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The Ferret King posted:I also listen to SiriusXM occasionally but we all know that sounds like garbage no matter what the equipment. Lies! No one has ever complained about the sound quality of SiriusXM!  Seriously, though, I thought this would be the easy out when last I called to cancel. Nope. I got escalated to a retentions supervisor who wanted to troubleshoot my complaint ("We never get complains about sound quality!") and offered me their newest receiver and 6 months of half-price service even when I said it sounded like garbage in a friend's car too. Their churn rate must be horrible right now; I've never managed an offer that good before. The Ferret King posted:Does the speaker replacement seem like a good way to go, and would you recommend anything additional or different? I understand I'll be compromising on bass due to my desire to keep the existing sub. Yep. A simple speaker replacement will almost always get you better sound. Even the "premium" factory packages are still optimized for things like cost and weight, and sound quality suffers as a result. One thing I'd recommend: Go to a car audio store before buying. While the Infinity Primus speakers may be the easiest fit, Infinity has a very distinctive sound that not everyone's in love with. If you can, go spend 20 or 30 minutes in front of a display and see whether they start to grow on you or if they just make your ears bleed. (Alternately, buy someplace with a liberal return policy, like Crutchfield.) The Ferret King posted:Does that LC2i box do anything for the speakers off the stock amplifier that I would be interested in? Or is it purely for that subwoofer mod that I don't want to do? Nope. Its main application is in adding a sub to a factory system—it creates a standard line-level output (which is the easiest thing to feed into a sub amp), and if the factory system reduces bass as the volume increases, it also adds bass back in (so there's bass for your sub to play). Molten Llama fucked around with this message at 17:02 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 16:56
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Molten Llama posted:
Cool, I'm gonna go this route very soon then. 4 speaker replacement and I'm also going to disable a superfluous center speaker they hid in the dash that apparently taints the overall sound of a good speaker setup. The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 11:20 on Aug 29, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 17:08
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Molten Llama posted:SiriusXM - Their churn rate must be horrible right now; I've never managed an offer that good before. I got 6 months of the service 'free' with the car, but never signed up because I just don't listen to anything that they offer. I listened for part of one commute and never turned it on again. My free 6 months ends tomorrow. I got a letter from Sirius about a 6 weeks ago with instructions on signing up to continue my service, then I got one 4 weeks ago, then 3 weeks, then 2 weeks, then 3 in the same week, and now I think I've gotten a 'super great special offer!' letter every single day this week. I think they've spent more in postage trying to get me to sign up then a couple months of service would cost.
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Jun 24, 2015 17:10
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Who makes the best 5 channel amps for the money? Was thinking about an Alpine but didn't know if there was a better option.
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Jun 25, 2015 14:30
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A lot of people these days are installing tablets where their radios used to go. I say: gently caress that, the tablet should be in my god-drat steering wheel. That's way less distracting than using a car-radio-style tablet. I intend to build a prototype of such a system. Please give me advice vis a vis the steering column etc.
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Jun 25, 2015 18:36
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BlitzkriegOfColour posted:A lot of people these days are installing tablets where their radios used to go. I say: gently caress that, the tablet should be in my god-drat steering wheel. That's way less distracting than using a car-radio-style tablet. Advice, if the car has an airbag, the tablet will be launched into your face in the event of an accident. If this isn't a joke and you still want to continue with this idea...  You need to run power and output somewhere and if you don't want to just have wires hanging off the wheel getting tangled up and getting you in accidents because your hands got caught you need run them through the middle of the hub somehow or hack into the factory clockspring (and set off the airbag ) Then you just need to find a way to attach the tablet to your wheel.  Seriously though, you're kidding, right?
RillAkBea fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 18:48
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Attached firmly to the dash directly in front of the steering wheel, screen up, carefully aligned so the reflection is as clear and undistorted as possible on the lower half of the windshield. Then get an app that mirrors the display so text and whatnot appears right-way-round when viewed in this homebaked heads-up-display. What could possibly go wrong?
