OK, I am now 35 and only just thinking about getting some new ICE in my Octavia :lol:

I did once fit an aftermarket h/u and 50W booster in my Vauxhall Chevette back in 1988 but that's as far as I have ever gone.

I am thinking of replacing the h/u in my Octy, and would also like some more bass.

Can I just get and mp3 or DVD h/u, and subwoofer (in a box) for the boot?

Can you get h/u with onboard amps to power an external subwoofer or am I better getting a separate amp for this?

Should I think about replacing the standard speakers instead of a sub?

I don't want to spend a fortune, may even look 2nd hand to keep costs down.

Thanks in advance,

Steven.

Steven

I would definatly get a seperate amp to run a sub (hu's give no where near enough power)

First step tho would be to upgrade the hu as you will notice a huge difference with this alone.

then i would be looking to get a sub and amp, plenty of options on this, depands how much money your willing to part with and also how much space in the boot.

my fabia speakers seem reasonable (don't know bout the tav) so i have left them standard (at the moment) and just got a sub and designated amp. if you're definatly upgrading the front door speakers i would spend a little more and get an amp tat can run both sub and your fronts off it. probably 4 channel (2 bridged for sub and the other 2 running a side each)

when replacing the speakers i wouldn't bother amping the rears (run from hu) as this will keep cost down and they are only there for "rear fill" anyway any if passengers complain tell them its your car and you'll set it up how you like.

whilst your doing the front speakers i would sort out the doors themselves, sound deadening and a solid mounting point will help greatly, both sound quality and the bass (aswell as keeping the annoyance of people outside down)

hope this helps

any other q's just ask

Scott

Cheers Scott.

Looks like i'll be starting with a new h/u then.

Is there anything it will need in order to futureproof it for connecting an amp/sub?

Lineout or anything like that? (showing my noobness now :lol:)

Can anyone recommend a h/u for around the £100-£130 price range that will play at least mp3s if not dvds and be able to accept an external amp at some future stage?

i'm sure we could come to a deal on the stereo i have up for sale here

it does everything you could ever want

i already have my new stereo fitted in the car so could be flexible a bit on price

I replaced the head unit & cd changer in mine and it's made a huge difference with a sub in the boot.

I'd recommend getting a head unit that has sub out with switchable low pass frequency, and also high pass filters for the main speaker outputs.

That way when you add a sub you can filter the bass off the standard speakers (if like me you haven't got around to replacing them) and they will handle much higher volumes without distortion etc, letting the sub take care of all the low frequency stuff.

If you're going for a sub you will need a proper power cable run from the battery ideally (although I know some have taken it from the fuse box by the stearing wheel), I ran mine down the left hand side through the grommet (search on here for instructions) and ran the cd changer and audio feeds down the right side (one pair for the cd return, and a pair each for sub out and rear outputs for future expansion of amp).

The hardest part of changing the head unit for me was having to hack away some of the plastic frame directly behind the head unit as all the audio cables were fouling and stopping the unit from pushing back far enough!

Having removed mine several times since I'd highly recommend planning everything and doing it all in one hit so you don't have to keep removing and disturbing.

Also don't forget the ariel booster if you need it!

And you'll definately see the benefits of fitting a nice sized sub with a decent amp, I have a 12" ported pioneer with a 300w rms amp and it kicks pretty well .

Hope it all goes well,

Regards,

Matt

you didn't need to remove anything to fit a 1DIN stereo and amp mate, i haven't removed anything from mine and i now have a double DIN unit, run 3 pairs of phono's for the sound, a set of phonos for the audio in and a phono for the video out to my roof screen, lotsa cables :eek:

Bengie - LOVE the look of your unit mate, but I don't have the cash just now.

I am busy flogging some stuff off that I no longer use to gather the funds (agreed with Mrs that I wouldn't spend anything on the motor for a while - we have come to the agreement that if I flog stuff then it can be spent :lol:)

Anyone looking for a collection of circa 620 car mags covering 70's-00's

you didn't need to remove anything to fit a 1DIN stereo and amp mate, i haven't removed anything from mine and i now have a double DIN unit, run 3 pairs of phono's for the sound, a set of phonos for the audio in and a phono for the video out to my roof screen, lotsa cables :eek:

I think it was because the 3 pairs of phono's were exiting the back of the head unit right in line with the plastic at the back of the dash so in my case, I did have to remove it.

It's still a right struggle to push back all the way unless you remove the cubby tray underneath and get your hand in there to move the cables out the way as the head unit slides back.

Just my experience, not saying everyone else would have to .

Matt

just saying that with practise and time you don't need to cut anything out, i have a veritable birds nest behind my stereo and very shortly i will be using every input/output the unit has except 1 phono

and that includes all the add-on ports too :eek: