Sound systems in your van pics anyone?

[Beigebay1968]

Hi everyone, not wanting to sound like a boy racer but I love a good sound system and planning to put one in my van shortly. Just wondered if anyone has some pics tips on how to hide etc in a westy interior? Looking to go 6" in the front kick panels, 6x9 in my overhead locker and amp and sub somewhere??? Any help would be great and pics of your own setups would be much appreciated. Thanks Jamie

 

[Marriedblonde]

I've pit 6" speakers in the front doors, have 6x9's in the back r'n'r bed front panel. Under the bed i have a sub/amp

J.

 

[Beigebay1968]

Sounds good, you running a leisure battery? Also do I need to change my alternator to a split charge one? Cheers Jamie

 

[Humphrey]

Hey there, good thread.

I've got 6" components in the front doors with the tweets in the dash tray, 6" coaxial in the overhead locker, two amps and a cap under the buddy seat and two 12" subs in the back of the buddy seats... you can't see any of it.

Will get some pics up for you in a bit.

 

[Beigebay1968]

Cheers that would be great, also how do you run it ie leisure battery split charge etc??? Cheers Jamie

 

[Humphrey]

Cheers that would be great, also how do you run it ie leisure battery split charge etc??? Cheers Jamie

Yeah so I'm running about 1KW so have to go direct to the leisure battery with 0 gauge cable. I'm using the autosparks PDU/Charger which is great but even with the heavy duty version they recommended going direct for the amp power supply rather than running via the PDU.

Also if you know somebody heading to the states, who can bring you back some gear you can save £££, we get pretty ripped for car sounds over here.

 

[Beigebay1968]

Do I need to change my a alternator? Do I need sp.it charge relay so my alternator charges both battery's when charge gets low? Im sh*t with electrics give me bricks and mortar any day!!!! Jamie

 

[Humphrey]

haha it's all good! 55amp alternator will do the job, anything less and you might just find that the deep cycle leisure battery takes quite a long time to charge if you run it flat (and trust me if you are running big power amps you will!)

 

[Beigebay1968]

Ok...... Sorry Im crap at this.... So how do I find out what amp my alternator is already? Got it fitted a couple of years a go? Didn't realise they did different sizes.

 

[Humphrey]

If you have the stock bosch I think they are rated at 51 amps and the aftermarket copies are 55. I'm running a 75 amp just because I had the option when the engine was built. What I was getting at earlier is a bigger alternator should give you a quicker charge and more juice when the engine is running and might also be better for the draw of a deep cycle battery. But as long as you run a proper isolator for your main battery (ie like the autosparks unit or similar) you shouldn't have any flat battery problems so I would try it first before spending the dosh.

 

[ZedBed]

...Just wondered if anyone has some pics tips on how to hide etc in a westy interior? Looking to go 6" in the front kick panels, 6x9 in my overhead locker and amp and sub somewhere???

Not going to be very "hidden" then is it?

I've ripped out the cold air system (who needs that?), put tweeters in the dash vents, 3" in boxes in the lower vents, 3" in the rear cold vents and a 10" sub in the walkthough under the bench seat and the amp's behind the seat. You can't really spot most of it, but there's a bit of a hole in the sound where there should be a 6" speaker or two. Still planning where I could hide those. Boxed inside the dash pointing downwards looks favourite.

 

[john the horse]

About bloody time you tight git!!!

you will need them tunes coz i blew mine up !!!

 

[Beigebay1968]

[/qu
About bloody time you tight git!!!

you will need them tunes coz i blew mine up !!!



ote]

I'm on the case john!!!!

 

[valbarley]

At the moment I hae a pretty old vintage radio in the front dash. Looks lovely but doesn't play a single song though

In the back it is set up to take one of the 'slide in' radios, but I haven't got one...

So after a couple of months of singing to the van, I don't actually want a ghetto blaster sound system, but I would like an old retro radio and/or slide in replacement for the rear

Does anyone know where I can source these from cheaply?

 

[terrier man]

At the moment I hae a pretty old vintage radio in the front dash. Looks lovely but doesn't play a single song though

In the back it is set up to take one of the 'slide in' radios, but I haven't got one...

So after a couple of months of singing to the van, I don't actually want a ghetto blaster sound system, but I would like an old retro radio and/or slide in replacement for the rear

Does anyone know where I can source these from cheaply?

You could do as I have done fit a period Blaupunkt which have a Din connector at the rear which via a lead plug & play your
MP3 Player.
The harmonics of a Bus interior does not lend to my ears any decent sound reproduction, but then I'm used to two stage valve amplification with a Linn LP12 Turntable. :mrgreen:

 

[Humphrey]

At the moment I hae a pretty old vintage radio in the front dash. Looks lovely but doesn't play a single song though

In the back it is set up to take one of the 'slide in' radios, but I haven't got one...

So after a couple of months of singing to the van, I don't actually want a ghetto blaster sound system, but I would like an old retro radio and/or slide in replacement for the rear

Does anyone know where I can source these from cheaply?

You could do as I have done fit a period Blaupunkt which have a Din connector at the rear which via a lead plug & play your
MP3 Player.
The harmonics of a Bus interior does not lend to my ears any decent sound reproduction, but then I'm used to two stage valve amplification with a Linn LP12 Turntable. :mrgreen:

Yeah they resonate like a drum, unless you go to town with the Dynamat.

 

[Marriedblonde]

I went to town with dynamat

 

[Humphrey]

I went to town with dynamat

haha...same! Makes a huge difference!

 

[Marriedblonde]

I went to town with dynamat

haha...same! Makes a huge difference!

Jesus does it ever. Seems to be a good insulation as well

 

[Humphrey]

I went to town with dynamat

haha...same! Makes a huge difference!

Jesus does it ever. Seems to be a good insulation as well

Yeah it's foil lined so is a form of reflective insulation.

Cuts down on panel resonance and massively improves midrange and bass frequency response. Also if you have speakers in your doors and do both layers of the door it effectively turns the door into a speaker enclosure and the sound improvement is huge.