Sound Upgrade Options
01-01-2013, 06:41 PM
#31
01-04-2013, 11:53 AM
#32
2 5/8 inch is the mounted depth of my speakers, which are mounted on 3/4 inch mdf. The mdf is mounted straight against the doors sheet metal, as I removed the plastic mounting plate the bose speaker screws into. Really I can't see there being an issue with any 6.5-6.75 inch speaker setup.
this was with 1" spacers
01-14-2013, 09:29 PM
#33
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I did my own install on my car, but I took the stock bose amp apart and made a little break out for it. Basically, I plug into the stock wires (so i can change to stock later) and then have 4 RCA's and a bunch of terminals for all the speakers. I used an Audison Bitone for my processor, and an arc audio 900.6 for all the speakers. With good power, the stock speakers actually sound quite good so I would highly recommend going that route, and upgrading speakers later if you decide too.
And as for the center, I had it connected at first. But once you set the timings on the bitone, it becomes pointless so its disconnected now
And as for the center, I had it connected at first. But once you set the timings on the bitone, it becomes pointless so its disconnected now
01-14-2013, 09:40 PM
#34
QUOTE=gizmo134;3574139]I did my own install on my car, but I took the stock bose amp apart and made a little break out for it. Basically, I plug into the stock wires (so i can change to stock later) and then have 4 RCA's and a bunch of terminals for all the speakers. I used an Audison Bitone for my processor, and an arc audio 900.6 for all the speakers. With good power, the stock speakers actually sound quite good so I would highly recommend going that route, and upgrading speakers later if you decide too.
And as for the center, I had it connected at first. But once you set the timings on the bitone, it becomes pointless so its disconnected now[/QUOTE]
You should definitely upgrade your speakers.
Some nice high end stuff you are running.
I'm running a bit ten d and I love it.
And as for the center, I had it connected at first. But once you set the timings on the bitone, it becomes pointless so its disconnected now[/QUOTE]
You should definitely upgrade your speakers.
Some nice high end stuff you are running.
I'm running a bit ten d and I love it.
01-15-2013, 03:31 PM
#35
Registered User
QUOTE=gizmo134;3574139]I did my own install on my car, but I took the stock bose amp apart and made a little break out for it. Basically, I plug into the stock wires (so i can change to stock later) and then have 4 RCA's and a bunch of terminals for all the speakers. I used an Audison Bitone for my processor, and an arc audio 900.6 for all the speakers. With good power, the stock speakers actually sound quite good so I would highly recommend going that route, and upgrading speakers later if you decide too.
And as for the center, I had it connected at first. But once you set the timings on the bitone, it becomes pointless so its disconnected now
You should definitely upgrade your speakers.
Some nice high end stuff you are running.
I'm running a bit ten d and I love it.
And as for the center, I had it connected at first. But once you set the timings on the bitone, it becomes pointless so its disconnected now
You should definitely upgrade your speakers.
Some nice high end stuff you are running.
I'm running a bit ten d and I love it.
When I first started all this stuff the bit ten wasn't available, but if i was doing a new system now I would probably go that way. Do you run a DRC with yours or leave it be?
01-16-2013, 08:26 AM
#36
I guess im still in the tuning phase =)
I use the DRC for volume control but more for sub control.
Currently its ran though the rear seats ski boot.
My plan is to mount it on the drivers side next to the steering wheel.
There is a little piece of aluminum on the side I'm thinking about using to mount the DRC.
The Millie line is great stuff. My local Hertz dealer has a nice three way set up. I wish I had never heard it cuz now I want to add to the collection.
I ran an IDmax a few years back. I liked it but didnt like how much room a 12" ported took up in the trunk.
I use the DRC for volume control but more for sub control.
Currently its ran though the rear seats ski boot.
My plan is to mount it on the drivers side next to the steering wheel.
There is a little piece of aluminum on the side I'm thinking about using to mount the DRC.
The Millie line is great stuff. My local Hertz dealer has a nice three way set up. I wish I had never heard it cuz now I want to add to the collection.
I ran an IDmax a few years back. I liked it but didnt like how much room a 12" ported took up in the trunk.
01-16-2013, 01:11 PM
#37
Registered User
I guess im still in the tuning phase =)
I use the DRC for volume control but more for sub control.
