Hi Looking to get some front components for the 205, what would I be best off with? speaker size is 13cm if i recall correctly Not really wanting to spend massive amounts of money, but £30 or so wouldn't go amiss! Thanks!
Believe it or not, if you've already got speakers in there that work reasonably, you wont notice that much of a difference if you're running them off the standard headunit. The crackling and distortion you hear when you turn it up (I assume, as with most others, this is why you want new speakers...) usually originates from your headunit's built-in amp and not from your speakers. To get any real gains you'll need to invest in an amp and a set of speakers. Speakers dont have to be amazing to hear the difference when moving from headunit to a separate amp.
All you need is a 2 channel amp. Just amp the front comps, then stop using the rear speakers (if you have any) as that will make the sound quality worse.
Depends on the new speakers of course. I have a Pioneer MP3 HU in my car and have done since I owned my first 214 over a year ago. My previous two cars have had the standard paper speakers which to be honest, didn't sound too dreadful through the Pioneer. When I got my current car, I dynamatt'd the doors and fitted my Infinity components, which I picked up from another forum for £45. The difference was massive. Miles more bass and loads of top end detail (should have thought so too with the seperate tweeters). Of course, the difference on a standard headunit wouldn't be as noticeable, but there'd definitely be a big improvement.
The only thing you have toatch out for with a 205 is the tweeter on co-ax type speakers. They can sometimes stick out to far and prevent the grill from going back on. I would recommend a set of components. At the moment i am playing with a few different brands and i am particularly fond of the Orion p6.2's. They sound awesome and the build quality is fantastic. Not massively expensive either at £199. They sound every bit as good as the £300 Alpines i tried last week.