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Jun 26, 2015 00:17
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Remove airbag, remove steering wheel, attach tablet to steering column. Bam, done!
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Jun 26, 2015 02:28
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The Locator posted:I got 6 months of the service 'free' with the car, but never signed up because I just don't listen to anything that they offer. I listened for part of one commute and never turned it on again. Sounds a lot like OnStar. If you even hint at being unhappy or wanting to cancel, you get a few free months thrown your way. You have to actively argue with them to actually cancel the service instead of just going on a retention plan or accepting another few free months.
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Jun 26, 2015 08:19
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RillAkBea posted:Advice, if the car has an airbag, the tablet will be launched into your face in the event of an accident. If this isn't a joke and you still want to continue with this idea... I'm like 90% certain there's no airbag in my steering column. Factory clockspring? Look, when I'm done, I'll post pics. It's gonna be the best.
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Jun 27, 2015 14:09
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How the hell do you not know if you have an airbag?
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Jun 27, 2015 21:14
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Godholio posted:How the hell do you not know if you have an airbag? The definitive test. Run into a concrete barrier at about 9 or 10 mph. If your steering wheel explodes into your face, you
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Jun 27, 2015 21:26
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I am thinking of replacing the radio in my car with one with a build in ipod jack. Currently I have the original radio in my car, which plays fine on regular FM/XM stations, but when I use my ipod to listen to podcasts/music with a tape adapter, it will make the bass pop all the time, which kills the enjoyment on any song I listen to. Between this and the fact the display on the radio has faded away I think it time to replace the radio. But I just wondering if the popping is just the bad tape adapter and not the speakers going bad.
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Jun 29, 2015 01:53
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Godholio posted:How the hell do you not know if you have an airbag? More interested in books and computers and music than in cars. Cars, method of travel, meh, boring.
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Jun 29, 2015 11:57
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Yeah only if you drivea boring car. Anyone make a decent 8" free-air sub cheaper than JL?
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Jun 29, 2015 14:09
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I have an 8" JBL that cost me £40 installed into a folded horn box beating the poo poo out of my home cinema room. Superb little driver.
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Jun 29, 2015 15:02
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Thank you guys for all the advice!Geoj posted:I put a KDC-162U in my sister's Focus a few months ago, only real complaint I had is the display isn't dimmable and since the characters are white it's a bit much at night. Esoteric complaints, can't customize display or button colors and I'd rather have the USB and line in ports in the back of the unit so you can squirrel cables or a thumb drive away behind the dash or in the glovebox. I'll probably go with the HD262 then, the display color could definitely be an issue. I'd rather have the USB in the front, though, since I'm probably going to plug my iPhone in, so the front USB definitely won't be an issue. some texas redneck posted:The factory stereo gets its ground through the antenna connection - there's no ground wire at all in the car side of the harness. Crimp a small ring terminal onto the black wire from the stereo harness and find something metal to attach it to; at least on the 93-01 Altimas, the stereo screwed into the metal frame behind the dash (screws went through a plastic section, but ultimately into a metal frame), so I just attached it to one of those screws. No idea on the 2006, but it can attach to anything that goes into something metal that's attached to the chassis. If you can't find anything, remove the console around the shifter (which may have to be removed anyway to get to the stereo), and you'll be able to find something to attach it to there. It seems the ring terminal is the way to go, and if the Crutchfield instructions explain where, that will definitely make it a breeze. The only thing I have an issue with is I cannot find the wire gauge that the stereo actually uses; if the Crutchfield instructions have that information I'll buy ring terminals from Radio Shack later. ExecuDork posted:I looked at that stereo when I was shopping for mine. I like it. I don't have any direct experience with it, but it seems to cover the bases pretty well. I assume you're looking at that one specifically because of the dual Android / iPhone controls. It's hard to find a head unit these days that doesn't include some interface with either of those. That's good, I haven't done this at all before so if it's easy that's definitely better. I went with these connectors. Good reviews, they look easy to use, and support a good range of wire gauges. I'll pick up a wire crimper/stripper from Home Depot.
