VE Audio Upgrade

[Skitz0]

Hi All,

I've done a little bit of audio work on an older ride but i've recently picked up an 07 VE omega and I'm looking at upgrading the audio.

The stock h/u... Is it worth upgrading or does it hold it's own in an upgraded system? I'm not looking at doing anything competition worthy, just a sub or two and upgraded fronts and rears...

If the h/u needs to be upgraded what are my options seeing as it's one unit with the climate controls?

Cheers in advance :thumbsup:

 

[joshtaylor87]

There's a few of these VE Stereo threads going around mate. If you do a search you should be able to find quite a few.

I have a VE Lumina and had the 6 stacker option added. Which is the same h/u as yours just has a 6 stacker in it. I've spent over 6 grand on the stereo in mine. I wanted a sound quality based system rather than SPL so I too had concerns that the factory h/u wouldn't be up to scratch. But with a good quality LOC (line output converter) it does a brilliant job. The stereo sounds amazing! I can't believe how good it sounds considering that the sound a stereo produces is only as good as the audio signal it receives. I would definitely recommend keeping the factory h/u. Just buy a decent LOC. I have a Peripheral Sven by Stinger. Cost me $150 but is worth it. I also bought a $30 or $40 one just to see what the difference was in sound quality and it is definitely worth paying the extra $. Sounds 100 times better than the cheaper one.

Other options would be to buy an amp with high level inputs. That will eliminate the need for an LOC (but I think the LOC option would give a better sound)

or

Fit a single din aftermarket h/u under the factory h/u. You will loose the ducting for the rear air conditioning vent though meaning no more air conditioning for the rear passengers.

or

Fit an aftermarket h/u in the golve box/under a seat etc.


My suggestion is go with the good quality LOC option. Will be cheaper than an aftermarket h/u and still sounds awesome. Plus you keep all the funtionality of the factory h/u rather than having the factory h/u there not doing anything as well as an aftermarket h/u somewhere else.

Have a quick read through this tread for some more info.

 

[Luke0011]

I wouldnt say it sounds awesome off the factory unit, but you would definatly get great results with those dynaudio splits. I would seriously consider adding an after market stereo with 24 bit DAC and some signal proccessing Josh. YOu might think it sounds awesome with the LOC, but imagine how much better you could go with the right stereo. ANd youve spent so much already Josh, whats a couple of grand more???

 

[joshtaylor87]

No worries mate. I would say it sounds awesome to me anyway. I'm sure it would sound better with an aftermarket h/u but where do you stop? I'm very happy with how it sounds so I've decided not to touch another thing on the car. As it is i've spent over 50 grand on it (including the cost of the car) on stereo, wheels, suspension, exhaust, holden accessories etc. Although it looks good and sounds good etc at the end of the day its still only a Lumina so when it comes to selling it I'm going to loose big time! And the lucky new buyer will be getting an awesome deal.

This would be fine with me if I was planning on keeping it for 5-10years but I just can't stick with a car for that long! I've been driving for 4 years and the lumina is my 3rd car. 1st car was a VL 2nd a VS. I will be looking to get a VF SSV in a year or so when they come out. So I made the decision a while ago to not spend another cent on it and just enjoy it now for what it is. There are plenty more things I want to do to it but I would just be throwing my money away considering I will be selling it in a year!

 

[furrhead]

VE Stereo

Hi Josh, just wondering where you got you good LOC from? I am in Sydney so don't know where I can get a good one down here but if you give the Brisbane place to me they can probably send one down. Also, do you know where they picked the wire from to turn the amp on? Which wire or colour? Your install sounds great.
Thanks for your help.

 

[joshtaylor87]

G'day mate, there is another little device that I got from the same place as the LOC (not sure exactly what it's called) but it works the same as the LOC in that you splice it into the speaker wires coming out of the back of the h/u and then run a wire from it to the amp. The little device detects when there is audio output on the speaker wires and sends the turn on signal to the amp. This all happens instantly ie you don't have to wait a few seconds for it to do the processing etc before it turns the amp on. It happens straight away just like any aftermarket h/u with a dedicated amp turn on wire.

I'll pm you the details of the place in Brisbane and maybe a place or two to try in Sydney.

 

[garfa]

50k on a VE Lumina?????????????????

 

[joshtaylor87]

Yeah my thoughts exactly! It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm kinda regretting it lol. So that's why I'm not spending another cent on it!

It is however the best VE Lumina you will find but yeah its still only a Lumina at the end of the day.

I'm just enjoying it for what it is now. Will never get tired of the sound system in it. And it does look pretty good. On numerous occasions I've been walking back to it in a shopping centre car park and find people walking around it looking at it. I'm cool with that but it's when they put their hands on the windows to look inside, ****s me. They leave greasy had prints on my windows!

 

[rjhoomuck]

Ive got a ve 60th anniversary. Was very disapointed when found out it wont even play mp3 and changing the headunit will be big money. I used to connect my phone through AUX IN until i found a bluetooth receiver 3.0 on ebay for like $17. The receiver is no bigger than a small BIC cigaret lighter. Has a play pause next previous on and off.

Specifications:
Bluetooth protocol: Bluetooth V3.0
Power standards: Class 2
Communication distance: 10M
Bandwidth: 2.4Ghz (2.402-2.482MHz)
Transmitting sensitivity: Approx. 2dBm
Receiving sensitivity: -85dBm
Audio output interface: 3.5mm audio
MIC distance: about 1M
DAC SNR: 98dB
LED indicator: Power/ Match code/ Charging
Charging time: 2 hours
Size: 60 x 30 x 10mm

Amazing sound quality. If you do not turn the receiver off, your music will start playing from your Ipod/Android/Iphone automatically, You can use controls on ur phone or on the receiver itself.

To my opinion this the best and cheapest way to keep ur music going.

[img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/69/20130131170051.jpg]