Currently its ran though the rear seats ski boot.
My plan is to mount it on the drivers side next to the steering wheel.
There is a little piece of aluminum on the side I'm thinking about using to mount the DRC.
The Millie line is great stuff. My local Hertz dealer has a nice three way set up. I wish I had never heard it cuz now I want to add to the collection.
I ran an IDmax a few years back. I liked it but didnt like how much room a 12" ported took up in the trunk.
I use the DRC for volume control but more for sub control.
Currently its ran though the rear seats ski boot.
My plan is to mount it on the drivers side next to the steering wheel.
There is a little piece of aluminum on the side I'm thinking about using to mount the DRC.
The Millie line is great stuff. My local Hertz dealer has a nice three way set up. I wish I had never heard it cuz now I want to add to the collection.
I ran an IDmax a few years back. I liked it but didnt like how much room a 12" ported took up in the trunk.
Believe me, that phase lasts quite a while! With the DRC having the 4 completely different setups/tunings, once I was happy with one I made another one for another situation lol...
And nice, I was thinking of mounting mine there but ended up putting it where the seat heater/Snow controls were. It was actually pretty easy to get it in there, so I was happy. Post pics when you get it all in!
And I know what you mean on the boxes, I decided to go with twin sealed 10's in boxes I built to minimize trunk invasion. Only downside is the dang seats absorb like 60% of the sound, so now thinking of building a ported box and porting it through the stock sub hole. It never ends.....
01-16-2013, 08:52 PM
#38
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This all seems so complicated. I was really excited when I heard my car had a Bose sound system and was quite pleased at first, but the more I listen to music the more I realize it was the fact that my old car had two blown speakers so anything would sound better.
Do the stock Bose speakers have a good resale value? I would like to replace them with better speakers if possible. I'm reading the suggestions in here but I don't know what most of it is and don't think I would be doing any installations myself (never taken a panel or anything off of a car before).
My questions:
1) at least one of the posts seemed to allude that the stock head unit will always sound bad because the signal it sends is bad. Does this mean that simply replacing the speakers will not really improve sound?
2) Yet another post said that changing the speakers will improve the sound because Bose bass overpowers the highs. This is what I seem to notice so I might want to go this route.
3) another post said it was merely a matter of upgrading/changing the amp. Where is the amp located if I want to try that swap myself?
4) I saw a mention of a CleanSweep. How does adding this make the existing equipment sound better?
I guess the main thing I want to accomplish is better mids and highs (the current bass seems pretty good) but not require additional remotes or displays to be mounted on the dash. I would like to be able to still control everything from the steering wheel or dash board.
I have a Nav unit if that matters somehow.
Do the stock Bose speakers have a good resale value? I would like to replace them with better speakers if possible. I'm reading the suggestions in here but I don't know what most of it is and don't think I would be doing any installations myself (never taken a panel or anything off of a car before).
My questions:
1) at least one of the posts seemed to allude that the stock head unit will always sound bad because the signal it sends is bad. Does this mean that simply replacing the speakers will not really improve sound?
2) Yet another post said that changing the speakers will improve the sound because Bose bass overpowers the highs. This is what I seem to notice so I might want to go this route.
3) another post said it was merely a matter of upgrading/changing the amp. Where is the amp located if I want to try that swap myself?
4) I saw a mention of a CleanSweep. How does adding this make the existing equipment sound better?
I guess the main thing I want to accomplish is better mids and highs (the current bass seems pretty good) but not require additional remotes or displays to be mounted on the dash. I would like to be able to still control everything from the steering wheel or dash board.
I have a Nav unit if that matters somehow.
Last edited by RUsum1; 01-16-2013 at 09:37 PM.
01-16-2013, 10:37 PM
#39
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Thanks for the reply man. My budget is around $1500 for the amp and changing out the speakers. Not sure what that would get me as I haven't bought audio pieces in a long time! I listen to dance and trance - so more electronic beats and vocals. No looking for too much more base.
01-16-2013, 10:40 PM
#40
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So at minimum for what your trying to do, you need: A Line level converter. Take your speaker wires from the head unit, run them into the converter => turn them into RCA's => Send RCA's to the amp and run speaker wires to the speakers, this is easy. You will need to build some custom speaker baffles to house your new speaks in the 10 inch holes in the doors. I just did this and will post pics soon.
