Audio recomendations

Upstairs Chris

Upstairs Chris

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Lets get this out of the way first, I wont be installing anything myself. I know next to nothing about this stuff. I have heard countless times about how easy it is to change out audio components but time is a luxury for this guy and I want something nice and clean for this car. If I had a beater or something, yeah sure I'd learn as I went but not for this ride. I am not looking to rock the whole neighborhood, I just want a noticeable increase in sound quality and some clean and distinct bass.

Alright, now to the important stuff. I don't have the highly praised THX system, just the 8 speaker setup. I explained to a couple shops that I want improved quality sound, but I am trying to lose as little trunk space as possible and I am also not wanting anything flashy. One guy recommended a sub mounted to the floor of the trunk on the back right side up against the seats. It didn't take up too much room and it was a trunk space loss that I was ok with. The second guy suggested sub(s) mounted in the rear deck, which is something I didn't know was possible with the size of most aftermarket subs I see. Are there pros and cons to where these things are installed? I read a few things on the interwebs about cleaner bass when they are in the passenger so on and so forth but none of those sources really conveyed they knew what they were talking about, and frankly you could tell me to mount them on the roof and I wouldn't be the wiser.

Also one of the guys suggested just going with a sub for now, he said he has done LS's before and they have decent stock speakers, which is consistent with what I have read on here in some old threads. He recommended that I keep the stock ones in there for now and if I blow them to replace them then, but didn't think replacing them now would be necessary for what I was wanting.

He also was on the fence about whether to go with an amp right out of the gate or not, I am more inclined to do so because I have never seen/heard a good system without one but then again, I know very little about all this.

Also, I'll be going with this.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KWR800B/JVC-KW-R800BT.html

I know most of you guys installed nice big touch screens and such but I just don't prefer them. Call me ol' fashioned but I like buttons, and being able to feel them when I am driving.

So again, I reach out to you knowledgeable LSers for your insight.
 
You're going to have a hell of a time installing an aftermarket sub in the rear deck. I highly advise against doing so. You're best off with a 10" sub in a smaller sealed enclosure, unless you listen to a lot of hip hop or classical, both of which require a bit more oomph below 50Hz. In that case a larger/ported enclosure would serve you better. When it comes to amplifying your sub there are a number of small footprint amps flooding the market right now, and luckily for us most of them are decent. Soundstream has a Nano line and a Stealth line. PPI has a Phantom line. Check them out.

That JVC you picked is hideous (IMO) but that's all you. The preamp voltage and EQ capabilities kinda suck, but it'll do fine.

Seriously considering amplifying any aftermarket door speakers will be a wise decision. A true audiophile set up would amplify the front door speakers only, anything else can be run off the HU's internal amp (or muted entirely). If you leave the stockers in there for now, they'll do fine off the ~14-20 watts that HU's amp will produce.

There's absolutely no reason to be afraid of installing your own gear. I would however have the HU installed professionally for the sake of transferring any liability in regards to working behind the dash. Have the installer run a remote turn-on wire and Sub RCA from the wiring harness to the front floorboard and take it from there. Other than that, it is extremely easy to wire up a sub amp since the battery is already in the trunk.

Fun project. Been working on mine for a couple months now.
 
I added an amp, changed out the door speakers and added a pair of 4-way speakers under the rear deck. IMHO it sounds almost as good as the THX; maybe not as heavy on the base, but it sounds pretty nice. The amp is a RF 4X100. The door speakers are Infinity Reference and the rear deck speakers are Pioneer.
 
The radio is a snap if you buy the wire harness. Seriously will take you 10 minutes to install. If you have the money you can buy a JL audio 8" w6 and have plenty of bass. Remote and aux are easy enought to run they the center of the car with a wire hanger. Amp is easy since the battery is in the back.
 
you aren't always limited to a box taking up valuable trunk space

IMG_5354_zpse4dcbff9.jpg
 
dammit, we have checked out your car...

in the other six identical threads about it...
 
If you wont be installing it yourself, I would advise buying from somewhere besides crutchfield to save yourself some money. Crutchfield is worth it for their instructions and free materials and amazing customer support but you wont be needing most of that since youll have someone else install it. Might be worth it to shop around a bit.
 
Upstairs Chris said:
Crutchfield has that unit for 249 but one of my guys says he will sell it for 199
Click to expand...

If it's just a CD player (and radio) why not keep the stock HU and add an amp and swap out the speakers? The factory speakers on the base system are nothing more than paper whizzer cones. The THX & Alpine speakers are just plate speakers.
 
Sonicelectronics will blow crutchfield away. I would never purchase anything from them
 
Upstairs Chris said:
Crutchfield has that unit for 249 but one of my guys says he will sell it for 199
Click to expand...

UC, you need to atleast go with the next step up. As you have the Audiophile setup, this one has better crossover capabilities for all of those speakers. You need to isolate the factory speakers from the lower freqs and this one will allow more flexibility in tunning to get the seamless transition from highs to lows.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KWR...ize|FFDouble@DIN&nvpair=AG_Type|ffCD_Receiver
 
Robot said:
UC, you need to atleast go with the next step up. As you have the Audiophile setup, this one has better crossover capabilities for all of those speakers. You need to isolate the factory speakers from the lower freqs and this one will allow more flexibility in tunning to get the seamless transition from highs to lows.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KWR...ize|FFDouble@DIN&nvpair=AG_Type|ffCD_Receiver
Click to expand...

