well, more specifically van speakers, but i’m guessing that there isn’t much difference.

already upgraded the door and tweets beneath the windscreen (JL, i think) and now need something for the rear. not got an amp and not planning on cruising Southend sea front with toonz blaring out. want a decent sound quality.

would it make sense to go for a set of JLs to compliment the front speakers?

need to build a bench in the van and will integrate the speakers into this.

any pointers more than welcome! cheers….

If its sound quality you want rather than loudness or for rear passengers, just stick a Sub/Active Sub in to deal with the bass/sub bass.

Your van is going to be rattly and diesely I guess, so I wouldn’t be spending hundreds on top end ICE. I’ve done similar with noisy cars where premium speakers just get drowned out. Realistically, I doubt you’d notice the difference between some £150 JL speakers and some cheapo eBay specials. I’d go with something like Vibe Slick 6×9″. About £40 from eBay and will be a huge improvement on the shoddy paper cone things that are likely in there at the moment. I used them in my RX7 and they were excellent. If you wanted even cheaper then FLI are like a budget arm of Vibe. I used FLI in my wife’s MX5 and like the Vibe, they are excellent.

Depends on what you are after, I would not bother with 6×9’s. Stick in a nice sub.

This howver is out of this world, if you want to get into the science behind it google the creator he has a fantasic site.
The merc sprinter was used due to the rake of the screen !!

http://www.carsound.dk/log/temp/temp/JonSound.pdf

Got a JL sub and JL amp and Infinity Kappa speakers in my Touran. Sounds most excellent. I’d say get a decent non ported sub driven by a mono amp and it’ll sound much much better.

you’ve lost me…. would a sub require me to fit an amp?

van is fully sound-proofed from the bottom up. carpet and extra wall insulation.

budget is about 120€

have found some Pioneer A series thingies on the bay for 94€. seem to get good reviews and are highly regarded. might take punt on them. (already have a Pioneer head unit, no idea whether that makes a difference.)

Generally yes you would require an amp, but an active sub has an amp built in. If it is your first time at ICE I would go with an active sub.

I have one of these active subs:
http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-swe-815_p-27715.htm
I was very surprised at how much bass it throws out, it’s enough to make your insides and mirrors vibrate, but not enough for the whole street to hear you coming. It is also really quite small! I’ll be fitting one in a Mk2 Escort & V8 Capri soon and still have loadsa room in the boot.

I’d try for a non ported (with a large hole in it) sub though as I’d imagine in a van the bass might sound a bit boomy. Or at least get one with a bung so you can tighten up the bass a little.

+1 for Vibe speakers, made a big difference in my van front (to replace existing 4″) & Rear (extra, 6″ x 9″) without spending a fortune

Far better off saving a few pennies, get a 12″ sub with a decent sized magnet and a single channel digital amp. Be sure to run decent diameter fused power cable and get a good earth.

He’s after decent quality and the answer is just stick in a sub?

Personally, I’d go for some 6×9’s in the bench box in the back, which by themselves would offer a large increase in sound quality. Then, I’d tuck and active (amp effectively built in) sub like the Kenwood KSC-SW11 underneath one of the front seats to deal with the low end.
Overall, it’ll cost a bit more than your budget (doesn’t everything?!) however you can do one bit at a time.

thanks tinybits,

need to build a bed/bench down the sides in the rear and will incorporate the speakers into this.

not sure where i’d find room for a sub as there is a battery under the drivers seat and a safe under the passenger. besides, the GF isn’t keen on heavy bass as (she says) she suffers from tinnitus.

Then you certainly don’t want a 12″sub in a sodding great box!
The 6×9’s will fill it in a lot, however I wouldn’t overlook the addition of a smaller sub. It’s not all about thumping base, but fills in the lower end of the sound. Something like the Audi / Bose system has a small sub in the boot. You don’t really notice it’s there as a separate thing, but works as part of the overall.

Alpine don’t make shit. Even the basic stuff sounds pretty good.

Fli is Vibe’s budget brand, also usually good.

He’s after decent quality and the answer is just stick in a sub?

Basically yes, if you already have 2 decent speakers (2/3way) up front along with tweeters and you are wanting quality. Adding more speakers in the rear screws up the soundstage/stereo image, especially 6×9’s on a parcel shelf, unless you get fancy and put a low pass filter on them so only lower frequencies pass through them which won’t affect the soundstage as much.

Speakers should be pointed at the intended listeners. If you have rear speakers, they should be pointed roughly at the ears of the rear passengers. Having speakers on the bench they are sitting on will only create a muddy sound creating peaks n troughs throughout the frequency range. The only time I would put speakers under a seat is if it was pointing out the door. Then it would be on a switch so I can turn them on when camping to annoy all the STW campers. 😉