Audio system for better sound quality??

[QuickSpeed3]

Ok, i've got the bose setup in my 08 Speed3 and am woefully unhappy with the sub-bass sound. And the fact that I want a better ipod interface than what's out there forced me to buy a new Pioneer AVIC-D3

Now, i'm interested in getting some better sound out of it and need recommendations. Here are the requirements
-Must utilize factory speaker locations (except sub)
-The sub can't be "boomy" or intrude on any of the interior space. I'm not lookign for a "ghetto blaster". I want good quality sound for my music

My first thought was a small 8" JL in a sealed enclosure either under the seat or in the jack area...

Ok, so, thoughts??

 

[QuickSpeed3]

I should also point out that i currently have the Bose system in my car..

 

[Pondo]

i think you already did

 

[alpinedb]

lots of dynamat in the doors, good SQ head unit, good 6.5" components in the front and rear, good amp for all your speakers. I think a 5 channel amp would be sufficient enough for you... The JL subs would work if you don't want loud but great SQ.

 

[808MP5]

clarion head unit w/cNet contols for 5.1DTS and center channel speaker. High quality MB quarts seperate for the front. JL W7 sub woofer. 6.5" of your choice for rear doors. JL Mono block amp for sub. Kicker Four channel amp for seprates and rear door speakers. Clarion center channel speaker comes w/amp. Monster cable reference series RCA wires. Thick gauge power and ground wires. 2farad cap or battcap. Monster Cable speaker wires. Dynomat whatever u can. Optima yellow top battery. Some kind of voltage stabalizer and ground system. And boom u got something to brag about. But going cost u couple thousand. Oh and sound quality is garanteed.

 

[tubebrner]

I have the same issues with the Bose sound system. It's not horrible but the bass is definitely lacking. I've read a lot about the topic and I think I'm going to start with sound deadening and see how much that improves the stock Bose system. I'm wondering if it is necessary to do the entire car or if just the doors will make a big difference. Pulling out all the seats and covering the entire floor pan sounds like a major PIA. Other than that I think a JL sub would be great for SQ and not at all a "ghetto blaster."

 

[QuickSpeed3]

Will a small 8" JL sub actually fit under the seat in the stock bose location?

 

[808MP5]

wouldnt know. What size is the stock sub? Im sure a shop could custom fab something to make it fit.

 

[silverspd3]

stock sub is a 5 1/4". I took mine out and used the space for my amp. Dont think an 8 will fit under there unless its really thin. Not a lot of room for airspace. I went with a conventional sealed box for my 12 and its easy to take out if I need to. My door speakers are next on my list. They are starting to rattle some. I have my sub set up so its barely audible until the volume is up past 13. Its about perfect for most music.

 

[Eddie Wetzel]

808MP5, you sure are throwing out some names there! WHY?

Dont you know they are all comparable? I had a sponsor from Jensen and Audiovox and nobody even knew! Everyone loved it. YES JENSEN!

So, why all the brand calling? Are you sponsored? You even said it would cost him thousands! I've had everything from Sony, Alpine, Infinity, and Jensen and I can say the Alpines weren't that good, the Sony's sucked, the Jensens were just as good as the Infinitys and they were the best!




Here is what you do bro. Go to Best Buy, Circuit City, Tweeter and test out all the speakers. See what you like, get a feel for the speakers that YOU WANT! Then..... go to EBAY and buy them from there from a reputable seller! You will save LOTS of money and get good stuff. Dont let BRAND NAMES fool you.

Then, it's all about TUNING. The power in the amp is important, but it's nowhere near as important as PROPER TUNING! If you only want an 8" sub then a 5 channel amp will do well. However, keep in mind 8" subs aren't that powerful. You'd be best to get 2 amps and use 2 8's. Get a nice 4 channel to power 2 sets of 6.5" components (those are with tweeters and crossovers), again off ebay, and a 2 channel amp to power 2 8" subs. Then install all of it and tune it all. In fact, if you want to I'm sure you could stop by Best Buy, Circuit City, Tweeter, etc and they would tune it for you, maybe for free, maybe for like 20 bucks.

I'm telling you man. TUNING is the most important. Dont listen to idiots tell you to "GO WITH BRAND X BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST!" My Alpine Type r's blew out 3 times, yet my Jensen's were amazing!

Hey, come to think of it, I have a WHOLE CAR SETUP sitting around. I'll give ya some real good prices on it. I have some monitors also!

p.s. you dont need MONSTER CABLE wires either. Just make sure they are shielded and dont run the power wire along with the speaker wires.

 

[808MP5]

sure if you say so. My set up cost over $6000. Probably worth more than ur car. Brand makes difference like u said alpine sucks. Clarion, MB quarts, and jl has been number one for years. Read some car audio magazines and learn something. AS for monster cables they are the best wires u can buy. Go put some radio shake brand rca cables and swap them out with some reference2's and hear/feel the difference. Idk how u going come in here with 11 posts and shut me down. This is my third system I put together. I've taken 1st several times in sound off competitions. The only thing i would buy from circuit city is monster cables. Sure like anything you get what u pay for. They why u speak u might as well go to radio shack.

Peace

 

[matty429]

808MP5, you sure are throwing out some names there! WHY?

