GTV ICE help please

[johnnystealth]

Ive already got a post on the ICE forum but was hoping one of you GTV guys might be able to clear this up.... A local ICE shop has told me my car has an amp somewhere hidden in it which is causing my speakers not to work very well and needs to be bypassed.... I dont believe them. Im right in thinking the GTV as standard has no amp other than the standard rather poor head unit that comes with the car??

[Stixy]

You are quite correct, the car DOES NOT have an amp as standard. The shop is telling you porkies I'm afraid!!!!

[symon]

The standard head unit is indeed very poor.

The best thing to do is remove it and buy a Modern Alpine, Sony, Pioneer etc...

The speakers will actually sound pretty good with a decent headunit.

[johnnystealth]

Cheers I thought that was correct. i actually have a very good Alpine head unit and my woes are trying to get a half decent speaker set up... I have a post in the ICE section

[itacarboy]

get an alpine or a sony in there and you will be impressed with the sound quality,

the rear speakers are easily updated but the fronts are not a common size (normal italian thing )

[johnnystealth]

Finally got time to remove the door panels, to disconnect the tweeters. Made absolutely no difference and to make things even worse I now cant open my door from the inside so i need to take it off again

How can it be so hard to get normal sound performance in a GTV??

[GTV Bertone]

In mine, i got the Pioneer BT800 bluetooth ipod headunit, infinity components at the front, and pioneer 3 way 6" on the shelf, the shelf is modified it looks standard from the top but underneath MDF rings house the speakers and are special siliconed and screw into the shelf so they are air tight etc, and the brackets/plates that hold the standard speakers are taken out completely and the shelf is reinforced by peeling all the spongy looking layer on the underside of the shelf and lining with Dynamat. And it sounds quite clear and punchy, drastic improvement from standard. All speakers driven by a small Alpine v12 amp.

[johnnystealth]

Originally Posted by GTV Bertone

In mine, i got the Pioneer BT800 bluetooth ipod headunit, infinity components at the front, and pioneer 3 way 6" on the shelf, the shelf is modified it looks standard from the top but underneath MDF rings house the speakers and are special siliconed and screw into the shelf so they are air tight etc, and the brackets/plates that hold the standard speakers are taken out completely and the shelf is reinforced by peeling all the spongy looking layer on the underside of the shelf and lining with Dynamat. And it sounds quite clear and punchy, drastic improvement from standard. All speakers driven by a small Alpine v12 amp.

Did you manage to get the Infinity components in the door and keep it looking standard? Thats all I want really. The head unit I have is good enough for my requirements, its just the speakers are rubbish, and the infinitys that I have tried just dont work, for some reason

[thewizardhunter]

Originally Posted by johnnystealth

Did you manage to get the Infinity components in the door and keep it looking standard? Thats all I want really. The head unit I have is good enough for my requirements, its just the speakers are rubbish, and the infinitys that I have tried just dont work, for some reason

Here's a post of my door speakers and tweeters. There are not infinity but I'm please with them. Kenwood KFC S502P 5.25" Two Way Component

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/2727839-post47.html (rear speakers)

[daveypark]

Originally Posted by johnnystealth

Did you manage to get the Infinity components in the door and keep it looking standard? Thats all I want really. The head unit I have is good enough for my requirements, its just the speakers are rubbish, and the infinitys that I have tried just dont work, for some reason

Johnnystealth can you expand on 'just don't work'. Is it that they do not fit?
I have Infinity 5 1/4 in my Gtv with an adaptor and the original speaker cover still fitted ok.

[johnnystealth]

Originally Posted by daveypark

Johnnystealth can you expand on 'just don't work'. Is it that they do not fit?
I have Infinity 5 1/4 in my Gtv with an adaptor and the original speaker cover still fitted ok.

They fit but the sound is appalling. See my thread in the ICE forum for full details

[johnnystealth]

Originally Posted by thewizardhunter

Here's a post of my door speakers and tweeters. There are not infinity but I'm please with them. Kenwood KFC S502P 5.25" Two Way Component

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/2727839-post47.html (rear speakers)

Thanks wizardhunter I like the look of those i think that compnoents are the way to go, my only concern is the tweeters are non original fit and how difficult it might be to get them in?? They stand proud of the door and not behind the old meshes? (Currently I cant open the door from the inside of the car due to my own meddling...) Do you know if the tweeter fit need much work? There are no decent ICE dealers roubd here at all i would probably need to use a regular garage

[thewizardhunter]

Hi johnnystealth,

To install the front components I took the car to an ICE shop in London. The install was done in 45 minutes. They recomended the Kenwood KFC S502P 5.25" Two Way Component for this car as they knew the fit would be perfect with good sound as they have done installtions on GTVs. They passed the tweeters from behind and the tweeter surrounds click in from the front. The crossover network boxes are small enough to secure behind the speaker woofer installation without affecting the window.

I wasn't confident enough to do the front speakers myself in case I damage something. The rear speakers were easy so I did those myself.

I think your local ALFA indie if you have one should be able to sort out your install for a small fee.

All the best!

[johnnystealth]

Originally Posted by thewizardhunter

Hi johnnystealth,

To install the front components I took the car to an ICE shop in London. The install was done in 45 minutes. They recomended the Kenwood KFC S502P 5.25" Two Way Component for this car as they knew the fit would be perfect with good sound as they have done installtions on GTVs. They passed the tweeters from behind and the tweeter surrounds click in from the front. The crossover network boxes are small enough to secure behind the speaker woofer installation without affecting the window.

I wasn't confident enough to do the front speakers myself in case I damage something. The rear speakers were easy so I did those myself.

I think your local ALFA indie if you have one should be able to sort out your install for a small fee.

All the best!

Scuse my ignorance but what are crossover network boxes? I need to get this right cos the infinities were a recommend from on here also, and that was a disaster...

Also, my pet hate is rattles, these things arent somethimng that will just rattle around inside the doors are they?

[tannedstamina]

Crossovers are like filters that make sure each speaker (woofer and tweeter) get the right frequency range. Tweeters get high, woofers get low... They're pretty important as the speakers work a lot better restricted to the frequency they're designed for.

Example: Think of a woofer (or subwoofer) as a fat man on a trampoline. He can jump up and down reasonably good (he represents the lower frequency sound wave). However, if you try and add a little skinny person (high freq waves) to try and jump on the same trampoline at the same time it'll be all out of sync as he'll be trying to jump faster.

As long as you secure it properly it won't rattle around. Make sure you use them though or your speakers will sound sh*t and will distort easily.

Johnny, i have installed a set of Infinitys to a GTV that i had before and to a Spider i have now...

The tweeters were not that hard to fit, i will admit they did not slot straight in, the hole needed a bit of enlarging but IMHO they look good and are a great improvement on the standard sound.

Pics

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100_1327.jpg

Look at my signature you will see a link to my Spider work in progress thread, in there i have detailed how it was done

hope that helps