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Anybody Have A Sound System With Stock Headunit?


Noahkk19

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the issue is not voltage, its two three things, how clean it is, most stock headunits, put through a line converter, have thd in and around .5-1percent, compared to .01 of a goodheadunit, this is a very audible difference.

a second is reponse, mst good headunits feature a flat response from almost near 0hz up above 20khz, the entire audible range, with little distortion across the range, the average headunit, will feature a dip on both sides with lots of valleys and peaks, not to mention a lot of stock headunits lowers the bass and treble as you turn the volume up and the opposite when you turn it down, causing a very strange and displeasing sound overall.

the third of course is features, crossovers, mp3 cabilitiy, sub control, etc etc, most of these cannot be obtained by the stock headunit...

if you dont believe, feel free to build your system with the stock headunit, and then, one day, swap in a good aftermarket system for a day, you will see what i mean ;)

b

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Hey

I have a big system but kept the stock HU...couple reasons - mainly from outside you can not tell i have a soundsystem.

Also the stock deck is made by alpine and stands up better then many of the aftermarket decks i have heard.

with the right amps and speakers my car sounds better then most people who have done every aspect (HU amp cross overs...blah blah blah)

ESSPECIALLY if you are on a budget keep the stock HU - if you find the sound quality lacking you can always upgrade later.

Also not to go against BING as he is audio god - if you wire the amps right you can controle the bass and such very nicly. I have a wagon so took the lines from the rear tweeters and put it into my sub amp. This allows me to control the bass very well via the bass switch and the fader (as the subs are the most rear speakers)

Ben

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Hey

I got it a couple years ago so dont ask me about cost as i totally forget.

220 watt clarion amp for the front door speakers which are kenwood excelons 5 1/4 i think

then 1000 watt kenwood amp to power the 2 12" kenwood excelon subs

they are in a very large ported box that i had designed to fit under the wagon safty cover and take the entire width of the trunk. so with those criteria the box was made to suit the acustics of the subs.

now i dont really care about the ppl in the back seat so thats why i never did the speakers back there. hahah

it sounds really clear in the front seats and can go very lound with no distortion.

as far as clairity it sounds better then my dads audi A6 with the top bose symphany package even when mine is at near full volume.

and the guys who installed it were amazed how how deep and loud the bass could get (it helps its a wagon)

as far as sound imaging goes being able to crontol how much base and where it is coming from really helps to change "where the sound is coming from" so adjusted for the type of music you are listening to you dont get weird effects like trebel coming from the sides and bass from the rear.

but im sure an audiophile could find faults in my system and could fix it for a heafty price. but im happy with it and everyone i have taked to/ showed it too has nothin but good things to say about it (assuming they arent in the back seats when its loud)

sorry about my long winded description. haha if you have any other questions id be glad to help.

AGAIN im not trying to say DONT GET A HU - but mearly i dont belive it is the best spot to spend your money to get a decent system untill you really need it anyways OR want mp3 and other features our decks dont have.

Ben

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ben, i dont doubt you have a nice souning system, i am saying that if you switched it out to an aftermarket HU, you should notice a difference. :)

as far as price is concerned, like i said in the pinned post, i blieve, a really nice sounding system by my standard can be done for less than 1000 equipment cost, an aftermarket headunit, a set of kicks, a single sub, and a 4 channel amp ;)

b

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Bing

I agree swapping my HU would give me better sound. Being in econ i have to ask how much will i have to pay to get a noticable difference. I tryied some different ideas and really could nto justify it. you cant go buy a bargan brand HU and expect an increase over the relitively "ok" stock HU.

so that being said if you want perfect sound and have the money for it...the sky is the limit. but to be on a tight budget would you agree that a good set of speakers and amp will increase the quaility more then getting a good HU but skimping on speakers.

and i agree you can do a good system for a good price. but im my scenario i opted for more powerful amps and 2 subs instead of the HU....i like to feel my music! haha

Ben

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first thing, if it wasnt for my avic-n1, i could have chieved the same level of sq in my car for around 1000 bucks, and spend another 300 and i would have easily be able to reach 140+ dbs ;) but even with my 400 watts or so and two speakers and one sub, i would say most people agree that you can definetly FEEL my music, ask people who sat in my car and watched the matrix at the carlile show ;)

hehe, my point is, a standard midline headunit from a good brand, costing around 2-300 bucks, can easily sound much better (to me), than any stock headunit...

again, thast just my opinion :)

to me, i have yet to be able to find a good substitute for the flatness in reponse, the features, and low distortion of an aftermarket deck in any stock system, i have probably done over 50 systems with stock headunits, and each time, no matter how much we tune, i always say to myself int he end, this would sound so much better with another deck :)

to me, spending all that money on a good amp, speakrs, subs and all, in the quest for good sound, and then not spending an extra 200 or so bucks on getting a good SOURCE of the sound signal on whcih all other compoents simply amplify and produce, is really kinda strange, i can only understand it when swapping headunit is not possible. My example is still spending a ton of money on engine mods, performance mods everything, and then un willing to spend relatively small amount of money on springs and tires and wheels in the name of "keeping it stock looking" or "attract attention" or "harsh ride", waht you end up with is a car with a ton of power but not a lot of control becuase you have stock soft sproings and dinky low performance tires, what would be the point of that, you take this kind of car on a twisty road and you probably wont be much faster than a stocker cause you cant use all that extra power

as for keeping it stock looking, well, modding cars is all about compromises, isnt it ;)

again, not saying your set up is not good, this is jsut my opinoin :) I always say, as long as YOU are happy with the sytem, then its all good...

b

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Price for the amp?

From talking with a friend, it sounds like 2 of those Pioneer's would do me well enough, and very well with that amp...

Bing, are you mad over there? I see you reading all of this but you don't seem to want to respond, I guess because it sounds like I'm pretty stuck on trying to go stock headunit?

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