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Jun 29, 2015 16:24
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One last question before I do this install: the Crutchfield master sheet recommended a prying tool to get the dash out. Do I actually need one of those or will something like the prying end of a hammer work instead?
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Jul 1, 2015 20:11
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Your dash is made of plastic. Any prying tool is going to leave marks, but a metal tool - back of a claw hammer, screwdriver, etc. - is going to chew up the plastic more than a plastic tool will. You'll be fine, just go very slowly and don't force anything unless you don't mind breaking it. I'm always tempted (I'm an idiot) to twist the tool to open up the gap and then force the tool in deeper; do not do this, it's a great way to make big notches in the edges of whatever it is you're banging on.
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Jul 1, 2015 21:12
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Any recommendations for a bluetooth amp to power 2-4 small speakers and run music (via Bluetooth) off my phone?
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Jul 1, 2015 21:16
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ExecuDork posted:Your dash is made of plastic. Any prying tool is going to leave marks, but a metal tool - back of a claw hammer, screwdriver, etc. - is going to chew up the plastic more than a plastic tool will. You'll be fine, just go very slowly and don't force anything unless you don't mind breaking it. I'm always tempted (I'm an idiot) to twist the tool to open up the gap and then force the tool in deeper; do not do this, it's a great way to make big notches in the edges of whatever it is you're banging on. I'm definitely going to go slow with it, though I guess I'll spend a bit of time looking for a plastic tool I can use instead of a hammer to make it a bit easier. Thanks!
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Jul 1, 2015 22:44
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mentholmoose posted:One last question before I do this install: the Crutchfield master sheet recommended a prying tool to get the dash out. Do I actually need one of those or will something like the prying end of a hammer work instead?
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Jul 1, 2015 22:50
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I've got a 2008 Chevy Aveo with stock sound features. I'd definitely like to replace the speakers, but should I do the head unit as well? I'm not sure which of the two I should prioritize for better sound quality. Also wouldn't mind some front speaker recommendations. Just something fairly basic that won't sound like poo poo. Would like to keep prices low.
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Jul 6, 2015 04:10
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I'm crossposting here from the AI General Questions thread, where someone reminded me that this thread exists. I decided to be cheap but also try to marginally upgrade the sound in my 2001 Mazda 626. It has the factory double-DIN stereo and the original speakers; I did the speakers first, as the easier upgrade, and that went surprisingly well for me - despite the fact that apparently I have some strange connectors for the rear speakers that aren't the normal ones for the model year - and replacing the one rear speaker that apparently outright had a tear in it did wonders. The remaining issue was the head unit. I bought a really cheap head unit that had decent reviews (Pyle PLR34M), two pair of DIN tools, a Metra wiring harness advertised as fitting (70-7903) and a Metra installation multikit also supposed to fit (99-7505) and prepared myself for a Learning Experience. (as a side note, I have only just now read the OP of this thread with its info about Avoiding Certain Brands, but, uh... too late for the moment, I guess. I own the thing, but maybe I can replace it down the road if I hate it enough and I'm only out $30) I'm now facing two hiccups on the way. The first came when matching up the Metra wiring harness with the connectors that came with the head unit. Most of it is really straightforward - obviously, "Front right speaker negative" goes to the same - but the car's wiring setup has two more connectors than the stereo's. Again, I can easily match "+12VAccessory/Switch", "Ground" and "+12VConstantPowerSupply" to each other, which leaves me with one last pairing to make. On the Pyle stereo, the last unpaired wire is labeled (on their diagrams) as "PowerAntenna/AmplifierTurnOn(Blue)". On the other hand, the wiring harness has three remaining wires: "Illumination" (Orange), "Amp Turn-On" (Blue w/White) and "Power Antenna" (Blue). What should I wire to what and what should I be doing with wires that don't have anything to connect to? The second issue: actually removing the original head unit. I took off the panels covering the holes easily enough and using a pair of DIN tools on the left is really easy - they lock into place without too much effort and I can tell I'm hitting the springs or clips because I can shift the thing on that side. The ones on the right don't catch, though, they just slide in way too far and I can't seem to find the sweet spot on that side to actually release the clips. Should I be finding a small-enough screwdriver to get in there and probe around or am I now facing a situation where I need to defer to a professional if I don't want to destroy something?