Great bang for your buck components Infinity Kappa Perfects. Sound quality out of these is great. Suggest a Class A/B amp for components, here is one I use JL 360/2.
If you remove the 10's from the doors and put 6 1/2's in I think you may lose a decent amount of base. Honestly probably not worth the hassle. Your head unit is designed to send crappy sound signals to the crappy cardboard Bose speakers. Even putting nice speakers running on a nice amp you are still just retransmitting a bad signal from the head unit.
What I'm recommending is start looking into something like a sound processor, and an EQ. I spent a lot of time looking around and ended up getting a 3sixty.3. This will clean up the speaker signals from the head unit and let you adjust a 31 band EQ to your liking, plus it has a built in line level converter. There is a few on Ebay for $450. This is a semi complicated device if you are not familiar with tuning much beyond "base" and "treble". I will soon be making a DIY with many pictures on how to install this with high end amps/components/subs. Possibly a tuning tutorial write up or video as well.
Another thing to check out JBL MS-8. This may give you that extra punch you feel your system needs and is very easy to install. May want to check with other G owners who have this installed. See what they think of the Bose speakers running on the MS-8. I ignored this device because I think the Bose speakers are below my audio standard at this point and will be replacing or disconnecting them all. Also from what I have read Bose and all other car audio don't play nicely with each other. Research this option thoroughly if your considering it.
Great bang for your buck components Infinity Kappa Perfects. Sound quality out of these is great. Suggest a Class A/B amp for components, here is one I use JL 360/2.
If you remove the 10's from the doors and put 6 1/2's in I think you may lose a decent amount of base. Honestly probably not worth the hassle. Your head unit is designed to send crappy sound signals to the crappy cardboard Bose speakers. Even putting nice speakers running on a nice amp you are still just retransmitting a bad signal from the head unit.
What I'm recommending is start looking into something like a sound processor, and an EQ. I spent a lot of time looking around and ended up getting a 3sixty.3. This will clean up the speaker signals from the head unit and let you adjust a 31 band EQ to your liking, plus it has a built in line level converter. There is a few on Ebay for $450. This is a semi complicated device if you are not familiar with tuning much beyond "base" and "treble". I will soon be making a DIY with many pictures on how to install this with high end amps/components/subs. Possibly a tuning tutorial write up or video as well.
Another thing to check out JBL MS-8. This may give you that extra punch you feel your system needs and is very easy to install. May want to check with other G owners who have this installed. See what they think of the Bose speakers running on the MS-8. I ignored this device because I think the Bose speakers are below my audio standard at this point and will be replacing or disconnecting them all. Also from what I have read Bose and all other car audio don't play nicely with each other. Research this option thoroughly if your considering it.
There is no need to "clean up the signal" in the G. It's a balanced line and the signal from the Clarion HU is pretty damn flat. All the processing is completed in the Bose amps. Spend money on a better DSP i.e. Zapco DSP 6 or DSP z8.
01-16-2013, 10:44 PM
#41
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The Bose speakers actually sound pretty decent with a good amp driving them. When I did my upgrade I swapped out the Bose amp for a Hertz HDP 5, 5 channel amp and added a Hertz 10" sub. The Hertz amp is small but throws out a lot of power and sounds amazing. Try that first and see if it sounds good enough for you. I did end up putting in a JL Audio Cleansweep DSP, and Focal speakers in after that but that adds $$$.
01-16-2013, 10:55 PM
#42
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Focals are high end and expensive, many other options are available though. I have a sound quality setup and Focals are amazing for that. A 10" sub will not really fit in the door. Bose's 10 inch in the door is very shallow, 2 inches or so. Most 10" are 4-5 inchs deep at least and would hit the window and vibrate your door like crazy. You can put anything in the door as long as it clears the window and doesn't hit the back of the door panel on the inside. Pushing beyond a 6 1/2, besides the rattle issue which may occur, may start to get tricky with space issues.
01-17-2013, 08:39 AM
#43
even the base audio has "eq'ing" done from the factory
I used a cheap line out put converter fist and the sound was.....
I hooked up the bit ten D and when running the software it noticed a lot of "eq'ing" . It cleaned it up and just from the initial factory settings the bit ten sounded tons better.
