how can I find out more....?

Post Tue Apr 10, 2007 5:48 pm

Other than searching the Zone, any recommendations on where I can read up more on ICE installation specifically the electronics parts like live battery feed, fuses cables etc, I was thinking of books or good reference sites?

I know what I want to do just need to see how I would go about it, even if I end up having someone do it for me, I want to know what to expect.

Post Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:31 pm

the haynes ice manual is twenty and a good start point, but i don't know if it's till available. if you can't find it let me know and i'll post you mine for an installation period loan. if you post up here or pm me your plans i am sure you'll have some good pointers coming your way as there's some people on here that know theor stuff. there's not too much ice wise that hasn't been done or attempted in the e30.

paul

Post Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:55 am

Cheers matey, just put the order through on Amazon, think it will be pretty handy.

Post Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:48 am

TBH I watched a mate do it once, then gave it a crack myself. It's not dificult. The only 'challenge' I had was putting my subs in parallel rather than in series to hit the required impedance.

What's the plan mate?

Post Thu Apr 12, 2007 4:07 pm

Right,

Current plan is to put in this little lot.....but keeping my Kenwood head unit for the time being. Sound first then will look at new head units later (need one to connect to my MP3 player but that is for another time)

Infinity Reference 9613i - 6"x9" speakers
Infinity Reference 5012i - 13cm speakers
Infinity RA-7521A 260W RMS amplifier Infinity
Reference 1250w 12" 1000W (250W RMS) subwoofer

Sub is going in the boot, going to place MDF back to the back seats and bolt the sub to that, or create a box to go next to the sub to attach the amp to which will fill in the width of the boot helping to keep it in place (and yes I will secure)

I will need:

Power plus fuses
General wiring
the 'does-it-all-work-electronically' stuff - ohms, resistance, parrallel etc....

and that is as far as I have got, I like to research stuff myself first even if it is just to make sure I am not being told a loads of old crap!!

Post Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:23 pm

no real response yet then.....(surprised, not complaining!)

Thought there might have been a couple of comments on that little lot!

Post Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:42 pm

dreamer

it's a fairly simple system you've listed up there, but some questions need to be addressed:-

why are you fitting 6x9 speakers? especially if there's a sub going in too. and what's to power that lot? the amp has only 2 channels and you're contemplating 5 channels there? are you intending to ask your head unit to power the fronts, rears (6x9s) and the amp for the sub?

6x9s to start - these are a compromise at best - and rubbish at worst. to ask a single speaker to reproduce the full frequency range is a very tall order. when a sub is involved then the strain asked of other speakers in the system to reproduce lower frequencies is removed - hence the need for 6x9s disappears. honestly you'd be better off fitting nothing in the back and allowing your head unit amp to drive just the fronts.

head unit amps - they have to fit inside the head unit along with a tuner and cd drive. they're never going to be very powerful - every head unit manufacturer (including kenwood) quote maximum power outputs for headunits - so 4x40 watts might equate to 6.5 watts per channel rms - note the word might. doesn't sound so good now does it? if you don't already have the kit listed above then you'll be far batter off spending some time finding a decent used 4 channel amp - 2 channels for the fronts and the other 2 bridged for your sub. 5 channels and you can run some rears. something like this sperhaps:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alpine-MRV-F405-4 ... dZViewItem

bear in mind that once installed amps don't really get seen.

as for wiring it all - that's very straight forward for a single amp install (and very marginally more difficult for a multi-amp install) - so long as every power cable is fused both ends and it's all earthed at one point it should work ok with modern kit. post up any wiring plans and i am sure you'll be superbly guided towards excellent results. you really don't have to worry about resistance etc for a simple system like this.

if you're going to the trouble of fitting an amp then it's well worth amplifying every speaker - this will absolutely not be regretted ever. head unit powerd speakers only serve to frustrate over time, so it may as well be done right first time.

hth - paul

Post Sat Apr 14, 2007 7:57 am

agreed with mr placey on this one i rather have 2 set of components in the cabin and then a sub in the boot with the ski hatch kicked out.
if you want a cheap amp to do all that JVC do a 6 channel baby not the best in the world but it will do
in my touring
I have 3 amplifiers
1 for the fronts
1 for the rears
1 dedecated to the sub
but i have lots of other gadgets for the stereo such as graphic equaliser pre amps etc depens how far you would like to go with it
i am sur Mr Placey would design a setup for as i can remember the shiny 316 set up was awesome.

Post Sat Apr 14, 2007 9:48 pm

thanks for the comments, I want to do as little to the car inside as possible as I always want to be able to keep it original, hence only wanting to fit speakers where they exist currently.

I know seperates are by far better but I did not want to be fitting components.

6x9s were (I thought) simply a better choice than having just 4x13cms all round.

Was going to power either sub and rears with the amp, and head unit for the front or maybe get a single channel for the sub and use the 2 way for the front and rears.

No ski hatch to kick through without destroying my seats!

This was never meant to be a major install just some nice bits to give me a little better sound without messing with the car too much.

