Change of plans on Audio....think Sony system is unserviceable.

[Droid]

The more I listen to this thing the more I hate it. Just played a track on the Sony system and then listened to it on my $160 Klipsch Computer Speakers...there is no comparison. It's just painful. It's broken.

Went by a local higher-end audio shop (Beach Autosound in Huntington Beach). From what I can tell they're near MSRP on stuff but are offering full service and a "trustworthy" installation...i.e., I'd be paying more to avoid having an idiot kid hack the hell out of my $50k truck. Tempted to just hand it over to them with about $2,000 to put in a decent system...but not certain on it yet.

Thinking of doing the following:

* Hertz 6.5" components (think they were HSK 165s, but need to verify). I was not familiar with this brand until now, but liked the fact that they were a little bit bright but not painfully so.

* JL Audio Stealthbox with One 13TW5-3.

* Single JL Audio 5-channel amp...again need to verify model, think it was an XD 700/5.

* Decent set of Kenwood 6.5" for the rear doors.

Looking at a bit over 2k installed.

Any thoughts? Probably not doing this right away, but hope to in the next couple of months.

 

[BIRDMAN]

that's all good stuff which is notoriously expensive on the brick and mortar MSRP scene, but rightfully so. still seems like a lot just to pop some door panels and run cables though.

 

[JuggNuttz]

yeah, its one of those things, if you know what your doing or have a good friend who knows what hes doing, you can have parts and everything for a ton cheaper. i worked at a Circuit City for a few months back in the day, and markup on speakers and amps were just crazy! even now on amazon im finding some really nice amps esspecially the MTX amps for pretty cheap compared to retail. If you havent done anything yet, check with friends to see if any of them do or have friends they trust that install car audio then check out amazon for speakers and such.

but then again if you know nothing of car audio other then "if i can hear myself sing, then is not loud enough", then paying the pro's is the way to go. make sure the people dont look too shady tho.... we did have an installer that, while they couldnt prove it, but a couple of installs he did got stolen bout a month later....

 

[Crosstx]

I actually just bought a Arc Audio 5 ch amp that im gonna wire into all the factory spkrs and see how they hold up. Im also wanting to try out a few subs that can fit the factory box.
Ill post up in my build thread when i get around to doing it.

 

[Droid]

Thanks, anyone here made any progress on this front yet? Sorry I completely lost track of this thread. Still haven't done diddly-squat yet due to a sudden unforeseen motorcycle purchase which has thoroughly ruined the truck fund for a bit.

I don't actually want anything crazy loud, just very good sound quality and don't want to do it more than once. I'm not particularly skilled in stereo installation, but have very high standards for it to be done cleanly/transparently/appear OEM. For me to do it myself that just translates to spending a ridiculous amount of time on it (and still probably be pissed that it's not as clean as it could be).

I too am amazed at the markups...saw some of the stuff I was looking at on Amazon for half off (albeit other things like the Stealthbox didn't seem to available for all that much cheaper). Though I hate doing it, I'm somewhat willing to pay the marked up prices *IF* that's the price of a clean installation. I'd be a hell of a lot more comfortable if they quoted me $1250 for parts and $750 for install rather than the $1750 in parts and $250 for install which they did (Beach Autosound).

Anyone have anything good/bad to say about Beach Autosound or other shops around the OC (California)? Probably going to be a couple months yet in any case.

 

[Chrisandalex1]

The only thing I would recommend is since you will be using the factory head unit still, if you really want to take advantage of the nice equipment you are buying, is that you put a audio interface processor in the system. something like a audio control LCQ-1. This will allow you to really hear the difference those speakers and amp deliver.

 

[Droid]

The only thing I would recommend is since you will be using the factory head unit still, if you really want to take advantage of the nice equipment you are buying, is that you put a audio interface processor in the system. something like a audio control LCQ-1. This will allow you to really hear the difference those speakers and amp deliver.

I take it that works similarly to the JL Cleansweep, i.e., you pop in a test CD, and it brings any OEM equalization back to zero? I'd asked about the JL unit on my visit to Beach Autosound, guy there indicated the Ford units weren't doing enough to make it necessary, and that he generally only recommends them for cars like Lexus where the OEM seriously screws with the equalization.

Not suggesting he's right, just repeating what he said. As it stands now my all-stock Sony system feels like the equalization settings were configured by a 3 yr old who thought they were a toy. Not enough of an audiophile to really call it, but it almost sounds like there's frequency gaps in the music...like the sub crossover setting is too low and the midrange speakers are too high and nothing is bothering to produce the frequencies between them.

 

[neveo]

I actually just bought a Arc Audio 5 ch amp that im gonna wire into all the factory spkrs and see how they hold up. Im also wanting to try out a few subs that can fit the factory box.
Ill post up in my build thread when i get around to doing it.

i have arc amps in my raptor along with their ssi and eq . i was surprised how well the Arc 8 inch subs work, have two in a custom box and couldnt be happier