Aftermarket vs. Stock HU

[bobshiniki]

Hey guys, i have a question for anyone who's uprgraded to an aftermarket HU. When i first built my sound system, i decided to keep the stock HU, much like Sir Nuke's system. I have infinitys all around on an alpine 4-chan and a 10" sub in the back. It sounds great, but there's a little noise and a slight hiss. Now that i have a little bit of money floating around, i think i want to uprgrade the HU. Do you guys think it's really worth it? Will i gain much in SQ? Does anyone have any insight? thx

 

[ghetto waggon]

thats exactly what im doing now, but with alpine 5ch.

did you use monster rca's?

 

[jersey_emt]

I'd go for it. You would gain a lot of functionality as well if you go with a HU that can play MP3s, and is satellite radio ready.

You'll also be feeding a much cleaner signal to your amp, for a noticeable increase in SQ

Hey if you want a decent MP3 head unit for cheap, let me know...I have a Kenwood MP522 deck from my old car that's sitting in my closet...in perfect shape.

 

[bobshiniki]

I didn't use RCA's at all, i didn't bother with the LOCs, i thought they would be vulnerable to noise. I used very high quality shielded speaker wire, but i still get noise. To jersey emt, i appreciate the offer but no thanks, i'm not a big fan of mp3 in terms of sq, but you think the difference in signal would be noticeable? thanks for your input guys, keep the insight comin...

 

[Mercure]

I can personally attest that a setup with the stock HU running right to the amp is liable to give you more noise than using a LOC. A new HU would be another way of dealing with the situation, and a better idea if you wanted a new HU for other reasons. But if you just want to deal with the noise then a $35 LOC from David Navone should help.
Assuming you don't have an interference problem, which will show up regardless of which option you take.

 

[Kain]

I agree. The stock HU is a very nice piece of equipment. The only things it lacks is complete customization and the eye candy you'd get with an aftermarket HU. You'll kill that line noise by going with RCAs and an LOC. It'll be much cheaper, plus the word around these parts is that you'd need a pretty high-end HU to really notice a difference over stock.

EDIT: You could also use a noise filter.

 

[pr5owner]

high level imputs Vs. low level RCA's LOL there isn't even a comparison, a new aftermarket HU will sound 6 billion time better, in every car ive own ive always replaced the HU first, before even getting floor mats

 

[sndsgood]

if u have a high quality loc and good rcas it can match any aftermarket headunits, going with just high level imputs or a cheap loc will give u less then desirable sound.

 

[chuyler1]

My suggestion...

Before you go buy a new head unit, buy a nice pair of 6 meter RCAs and drop the $35 for the David Navone LOC. You'll need the RCAs anyway when/if you buy a new head unit. Connect the LOC to the stock system and run the RCAs. If you are not satisfied with the sound from the LOC, then sell it to someone here (or return it) and buy the head unit.

Factory stereos have improved dramatically in the past few years. Especially for imports (no comment on the Delco GM stereos). They put out a clean signal at moderate levels but break up, like any unit, at higher levels. A good LOC will allow you to use the clean low-output signal to power your amps and you will never have to worry about turning up the head unit to the point where it distorts. A LOC will also give you a stronger signal for your amps than a standard aftermarket head unit (9v opposed to 2-5v). If you want crossovers, equalizers, digital surround sound and 24bit DACs in your unit, then obviously this isn't the best route...but for most installs, a factory cd player will sound fine.

 

[ghetto waggon]

Just wanted to confirm the N7-V is the model is the LOC I should get?

http://www.davidnavone.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=N-7V


thanks

 

[chuyler1]

I got the N-774V but I wanted front and rear channels.

 

[Mercure]

That one will work for 2 or 4 channels. You can figure out which one to get.