Gonzo

Hey,
I want to upgrade to a better sound:

1. Can I do this with just speakers???
2. Do I need a Sub woofer??
3. Will a sub fit with the top in back??
4. If I replace the stereo is there an aftermarket unit that will look good in the dash?
5. How much will I need to spend???
6. where should i buy (live in Atlanta area)
7. Canm I do it myself??

I know lots of questions, I apreciate any suggestions with any question.

Gonzo

Jeffvette

1. Can I do this with just speakers??? No, for what it's worth, gut it. Each and every component of the Blows system is guaranteed to fail eventually.

2. Do I need a Sub woofer?? Depends on your taste in music, if you like to have the bass accent your music a small 8 would work.

3. Will a sub fit with the top in back?? Yes, you can use the passenger rear storage as a sub box.

4. If I replace the stereo is there an aftermarket unit that will look good in the dash? How a deck looks is relative. You might think a deck is awesome, whereas somebody else thinks it's ugly. Try to fill the space in the dash as much as possible. A full DIN EQ and a full DIN headunit fits snuggly.

5. How much will I need to spend??? How much can you afford, just like speed, how much can you spend. Consider around 1000-1500 a starting point

6. where should i buy (live in Atlanta area) Talk to people that have systems in there car for recomendations, go to shops and ask to see pictures of their installs (most have books) or ask other Vette owners.

7. Can I do it myself?? Yes you can, the C4 is an easy car to work on, just have some experience with fitting and making custom brackets.

Kale

here's my current set up:
http://www.84to96.net/sig/stereo

Here is what I learned:

FRONT SPEAKERS:
Use seperates, with the woofer as big as you can. Buy real good quality ones, around $250-400

Rear Speakers:
None. This will deteriorate from the front spekaers sound, and "imaging" because of the shape of the rear of the car, it would dirty the sound up. Use the money you save heret o buy real good 2 way seperates for the front.

Amp: two amps. one is 80x2 or 100x2 for the front seperates. One is for the sub.

sub: This is how im going to be doing my new sub layout, and the top will still fit in the back:

Jeffvette

I have to disagree with that. I'm running components in the rear and their every bit as clear as the fronts. Especially helps when cruising with the top off.

Kale

I'm no expert, just regurgitating what I've learned from the pros over the past few days.

92TripleBlack

Smash has a different situation.. He has an amp that has decent power for 4 channels and strong power if it is bridged to two channels. He also has a sub that is overpowering his current mids and tweets. He wants to add a great set of front seperate speakers to work with his sub. Since seperates are power hogs, the best thing for him to do is to bridge the power and supply the power to the front seperates and forget about rear speakers. If he ran all 4 speakers, he would have a set of nasty sounding 6x9, and an underpowered set of seperates in the front. Because the 6x9s are high efficiency speakers, they would be very loud compared to the front and drown the front out with poor sound and ruin his sterio imaging. In bridging, he gives his seperates enough power to get a good solid mid and tweet output to mate with his strong sub. It should sound very good. I have had many systems with front seperates and subs and no rear speakers and the sound is great. The rear speakers job is really just to add a fullness to the sound and give the effect that the sound is surrounding you. The fronts are the main source however for sterio staging and mid and tweet output. Think of it in terms of a home sterio. If you have a great set of front speakers and a sub your home system will sound good. If you have crappy front and rear speakers, it will sound crappy but it will surround you. I'd much rather go with the first for the same price and have the option to add rear later if I wanted to.
We are talking about expensive systems here. For example, my system has a $500 deck, three $3-400 amps, two sets of $475 speakers, and a $300 amp and crossover and about $200 in wires.
Your system will only sound as good as your weakest link. A good CD costs about $300, 4 channel amp about $400, good seperates $300 and a sub $200+. You can always get more. In engine terms, Smash is making a Stroker, and I have a 10 second sterio.
Rear speakers are good and good to have. But they need to be properly matched to the application. In smashes case they aren't within the budget and would bring the rest of the system down at this point.
92TripleBlack :cheers: :flag :nono:

tempest

i just finished mine today... first i have to say thanks to all in CF who have given me some mucho advice. most notably 92TripleBlack and Smash. couldn't have done it without your help.

i just wanted to add that if you are going to install yourself, and you have never done a system before, be prepared! i have only done an 88 accord before this which was a drop-in replacement to the stock DIN unit. the bose, however, was like brain surgery.

most notably is the audio unit's two-piece construction. (if your 96 is the same as my 92) the double-DIN head in the IP is a "controller" which contained the cassette mechanism and the electronics for the buttons. the rest of the stuff (amp, tuner) are located in a box which is mounted in the right side of the IP. i spent a considerable amount of time just figuring out how to get it out. and this is with the chevy manual on hand.

long story short, i found it easiest to rip out every interior panel in the car around the IP, including the IP. the rear speakers were much easier to access, but not without problems.

took me two weekends and five evenings. yes, i am a novice installer.

so...if you can get a free install, take advantage of it. unless you don't trust anyone around your vette like i do. anyway, it was pretty neat just to get to know my interior A LOT better, down to the screw.

hope to get a website up soon with pics of my install including "how to's".

