DAB radio, component speakers. and now subs.

I also considered some xtrons thing.
dab, bluetooth, cd (and dvd) single din, 7" flip out screen.
Looks simple enough and would has navigation so wouldnt need to have my sat nav kicking about.
Problem is the screen would cover the heater controls then deployed and I'm also assuming it will be a glitchy, unreliable, awkward piece of junk.

Am I wrong?

I'm happy to amp the components. But don't want to spend a fortune on amps. I'm also concerned as it will be running of a leisure battery when stationary and I don't know if amps will drain it too quickly.
Coaxials arent out of the question but they will be at my feet so not ideal. Thats why I thought id put tweeters on the dash.
If I could aim them properly id choose coaxials as they are a point source but its not really doable.

Its a camper so I was going to put speakers in the back and use either the headunit or a seperate control to fade between front and rear. Rear speakers will only really be used when stationary and sat in the back.

I appreciate decent sound is sort of possible but the van is very noisy and driver placement not ideal.

I'm VERY into sound quality at home and I know its never going to be possible to get a system up to my standard of critical listening so there is no point me trying.


So, to sum up, simple looking single din headunit dab/cd/bluetooth/supports hands free.
Speakers at my feet in front.
Speakers in back will be better placed.
Needs to be able to have front/rear balance control.
Needs to not drain a leisure battery too quick.

I know you say that you are not trying to get great SQ out of the van, but going for components and being worried about placement hints otherwise, hence why I gave the reply I did .

Anyway, now that's done and dusted, are you willing to go secondhand. IME, unless you leave amps on for more than an hour or more in the car the battery will generally be OK. I have only once had a battery go flat but I was also running quite a bit of stuff. This included

A Genesis 4 Channel (think two of their 2 channels stuck together)
A Genesis 2 Channel
An Alto Processor
A JVC DVD Single DIN Player ; I had no end of issues with a previous Denon.

In the above case the Series 3 amplifiers were known for being power hungry!

However, you could use something like Genesis' Profile amplifiers which operate on Class G technology, thus are efficient and are slim and compact. Something like a Profile 4 will do the job or just a Profile 2 channel just to amp the front components . Alpine's PDX range of Class D amplifiers are pretty good as well. You should get these for a decent price with a bit of searching secondhand.

Hang on, genesis amps.

I'm sure half their work force came to work where i used to work, including their factory manager. I'm sure their circuit designer does some work with my old company too.

Are/were they in southend?


If I'm right i think I may know a few people who might be able to help me aquire some of their gear.

I have heard a lot of good things said about Bassface speakers. For the money they seem to perform very well.

One way to do that would be to put the amp remote wire onto a switch, or to take the feed for the remote wire off the Ignition II position. However, you would lose the speakers up front, on the assumption you have only the two front speakers amplified.

As said however, the Class D, G & T (the latter if you really want to splash the cash) are generally very efficient, far more so than the usual Class AB affairs.

Bit of an update on this.

I seem to have bought a sony head unit. Mex-n6000bd.

Its not very pretty, doesnt fullfill my looks requirement, but its dab, bluetooth, cd and was £35.
I think ive also settled on speakers. I'm going to go with Hertz.

The issues with un amped components, is that due to sensitivity? As these hertz are pretty sensitive so was wondering if I'm still best off going with coaxials or comopnents. I'm wondering as these speakers (dcx) are designed as stock replacements so are sensetive and good unamped or amped from what I can see.

I was looking at their spec and they are only rated down to 60hz. I don't know what the db drop off is at that or how quickly it drops below that. There regarded as quite flat.

60hz isnt great (might be for 5 or 6" car speakers though?). There will be entire sections of songs ill be missing. I love a good bass line (real bass lines played by instruments not thump thump electro).

So, is it worth me trying to extend the frequency range down with a sub?
Have no idea where I might be able to fit one though.
Am I going to be able to get (lets be hopefull and say 20hz but I expect even 40hz will be pushing it) response, evenly, without just a thumping ported box? Can I get low frequency fill in which will give me tone of instrument?

I REALLY don't just want some bass punch. If it shows any signs of just being monotone single frequency honk ill just end up turning it off.

Can I do this, without spending a fortune?






Why am I getting carried away with all this!

I saw something similar but more expensive (rainbow) on a local shops website.
Worth looking at.

My problem with a standard sub install is space. Youd think being a van id be laughing, but every space is in use.
Even under the seats will be tricky as the batterys are there.

Ill look at subs again later once ive seen if I can loose a cupboard or something.


I have one more question, sorry.

I need to build some door pockets with speaker pods for the doors. As usual though there is an issue.
The whole lot is mounted to a flat metal door. There is no hole into the door cavity and id rather not cut one as good cf doors are rare!
So basically the speakers are going to end up in a sealed enclosure barely bigger than the driver.
I guess I could keep it open at the bottom or into the pocket if that would help.
I'm a little concerned about cancellation etc from the rear wave though.
I assume most door builds are open into the door cavity.
Are there any rules or considerations as to the volume and porting of car speakers?