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Jul 21, 2015 09:47
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Ignoranus posted:On the Pyle stereo, the last unpaired wire is labeled (on their diagrams) as "PowerAntenna/AmplifierTurnOn(Blue)". On the other hand, the wiring harness has three remaining wires: "Illumination" (Orange), "Amp Turn-On" (Blue w/White) and "Power Antenna" (Blue). What should I wire to what and what should I be doing with wires that don't have anything to connect to? Connect "PowerAntenna/AmplifierTurnOn(Blue)" on the Pyle side to "Power Antenna" (Blue) on the car side. That will raise and lower your power antenna depending on whether or not the stereo is on. Illumination you can tape off since that's probably a dimmer feature the Pyle doesn't support. Amp Turn-on is probably a factory "premium audio" option. Was it connected to the OEM stereo? If you're not using an external amp it can be taped off as well. Otherwise it could be connected to the Power Antenna since all it is is a trigger signal. If there's no external amp I'd leave it out, personally.
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Jul 21, 2015 13:42
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Panty Saluter posted:Connect "PowerAntenna/AmplifierTurnOn(Blue)" on the Pyle side to "Power Antenna" (Blue) on the car side. That will raise and lower your power antenna depending on whether or not the stereo is on. Illumination you can tape off since that's probably a dimmer feature the Pyle doesn't support. Thanks! I don't actually know if it's connected on the original head unit, as I haven't managed to remove the damned thing yet.
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Jul 21, 2015 15:37
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Speaking of tablets in place of headunits (or airbags), what are the better options on the market for doing atypical controls like this? Something like a car dock app and a Bluetooth link back, improvised charge connection? Phone cradle and Bluetooth back to headunit?  to follow.Friend of mine just picked up a new car. New to him, at least, but far from new enough to take a double-DIN touchscreen. No pictures, but 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, two door hardtop, stock dash with exception of the typical aftermarket gauge cluster add-on and likely Vintage Air A/C vents mounted just below the dash itself. Radio opening is standard shaft-mount, and currently houses a Custom Autosound model that's factory-appearing enough to not look out of place, yet has digital display and tuning, rear aux in / usb in, and front / rear stereo out. The rear speakers that came in the car consist of 6x9s surface mounted through the rear package tray, giant black plastic bezels, perforated metal grilles, and all. They are functional by definition but sound wise, they don't have great output or response. They need replaced with a mid-grade coaxial mounted beneath the package tray and hidden by an acoustically transparent upholstery. The front speakers are a pair of what we can only assume are very cheap 3" or 3-1/2" drivers mounted beneath the factory speaker grille in the center of the dash. At least they don't look out of place, and are wired for stereo sound in as much as you can get a stereo soundstage from speakers that are 4" apart from one another in the middle of a dash, but they have awful output levels, awful response, and transition from mildly distorted to near death as the 'volume' goes up. At a minimum they need replaced, but ideally they need ditched for kick panel pods and 6-1/2 coaxials or components. The Custom Autosound headunit is giving him trouble, most obvious of which is intermittent loss of output (display stays powered, sound stops), which as far as I can tell doesn't happen at all when using the radio tuner, but happens frequently when using the USB in for playback from a flash drive mounted behind the glovebox. I haven't had time to test a different thumb drive, and suspect it could be MP3 decoder issues with VBR or higher bitrate files than the headunit is happy with. Beyond this, the radio controls offer bass / treble / balance / fade adjustment, but obviously no crossovers, equalizer, phase / delay adjustment, or other features that I've been spoiled with in using premium aftermarket headunits over the years. I'm willing to bet the high level outputs are of rather low wattage, and haven't yet made an effort to get under the dash