Author Topic: Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?  (Read 3353 times)

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Offline grogeye

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Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?
« on: Jan 10, 2012, 03:35PM »
Intro:

Hi guys, I've been trawling the web for info regarding sound-systems for my Gl, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, I've just taken interest in motor-vehicles so I have minimal background knowledge re: auto-electrics or mechanics... I'll get there  8)

The back-story:

Got my P's yesterday, so I took my completely stock 1989 Ford Corsair Gl for a spin and popped on the radio only to be greeted by an unbearable crackling noise from the right-hand front speaker.

When I parked the car, the the R. speaker neither emitted audio nor crackling, except when I was pressing buttons on the stock radio/cassette head unit. When I was programming radio stations, the R. speaker sometimes emitted crackles and sometimes crackle-free music.

My deductions:

1.) In my limited knowledge, I presume the cause of the crackling is damaged wiring since the crackling was worse when travelling at speed.

2.) The stock Sound system is near-redundant, so I plan to replace it, hopefully ironing out the crackling along the way.

3.) Pioneer Sound systems are the poor-man's Alpine. Slightly lower sound quality/ control along with a lower price-tag vs Alpine.

4.) The Corsair Gl only has two speakers, both in the front.

5.) I listen to all styles of music, but have no love for heavy rap or hip-hop; a bit of 2Pac and Eminem now and then, but I have more rock, metal, and dance. My main objectives for my Sound system are: personal enjoyment and indoctrinating the cars next to me at the red lights with my music.

My questions:

1A.) Do you think that the crackling is likely caused by damaged wiring/ wires?

1B.) Taking the diagram on EL 61 (pg 872) of the Corsair FSM (as found on this forum) into consideration, how much of the wiring would I likely have to replace?

2.) Do modern head units and amps fit easily into older cars such as the '89 Corsair Gl? Would it be a simple matter of "out with the old, in with the new"?

3A.) Would I be better off installing a head unit and one of these options:
  •      a pair of 6x9in
  •      an amp and 4 6x9in
  •      an amp, a subwoofer and 4 13cm

or perhaps something else? How about brands/ models? All suggestions/ opinions greatly appreciated!

Offline Kranzy

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Re: Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?
« Reply #1 on: Jan 10, 2012, 05:10PM »
Regarding the pioneer v alpine comment, i must disagree with you. Granted the alpine are more expensive, paying for the label, i have owned both brands head units in the top of the range level. At high volumes the alpines sound quality was great, but i found at low volume it was very average.

This was after owning a pioneer, moving to alpine, and i have now moved back to pioneer as i dont always listen at high volumes and i needed a unit that sounded great at all volume levels.

A great deal of it will be determined by your budget as to the best way to go. Can you let us know what budget you have and it will be easier to recommend products to you.

Its hard to know what is the cause of the crackling... there are a few things you can do to narrow it down. You can check the cable between the head unit and the speaker with a multimeter to see if there is a break in the cable.

The crackling could also be caused by damage to the speaker itself.

Where are you located? Someone on the forums may be able to help you out in person.
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Offline SR20ME

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Re: Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?
« Reply #2 on: Jan 10, 2012, 06:57PM »
Intro:

I've written my answers in bold

The back-story:

Got my P's yesterday, so I took my completely stock 1989 Ford Corsair Gl for a spin and popped on the radio only to be greeted by an unbearable crackling noise from the right-hand front speaker.

When I parked the car, the the R. speaker neither emitted audio nor crackling, except when I was pressing buttons on the stock radio/cassette head unit. When I was programming radio stations, the R. speaker sometimes emitted crackles and sometimes crackle-free music.

My deductions:

1.) In my limited knowledge, I presume the cause of the crackling is damaged wiring since the crackling was worse when travelling at speed.

It is most likely a symptom of not having enough power rather then too much. This is why big sound systems have amplifiers. The symptom is also known as clipping. If you replace the front speakers you should be fine. I would go for split speakers.

Only downside is that you have to make moulds for teh speakers. You can do this with some MDF, Jigsaw, glue and vinyl. It will be a little effort but the difference of 6.5 inch split speakers compared with the stock stuff is like chalk and cheese. I have soundstream in my pintara. They are very good (extremely clear). I have had pioneer and clarion splits and the Soundstream are definitely the best I've heard.


2.) The stock Sound system is near-redundant, so I plan to replace it, hopefully ironing out the crackling along the way.

Good idea. Plus you can pick up really cheap good brand decks. I got a Kenwood USB deck for $139. Does everything that you want plus USB capability.

3.) Pioneer Sound systems are the poor-man's Alpine. Slightly lower sound quality/ control along with a lower price-tag vs Alpine.

I don't know about this. I have had pioneer equipment and it has been generally great except for the decks. I would avoid pioneer decks as they often blow the RCA track inside the unit. This means that when you drive you'll get engine noise.

4.) The Corsair Gl only has two speakers, both in the front.

