For those who installed aftermarket speakers w/ the stock headunit
 

As the title states, did any of you notice a decent change in the quality of your audio. I am wanting to install some Alpine SPS-600 speakers that I have laying around into my base Z w/ the stock wiring. I am aware that I will not have anything close to sounding amazing, but I am curious if it will at least be somewhat better than the stock speakers I have now. Because I definately can't take the stockers anymore. Thanks in advance.

If you hear anything better it wil be very little. The stock head unit is only putting out like 10 watts as aposed to a new head unit that would put out around 22 watts.

If anything you would hear better sound from upgrading your head unit before upgrading your speakers.

I put cheap 50 dollar pioneers when i first got the car and they were running on everything stock. SOund was night and day as far as cleanliness. You do lose a lot of bass but overall they wont distort and the music is a lot clearer. I still have the same pioneer speakers with an aftermarket head unit now and the sound is even better.

But you should def drop some aftermarket door speakers in. I have done it twice, on my Murano and on my z and they are so much better than stock speakers, especially on the high notes.

I replaced the speakers only in my wife's car and the sound was a lot brighter and cleaner. The stock base stock speakers sounded muffled and would distort quickly. The new speakers don't distort anymore probably because there's just not enough power to push them with the stock deck. I would expect the same in the base Z as well.

As far as a Night and Day difference add an amp and EQ if you want to maintain the stock intergrated look.

Every time you upgrade your factory speakers in any car you will lose bass and gain clarity. Aftermarket speakers are more or less designed to be used in situations where you have a sub.

^^yep.

I have a sub and an amp left over from a previous car. Is there a way to integrate them into the stock radio? The issue here is I don't want to spend the money on a double din radio. I also have a HU from the previous car as well, I just wasn't stoked about putting bright blue with all the amber in the car as well as losing the steering wheel controls. So is there a way to integrate my amp, it is a 2 ch or 1 ch, so it could be used to power the aftermarket speakers or a sub. I guess my question ultimately is what else do I need (electronics wise) to make the aftermarket speakers sound better without changing the HU? Can it be done? Thanks

JL cleansweep, or fosgate 360.2 They are sound processors that allow you to take the factory head unti signal and convert it to low level to use in aftermarket amplifiers. Theres a ton of other options but it all depends on your budget

Gotcha, would you mind discussing other options, I'd really like to hear about what else is out there. Thanks

Ive been interested in this too. Im not much of an audio guy, but the stock speakers, while sounding fine to me, just dont thrill me.

just swap out the HU and run stock speakers if you dont want to go all out.

Ive got no interest in changing the HU, neither do many other people it seems. I know for a fact the sound improvement is not nearly as substantial, but speakers alone are fine for some of us. For those who have done this, in the base model, what are the speakers that you used?

Tomorrow, I am putting Alpine SPS-600 6.5" speakers in my doors w/ zenclosures speaker spacers. I have had them sitting in my closet for about a year. Asked for them for Christmas and intended on installing them in my STi. Never got around to it and it just so happens they fit in the 370Z also, cool. Some guys suggest the SPS-600C kit which comes with tweeters as well. Someone on here recommended them in another thread, so I figured that was good enough for me.

You won't need either of those if you have the stock head unit. The JL and the Fosgate are only needed if you have the Bose system and want to use the Bose head unit with aftermarket amps and speakers.
Tom

If you install a speaker with a tweeter in it, will that be like having 4 tweeters all together?

So what do I need in order to run the stock HU w/ an amp powering my two 6.5" Alpines?

A couple of cables and an installer. Thats it! My sig tells you the added equipment. I added a Jl amp and a set of Morel seperates. Now in my FX35 with the Bose system I used the Fosgate 360.2.
Trust me. :tiphat:
Tom

Tom,

Thanks for this idea - its close to what I'd like to do in my Z. I agree with 6spd that there are quite a few of us folks that want to retain the stock head unit but would like to add an amp, speakers and (perhaps) a sub.

So Tom, you added an aftermarket amp and component speakers. When you run it through the 360, did you lose the ability to use the stock volume control? This seems to be the biggest sticking point for me with sound processors. What did you experience?

