I want to keep my stock radio, to not to attract unwanted attention from theives. But if I upgrade the speakers and add an amp in my car would that improve the sound quality? I don't know anything about audio systems so any help is appreciated.

 

as long as u dont get cheap @$$ speakers and a lousy amp it should improve. HOWEVER, the OEM head units usually do not have RCA style pre-amp outputs, so you would have to get a converter, which decreases the sound quality and increases signal/noise ratio.

 

Yes.

I did this install recently in an itr:

Kenwood excelon 5.25" component speakers up front, Boston Acoustics C110 competitor subwoofer box off a JL Audio 300/4 4 channel amp. 2 channels were powering the components and the other two channels were bridged to power the amp. To get the signal, I just cut the front speaker leads off the deck and soldered them to a nice set of RCAs. I think the JL amps do an excellent job taking high level inputs off factory decks. The fader was set to the front. The setup sounded really good.

 

That's mainly why I kept my OEM head unit. I have Infinity Kappas (including sub) being pushed by an Alpine 5 channel amp. Major improvement over stock. I ended up getting the 5 channel amp coz the stock head unit didn't have enough power to push the Kappa's.


[Modified by HiRevn, 4:13 PM 6/26/2002]

 

how about getting a Nakamichi CD-35Z? the lowest line should do you good. sound quality is among the best. they only cost around $200 and looks stock. take a look for yourself:


sorry for the picture quality. if you want more info, go to nakamichi.com


[Modified by GSteg, 12:45 AM 6/27/2002]


[Modified by GSteg, 12:46 AM 6/27/2002]

 

i always thought of doing that. what did u use for the amp remote turn on lead?

 

Fortunately, the car had a power antenna that goes up whenever the stereo is on.

Otherwise, you can plug the remote turn on into a switch ignition output at the fusebox.

 

you can keep your head unit and just add speakers, as long as u get a good amp and some good speaker u will be ok

 

anyone know how many watts an Si and an EX radio put out? RMS power and peak

 

I'm just guessing, but I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15 watts peak. Anybody else here know?

 

15-20 watts you must be kidding, the alpine and fosgate amp decks that specify 50x4 are really 21 watts RMS.

Most people first think of replacing the stock speakers in the car when they think of upgrading the sound. The real reason is actually the amplifier. The amps made for stock decks and stock systems have been designed to be as cheap as possible (as Bose, HK and a bunch of others must bid for contracts)

These amps easily distort sound when pushed anywhere past 2/3 the volume level on the control **** and end up giving clipped power to the speakers. The speakers end up playing this power and sound bad and distorted as a result, they eventually blow, not from over-powering them, but from clipped sound from the deck.

This is the reason why you should always try to replace the speaker amp in order to acheive better sound, BEFORE purchasing new speakers. Some people do this by buying a new deck (higher power, better control, but will not compare to power of a dedicated amp). Other people do it by buying a dedicated amp.

Coles: Yes, buying an amp will DEFINETLY help your sound, buying speakers after that and changing over some stock wiring (stock deck power and ground, stock speaker wire to 16ga instead of 22ga) will help you system substaintially.

-Rage

 

I think o_rage_o stated it all

The amplifiers in car stereo are built cheap they have the entire amplifier circuitry built into one IC. Buying an amp would do the most for your stereo. The rest of his advice is excellent as well.

 

in HiRevins defense, 15-20w peak doesnt sound sound so off target. that would translate to roughly what like 8w RMS?

i am inclined to swap out my stock front speakers because the rears [6x9] (i faded to rear to find out the volume when it would start to distort) seem to be able to take the power of the Si radio. the front 6" start to distort way before the rears. could it also be because i dont have a tweeter as i should? where would the tweeter plug into? i dont know if my car is butchered or not but i only have one harness with 4 wires going into each of my front speakers.

 

no, the deck is the first thing you have to change followed by the interior speakers!!

 

2000GSR is right. It starts with the Head Unit. If you want sound quality you gotta switch that deck with an aftermarket goodie. And no shitty aftermarket goody. If you go out and buy the coolest looking one...that's an amateur for you. Check out the wattage it puts out and read it over. I have a Nachamichi head unit...very nice $500 piece of machinery. It all starts with the deck man

 

The only reason your starting with the deck and noticing anything is because the newer deck prob has a better on board amp (read my post..) You may more money for a deck that puts out better, continuous power and low SNR. Right now, the stock decks amp power is causing the distortion, you can worry about SNR and the oversampling/dac etc. etc. specs afterwards.

Basically, still a firm beliver that you can upgrade deck or amp first, if you change deck and are happy, you've saved yourself amplifier costs, although a dedicated amp would still be better on a $500 deck, and a $80 deck.

-Rage

 

yes but not much. your deck is the brain of the whole operation and if the brain is not up to par neither will the whole system. look into a deck. if yoiu are going to run subs off a stock deck that is fine bc subs are a low freq speaker. and the signal converter isnt all that great in clarity

 

Some factory decks are fine for what people want to do. You can have one install done properly with a OEM deck sound much better than a completely aftermarket one done poorly.

Car audio is 15% equipment and 85% installation. It all comes down to the proper installation, wiring and tuning.

As for the line level adapters, if you need one you should be using a different amp. Choose an amp thta can accept high level inputs.