to see if we have pre-amp outputs. Guessing that if there are low level outputs at all, it'll be one non-fading stereo pair of ~2v - 3v outputs. If it sounds like I'm lazy and don't want to tear into the dash to hunt for pre-amp outputs, check on the USB flash drive, and see what's hiding beneath the stock center dash speaker grille, you're partially right - there's so much stuffed into and under this dash between this radio, the aftermarket A/C system, and all of the other electrical upgrades this car has (it's running a multi-port injected 400 SBC with some Accel engine control and a separate Accel ignition control, a host of adapted GM sensors and inputs, and either a 4Lx0 or x00R4 automatic overdrive four speed), I'm afraid to tear into anything without a sufficient window in which to do so. It's nice out, he just spent a lot of money on this car, and we don't want to wind up involved in a project that'll have it off the road at this point in time. The radio sucks, but tearing apart an expensive new toy in the midst of beautiful weather, especially with no decisive plan for action, doesn't seem like an option. Plan now, fix later, etc. Also, cutting the dash up for a contemporary radio isn't one of our options. Should we: -Sort out current head unit, replace speakers, hide a 4 channel amp, hope for RCA out and if not live with line converters or high level input to amp? -Bluetooth receiver to line in on radio, same speaker replacement / 4 channel amp addition as above? -Phone / tablet directly in to amplifier somehow, bypass headunit? -Center console (has 60/40 split bench & column shift) with double-DIN touchscreen and modern car creature comforts like cup holders, charge ports, same speaker replacement / amp addition as above? tl;dr Tell me the aftermarket options for 'hidden radio' setups in old cars suck and I should build a proper center console.
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Jul 22, 2015 23:21
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Just found and bought a refurbished with-warranty Panasonic AVH4000NEX on eBay for $359 USD. Is there a great place to buy a surround to match my car (07 GTI) and the harnesses and such? Crutchfield? I tried checking it out months ago and they had a lot of overlap between what the expensive harnesses were doing. Like, when I put my car info in it wanted me to buy two steering wheel control harnesses.
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Jul 23, 2015 04:21
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Do any decent brands make single-din flip out screen in dash nav units anymore? My old Pioneer AVIC-N3 is failing, and I'm looking to replace it but have mostly only been able to turn up stuff from Pyle, Boss, and Jensen, plus a handful of no-name Chinese knockoff type brands. I'd like another Pioneer, but they don't seem to offer anything currently that will work, unless I'm missing it. The one decent looking unit I've found is the Clarion NZ-503, which I'll probably end up with unless any other options turn up. Are there any others worth looking at, or does anyone have any experience with this unit? Also, I guess I haven't looked at this stuff in a while so I should probably ask - have any of the aforementioned brands stepped up their game from where they were in the mid '00s? Back then at least, Pyle and Boss were generally regarded as poo poo tier, with Jensen being slightly better although still pretty mediocre.
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Jul 26, 2015 01:28
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Before I rip apart my 04 RX 330 to install a poineer deck, am I missing anything? 1. 4 pairs for speakers 2. 7 wires do nothing [2xred, brown, light green, blue/pink, green/purple, orange/white] 3. system remote to amp turn on 4. grounds 5. 12v ignition 6. illumination/dash light 7. 12v battery 
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Jul 28, 2015 01:22
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rizzo1001 posted:Before I rip apart my 04 RX 330 to install a poineer deck, am I missing anything? You should be good to go
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Jul 31, 2015 12:34
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Well radio went in and seems to be working! I probably could have messed with the gain a bit on the tyto box but it will do for now. What would my next upgrade be? Would getting new speakers be worth my time if I keep the factory amp?  
