 | Home > In Car Electronics > Speaker upgrade without amp and sub worth it? |
 
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paper speakers almost anything would have been better!
| jpboost Member Since: 13 Apr 2021 Location: Gatwick Posts: 377   
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The Defender is pretty old tech, and the internal amp in the head unit is not particularly great or powerful.
An Amp or a Sub are what will really transform the audio... but you may still find some benefit from fitting better speakers (and yes the original ones are very cheaply made), but you would not get the full benefit until you are able to run some proper power through them via an external amplifier. With upgraded speakers you may also find the system quieter overall, as better quality aftermarket speakers will generally have higher power handling and be less efficient than the OE ones. Not really a problem as you can just turn it up a bit, so only an issue if you desire the system louder than the existing amp can provide. From when I used to fit car audio years ago, I often found an external amp running the OE speakers typically gave a better result than the OE head unit amp running upgraded speakers. The extra (clean) power often gave surprisingly good results. You need to be careful with the volume control as the OE stuff has limited power handling. And you won't really get any bass until you get a sub. Obviously the best solution is to do both amp and speakers, but if you can only afford one or the other, I just wanted to point out that both choices have their merits. A simple speaker upgrade is definitely quicker/easier to install though. |
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5th Aug 2021 8:52am |
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| DSC-off Member Since: 16 Oct 2014 Location: North East Posts: 1401 
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While I agree the Landrover branded head units are very poor, the Alpine 133BT in some models is fairly decent.
The Landrover radio has been the first thing I replaced whenever upgrading the audio. The power output is low and sound quality terrible. If you have one of those, it would be a waste of money upgrading the speakers, because it will never be good. I currently have the Alpine 133BT running Focal speakers , 13cm Front and Rear, and a factory sub. I'm happy with the set up as it is. It would benefit form an amp, but it gets lots of short runs and often runs the battery down. Fitting an amp would only run the battery down more often, so I haven't fitted one. |
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5th Aug 2021 7:22pm |
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| big110 Member Since: 02 Nov 2016 Location: Sweeden Posts: 342
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So I think with my alpine head unit I will try some speakers first. Looks like 5 1/4 for front and rear of the 110.
As I am looking at speakers online I am seeing the ones with the tweeters separate from the main speaker. Assume this is what I want for the fronts of the puma. I also see those sets coming with some small electrical box of some sort. Is it safe to say I can just swap speakers and not deal with anything else ? I don’t want a massive project. And frankly all my car audio work has been direct swaps in the past. Plug and play with connectors. |
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6th Aug 2021 2:10am |
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| DSC-off Member Since: 16 Oct 2014 Location: North East Posts: 1401
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You need to be careful with 5.25 in the front, in the rear they are an easy fit.
4" will obviously fit in the front no problems at all My install I used the factory wiring and connected the crossover boxes to that. Details here, https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic53232...ocal+pc130 |
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6th Aug 2021 7:37am |
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| T140 Member Since: 15 Mar 2016 Location: Ayrshire Posts: 173  
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i replaced the head unit with an Alpine CDE205DAB with alpine component speakers in the front with coaxial speakers in the back, rewired with decent speaker cable and it was a big improvement, but the biggest improvement came from a lot of sound proofing, silent coat and acoustic foam, inside the doors the footwells seatbox etc and the roof nobody is perfect but being Scottish is a start
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7th Aug 2021 9:13am |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1423 
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5.25 will fit in the front of a puma. You’ll have to alter the cut out slightly, drivers side no issue. Passenger side there’s an air duct in the way, it’s the depth that’s comprised. I used a heat gun to remodel it so the speaker went in
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7th Aug 2021 4:11pm |
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| big110 Member Since: 02 Nov 2016 Location: Sweeden Posts: 342
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hmmm. ok this is great. what about a spacer? would that help in front?
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7th Aug 2021 4:13pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1423
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A spacer would work, but then they stick out more …….
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7th Aug 2021 4:33pm |
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| big110 Member Since: 02 Nov 2016 Location: Sweeden Posts: 342
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lol yes, yes they do. How much space do I need? I figured this is why MUD sells them... Id love to keep a 5.25 if I can.
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7th Aug 2021 4:37pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1423
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I’m trying to find pictures! It was a while ago my puma is long gone
Take the grill off and measure back…… |
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7th Aug 2021 4:46pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1423
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 Click image to enlarge It’s the only one I could find….. not the greatest. Focal K2 power, which ran off the a focal ibus2.1 |
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7th Aug 2021 4:54pm |
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| big110 Member Since: 02 Nov 2016 Location: Sweeden Posts: 342
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That looks very clean to me!
Can I pick your brain about the corssovers? Ive never done any wiring like this with speakers except direct swaps. |
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9th Aug 2021 2:54am |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1423
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Pretty simple. Predominately 2 types, one is a stand alone unit, head unit in and 2 outputs, 1 for tweeter, 1 for woofer usual marked. (Focals are). The other and usually cheaper option is a small inline crossover. One end in and the other out, probably on the tweeter wires. Instructions are normally provided but plenty of information on the web
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9th Aug 2021 8:13am |
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| CDN38 Member Since: 14 Nov 2014 Location: Courtenay, BC Posts: 729  
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6" Focal speakers can be fitted in the rear with this panel I manufacture. It also includes 3 LED's to light up the rear cargo area.
The fit and finish it provides gives a factory look, (well, it actually fits better than most things from the factory do). 
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge it's a Landrover thing... my renovation thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic40792.html |
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12th Aug 2021 6:16pm |
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