a single disk without having to install a CD Changer. Also coming is an Apple iPod add on which can give up to 40GB of MP3 tunes - enough? But it's down to personal taste and budget - the VDO in the NA is bad though - the Blaupunkts in the VXT are again OK, but the price Vauxhall charge for these is about 3 times their worth. What Speakers should I replace the existing ones with? The existing speakers are 6.5"/17cm units with a depth of 60mm/70mm. Many manufacturers make this size of speaker. A trawl of the vx220 forums revealed these as a sample... JL Audio TR650-Cxi - fits with no mods. JL Audio TR650-Csi - slightly to deep Kenwood PSR701s - fits with no mods? Sony Xplod XSF1722 Pioneer PIO-TSE1795 - fitted with no mod? focal polyglass 165 v2 Which covers everything from £30 to £230 - take your pick. Usually you'll want a coax composite speaker (two speakers in one - one tweeter, one woofer). Also be in mind that with the roof off the speakers are more exposed than usual to the weather, dust etc. The speakers don't have a decent bass, what can I do? Fit a subwoofer, a few are suggested on the forums, both have a integral amplifier (active sub-woofer). Top choice seems to be a Pioneer TS-WX10LPA Bass Tube which can live on the parcel shelf - insecure IMHO. Another is a Clarion SRV303 which is rectangular and can squeeze behind a seat apparently. Another option is a sub in front of the passenger footrest. What about front speakers? There's some debate on the benefit of front mounted tweeters. Vauxhall install these as part of the Blaupunkt MP3 package - they are next to the side pockets near the doors. Claims have been made that this location is good IF the head unit can be made to drive them correctly. Other thoughts (attempts) have been made to replace the outer screen vents with 3.5" speakers which should be better? Pictures have been seen where a set of component speakers have been installed in the dash - proper job but presumably by a quality car audio specialist. Mention must be made of someone who's installed a pair of 6x9's in the passenger foot well - one up facing, on down - presumably out of phase - a bit extreme IMHO. And a CD changer? They've been fitted (again an arm and leg option from Vauxhall) either in the boot (secure) or behind the passenger seat - insecure - not only have you got to take the head unit panel off, but take the CD mag out when ever you're parked up.

[Marco]

seems good to me. You could add some info about Sat Nav and Subwoofers to make it more complete though.

I've got a Kendwood active sub that fits behind the seats LINK HERE. I did have it fitted, but got fed up trying to get the wiring through to the dash to connect it up so I took it back out. Info on connecting it up would be useful!

I've also got a single DIN Sat Nav (VDO MS4100) LINK HERE that I had moved over from my last car. Hardest bit was getting the speed sensor connected up from behind the speedo (speed sensor is not required, but makes the unit more accurate). If I could choose again, I think the MS4200 would suit the interior of the VX better (same workings, just different style). I'm very happy with the unit - sound is very good (nowhere near as good as a quality CD player, but you can't tell in the VX with only 2 badly placed speakers). Only down side is you can't have a map in at the same time as a CD - I've bought the DIN sized 4CD changer, but haven't got round to fitting it.

I've got photos of both things fitted but nowhere to host them, so email if you want to see.

I'm sure other people can offer good info on other subs, sat nav units and fitting cd changers - you might find some info by searching the forums..

Also note that I didn't buy either from the links I gave, so I'm not recommending those shops.

Edited by Marco, 25 February 2004 - 08:08 PM.

[Spif]

Paul, Just to confirm; Kenwood PSR701s, yes they do fit with no mods, I have recently fitted some in my NA. I have a relatively cheap Kenwood KDC-M4524G head unit (MP3) and sound is excellent (even with 128kbps encoded MP3s), however it is lacking in outright bass - which I think is something you have to accept with any speakers mounted in the standard (small volume) speaker enclosures.

[caleebra]

I think that's a good start - although you could probably have a forum section totally dedicated to ICE Perhaps some of the other stereo buffs will have suggestions to add! How about some links to some of the online retailers of in-car electronics - and a recommendation to use them as opposed to Halfords! Some examples of such retailers.... Letsbuycaraudio.com Bass Junkies Car Audio Direct Car Audio Centre

[madasahatter]

A little more to add on the Subwoofer part if I may. I have one of the Pioneer bass tubes, and I have found the best way to secure it on the parcel shelf is to velcro it on (I think GerryM said he had too). It is very secure, and although the roads are not dry and warm enough for a full g-force cornering stunt to be pulled yet, it hasn't moved an inch thanks to being sandwiched between the drivers seat and the firewall. This is only any good, if like me, you have the seat towards the back of its travel (I'm 6ft tall). Another advantage of this sub, which particularly appealed to me was that it is easy to remove if you need the luggage space/fancy ragging round a track for a bit. 2 wires uncliped, and velcro seperation is all I need to take the thing back out. Otherwise, good FAQ. Steve

[coolio]

Sorry to be the one poking you in the eye but my tupence worth is that the VDO is okay, not great but okay. The speakers are 165mm but 6 1/2" or 170mm will fit. They are 54mm deep as standard and 70mm deep will fit at a push.