rizzo1001 fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Aug 1, 2015 |
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Aug 1, 2015 19:07
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mentholmoose posted:It seems the ring terminal is the way to go, and if the Crutchfield instructions explain where, that will definitely make it a breeze. The only thing I have an issue with is I cannot find the wire gauge that the stereo actually uses; if the Crutchfield instructions have that information I'll buy ring terminals from Radio Shack later. Crap, sorry, forgot about this thread. I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but the 18-22 gauge ring terminals (red insulator) are usually what you need. Same for the butt splices when wiring a stereo to a harness. The rest of this is general info for others. And they're a lot cheaper at Home Depot. HD also has much better crimpers/strippers available - I have the Commercial Electric (store brand) version of this (they're identical except for the color of the handles). Avoid this style, they're a pain in the dick to actually crimp properly with. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Aug 2, 2015 |
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Aug 2, 2015 09:29
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rizzo1001 posted:Well radio went in and seems to be working! I probably could have messed with the gain a bit on the tyto box but it will do for now. I'm curious to hear from the experts about this too - we've never changed speakers on a factory-amplified system without changing the amplifier out at the same time. Hard to say to what extent the OEM went with matching component speakers and amplifier power, if and how the crossover points (if any) are set in the factory amplifiers, etc. The standard equipment was likely a 6 speaker configuration, but if your car came with the Mark Levinson option sound system, it could be interesting.
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Aug 2, 2015 18:46
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Entangled posted:I'm curious to hear from the experts about this too - we've never changed speakers on a factory-amplified system without changing the amplifier out at the same time. Hard to say to what extent the OEM went with matching component speakers and amplifier power, if and how the crossover points (if any) are set in the factory amplifiers, etc. The standard equipment was likely a 6 speaker configuration, but if your car came with the Mark Levinson option sound system, it could be interesting. I can't imagine the Levinson system was too awful, assuming it has anything in common with Levinson's home audio (probably not). About 10 years ago Subaru Outbacks had another 3rd party audio system as an option. It was pretty drat impressive. All I can think of now is Levinson though, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't that. Anyone remember what it was?
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Aug 2, 2015 20:20
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Awful sounding, surely not. Awful to start replacing speakers with anything out of spec, maybe? The standard system was six channel output from the amp, with a full range driver in each rear door, and separate woofer and tweeter channels for the fronts. The Levinson system had a similar arrangement but added a seventh channel for a center speaker. Fun fact - an '04 RX330 could have come with any one of eight different head unit ID codes and four different amplifier ID codes. Difference between any of them? No clue. I can't say on the Subaru systems - could have been Harman Kardon, but it seems like they offered some McIntosh branded options over the years as well. e: poked through some old Subaru OE headunits and saw tags from Panasonic, Clarion, and lots of Matsushita. I forgot how many of those came with a weather band. Entangled fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Aug 3, 2015 |
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Aug 3, 2015 04:36
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Entangled posted:I'm curious to hear from the experts about this too - we've never changed speakers on a factory-amplified system without changing the amplifier out at the same time. Hard to say to what extent the OEM went with matching component speakers and amplifier power, if and how the crossover points (if any) are set in the factory amplifiers, etc. The standard equipment was likely a 6 speaker configuration, but if your car came with the Mark Levinson option sound system, it could be interesting. It doesn't have the ML option.
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Aug 3, 2015 04:49
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I have a 99 ford explorer with the stock radio/cd player. I also have a 6-cd radio from a 2004 ford mustang that is sitting unused. Is there any chance that there are some wiring kits that will let me throw the 6-cd in my explorer? I don't really know what terms I should be searching for. edit: The connections are indeed different, I already checked.
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Aug 5, 2015 19:42
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Panty Saluter posted:About 10 years ago Subaru Outbacks had another 3rd party audio system as an option. It was pretty drat impressive. All I can think of now is Levinson though, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't that. Anyone remember what it was? McIntosh. Definitely McIntosh. I just googled and found some comments that it was actually McIntosh-branded Clarion, which I believe but was a bit disappointed by.
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Aug 5, 2015 22:15
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Well Clarion is pretty decent, it just sucks that stick another nameplate on it and charge you three times as much for it.
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Aug 5, 2015 23:18
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