Hi guys,

Am off ill at the moment so please bare with me as im just looking into things. Havent yet popped off the door covers but looking to upgrade my audio . First off looking at popping in the Sony head unit as i just have the standard 6000RDS and been searching through the forums and that seems a good start. Now i need to just check a few questions here if possible.

First off i think i only have four mids in the car (Zetec 1.8 s 2010 3 door) two in front and two in back as well as two tweeters up near the wing mirrors . Is this right?

Secondly does anyone have a tech spec page as i have seen people asking elsewhere but never really get to the bottom of it . Just need sizes of mids and tweeters if possible please.

Thirdly i am thinking of just going for300w Coax speakers plus say a 500w-1000w enclosed bass . Ill obviously need a 1500w amp.Now i remember doing something 20 years back in an old ford Sierra and seemed to work without draining the battery . I am not going to be sitting in car parks playing it (Those days are long gone!!!!) so would i need to uphrade alternator and battery for an amp that size?

And finally,the usual cheeky question can anyone recommend a site/brand etc as i am on a bit of a tight budget but just want music to have a bit of a punch when driving on the motorway and the standard set up just is not doing it.

Many many thanks all :-).......now back to the diacalm and smelling salts!

In my younger days i ran components with crossovers up front, replacement coax rears and an Alpine Bass series boxed sub all powered by a Denon DCA-800 6 channel amp. It was only rated at 300w RMS and yet the clarity, bass and sheer volume were awesome. If you cranked it up even with something like Queen the bass shook the mirrors with no distortion at all. You dont always need the big figures you mentioned like a 1500w amp.:)

Many thanks Wes.Yeah i am not wanting it to shake the car to death,annoy folk in the area etc.I just want a good loud CLEAR system for the motorway.I am one of those strange folk that actuyally wants it this way just for my listening pleasure and not to impress others.

Have looked through Haynes manual for specs but still sadly coming up with zilch.

A decent stereo installers should be able to help you out with the info and they can quote you to do the work at the same time.

Yep was going to do that in next few weeks once im healthy again but to be honest actually trust most folk on heres views and knowledge more than some of the pro's.......and that really is the truth!

You'll need to change the stereo to one that has pre-outs or use an RCA converter - halfords do one and i'm using it on my Ford Sony stereo.

I have a side enclosed unit in the boot and they can be purchased from ebay for less than £100.

Lenny has created lots of very good guides on here so look them up as I'm sure there is one for adding a sub and speakers.

As Wes says, its the RMS figures you need to look at and anything will improve the current system. I have a vibe 10" sub and matching amp in my car that I'm happy with but this at some point will be my reserve system as I have a new 12" Pioneer sub and Rockford Fosgate amp waiting to be wired up - just need to pull my finger out and get it done!

Got to put you on a pay roll with all the good info you are giving me today Sal haha.

Its actually that legend Lenny that has caused me the problems as i saw his side enclosed unit he made and thought it was great compared to the big box i had years ago that blocked off the whole boot! So from that started looking at all the audio stuff and watching how little money i will have at the end haha.

So are you pleased with the side enclosed box ? Does it stay in place ok and still give a nice even bass sound? Also are youm still going to be below the point of having to worry about upgrading alternator or are you still a good bit away from that?

payrol ha ha - all the knowledge i have received is from the good old forums where people help each other out and if i can help then i will.

i'm very please with the sub enclosure - I'm not one of these 'must sound perfect' types. If it gives out decent bass and improves the standard set up then I'm happy.

I added 2 brackets to make sure it is secure and have had no issues with it moving around at all.

I've had no issues with my alternator to date - must have been 2 years since the install now. Once my new install is in place i dont think i will encounter any problems as its not a big install so fingers crossed i should be good.

Well you are a gent Sal. As a relative newbie i have asked way more than i should have from folk on here but purely for the fact i know people know what they are talking about and the stand out thing is they are also actually happy to share info like you have without any attitude or talking down to the person. So i hope in later months i can pass it all on to the next newbie!

One question i forgot to ask is where did you put your amp? On my old car years back i just put it under the front seat.I see Lenny made himself a backboard for his but ill be using the folding down chair section a fair bit.Also saw someone on google put it behind the rear door card which was a bit strange looking but i guess if it works it works :-)

Thanks for the kind words but I noticed that on this forum everyone likes to help out so i cant take all the credit - ive been on some forums (SEAT) where all you get told is use the search button!

I purchased a vibe amplified box and it came with its own amp with i fixed into the sub enclosure. i have created a new enclosure for the Rockford amp and this is on the opposite side