Dsp or headunit

[Journeycastro12]

Hey all I currently have an 08 ve s1 commodore ute, the previous owner has put in some alpine door speakers and made the headunit Bluetooth (I think, not sure if it’s standard). I’ve had a high output amplifier and a 15” sub installed and all works great but I want some better sound quality. I’ve been told a headunit will do that, but from what I can tell every option for my car model either has consistent issues, steering wheel button incompatibility, and are super expensive. I’ve heard a DSP is the next best option, I was wondering what everyone thinks about using a DSP as opposed to a new headunit? Also unrelated but since I’ve had the car sometimes I get an rpm linked whining noise. Thanks all

 

[Jeda]

Hey all I currently have an 08 ve s1 commodore ute, the previous owner has put in some alpine door speakers and made the headunit Bluetooth (I think, not sure if it’s standard). I’ve had a high output amplifier and a 15” sub installed and all works great but I want some better sound quality. I’ve been told a headunit will do that, but from what I can tell every option for my car model either has consistent issues, steering wheel button incompatibility, and are super expensive. I’ve heard a DSP is the next best option, I was wondering what everyone thinks about using a DSP as opposed to a new headunit? Also unrelated but since I’ve had the car sometimes I get an rpm linked whining noise. Thanks all

Is the amp just for the sub?

I'd replace the head unit to a quality aftermarket one instead of going to a DSP.

If your alpine speakers are running off the head unit, insulate the doors with some sound deadener, the butyl type, then the sound from the alpines will improve.

If you go for an aftermarket head unit, you'll be able to easily install an amp to get the most out of your speakers using low level inputs without using a high to low level signal convertor.
This will mean cleaner sound.

 

[Journeycastro12]

Is the amp just for the sub?

I'd replace the head unit to a quality aftermarket one instead of going to a DSP.

If your alpine speakers are running off the head unit, insulate the doors with some sound deadener, the butyl type, then the sound from the alpines will improve.

If you go for an aftermarket head unit, you'll be able to easily install an amp to get the most out of your speakers using low level inputs without using a high to low level signal convertor.
This will mean cleaner sound.

Thanks and the amp is just for the sub, and I’ve already sound deadened the door and door cards. My problem with the aftermarket headunit it’s they all seem to be so expensive, and they’ve pretty much all got reviews saying either they have aircon issues, or the steering wheel controls aren’t working properly. I’ve heard a properly tuned dsp works best, but what headunit are you using?

 

[Jeda]

I don't have my VE anymore, but I used the standard head unit which was in my R8, same system as the Calais v.

I did the same as you with the sound deadener to all doors and door cards, parcel tray and boot floor.

I also ran MDF spacers to fit larger 6.75" kicker q series convertible splits in the front and some kicker ks series 6.5" coaxials in the back doors running off an old kicker kx400 4 channel amp with high level inputs. The front speakers were slightly under driven, but the sound was as clean as you could get with the standard head unit.

What alpine speakers are you running? If they're keepers, spend some coin on a good amp to drive them properly. It sounds like you've done the what you can to get them sounding as good as can be, now just need to power them properly.

 

[Journeycastro12]

I don't have my VE anymore, but I used the standard head unit which was in my R8, same system as the Calais v.

I did the same as you with the sound deadener to all doors and door cards, parcel tray and boot floor.

I also ran MDF spacers to fit larger 6.75" kicker q series convertible splits in the front and some kicker ks series 6.5" coaxials in the back doors running off an old kicker kx400 4 channel amp with high level inputs. The front speakers were slightly under driven, but the sound was as clean as you could get with the standard head unit.

What alpine speakers are you running? If they're keepers, spend some coin on a good amp to feed drive them properly. It sounds like you've done the what you can to get them sounding as good as can be, now just need to power them properly.

I’m not sure the exact model but I when I got the car the receipt for it tells me they were pretty good haha, but I threw that away which was stupid. Ill have a look at some amps for the front speakers aswell, and see how that goes

 

[Jeda]

Worst case scenario, you buy a good amp and it still doesn't sound like you want, you go out and get a better set of splits. But I reckon a good amp powering the alpines you have will give you what you want.

 

[Journeycastro12]

Worst case scenario, you buy a good amp and it still doesn't sound like you want, you go out and get a better set of splits. But I reckon a good amp powering the alpines you have will give you what you want.

Okay cheers thanks mate

 

[Jeda]

No worries mate, hope everything works out for you.

 

[07GTS]

VE speakers are 2 ohm and aftermarket are 4 ohm so the stock head unit will have higher watt speakers and less load to drive them so will sound worse, so an amp will help alot for the mains