What have you been up to? Got that car running good yet?

 

i've got to say that i disagree on that.i've had two of the higher end Pioneer head units(the first year they had the superiluminescentfluorescentwhatchamacallit displays,then i had the next year also.whatever the non-Premier top model was,i forget the model number).not swapping anything other than the head unit,and adjusting amp gain to compensate for the differences in line output,my Clarion 9375 sounded noticably better...as in,i couldn't believe how much better it sounded.it was the same kind of difference i've experienced going from Sony coaxs to Boston Pros or from a California amp to a PPI for example.

i'm a die-hard Clarion guy.i've tried several top end units from various manufacturers,and i keep coming back to my 10 year old Clarion.
i'm not saying that there aren't other great sounding source units out there,but i can tell you i haven't been satisfied with Pioneer,Sony or Eclipse(and i know some people are really big on Eclipse,but i wasn't happy).i fully believe that if you want a super high-end system,Best Buy/Circuit City have nothing to offer you,other than maybe Alpine,but i have no experience with their stuff.and i think you're hurting yourself if you buy a really good front stage,sub and amp(s),then use a sub-par head unit.any one of the components will keep the system as a whole from sounding anywhere as good as it could.

chris

 

haha,is this thread about to take another turn?!

from
"i need super mega bass in my CRX"
to
"how do a build a killer system for my BMW"
to
"how's your car running,Ben?"


chris

 

A western thread is fair game for anything.

 

cos- slang for because
its not consider english language but, it is considered slang, which most people use everyday!!!

 

Since we're on the subject of car audio and there's obviously some knowledgable ppl on here can I ask a question(s)?

Sweet...

My dually has the factory Delco receiver/CD with the factory speakers in the front dash and doors, a pair of infinity 6" speaks in the rear doors, and a bassflex powered sub under the rear seat. To be honest Im not a huge audiophile (clicks/pops on old LPs dont bother me) but I do like to listen to my heavy metal hair band tunes loud. Yeah, Im that old and no I dont have a mullet (hell, I dont have enough hair for one anyway).

With that said the factory front speakers sound fine to me as well as the bassflex sub but the Infinity's I put in the rear doors to replace the rotted factory speaks sound like ass and produce about 1/3 the db that the fronts do. Has Infinity gone down hill or is it due to the impedence mismatch since the factory stuff is 4ohms and the Infinity's are 8ohms and its goofing up the output of the factory head unit? Infinity used to be some nice stuff ~10yrs ago and thats why I went with them for the rear 6" speakers but Im wondering if, like everything else, theyve cheaped out and started producing poop like most other companies have.

Thoughts?

 

Infinity makes decent shit... Are they mounted in the stock location?

 

Infinity still makes good stuff.
so,they're 8 ohms?!that's cutting the amount of power they're seeing,and depending on what line of Infinities they are,they may be designed for higher power levels.they're built to withstand higher power,but at the expense of lower sensitivity,which will get you less volume per watt,and the factory head unit is surely not putting out much power.i'd double check if they're 8 ohm.the only common 8 ohm car speakers are subs.8 ohm is the standard for home audio speakers-is there any chance that's what they are?

simply upgrading to an aftermarket head unit will help a lot-any decent modern source unit will have more power than the factory unit,and it will put out a much cleaner signal.upgrading the front door speakers will help sound quality(and ideally you want the soundstage up front.the rear should only be for "fill").one step further would be to amplify the front speakers.some decent speakers and a moderate size amp(50 watts RMS per channel)will give you more volume than you'll probably want to use(yes,even enough to rock out the hair metal).

of course,you can spend more and more money,and make the install more and more in depth....how much are you looking to spend,and how much time are you willing to put into the install?

BTW-there's nothing wrong with hair metal.i'm not that old,and i still listen to it on a regular basis.
*bonus*..check out the group Vains of Jenna.very G'n'Rish sounding.i predict they get very popular soon.

chris

 

Its been ~3yrs since I put the rear speakers in and I could swear the stockers were 4 ohm and the Infinitys were 8. Power rating was ~125w RMS or therebout IIRC (they were rated for over 100 and less than 150w I know for sure). I wouldnt bet my life on it but IIRC thats what the rated impedence/wattage was.

The problem with upgrading the head unit is that all the stuff Ive seen everywhere from Best Buy to Crutchfield just doesnt do anything for me. I like knobs and analog displays but anything thats even remotely new is all LCD and looks like something that should be used on Star Trek (Im old and I like knobs LOL). The double din (din and a half?) receiver and seperate CD player that GM uses doesnt make for a lot of choices or make for a pretty install of an aftermarket deck either.

Im not an audiophile so I wont dump a ton of cash into a system (Id rather listen to the music coming from the exhaust ) but a few hundred bucks would be do-able. Hell, just this week I finally bought an XM satellite unit where as most ppl have owned them for a few years now. I finally got tired of the commercials and DJs blabbing instead of actually getting to hear music. Besides...XM has two heavy metal/hair band stations to choose from LOL.

Sweet...I'll check em out. I like some GnR so I may have to add them to my "must hear" list.

 

The higher impedance of those speakers is cutting your power by at least half coupled with the fact that your factory HU is not rated at very high RMS wattage is also causing problems.

My suggestion to really correct all those problems is get a new Head Unit but I think you probably have a Double DIN OR A 1 1/2 din unit in your truck so you would need a adapter kit which isn't a huge deal. Buy maybe some new front speakers since you can get a DECENT set of coaxials from Circuit City or Best Buy for your needs and then leave it at that. 250-300$ total spent and hell when you sell the vehicle if you do you can easily take it out.

The reason I suggest a nicer slightly newer set of front stage speakers is because your factory ones may not handle the higher RMS from a aftermarket HU.

Otherwise keep what you have and just get some 4 ohm speakers for the rear.

And if you want some help in finding the kit, HU and such just ask. I know of some aftermarket HUs that you might like WITH knobs and such haha.