This is way better and not much more:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_63979_Pioneer-AVH-X3500BHS.html

Or this one:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_65908_Kenwood-DDX370.html

I like kenwoods myself because of the 4v preouts but either are very good units. And guys stop linking crutchfield. Use sonic eletctronix from now on.
 
blwnbyu said:
you aren't always limited to a box taking up valuable trunk space

IMG_5354_zpse4dcbff9.jpg
Click to expand...

That's my next project. I already bought all the supplies. Just waiting for a deal on a JL W6 or W7 to arise. Also waiting to see what size comes about so I can figure which MDF rings I should get. More than likely I will be doing Two subs though. Did you do it yourself? Run into any issues? I might make a couple extra depending on how well it turns out. Sorry op for the high jacking.
 
Robot said:
UC, you need to atleast go with the next step up. As you have the Audiophile setup, this one has better crossover capabilities for all of those speakers. You need to isolate the factory speakers from the lower freqs and this one will allow more flexibility in tunning to get the seamless transition from highs to lows.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KWR9...cffCD_Receiver
Click to expand...
That is the one I meant to post, but thank you.

BlackLS06 said:
This is way better and not much more:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-X3500BHS.html

Or this one:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...od-DDX370.html

I like kenwoods myself because of the 4v preouts but either are very good units. And guys stop linking crutchfield. Use sonic eletctronix from now on.
Click to expand...

I can clearly see that this electronix place is far cheaper than crutchfield. Can you quickly explain what factors I need to look at to determine which units are "way better". Like I said, I don't know anything about this stuff, but what specs am I looking for here. Give me a baseline on some things and I can read on my own, but again, this is all new to me.

I also liked this one.
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_52195_Alpine-CDE-W235BT.html#tabs
 
Upstairs Chris said:
That is the one I meant to post, but thank you.



I can clearly see that this electronix place is far cheaper than crutchfield. Can you quickly explain what factors I need to look at to determine which units are "way better". Like I said, I don't know anything about this stuff, but what specs am I looking for here. Give me a baseline on some things and I can read on my own, but again, this is all new to me.

I also liked this one.
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_52195_Alpine-CDE-W235BT.html#tabs
Click to expand...

I know you prefer buttons, but the touchscreen units are better. They allow for adding navigation, and you can use a remote and wire it to work with the steering wheel controls.

The basic stuff you want in a headunit are quality (name brand) and features. Kenwood/Pioneer are the top dogs in terms of price and value. Alpine is good but overpriced for what you get. JVC isnt bad either. Stay away from Jensen/Audiovox/BOSS/Power Acoutik etc..

Youll want to make sure you get a unit with two sets of preouts, the higher the volts the better. Other than that its all user preference.

For a nice system, get you a decent pioneer or kenwood unit, steering wheel control adapter, wire in all the door speakers with crossovers (audiophile system should have crossovers already) and add a single sub in the trunk with a mono amp.

Next step is replacing all door speakers with components, then adding a second amp for them and a second sub. But step one is enough for most. My LS has THX, so all i added was a loc and added my sub and amp. But in the truck i replaced the headunit, it had audiophile so door speakers were crossed over and they really came alive with the kenwood compared to the factory deck. Still gotta add subs and amp...factory sub isnt cutting it.
 
if i was going to build a simple but very good sounding system, i would start with a good solid head unit as the first step. personally I think pioneers 3500bhs is hard to beat, good sound processing with a basic EQ and adjustable crossovers (better to have on the radio so one less thing to have to adjust at the amp) the touch screen shows so much more information that a simple radio display like the R800BT, especially when listing to any digital media (phone, MP3, Ipod) and while the kenwood does have a little stronger preouts, the 2 volt is plenty fine, and well worth the trade off for a better looking interface and bluetooth.

next to fix the lack of bass, i would go with an amp and sub, nothing too crazy is needed but since your going through the trouble of getting it wired, go ahead and get a 5ch amp. this will have enough power to drive a good quality single sub in a small sealed box, probably a 8" or 10" to keep trunk loss at a minimum. then you also get more power driving the speakers which actually makes a huge difference in how good it sounds (being able to go louder is just a side effect!) and with the crossovers set right, you could even rock the factory speakers, with the extra power, they can still sound better (as long as you dont get stupid with the volume levels) alpine makes a nice one that doesn't break the bank MRX-V70 usually for a little over $300

then as a last phase, replace all the door speakers with a good quality drivers to really make the music come alive and better use the power the amp provides. i would go with a nice set of components for the front and either a matching set for the rears (for me, only an option if the tweeters can be mounted to the center of the main driver) or the closest thing in a coaxial version. and while 6x8 is the proper size, its much easier to find good speakers by using an adapter and getting a 6.5 inch speaker.


and thats the 1, 2, 3 of keeping it cheap and easy!
 
BigBoi said:
That's my next project. I already bought all the supplies. Just waiting for a deal on a JL W6 or W7 to arise. Also waiting to see what size comes about so I can figure which MDF rings I should get. More than likely I will be doing Two subs though. Did you do it yourself? Run into any issues? I might make a couple extra depending on how well it turns out. Sorry op for the high jacking.
Click to expand...


Yes I made it myself. I have about a hundred pics of the process. I'm running a 10w6. I woud have preferred a 12 but I could not make one fit because of the RETATDED giant ass trunk hinges
 
i would have rather seen them use a hinge design like Audi uses that take up no room at all in the trunk (they also have a low interior noise level)
 
1LoudLS said:
i would have rather seen them use a hinge design like Audi uses that take up no room at all in the trunk (they also have a low interior noise level)
Click to expand...

My ex had an A8. My LS hinges look like they were designed by a 3 year old. The amount of useable trunk space lost because of them is ridiculous. .


And they DEFINITELY don't prevent noise
 
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