SX4 Speakers

[stusigpi]

Originally Posted by JGKoenig

This is some good stuff.

Is this information valid for the 08 SX4 Sport? Best Buy said that the speakers are 6 3/4" . I thought that sounded wrong, but then again, maybe Suzuki uses an odd size.

If 6 1/2 fits (with a 1" spacer) I will use those. I was thinking about buying some Alpine speakers (component kit with tweaters). From reading your post, maybe I should leave the tweeters alone.

Thoughts??

First many cars including GM uses up to 6 3/4. The hole is 6 3/4. Most speakers that I have ever bought come with a mounting bracket that makes the 6 1/2 fit the 6 3/4 hole. However a spacer will probably be required depending upon mounting depth. There are some 6 3/4 speakers available.

Here is what I would do in the front. Get the 6 1/2 speakers see if they come with a mounting ring first, if they do, see if the depth is correct, if not get the 1 inch spacer attach the spacer to the included bracket and then the speaker. Best buy should have all of the accessories you need.

If you buy all of the stuff off ebay including the speakers, you will save yourself a small fortune. Best buy is way too expensive for installation accessories. The mounting holes are set up in a triangle. There are 3 mounting holes and you will need those little screw retainers to mount the speakers.

Hope this helps.

If you pay to have the tweeters installed, the installer should be able to figure out something, even though there isn't much room for the tweeter. i used that piece of metal that comes with most car stereos with all the little holes in it. They make great brackets because the metal is soft and you can bend it into all kinds of shapes.

[JGKoenig]

Thanks for the quick response.

I would probaby buy all of the equipment and either do it myself with the help of a friend who has done some installing on his own car. It does not look all that tough to do. Best Buy wants some big bucks for installing. I was just using them for informational purposes. lol

If I go with the 6 1/2" Alpines, Front and Back (with tweeters), should I be installing and amp. as well. Recommendation on the amp.?? I have a Bazooka tube I was thinking of throwing in the trunk (if the speaker upgrade was not good enough). I was going to go with an Alpine head unit (and Sirius module) as well. Noticed that you went with Pioneer.

[stusigpi]

The install is pretty easy except getting the speaker wiring into the door from the cabin. I ran the wire through the flex tubing where the factory wiring is.

The bazooka tubes are nice and easy to install and is enough bass for most people. Not me as you can see from my CV 15.

I may take a lot of heat over this but spending more than a couple hundred bucks on an amp for your set up is, frankly, a big waste of money so I reccommend the profile Profile AP740. Easy to install because of the wiring block, the built in crossovers, and they sound fine. Anyone that tells you to get an alpine amp, rockford, kenwood, and tells you that profile is crap probably has no real experience with them. The sound quality for most vehicles is fine as you are limited by the cabin setup and acoustics.

Alpine decks are fine and you will probably be happy with that. There is less difference in real world quality anymore unless you have the equipment to tune your stereo professionally. In addition, the dirty little secret is that music is of such varied recording quality, mixing etc that one song will sound great and the next will sound like crap. Nothing to do with the stereo or anyting like that.

I went with the pioneer because I got it cheap off ebay, it has front rear and sub selectable crossover and gain. comes with ipod cable and controls and a rear aux in for my sirius radio. I sold my sony to get the pioneer and it sounds different, not better or worse, just different. Again, so much of this is personal preference.

[JGKoenig]

Although I probably should have done it myself (now that I have seen it done, it actually looks pretty easy), I had Circuit City do my install. This is what I put into it:

Pioneer DEHP4000UB head unit (I wanted the USB interface)
Pioneer GM6300F 4 Channel amp
4 Polk Audio DB6501 component speakers
1 Bazooka EL1019CPP (2 10" subs and a 300 watt mono-amp)

The trunk in the sport has a ton of room even after the sub box.

This stereo sounds awesome. You know it has a lot of base when you can't see through your rear view mirror. lol

Thanks for the suggestions.

[stusigpi]

Nothing wrong with paying to have it done. The deck is a nice choice, can't really complain about any of your choices. Glad it sounds good.

[sick_SX4]

hello i was just wondering if i install an aftermarket head unit if i would loose my stering weel controles

[stusigpi]

Yes you will.

[shalpass]

what about using the stock stereo with some components in the front....FOCAL is what I would like to use......as far as the rear mid bass FOCALS is what I'd like to use.....my question is if I use the stock stereo with an amp and the speakers mentioned above....would that be ok and would I really be able to notice any differencein sound between stock and aftermarket head units?

[stusigpi]

Focals are nice, just make sure the midrange will fit. Since my original install, I bought a pair of cheap components and the midrange was a pain. Anyway, there are some differences between stock and aftermarket headunits. First, you will have to have a line level converter for the stock head unit as the stock does not have rca outs. No idea why OEMs do not add this. In addition, the line level converters sometimes add noise to the system. Second, Aftermarket units give more control over the system and have some nice ipod/iphone interface cables.

[Mr. Histamine]

Originally Posted by sick_SX4

hello i was just wondering if i install an aftermarket head unit if i would loose my stering weel controles

I know I'm kinda late, but there is a company called Peripheral Electronics that makes a device that will allow you to keep your steering wheel controls with an aftermarket headunit.

Here's a link to one of their items: Peripheral Electronics

The site is kind of odd (doing a vehicle based search on the main page doesn't seem to work correctly), but they do have instructions on how to install these in an SX4.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's installed this, as I plan on doing it in the next week or so.