[Jase_MK]

Another advantage of this sub, which particularly appealed to me was that it is easy to remove if you need the luggage space/fancy ragging round a track for a bit. 2 wires uncliped, and velcro seperation is all I need to take the thing back out.

I might go for this - the only thing that worries me is that at the moment there is nothing to nick from the VX. With this on the parcel shelf, I may have to be a bit more careful where I park, etc. And leaving the car with the roof off in the street (as I do sometimes, for short periods if I'm nipping in the house for half an hour or so) would be a no no.

[DaveP]

Just to confirm; Kenwood PSR701s, yes they do fit with no mods, I have recently fitted some in my NA.

I fitted these about a month ago and the holes were not the right size, ie the speakers diameter was an 1" to wide. Got them in eventually but it was a bit of a botch job.

Mines an Irish Speedster, perhaps Opel fit a different standard speaker....

[MRK30]

This is v.useful....and even better timing...Birthday coming up...wife (in a moment of weakness) has released sufficient funds for an ICE upgrade so I shall certainly be referring to this. Any chance approximate prices could be added? Maybe we should establish dialogue with a nationwide supplier and negotiate a club discount?

[madasahatter]

Another advantage of this sub, which particularly appealed to me was that it is easy to remove if you need the luggage space/fancy ragging round a track for a bit. 2 wires uncliped, and velcro seperation is all I need to take the thing back out.

I might go for this - the only thing that worries me is that at the moment there is nothing to nick from the VX. With this on the parcel shelf, I may have to be a bit more careful where I park, etc. And leaving the car with the roof off in the street (as I do sometimes, for short periods if I'm nipping in the house for half an hour or so) would be a no no.

Jase.

The sub is quite difficult to see - you have to know it is there really.

I might make it to the VX Chase 2004 event yet, are you going to that? If so, you are more than welcome to have a look at the installation there.

Steve
p.s. Sorry to hijack the thread

[pcmanning]

Some useful info there, thanks - though does seem to some discrepensy (sp!?) between models (Open vs VX vs VXT) as to the standard size of speaker hole? I've refered to 6.5"/17cm as the size of speaker as this seems to be a "standard" size of division on I.C.E. retailers web sites - I suspect the actual speakers will vary slightly? Don't think I'd want to add recommended retailers/prices etc as these change rapidly - suggested I.C.E. forum would be the best place for these I would think - with the FAQ as a sticky? VDO ok? That's the first positive comment about it, but I guess it depends on your ears/taste in music. Problably install decent speakers and a sub and it'll sound OK. Negociate club deals - it's such a competative market, I wouldn't expect much to be had - and it would need updating frequently - unless we can find someone who's always willing to beat the best net price for us - are there no I.C.E. sellers with a VX? I'll give more people a chance to comment and I'll update the FAQ with corrections etc and re-post Paul

[iandhd]

The 16cm Infinity speakers I have fitted perfectly into my n/a. It might be worth mentioning that what appears to be crap standard speakers is often poor insulation of the plastic trim around the speakers. Also you might like to reference the guide I created in the "DIY car care" section. It covers swapping the switched live connection over and other features of the n/a VDO unit. cheers

[caleebra]

Another thing perhaps worthy of note - a significant factor contributing to the performance of the standard speakers may be the standard speaker wire. This is not likely to be very good at all. Has anyone attempted to run new speaker wire?!

[Jim Mitch]

Thought I'd add a bit on the Clarion SRV303 sub to go with Steve's bit on the Pioneer tube. The unit is basically a rectangle shape 30x20x5cm. The fact that it is only 5cm thick has enabled me to attach it, by velcro strips, to the chassis just behind the drivers seat. However, for anyone taller than me (5'9"), it may well be difficult to do this (unless you like your driving position close to the wheel). It would certainly be possible to velcro the unit to the parcel shelf or even to the upright section above it. If you dont drive with a passenger much, it might fit in the footwell (but I wouldnt like to try). When the seat is in normal driving position, it is very difficult to see the unit from outside the car. I have no worries leaving the car parked up with the roof off. However, if I have any concerns at any time I can remove it from the velcro supports, unclip three wires and stash it somewhere. Could help if you're going to anchor it on the parcel shelf. I did have it installed by a specialist who seems to have found a very neat way of running the wires through the side sills. The installation is very neat. I'll take some pictures over the weekend. However, they did tell me that the unit requires some sort of adapter to fit with the Blaupunkt Los Angeles which came with the car. One of the functions I like is that it has a detachable control panel which I have moved to an accessible place in the driver's side footwell. It's about 5x2x2cm so doesnt get in the way and means I can adjust the base settings depending on things like whether I have the roof on or off. The sound seems good enough, albeit that it's a fairly flat unit. It's definitely good enough for almost any speed with the roof on and is still pretty clear at 80 with the roof off (alongside the JBL speakers I've put in in place of the original ones). Jim

