What is the best way to ICE up a MK2 Astra GTE 16v?

[Tim_P]

What am I doing in here? I have no idea and no ICE!

Bout time I got some.

So anyone reading this that has a MK2 or an opinion on which way to go.

Please leave your ICE details, make, model and things.

Cheers in advance.


Head unit:

Speakers (type and where):

Amp:

Sub:

Tweeters:

[Cemesis]

I'm going to be abit alone in my view here and I know it.

I think spending loads on ICE is a waste of time. It depresses me when I hear of people spending more on ICE than the car. Isn't that the same as spending more on furniture than on the house?

I don't use all these special types of wire even though I'm told it would sound much better and I have no amps at all.

I used to drive for 2 hours a day so it was important to me to have a decent amount of music to choose from. I bought a multichanger and once you have one of these you never go back. My first one broke , so about 18 months ago I got a great deal on a kenwood system.

'Buy any kenwood headunit for more than £170 (Mine was £199.99) and get a multichanger for £99.99' Cool I thought, even if I did want a 10 disc this time...wait a minute...It is a 10 disc! Cool! Kenwood unit with tonnes of little cool things that I never use 44W per channel output and a 10 disc changer for £299.98!!!

I swapped it into the GTE which happned to have 6X9's in the rear parcel Shelf when I got it. I looked everywhere for somewhere to put the changer and it the end stuck it under the seat. It never moves and I can swap the CD's (should I need to) without getting out the car.

The front 4' speakers were replaced with some Kenwood 4' so they didn't blow from the headunit.

It makes lots of noise when turned up but I never really do and I don't get bored from long journeys.

There...the story of my mk2 ICE.

[Mattster]

I have all that Tim.

[MikeWarner]

First thing you need to know is what produces good sound. It is common knowledge that stereo is created by 2 channels - so why have 4 speakers? The best sound quality is had by getting good speakers at the front. Do not use rear speakers, except for rear fill for passengers who sit in the back.

The headunit is the most important item of the install - choose well. At the £300-£350 price band the best headunit is an Alpine one (can't remember the model number). A mate got this and it kicks butt over the competition at that price. (I turned green looking at the spec as my £500 Alpine looks shite in comparison!).

My mate also got 6.5" Alpine components - these were about £150, but the mids are like mini subs!

With just these two items, his system is very good. The Alpine unit has a genuine 4x60w output and the components have a very high sensitivity.

This makes for a very good, loud and bassy sound - he has even out bassed someone with a sub!

Also - I always see installs using 2 shite subs! Why not spend the same amount on one good quality sub that can take more power? After playing with my sub setup, I noticed that there was very little difference in bass between having only one of my sub on as opposed to both. Also, one sub will give a tighter sound.

Keep ICE simple and look into each item you buy thoughly before paying for anything.

Mk2 Wise - fitting 6.5" components in the front is limited to cutting the door cards or making a footwell pod (difficult). For the best sound, I'd cut the cards - but there is no going back after cutting them.

[Cemesis]

*Thinks about cost of all that*

*Head spins*

<THUD>

*time passes*

*gets up*

You won't get much in the small grills at the front (4' is the limit and I had to trim them with a hack saw).

Depends on what you use the car for as well. Some people fill up the whole boot with subs and amps and things but next month I may have to drive the family with suitcases and stuff and will need room in the boot.

Oh and the all important budget.

Mikes right about the Headunit. If you have a small budget its better to spend all of it on the headunit and get the other parts later when you have more cash.

[Tim_P]

Thanks for your views chaps:

I am never going to go overboard on ICE, at least not til I am earning a fair few quid.

My nova GTE had, 6x9's, mids, tweeters, 4 channel amp and a 12" sub. I thought it sounded awesome as did my passengers and those withing a 100ft radius.

However I can't be bothered with all that again so I am going to go for a simple setup that basically includes a head unit and speakers.

So I shall search for a decent head unit (might not be a £350 alpien though) Perhaps Clarion as I fancy a change from Kenny. Then I shall get some modest speakers and see about hacking up the interior.

Thanks again for your input.

[Cris Rose]

i had MD headunit with remote, 10 CD changer (both Sony), Infinity Refrence Components (2 tweeters, 2 4" units and 2 6.5" mids on a crossover, all in the front of the car) 2x15" Hollywood Excursion subs running off an Alpine V12 750W..

how much to replace?

£1400 inc wires and power cables.

[cavvysri]

the best way to ICE up a mk2 astra is to leave it outside overnight in scotland in winter.(thats no to say your stereo will still be there in the morning but, or maybe even your car)

[Neosophist]

I agree with bits of each reply, it depresses me when people spend more on the ICE than the car's worth (im one of them). But I think £350 for a Head Unit is expensive.

