Has anyone got good sound with factory head unit?
Hi all
I want to upgrade the sound in my vt, but I want to keep the factory head unit. I know that sounds stupid, but I really like the look of the head unit. Has anyone actually improved the sound quality by keeping the factory head unit, or is it impossible to do. I visited a car audio shop and he reckons I need to change the head unit full stop.
I'm thinking of getting front splits, 6x9 rear parcel shelf speakers, 4 channel amp and a convertor. Would that be a waste of money? For those people who have improved sound by keeping factory head unit, please give me ideas. Thanks.
Steve
Nothing witty to say :(
the system will only be as good as the weakest part (the stock HU). Thats what I would think anyway... One of the car audio gurus will be more helpful
An external amp is going to be an improvement over any head unit, and upgraded speakers will sound better than stock, so it will sound better than standard. But the head unit will put out lower quality sound than an aftermarket one and have less audio adjustments to make it sound better.
There are some new products available that are for this specific problem, they can EQ the sound and stuff, but I don't know how well they work. I think JL Audio and Rockford Fosgate have them. There is info on Car Audio Australia.
New speakers and an amp wouldn't be a waste of money. If you upgrade the head unit you will need better speakers than the crappy stock ones.
I recommend adding the amp and new speakers then see if you're happy with it.
That's what I thought, but the guy from freeway audio said that the factory head unit is a piece of s.hit and no improvement will be made. He also said that changing the head unit and keeping factory speakers will sound much better then factory head unit with new speakers and amp. By the way, the package I want costs $800 installed.Originally Posted by TigerVX
Do you guys reckon I should go for it?
What is in the package? Give brands/models this time.
Kenwood 4 channel amp (KAC6402)
Kenwood 6" speakers with splits (KFC-P605IE)
Kenwood 6x9" 350w speakers (KFC-M6935IE)
Convertor (AP304)
$800 installed
He's probaby right the stock unit is just that, while they work OK the speakers will hold back any decent sound.
I have a Kenwood KRC-235 sysyem with a seperate 6X CD stacker and 4 X 280w 3 way Kenwood speakers, as the speakers were done B4 the head unit I got a chance to test it out with the stock unit alone and with a Kenwood single car CD player I've had for ages on the boat which hooks into the cassette slot.
Full volume was easy with the new speakers and stock head unit with no sign of the speakers not handling it, and I should hope so @ 280 watt each speaker X 4.
The difference with the Kenwood head unit is substantial as the speakers now have "just a tad more" power to drive them, + sound quality is vastly improved and full volume tends to hurt, the head unit and stacker is about $800 maybe less as it's a few years old now + another $240 for the newest design 6" X 4 speakers, $119 a pair.
Sure there are cheaper units about, and also heaps more expensive, but one has to draw a line where the windows near pop out, if your speakers are OK a newer head unit that will do a better job and even the Holden Eurovox CD player can be had for stuff all and as you like the Euro unit that may be a cheap option, as far as I know no extra wiring is needed but not having done one, I can't say for sure.
Bring all coalition troops home from Iraq before Christmas, and stop the senseless killing.
I don't know prices, but I know Kenwood speakers don't sound that great... But if you like them and you're happy with the price, go for it.
The kenwood speakers are as I said new, probably about 1.5 weeks since release, they are not even on the Kenwood web site yet, and they make good 150 w Alpine and Sony speakers sound fairly average, I just replaced them for the Kenwood speakers.
Not bad for only 6" units.
Part # KFC-M1628A
Bring all coalition troops home from Iraq before Christmas, and stop the senseless killing.
I replaced the speakers in my VS... it didn't make a heap of difference except i then got some small amount of bass (went to 6.5" 3-ways).. i didn't put an amp in so that should help kick it along.
Replacing the HU made a big difference, the whole setup kicked along very nicely after that, but yes - you do need to replace the speakers anyway to make it worthwhile. As said above, go the amp and speakers, see what you think - then decide whether you need a new HU.
Driving a CURSED WH V6.
With the stock setup one part will always let you down. If you change only the head unit then you're left with crap speakers - If you change only the speakers then you have a crap head unit. But if it's the look of the stock head unit you like then see if new speakers and an amp will be enough for what you want.
Actually a better still idea would be to add an amp/multi channel equaliser unit, at least your sound will be assured to be better, and a set of 100w $75 pairs will do better than the stock speakers that are flat out at 10w.
I have a used 40w 10 channel / w-fader Ferris equaliser here, only problem it's got a dual input rather than a quad in/quad out, but it has the normal 4 speaker output, and works more than good enough to shat any stock speakers.
Cheap if your interested to go that way, but a new one can't be that exe.
Bring all coalition troops home from Iraq before Christmas, and stop the senseless killing.
are u talking in peak power outputs coz if u are peak means nothing plz talk in rms (i belive peak is what it can handle for brief periods of time ie .2 of a sec etc)
I used to work at Northfield car sound and customers asked for this all the time. The one's that were done never sounded that great. I will admit some people cant tell, so I guess it depends on if you have a musical ear? With a good amp and a range of tuning options this will help more than basic amp.
GEE this is a 3 year old thread. Just so you know lol.
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