Audio Upgrade for Elise SC

[duners8o8]

All,

this is my first post, I got my first Lotus last week, an Elise SC. I can't wait to cover the first 1000 miles and go let it rev! Since the 2008 interior layout & components appear to be different from predecessors, I wonder if anyone has gone out and upgraded the speaker system. Also, can anyone recommend a good installer in the London area. Thanks in advance for any advice.

duners

[beak]

i'm working on this myself now, on a 57 plate R, with the SuperTouring dash... have you been able to access the dash speakers, and do you know what size they are ?

[C43]

If it the same as the Europa, which I believe it is, you can fit 6" in the rear and 4" in the front. For the rears I went for Focal Polyglass Co axials and mounted the tweeters just above the mids (these are good quality) and for the front I sent for some new Pioneere. This was a good step over the originals but you will still lack decent base. I ended up putting a sub box in the passenger footwell and a Genesis amp behind the passenger set, if you do a search I put some photos on this site.
Lots of people go for infinity but compared with the Focals they are quite bright which is not what you want in an aluminium chassis car....

cheers

C43

[beak]

the rears should be the same as the standard S2 elise.. just not sure about the fronts..

[kambites]

There's a guy on seloc making a batch of speakers custom designed for the Elise:

http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=157883

[Gooby]

The original - the best - The Janitor Guide.

See the Wiki

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[beak]

yeah, janitor is actually helping me do the upgrades, but we're concerned that the front speakers arent the same size as they are on the regular dash...

[duners8o8]

beak said:

i'm working on this myself now, on a 57 plate R, with the SuperTouring dash... have you been able to access the dash speakers, and do you know what size they are ?

I have not yet attempted. I played around a little with the headunit settings and the stock Alpine speakers are only halfbad, I think it needs a sub, preferably something quite discrete.

[duners8o8]

C43 said:

If it the same as the Europa, which I believe it is, you can fit 6" in the rear and 4" in the front. For the rears I went for Focal Polyglass Co axials and mounted the tweeters just above the mids (these are good quality) and for the front I sent for some new Pioneere. This was a good step over the originals but you will still lack decent base. I ended up putting a sub box in the passenger footwell and a Genesis amp behind the passenger set, if you do a search I put some photos on this site.
Lots of people go for infinity but compared with the Focals they are quite bright which is not what you want in an aluminium chassis car....

cheers

C43

Is the Europa dash the same as the 2008 Elise SC? Does it come with the same Alpine headunit & speakers? If so, could you post details on your setup? Especially pictures of the sub? - Thanks.

Duners

[C43]

The dash looks very similar to me but the Europa runs a Blaupunt not an Alpine. The Alpine may be better as the Blaupunt runs sat nav and hence sound is not great. I ditched it. Anyway here are pics of head unit, sub install (2 off Focal 5WS in 13lt box) in footwell and amp (Genesis P1) behind passenger seat (seat out and can see focal install above (6" Polyglass with component). Sound it pretty good given type of car.







cheers

C43

[Jonblue]

I got a new 'R' in January and was thinking of upgrading the awful stereo (I spend a lot of time in it).

But then I saw how close the front speakers are to the windscreen (mounted in the dash these days) and instantly gave up. There's no screwdriver I know of that could get to the mounting screws.

If anywone knows how you'd attempt this please let me know.

[C43]

I bought the speakers from Oxford Audio and the guy fitted them in the car park. He had a 90deg screw driver with a little gear in it which worked a treat. You can get L shaped screw drivers which would do the same job but take a bit longer. Decent front speakers do seem to make a big difference if you want to move the sound stage forwards.

C43

[bordseye]

duners8o8 said:

All,

this is my first post, I got my first Lotus last week, an Elise SC. I can't wait to cover the first 1000 miles and go let it rev! Since the 2008 interior layout & components appear to be different from predecessors, I wonder if anyone has gone out and upgraded the speaker system. Also, can anyone recommend a good installer in the London area. Thanks in advance for any advice.

duners

try driving the car a bit - you'll soon discover that any audio is a bit pointless, unless you simply want sound chav style to annoy other road users. with the top off I have difficulty hearing myself!