Bit late though as I already have this

but I have not opened stuff so I could always return but please bear in mind what I am after if you can give me any suggestions to improve.

Not had a lot of luck with 2nd hand stuff at the mo and unless it was from good friends I am am staying away. Already been burnt for Ã‚£100 quid from the Zone this month and I dont need to do it again in a hurry!

Post Mon Apr 16, 2007 10:22 pm

hi there,

ive almost finished my ice instal in my e30.

ive got some 5 1/4" mtx thunder component speakers in the front with the tweeters mounted up on the dash, some jbl 5 1/4" gto co-axel speakers in my rear shelf both being powered by my headunit.

and the in the boot ive got a fusion powrplant 12" dual voice coil sub in a fusion ported enclosure being powered by a fusion powerplant amplifier. i kicked out the ski hatch in the back and the bass is everywhere.

its running of an alpine headunit.

ive installed it all myself with the help of my dad and a friend who advised me on the wiring but its all pretty simple but just take your time and if you do have any problems then just post up on here and im sure people will help you out.

ian

Post Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:51 am

cheers Ian, been having a look through the book and I think I have a much better idea what is going on....but I need to buy a few more bits I have realised! Think I am going to find a weekend to put aside to having a go at this.

Post Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:06 am

Mate fly over to Yeovil if you want a chat. Forget 6x9's. You can have decent enough speakers that'll live in existing holes, so not advertising to chavs. Either that or give me a call. Don't buy these branded crappy fuses, they have a "you'll pay more for being sucked in" premium on them.

I wouldn't worry too much about having a sound quality hardly detectable by ear. The sub will over power and kick arse anyway.

As for hitting impedance etc etc, the booklets will tell you all you need to know.

Post Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:25 pm

[quote="blatantarrogance"]Mate fly over to Yeovil if you want a chat. Forget 6x9's. You can have decent enough speakers that'll live in existing holes, so not advertising to chavs. Either that or give me a call. Don't buy these branded crappy fuses, they have a "you'll pay more for being sucked in" premium on them.

I wouldn't worry too much about having a sound quality hardly detectable by ear. The sub will over power and kick arse anyway.

As for hitting impedance etc etc, the booklets will tell you all you need to know.[/quote

definatly bin the 6x9's,

and for the sub over powering it all dpends on how it is set-up i.e on the amp etc. i can go from having hard low bass to having punchy bass in the matter of seconds at the touch of a couple of headunits.

it took me a while this morning ot get it form being stupidly bass and vibratinng every panel in my car all the time to now being able ot adjust it slightly depending on the track im listneing to.

Post Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:11 pm

1an wrote:
blatantarrogance wrote:Mate fly over to Yeovil if you want a chat. Forget 6x9's. You can have decent enough speakers that'll live in existing holes, so not advertising to chavs. Either that or give me a call. Don't buy these branded crappy fuses, they have a "you'll pay more for being sucked in" premium on them.

I wouldn't worry too much about having a sound quality hardly detectable by ear. The sub will over power and kick arse anyway.

As for hitting impedance etc etc, the booklets will tell you all you need to know.[/quote

definatly bin the 6x9's,

and for the sub over powering it all dpends on how it is set-up i.e on the amp etc. i can go from having hard low bass to having punchy bass in the matter of seconds at the touch of a couple of headunits.

it took me a while this morning ot get it form being stupidly bass and vibratinng every panel in my car all the time to now being able ot adjust it slightly depending on the track im listneing to.

Absolutely, my head unit gives me great control. I'd like a graphic equaliser but don't want to bastardise my interior to fit it. I have a better Kenwood unit I could put back in but the battered JVC is doing a fantastic job.

As much as having lots of control is good, too much control means you'll fiddle with it every 5 minutes

Post Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:15 pm

well I am not driving anywhere for the moment, its being worked on at the mo. Mind you should be back tomorrow...

Nathan, you know anyone who can do mates rates on few cables and bits and pieces I need by any chance?

Post Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:29 am

iDreamBeemer wrote:well I am not driving anywhere for the moment, its being worked on at the mo. Mind you should be back tomorrow...

Nathan, you know anyone who can do mates rates on few cables and bits and pieces I need by any chance?

Not really mate, you can get fairly cheap cable kits on line now. Just get huuuuge power and earth leads, well above what an electrician would rate them at. An hour on the net will get you some good results. Just be sure to have enough length. An Electrical Wholesaler may be an option, if you don't mind not having pretty audio power cables (it does run under the carpet, you'll never see them!!). Mine has a bit of a mix!!!!

If I were you I'd run the sub only off the amp. I'd put custom fit speakers in the existing holes. If you want to run components, buy a second amp!

When you run the cables through the car, keep the signal and power cables seperate so you don't get any skin interference through the speakers. It's bl00dy annoying.

If you want to hear my set up, running 4 sony custom fit speakerc (13cm) off a 45w head unit, a pair of 12" subs off a sub, let me know. The speakers you fit will loosen up in time too. (That reminds me I have a loose connection to fix too!!)