[pcmanning]

Try two - BUT WHERE CAN I PUT IT? Paul -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's much discussion on the VX forums on the subject of I.C.E. in a VX. The VX is a noisy car (very nice noise though!) and so too much I.C.E. is probably a waste, having said that, having something you can listen too when the mood takes is a reasonable request, and the Vauxhall provided options are way overpriced (even dealers say so) and at lease in the case of the NA are pitiful, so here's an attempt at answering some the more frequent questions. Should I pay for the Vauxhall Sound Options? General advice (even from a dealer) is to leave it out as it's overpriced. Rather get the dealer to supply the car without, but get the dashboard facia with the hole cut for the head unit. The base speakers and aerial will be in car anyway with the wiring. Then buy your own headunit and perhaps upgrade the speakers. Are the provided speakers any good? In the NA they are VDO/Philips items and are considered very bad. In the VXT they are Blaupunkt units either two or four depending on how much you spend. They are apparently OK ish, but experience from others is that they should also be replaced. What Speakers should I replace the existing ones with? The existing speakers seem to 6.5"/17cm units with a depth of 60mm/70mm - though there may be some variation between NA/VXT and Opel fitments - test and measure the originals before forking for new ones. Many manufacturers make this size of speaker. A trawl of the vx220 forums revealed these as a sample... JL Audio TR650-Cxi - fits with no mods. JL Audio TR650-Csi - slightly to deep Kenwood PSR701s - fitted with no mods - (or not in the case of an Opel Speedster) Sony Xplod XSF1722 Pioneer PIO-TSE1795 - fitted with no mods focal polyglass 165 v2 Diamond Audio M3 17cm - Fitted with no mods in a VXT Which covers everything from £30 to £230 - take your pick. Usually you'll want a coax composite speaker (two speakers in one - one tweeter, one woofer). Also be in mind that with the roof off the speakers are more exposed than usual to the weather, dust etc. The speakers don't have a decent bass, what can I do? Fit a subwoofer, a few are suggested on the forums, both have a integral amplifier (active sub-woofer). Top choice seems to be a Pioneer TS-WX10LPA Bass Tube which can live on the parcel shelf - insecure IMHO. Another is a Clarion SRV303 which is rectangular and can squeeze behind a seat apparently. Another option is a sub in front of the passenger footrest. Yet another suggestion is a Kenwood KSC-WA62RC behind the seats. Velcro is recommended to fix the stuff (good industrial stuff from B & Q etc) - makes it easy to remove if necessary - e.g. track days. What about front speakers? There's some debate on the benefit of front mounted tweeters. Vauxhall install these as part of the Blaupunkt MP3 package - they are next to the side pockets near the doors. Claims have been made that this location is good IF the head unit can be made to drive them correctly. Other thoughts (attempts) have been made to replace the outer screen vents with 3.5" speakers which should be better? Pictures have been seen where a set of component speakers have been installed in the dash or in the doors - proper job but presumably by a quality car audio specialist. Mention must be made of someone who's installed a pair of 6x9's in the passenger foot well - one up facing, on down - presumably out of phase - a bit extreme IMHO. What's a good head unit? Flavour of the month at the time of writing is the Alpine CDA9812RB MP3/WMA/CD player - MP3/WMA gives the advantage of 10 CDs of tunes on a single disk without having to install a CD Changer. Also coming is an Apple iPod add on which can give up to 40GB of MP3 tunes - enough? But it's down to personal taste and budget - general opinion is the VDO in the NA is pretty bad though - the Blaupunkts in the VXT are again OK, but the price Vauxhall charge for these is about 3 times their worth. CD changer/Sat Nav/etc? You spends your money and you can have em. Just bare in mind the lack of security with a soft top. CD Changers have been fitted (again an arm and leg option from Vauxhall) either in the boot (secure) or behind the passenger seat - insecure - not only have you got to take the head unit panel off, but take the CD mag out when ever you're parked up. At least one person has SatNav too. Where should I buy the stuff? On line retailers (too many to mention) are way cheapest - but you have to fit the stuff yourself, OK for the head unit and the rear speakers, a bit more tricky for other bits. Halfords generally seem a bit expensive, but then so were my local specialist - do these guys now the internet exists?

[BradW]

MEGA BUMP!!! Found this FAQ...lovingly prepared and then discarded. ...but maybe not!

[pcmanning]

Thanks Brad!!!

Still needing a FAQ Space somewhere on this Web site eh? How about a VX Wiki?? BTW, a Wiki is described here"What is a Wiki". Basically shared editing of a FAQ space by members. Various versions of the software exist and of course is mostly free.

cheers
Paul