Dont you know they are all comparable? I had a sponsor from Jensen and Audiovox and nobody even knew! Everyone loved it. YES JENSEN!

So, why all the brand calling? Are you sponsored? You even said it would cost him thousands! I've had everything from Sony, Alpine, Infinity, and Jensen and I can say the Alpines weren't that good, the Sony's sucked, the Jensens were just as good as the Infinitys and they were the best!




Here is what you do bro. Go to Best Buy, Circuit City, Tweeter and test out all the speakers. See what you like, get a feel for the speakers that YOU WANT! Then..... go to EBAY and buy them from there from a reputable seller! You will save LOTS of money and get good stuff. Dont let BRAND NAMES fool you.

Then, it's all about TUNING. The power in the amp is important, but it's nowhere near as important as PROPER TUNING! If you only want an 8" sub then a 5 channel amp will do well. However, keep in mind 8" subs aren't that powerful. You'd be best to get 2 amps and use 2 8's. Get a nice 4 channel to power 2 sets of 6.5" components (those are with tweeters and crossovers), again off ebay, and a 2 channel amp to power 2 8" subs. Then install all of it and tune it all. In fact, if you want to I'm sure you could stop by Best Buy, Circuit City, Tweeter, etc and they would tune it for you, maybe for free, maybe for like 20 bucks.

I'm telling you man. TUNING is the most important. Dont listen to idiots tell you to "GO WITH BRAND X BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST!" My Alpine Type r's blew out 3 times, yet my Jensen's were amazing!

Hey, come to think of it, I have a WHOLE CAR SETUP sitting around. I'll give ya some real good prices on it. I have some monitors also!

p.s. you dont need MONSTER CABLE wires either. Just make sure they are shielded and dont run the power wire along with the speaker wires.

I had a Jensen VM9512 for around a week and a half....Biggest POS EVER!!!!!!
I will never buy Jensen ever again.

 

[fourthmeal]

snip

 

[cashmoney93]

Get like a 8" JL W7 or W6 with an Alpine PDX or JL amp. Or you could put JL's new thin sub, the TW5. I dont know how they sound, but you could put them under your seats and get creative if u wanted. then get some hertz speakers in the doors and you will be bumpin' some good sounds.

 

[kevotc]

Fully sound deadening your car will give you a dramatic decrease in road noise as well as give your car deeper mid-bass. I fully sound deadened my car with eDead v1se2 and it made a world of difference. You can get it from www.edesignaudio.com and it is ALOT cheaper than other companies. RAAMAT from RMAudio is pretty good too, but slightly more expensive.

For you SQ troubles, a nice set of focal components, and a 10w3v3 from JL will set you off pretty well.

 

[ihadacivicsi]

Audio processor options

Compared to the factory unit in my 06 Si, which was actually quite decent, especially for factory, the Bose sucks in my 08 MS3 GT.

Fourthmeal said "I am using a Rockford Fosgate processor known as a 3sixty.2. This unit does a lot, and you'll see me refer to it quite often. I chose it for a lot of reasons, but since the time I bought it, there are now more options out there that do the same thing. Some cost more, some less." Also, any suggestions for replacement speakers, subwoofer and amp placement etc.

I'm assuming the unit you refer to is a DSP sound processor that allows the factory headunit to be kept while upgrading the sound substantially. I would appreciate it if you would elaborate regarding the "more options that do the same thing" and perhaps briefly run down the pros and cons. I HAVE to get the sound upgraded. I will likely have Custom Sounds in Austin do the install of a sound processor, new speakers, amp, sub, and sound deadner.

 

[808MP5]

you could run a clarion dvh940n with the clarion dvc920. Its all good. The only con I can think of is tuning the damn thing is hard cuz there's so many settings. Also ur gonna need a center channel speaker and an amp to push it. I'm running the dvh940n cnet to my vrx675vdII. DSP ftw. Though I'm deaf when it comes to certain frequencies. That's why I have a hard time tuning.

 

[ihadacivicsi]

Look of non-factory installed stereo?

Well the reason I would install a processor is to keep the factory headunit and possibly even the Bose speakers if it can clean up the sound sufficiently. However, it looks like many of these processors are designed for use only with the same company's headunit.

With that in mind, can someone post or point me to pics of a non-factory installed stereo so that I can see what it would like?

 

[fourthmeal]

snip

 

[Abaddon]

So is the upcoming JBL MS-8 (this one will be the shiz when it comes out.)

*cough* IF *cough*

lol.. I know it will eventually come out... and I'm going to jump on it the DAY it hits the market.. but I'm getting tired of the waiting... should be July / August of this year. The design is FINALIZED now, Hardware / Electronics / Enclosure. The mic info was released, it not AS good as the one with the alpine, but since you get TWO of them to position at each ear, it far outweighs the slight inaccuracies of the mic itself. The units themselves are going into production shortly (maybe right now even.. ).. the only thing still not finished is the software... but when is software ever ACTUALLY finished...

So is the JL Audio Cleansweep (but I'm not a fan of this one.)

It's a good unit. Does exactly as advertised. Expensive to buy retail, cheap-ish on e-bay. Just has absolutely no user controls. If you have amps with full T/A and Eq (Zapco, for example) or a another processor (alpine 701 + rux combo) it would be a good investment.