Kevin

Hey Kevin,
When you say the stock head unit you need to tell me if you mean the bose head unit or the base head unit. If your talking about the bose then yes you will need the 360 and no you DO NOT loose the ability to control of the volume with the stock knob. If you have the base system you DO NOT need the 360. One more thing I would like to point out, if you go with the Fosgate get the 360.2 and not the 360, the reason I say this is because with the 360.2 you get the ability to control everything via blue tooth through different devices (i use my palm pilot) eq settings, sub level and much more, research it and you will see what I'm talking about.
Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.
Tom :tiphat:

Tom,

Thanks for the advice. I have the Bose headunit - so I'll need a sound processor of some sort. I've been reading about the various OEM-to-amplifier options (Alpine PXE-H660, Rockford Fosgate 3SIXTY.2, JL CleanSweep, AudioControl LC6i). I'm glad to hear you've had good luck with the 360.2, that's what I'll probably go with.

A few questions:
1) did you install the 360.2 near the headunit in the dash or in the rear by the amplifier (benefits? drawbacks?)
2) did you run a separate power line from the battery for the 360.2?
3) does the 360.2 control the on/off for the amp and itself?

A bit about my installation:
I have purchased an in-spare-tire stealth sub box with the JL TW5 13" sub.
I plan to power the sub and 4 speakers with the Alpine PDX-5.
Obviously keeping the stock head Bose unit will require the RF 360.2.
I have SecondSkin Damplifier and Luxury Liner Pro for the hatch, wheel wells, foot wells & doors.
The one thing I've not settled on are the speakers. I love rear "fill" as the surrounding of sound is quite fun in a car. Plus I'd rather have 4 speakers producing moderately loud music rather than 2 speakers playing really loud (divides up the load). So, I'm going to look into creating small speaker placements just behind the seats (in the hatch or in the glove box areas). I've not decided which speakers to go with - and I'm sure anything will sound better than stock. The questions I have about speaker choice are:

4) should I manufacture-match (JL speakers with JL sub) or does this not matter?
5) there a price break at which I'll be fine to purchase such that it will sound good (say over $200/300 a pair the quality in any manufacturer is pretty high)
5) is there a specific brand that draws your ear more than others?

Thanks,
Kevin

Hey Kevin,

If you want to save some $ you should try the RE-5 first. It's only $170.00, one of the least exepensive summing devices. I plan on eventually getting the RF 360.2 to just add some tunability but for now I'm very satisfied with the RE-5.

Another thing you might want to consider about the RF 360.2 is you'll lose the fader function when you sum the audio signals from the Bose Amp. The RE-Q doesn't lose that function plus it fixes the bass level drop at high volume, something you'll need for the Bose HU. I use my Fader as a volume control for my Sub since i only have front speakers anyways. I just saw that as an added benefit. I personally think the RF 360.2 will work best on the Bose when it's paired with the RE-Q.


I mounted everything near the stock amps and connecting was easy and it elminates having to even touch anything on the Bose HU. I hooked up the RE-Q to a power distributer block and the Remote turn-on to the Cigerrette Lighter outlet i couldn't tap into the stock remote for some reason, it didn't have a enough juice to power my 2 amps.

1 Near the amp, just for looks
2 Seperate line
3 Turning the head unit off turns the 360.2 and the amps off
4 I didn't
5 Thats not a good question to ask me, I went with MB Quart QSD's $500.00 a pair 2 pairs. Keep in mind that this system is in my FX 35 daily driver, better car for sound. Matched with a JL sub and 2 JL amps.
6 That is a matter of taste, In the Z I went with Morel Dotech Ovation speakers.

It's dark out side but I'm going to try and take a picture of my system in the FX and i will post it here. I like th FG 360.2 because of the adjustability and the Blue Tooth function, it's really cool to be able to adjust all the different setting with my Palm Pilot, it comes with software that you install on your palm or I'm sure some other devices.
Good luck and keep me posted

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...m/IMG_3103.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...m/IMG_3100.jpg

I know it needs a cleaning, but this is the best I can do on short notice :tiphat: Yes I took out the spare tire, there is another mono amp under the muti channel amp and those are the cross overs for the front and rear speakers. Notice the can of flat fix on the right! Plus Infiniti road side assistance and AAA

Weapons & Tommmygun,

Thanks for your advice and photos - these are very helpful! I'll take a look at the MTX RE-Q 5. It is quite a bit cheaper which is always something to consider. I'm flying home today to evaluate the stealth sub box and see how it fits in the car and that'll tell me how I can mount everything. I'll take plenty of photos and keep y'all up on choices & the installation.
Kevin

that looks sick, can you list the parts of what you used to make this?