I do agree A DSP is the way to go instead of a cheap line out put converter.
Find a processor that fits your needs and budget.
01-17-2013, 08:51 AM
#44
This all seems so complicated. I was really excited when I heard my car had a Bose sound system and was quite pleased at first, but the more I listen to music the more I realize it was the fact that my old car had two blown speakers so anything would sound better.
Do the stock Bose speakers have a good resale value? I would like to replace them with better speakers if possible. I'm reading the suggestions in here but I don't know what most of it is and don't think I would be doing any installations myself (never taken a panel or anything off of a car before).
My questions:
1) at least one of the posts seemed to allude that the stock head unit will always sound bad because the signal it sends is bad. Does this mean that simply replacing the speakers will not really improve sound?
2) Yet another post said that changing the speakers will improve the sound because Bose bass overpowers the highs. This is what I seem to notice so I might want to go this route.
3) another post said it was merely a matter of upgrading/changing the amp. Where is the amp located if I want to try that swap myself?
4) I saw a mention of a CleanSweep. How does adding this make the existing equipment sound better?
I guess the main thing I want to accomplish is better mids and highs (the current bass seems pretty good) but not require additional remotes or displays to be mounted on the dash. I would like to be able to still control everything from the steering wheel or dash board.
I have a Nav unit if that matters somehow.
Do the stock Bose speakers have a good resale value? I would like to replace them with better speakers if possible. I'm reading the suggestions in here but I don't know what most of it is and don't think I would be doing any installations myself (never taken a panel or anything off of a car before).
My questions:
1) at least one of the posts seemed to allude that the stock head unit will always sound bad because the signal it sends is bad. Does this mean that simply replacing the speakers will not really improve sound?
2) Yet another post said that changing the speakers will improve the sound because Bose bass overpowers the highs. This is what I seem to notice so I might want to go this route.
3) another post said it was merely a matter of upgrading/changing the amp. Where is the amp located if I want to try that swap myself?
4) I saw a mention of a CleanSweep. How does adding this make the existing equipment sound better?
I guess the main thing I want to accomplish is better mids and highs (the current bass seems pretty good) but not require additional remotes or displays to be mounted on the dash. I would like to be able to still control everything from the steering wheel or dash board.
I have a Nav unit if that matters somehow.
Some people are happy with just upgrading the door speakers and some are happy with just replacing the tweeters. Its really up to you and how much you want to add.
A processor like the cleansweep basically cleans up the signal. Most (if not all) factory head units have some heavy equalization done so that the cheap factory speakers will sound their best. Not a bad thing for the people who like the factory sound set up. If you are wanting to upgrade that's where you might run into problems.
Like I said the sound is equalized for the factory speakers. When you add aftermarket speakers they may not sound their best because the head unit is sending out the equalized signal to the aftermarket speakers. To some people this is ok and they wont notice any change. Others can hear it and want to clean up the signal.
this is where a sound processor or DSP will help. You install the processor in line with the factory speaker wires.
The processor / DSP cleans up the signal so that you can add an amplifier with a nice clean an strong signal.
Most processors will give you a remote. Weather you use it or not is up to you. You can set up your processor and then disconnect the remote. This will allow you to control the volume from your steering wheel or head unit.
This also allows you to keep all the factory stuff like bluetooth (if your car has it) USB, XM, ipod.
hope that helped clarify a little bit
01-21-2013, 06:43 PM
#45
Registered User
Wait, so how do you have your bitten hooked up? to the line level wires from the headunit, or do you still have the stock amp?
not true
even the base audio has "eq'ing" done from the factory
I used a cheap line out put converter fist and the sound was.....
I hooked up the bit ten D and when running the software it noticed a lot of "eq'ing" . It cleaned it up and just from the initial factory settings the bit ten sounded tons better.
I do agree A DSP is the way to go instead of a cheap line out put converter.
Find a processor that fits your needs and budget.
even the base audio has "eq'ing" done from the factory
I used a cheap line out put converter fist and the sound was.....
I hooked up the bit ten D and when running the software it noticed a lot of "eq'ing" . It cleaned it up and just from the initial factory settings the bit ten sounded tons better.
I do agree A DSP is the way to go instead of a cheap line out put converter.
Find a processor that fits your needs and budget.