I had the pleasure of adding an ICE to my friends car the other day. Heres what we did and heres how much it cost.

My friend drives a G reg MK2 Black astra and it had no stereo at all. First off we went shopping, we brought the following.

6 CD Changer Unit + H/U (Clarion 1994) - And old stereo i know but for £40 in full working order it was'nt a bad price, this came out the local press.

2 x 6x9 "Tornado" speakers from a car shop in town, £10.00 Clearance, rating 200watts.

2 x 10" Pioneer Sub Woofers, £10 ea (local press again, good buy, excellent condition.)

1 8ft x 4ft MDF sheet 12mm thick £16.99, Homebase, the home made basebox was cheapest option here, had it pre cut at homebase for free.

1 Roll of speaker wire, 8 meters, £5.00, Clearence from car shop in town.

1 XSA Liberator 300watt amplifier £45.00 - Friend, accuired this off a mate who had it for sale, it was perfect for what we needed.

Ok, so far we spent £136.99 and had near enough a full setup.

We started by mounting the Stacker unit under the passanger seat and fitting the headunit. Since the AMP has bass bost, 3 way crossover etc my friend decided to mount this in the glovebox.

While he mounted the 6x9's on the parcell shelf I made up the bass box, it's 3ft wide, 18 inches high and i forget the depth, but it takes up most of the boot, the two subs are mounted next to each other with a 3" hole in each corner to let the air out. I used jigsaw etc to cut the two holes. A note to anyone making their own box, Use at least 12mm MDF and always pilot drill it first, the stuff tends to like to split easily.

45 Mins later we had a box with two subs in it, we then ran all the speaker cables around and tarted the wiring up, the power for the amp came directly from the battery, the amp has it's own fuse, each sub came off the left and right channels of the amp. The remote for the amp went to a switch on the dash.

He stuck with the standard vauxhall speakers at the front, and it sounds quite good for £140, the bass is really loud and deep after setting the levels, put it this way, you can feel it thumping your back and it shakes the door mirrors the interior mirror and the pull down sun visors. it also shakes anything else.

Thats the cheapo happy way of bulding an ICE on a budget that dosn't sound half bad.

[Nobbie]

Just to jump in the thread, when wiring up an amp in a mk2 astra what is teh best way to route the cables??
i ran the power, earth and turnon down the passenger side in the clips, and the rca down the drivers side.
As soon as i started the car i got the old humming of the alternator??
any ideas?

Tim, I've got a head unit without its own amp, a small 300w amp, standard speakers in the front and 6x9's in the parcel shelf(sorry)!.

Easily the most expensive kit was the head unit(www.empeg.com). I used a Jensen amp.
I get good all round sound quaility without bleeeding ears!!

[Tim_P]

Well I took the standard speakers out the front cos they aint all that.

I'd like to replace them since I wont be putting speakers elsewhere for a while.

What size are they 4"? 12cm? The problem is the fixtures on the speaker itself. The standard ones only have 2, on opposite sides, since having 4 stops the speaker sitting in the hole properly.

- KFC - P402 these are.

Anyone know the model number of some speakers that will fit?

Kenwood, MB whatever.. cheers.

- these are a better shape - 502's.

They any good?

integrated component speaker system
130mm Pearl-micra cone woofer
Peak power 150W
Aquamarine coloured cone surface
25mm PPTA balanced dome tweeter
Frequency response 40Hz - 30KHz
Mounting depth 48mm

Just bidding on a Kenwood head unit on QXL at the mo £25 current bid. Be nice if it stays that way! Wonder what the reserve is.

Thanks for all your comments.

[Nova-X]

Best advice I can give is to send you to my site for the Astra

Project Astra

Click on the "new" icon

[tomstickland]

Well I've been looking into the same area myself.
My plan is quite simple...
-a decent single CD player head unit. I've got my eyes on a Nakamichi CD35z because it's not got any flashing light tat which I hate and is supposed to sound the ********. It's £299 though, which I hope means that sound quality is where it's at.

-a pair of Pioneer TZW(?) speakers for the front at about £40

-a pair of 6x9s for the rear parcel shelf maybe.

the basic plan is simple - most of the money going on sound quality from the head unit, front speakers for detail but they're not large enough for bass, 6x9s as a lighweight wayt of producing some more bass.

[Nova-X]

If you need a hand Tom I'm sure the Quedgeley crew (LOL at crew) would be happy to lend a hand.

[Tim_P]

Was lucky enough to get a smart Sony CD head unit from my girlfriend for my birthday.

Went looking for some front speakers today, the only ones I could find were JBL jobs for £45. Not bad speakers, bout 75W, head unit puts out 4x50.

But I thought I would find more elsewhere so we looked around. Found naff all else. Looks like it's gonna be mail order.

Any suggestions?