What to do?

[marky_mark]

Hi Guys,

I have a stock standard MY05 Liberty sedan and want to boost the stereo a bit. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg and don't want to win any awards for having the best kick arse system. I spend about 90% of the time driving the car myself and therefore want the sound for me and I'm not fussed what it sounds like in the back.

I've been reading through this forum a little bit over the last couple of weeks and have seen a lot of info about replacing the head unit by spending about $400 from Japan Parts and buying a new shell to split the air con and the head unit, and then replacing the head unit. I would prefer not to do this as it seems pretty costly before even adding anything to the stereo, ie. head unit, speakers and amp...

I've blown the back speakers and I also think one of the tweeters is stuffed. As I want the music pretty much for myself is it a good idea to just forget about the back speakers and keep the sound faded to the front speakers? Should I then just get better speakers in the front doors and a new set of tweeters? Should I fit an amp? What about a sub in the parcel shelf?

I've got no idea of the costs involved but would ideally like to keep my budget around the $500 mark. Is this possible? Any recommendations?

[LOWLIB]

Hey mate.


If you dont want to go down the headunit replacement track... i sugest you look into something like the rockford foasgate 3sixty..its a signal proccessor that you wire up to the stock headunit.. (all it is is a small box under your dash hidden) and it gives you pre outs for amps to run speakers and subs as well as an aux input if your car didnt come with one as well..

you can then replace your speakers with something decent running off an amplifier as well so you get that nice clean crisp sound and you get to enjoy it more when your in the car by yourself.

if you want some more info i have a rockford unit in my liberty so feel free to ask

[Ric]

marky_mark, it is useful if you fill in the "Location" field in your profile. Then people in the same city can offer to help....

[marky_mark]

Thanks Ric, just updated my location - I'm in Canberra

Hey James, Thanks for the post on Fosgate 360. From your post I'm guessing that I can't actually run an amp direct from the OEM head unit? It also looks like the 360 weighs in at about $400 give or take. That's gonna screw my budget before I even get started.

If I have to get something like the 360 you mentioned or a JL Audio Cleansweep which I read about in another post, what is it realistically going to cost me to upgrade my system to something with a bit more power? BTW, I would love the Aux Input as I'm currently using an FM transmitter and the quality is pretty piss poor at higher levels as there is a lot of static in the background of songs - especially on quieter bits of a track.

[LOWLIB]

with the 360 it is going to cost you a little more then the 400 mark by the time you get it installed and tuned an everything as they are tuned with a wireless palm pilot style device. so you would be looking anywhere up to 1000 depending on which level unit you go for as they come in the .1 and .2 models the .2 being the better model..

unfortunatly the stock headunit does not have a factory output for an amp on it. the only way that you can run a sub off the stock headunit without buying some sought of a processor is to "amp up" the speakers from a 4 channel amp running your front speakers off 2 channels an your amp off another channel but this does not give you to much tuneability in your system and it doesnt offer you great sound quality.

it does suck but upgrading your stero is not something that is going to be done on the extreme cheep side of things really. maybe you could look at just upgrading your speakers to some nice quality ones which will give you a bit more bass mid and treble then your stock set up then down the track maybe look at a dash facia kit and headunit or the signal processor path once you want to get more into the sound system area.

the only down side to the 360 systems aux input is that you have no control over it from the headunit, it is all controlled from a small knob which when your running cds or radio the knob controls your bass.. so you have no bass control when using the AUX input.

another AUX input option is to go to you local subaru dealer an get one of the OEM ones installed.. from memory i think that i got quoated 120-140 all up including instal.. im sure you could save a few pennies on it if you wanted to try to instal it yourself if your handy with running a wire an removing your HU from the dash. this will give you the added feature on your stock HU

if you have any more questins feel free to ask

James

[NoOzL47]

with the 360 it is going to cost you a little more then the 400 mark by the time you get it installed and tuned an everything as they are tuned with a wireless palm pilot style device. so you would be looking anywhere up to 1000 depending on which level unit you go for as they come in the .1 and .2 models the .2 being the better model..

unfortunatly the stock headunit does not have a factory output for an amp on it. the only way that you can run a sub off the stock headunit without buying some sought of a processor is to "amp up" the speakers from a 4 channel amp running your front speakers off 2 channels an your amp off another channel but this does not give you to much tuneability in your system and it doesnt offer you great sound quality.

it does suck but upgrading your stero is not something that is going to be done on the extreme cheep side of things really. maybe you could look at just upgrading your speakers to some nice quality ones which will give you a bit more bass mid and treble then your stock set up then down the track maybe look at a dash facia kit and headunit or the signal processor path once you want to get more into the sound system area.

the only down side to the 360 systems aux input is that you have no control over it from the headunit, it is all controlled from a small knob which when your running cds or radio the knob controls your bass.. so you have no bass control when using the AUX input.

another AUX input option is to go to you local subaru dealer an get one of the OEM ones installed.. from memory i think that i got quoated 120-140 all up including instal.. im sure you could save a few pennies on it if you wanted to try to instal it yourself if your handy with running a wire an removing your HU from the dash. this will give you the added feature on your stock HU

if you have any more questins feel free to ask

James

You don't NEED any sort of processor to run an amp off the factory system.

Cheaper alternative is always to use Line out converters, works and simple as tap into the speaker line and converts it to RCA. I myself have done quite alot of installs with them, and have also used them in my own car before i changed the headunit. Sure it wasn't the best with tuning options, but it was still a good alternative. (While using the LOCs i still managed to bring home afew trophies from multiple SPL competitions, and placed quite competitively in sound quality competitions).

A good LOC will only set you back around $60-70 and they are quite alot cheaper than say a Rockford 360, Audison BitOne, etc

[Ric]

Don't forget, sound deadening the doors can drastically improve a system with just stock head unit and speakers!
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7422

[teK--]

Either way if you want to hook up an amp to the stock head unit you will either use the hi level inputs on the amp, or use line level converters. I don't really see the latter as being necessary as you can use the high level inputs which all modern amps have nowadays.

The only problem is that you are then stuck with the stock head unit which EQs the signal to suit the tiny stock speakers (it basically cuts out a lot of the bass at louder volumes. This of course does not allow you to make the most of new speakers especially when they will be connected to an external amp.

A 360 or Cleansweep will fix the EQ levels and do a much cleaner job than the high level inputs or line level converters.

If you care about sound quality there is unfortunately no cheap road in our cars. You need to install an aftermarket head unit (with the JDM fascia) or buy a 360/Cleansweep. You don't even need to spend a lot on the head unit just a basic Alpine for $350.00 will do the job.

You will actually be surprised at how decent the stock speakers can sound with an aftermarket head unit and retaining the stock speakers. Couple that with sound deadening and it is good as a basic daily driver system. If you have blown your rears just fade to the front to avoid the distortion.

p.s. If your budget is only $500.00 it won't get you that far unfortunately; I would personally spend the money on sound deadening the front doors ($170.00 plus your own elbow grease otherwise you will pay lots for labor). Spend the rest on the most expensive pair of 6.5" 2way coax speakers you can find, to fit into the front doors. Look for ones with the highest sensitivity rating you can find.