head unit and stock speakers

[rob_z]

i talked to crutchfield today and they claim that the stock speakers are good quality. they said that new speakers will do little to improve the sound. they suggested a new head unit with a wiring harness that goes into the stock amp, and to keep the stock speakers until they are blown. this would mean that the head unit only acts as a tuner and cd player - not an amp.

this just sounds too simple. i don't want a boom car (ok - i do! i just can't afford it), but i would like more than what the tape player in my dash has to offer.

thoughts???

http://www.crutchfield.com

 

[listener]

Hmmmm.....I guess the stock speakers are probably OK quality, and you certainly wouldn't improve on them by purchasing a $99 pair of coax speakers. However, you can make very large improvements in sound quality by replacing the factory speakers with a high quality brand.

It sounds like maybe you aren't happy with the features of the factory radio, correct? If that's the case, replace it, but know that a new radio won't have any more power (realistically) than the factory radio, so therefore won't give you any more volume or clarity than you are getting now. It might give you the whistles and bells you desire though.

If you can deal with the feature content of the factory deck (at least for a while) I would consider changing the AMP and SPEAKERS. You will get drastically increased SPL and sound quality and you won't invite prying eyes to a fancy new deck in the dash. Later on down the road, swap the deck and you will gain more control over the amp and speakers.

Most car audio salespeople jump right to the radio when "pitching" a customer with out qualfiying the customers needs. For the money spent it's much more of an improvement to swap/add an amp and speakers. Good Luck.

 

[kmorris_330ci]

A new radio is the first thing to do when improving the sound, IMO at least. I replaced my radio with an aftermarket one and damn! Like night and day. The treble and mid range is about 1000 times more clear. The bass is still a little soupy and mushy though, probably because I have the HK in a convertible.