Just put a subwoofer in the back or make a parcel shelf out of MDF wood and use 6 x 9s. For the best bass you want to go a sub however 6 x 9s are still good (and you get to keep your boot!).  Again a bit of work but it will pay off.

5.) I listen to all styles of music, but have no love for heavy rap or hip-hop; a bit of 2Pac and Eminem now and then, but I have more rock, metal, and dance. My main objectives for my Sound system are: personal enjoyment and indoctrinating the cars next to me at the red lights with my music.

Your deck and amp will allow you to tune the music as you want. Just look for two things when buying an amp / speaker. Watts and RMS. Watts is the maximum power capacity before something will blow where as RMS is the actual power output of the speaker. The bigger the RMS, the louder you can have the volume.

For most applications (unless you listen to music at a very large volume) you could wire up two speakers to the deck and have RCA cables for bass speaker and bridge an amp. This way you'll get awesome bass whilst not having to fork out a fortune for 2 amps to run speakers at the front and rear. Just depends on your budget and listening style. My soundstream splits have more than enough volume from my Kenwood deck without an AMP.
My questions:

1A.) Do you think that the crackling is likely caused by damaged wiring/ wires? Probably not

1B.) Taking the diagram on EL 61 (pg 872) of the Corsair FSM (as found on this forum) into consideration, how much of the wiring would I likely have to replace?

2.) Do modern head units and amps fit easily into older cars such as the '89 Corsair Gl? Would it be a simple matter of "out with the old, in with the new"? Yes. You can get a DIN kit (spacer) that will allow you to fit the deck.

3A.) Would I be better off installing a head unit and one of these options:
  •      a pair of 6x9in
  •      an amp and 4 6x9in
  •      an amp, a subwoofer and 4 13cm

If you don't care about boot space go for a sub and 6.5 inch splits. The sub will by far produce better sounding bass than a 6 x 9 speaker.

or perhaps something else? How about brands/ models? All suggestions/ opinions greatly appreciated!

Offline Kranzy

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Re: Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?
« Reply #3 on: Jan 10, 2012, 09:35PM »
The pioneers do tend to blow the RCA track, however it's very easy to fix this. All you need is to ground a wire from the RCA shield to the body of the head unit. Did that with mine and no issues since.

I have heard they have got a lot better in recent times.

With regards to power output of the speakers. Watts is the measurement. RMS is the value you want to look at (as said above) which is the speakers power output before distortion. The other measure is peak, which is basically the amount of power it can handle before the speaker blows.

As I said l, all depends on budget. You could by a new deck, sub in a box, splits for fronts, a 4 channel amp and run the rears of the head unit. Use the 4 channel amp, two for fronts, other two bridged for sub.

If the budget allows you could also look at a 2 channel amp and a monoblock amp to power the system.
Quote from: noss
learnt something new just then, dont eat baked bean sandwhiches while changing the paper in the copier


"Noss is GOD"

Offline grogeye

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Re: Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?
« Reply #4 on: Jan 11, 2012, 06:15PM »
Thanks for the quick feedback guys  :)

Kranzy:
Good to hear your experience Kranzy - The field is definitely divided out there! I'm definitely interested in the Pioneer now.

In terms of budget I'd like to keep it under $700, but longevity is one of the most important aspects to me, and if it costs double but lasts three times as long, I'm getting a better deal.

I'm close to Ferntree Gully, Victoria (Belgrave, actually but most people know FTG.) and it would cool to know the local ANTRX-ers.

SR20ME:
With the power suggestion, SR20ME, I would be surprised if the stock sound system couldn't handle highway-speeds... what would be the workaround? Wouldn't an amp drink up more power?

Thanks for the suggestion with the sub - I'll have to decide wether I'll go for a subby and  some splits or the 6x9s, but I do like the notion of having a sub thumping and the Gl has a good-sized boot!

I'll read up on this whole RCA and RMS thing a bit more, since I don't want to set off 20 car alarms, just two :D
« Last Edit: Jan 19, 2012, 09:03AM by grogeye »

Offline grogeye

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Re: Noob question: Sound system for '89 Corsair Gl?
« Reply #5 on: Jan 22, 2012, 11:53PM »
Hi again, so I've taken the info away and this is the system I'm thinking about going for - I welcome opinions :)

HEADUNIT:
Pioneer DEH-8350SD
elite-electronics.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_66_107&products_id=511%3F

SPEAKERS:
Boss PC65.2C 6.5"

elite-electronics.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_77_117&products_id=830

SUBWOOFER:
Polk Audio MM840DVC 8" Mobile Monitor Subwoofer

elite-electronics.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_123_124&products_id=876

AMPLIFIER:
Pyle Hydra 4 Channel 1000 Watt Bridgeable MOSFET (I know it's a boat amp... not sure what else what support my proposed system at decent quality?)

newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0SM07A8716

NOTE: Would have linked all those URLs, but apparently "Sorry, you are not allowed to post links. " WTF?!  >:(