92TripleBlack

Gonzo,
1. You can't just add speakers as the Bose system has the amps integerated with the speakers. You need to replace all or nothing in a C4.
2. A subwoofer is the single best addition to a system you can make. It does have its drawbacks: Expensive, takes up space, adds complexity to the system. I have one and many others do as well but it is up to your own individual needs. A system will sound good without it but if you get one you won't ever want to give it up.
3. A sub will definitely fit with the top in the back. You may need to make a custom box or have one made for you. Not to tough if you have rudimentary woodworking skills. I have a 12 inch sub, 3 amps, a set of seperates in custom boxes in a 92 convertable and I can store the convertable top in the back with no problems.
4. Aftermarket units are typically based on a standardized size called DIN. This is the size you find for example in any Honda, BMW, VW, and most other makers including Fix Or Repair Daily, TOYota, Nissan, etc. The 96 has what is called a double din opening. It will allow you to put up to two of these units in the dash. People sometimes for example put in a tape and a seperate CD player. You would probably want to install a regular din in your dash with a kit to fill the opening. A kit costs about $25. You could also buy a radio built to fill the entire opening but most of these are just stretched Din units with bigger *****, larger displays, etc. They actually have less features often for more money and I would not recommend going this direction. Also, if you decide to take the unit out and put it into a different car in the future, it might not be compatible.
5. How much you want to spend depends on what you want. A good CD is about $300. If you just want 4 speakers and no sub, figure on adecent amp for $300, and about $150-200 for each set of speakers front and rear and it will sound good. If you want a Sub, add for its power, box, the woofer, and you're talking another $600 easy. If you want seperates which are very clean high quality mids and tweets, they go for $300 + a set and need more power so figure on doubling your amp cost. Each component costs about $50-100 to have installed depending on where you live in the country and more for custom stuff like a custom sub box. On the lower side by you, I'm in NYC area.
6. If you want to go the professional route, go to some local sound offs and talk to the people who had their cars done and ask them about who they've worked with. Another way to find a good one is to go visit a bunch of shops and ask alot of good questions. Ask to see:the shop, some current cars having work done, see if they are insured, how experienced are they with corvettes, do they have any corporate accounts with dealers, etc. My old shop had the largest BMW and Mercedes dealers in NJ as accounts and we did all their phone, alarm, and sterio installs they charged double for from their customers.(We put in $100 in alarm parts, charged them $300 and they charged $800 to the car buyers). Treat it like a job interview. Ask things in a similar fashion that you would ask if you were looking for a good mechanic or body guy.
7. Heck yes though depending on how far you want to go it can quickly go from easy to difficult. Basic installs are usually a screwdriver and crimpers. Maybe a slight mod on a speaker location to make it fit. Big installs involve more complex wiring, cutting holes in door pannels, making boxes, bigger alternators, back-up batteries, etc. The possibilities are endless. Personally I stay away from custom fiberglass as I have no experience in this type of fabrication. If you keep it to front and rear speakers, one or two amps, a deck and a sub, it won't get to hairy and if you feel handy you should be able to accomplish a good job.
One of my favorite links is http://www.mmxpress.com
They have good stuff at good prices. http://www.soundcityoutlet.com has some good sale items. If you want product recommendations you can get many here. I would get a pioneer or alpine head unit to start with.
Hope this clears things up and gets you going.
92TripleBlack
:cheers:

92TripleBlack

Smash, your box looks cool. What drivers are you going to use? It looks like you have the compartments connected. I would check to see if the woofers you want should be in the same or seperate boxes. Im not sure what the blue area is for. If its for amps, make sure you ventilate. If its for storage, make sure you don't put things that are fragile like beer cans there or you will have cans of foam. My box has a single sub in a capital T shaped box. The mids are in the corners in their own boxes which makes the box a complete rectangle. I also have a sloped rear to match the rear of the convertable and a slopped front with the amps mounted to it. The woofer is in a perfect 1 cubic foot sealed enclosure which is perfect for the driver I'm using. The other sealed boxes allow the rear speakers to be all they can be. My front mids are in the stock locations in a 92 and the tweets are in seperate pods located to give good sterio imaging(most critical thing for sterio sound). I have a 6 disk in dash disk changer from Nakamichi. My speakers and sub are Boston Acoustic Pro series and my amps are soundstream. If I had the ability to do it over I would go for ultra good sounding and ultra expensive A/D/S mids and tweets and amps. I would keep the sub and deck. I got the soundstream amps because they are very good and I got a good deal on them. The same with the boston seperates. I have 4 gauge power wire front to back and 12 gauge speaker wire. I also have Phoeix golds best RCAs and a crossover from them.

Hope this helps
92TripleBlack :cheers:

Kale

The audiobahns i guess. im stuck wit 'em now.

Gonzo

Thanks for all the advice, I had an inexpensive sub in my old supra, I think it was called a bazooka tube, it really helped the system alot.
I know this is beyond my ability, I will visit some shops in atlanta area.

Gonzo

92TripleBlack

For the money, Bazooka tube is a decent system. Good luck and let us know what the dealer suggests before you buy if you want some feedback.
92TripleBlack :cheers: