I've got the audiophile system and as always, love the system but want more. Thought that would go away after 30, not so much. So I'm looking for people that had the audiophile package, maybe upped the speakers, amps, or subs, but kept some or most of the audiophile package.
I've read the fully custom jobs. I guess I'm just wondering how upgrading the speakers or other mods might make the audiophile system sound even better.

 

I tried to do what your asking about but couldn't stop. First mod I tried was to put Diamond 5x7's in and they didn't make much of a difference except maybee distorted sooner than the stock ones. So them I put an amp on them (50x2 RMS) and that really got things rolling but still lacked the mid bass up front I was after. So next came the Sub upgrade. Tried replacing the stock sub/amp with an underseat box and 1500 watts. The sub I chose did not like the small enclosure so out came the back seat and in went the box. The bass was finaly up to par so back to work on the fronts. Built some custom kick panels and bolted a 100x2 rms ampand a set of CDT HD-62. Ahh, the mid-bass and overall sound I was looking for. Next week i'm putting in the new Alpine so the last remaining piece of audiophile will be shed.

Here are some ideas for you to look into. Replace factory comps in the front with a really nice set of 5.25" CDT, Quart, Infinity comps which will bolt right in. Add at least 100 watts a side to them. Replace the 8" sub with an aftermarket sub. I highly suggest looking into Resonant engineering for a replacement. Should bolt right in the factory enclosure but double check with who ever you buy from to make sure the mounting depths will work. Then I suggest looking into some more power for the sub. Your not going to be able to tap into you Sub output on the HU so make sure your sub amp comes with x-overs and sub-sonic filters. I highly recomend a Class D mono amp for this. Any brand would work but hifonics have all the options and can be had on e-bay for pretty cheap.

Without knowing what your looking at, it would be very easy to get inferior stereo equipment compared to what's in there now.

Good luck with getting it to sound like you want.

 

Hey stickersteve, does the non-audiophile stereo have an amp? I was wondering because I have an Alpine F340 which is causing some hissing noise even when the radio is off. I called Alpine and they said it was either my ground was bad or my non-audiophile system may already have an amp. BTW, the hissing does not get louder when the enginge revs and it is not noticable when the radio is even moderately loud. It only does it when the radio is off or very low. Also my amp is grounded to one of the jack holder bolts. Any Ideas?

Jeffro, sorry for hi-jacking your thread.

 

The non-audiophile does have an amp built into the HU but if your using an LOC, should not make a difference. IF you do have an loc you will want to see if you can turn up the Gains on the LOC and lower the gains on your amp and see if that works. If not, try the other way around so that no gains are fully maxed or in the min setting. I have also heard like your describing from certain recordings on either older music or underground type recordings.

I would also make double sure that there is no paint under the ground connector. You would want to see metal before setting the connector down. Either scrape it off or use some sort of small dremmel type grinder.

If you can't get it figured out, you might want to have a stereo shop take a look. It should not be making any noise, especialy off.

 

I currently am not using TOC's. Should I be with a considering I have an external amp? I thought that by buying an amp with speaker level inputs that I wouldn't have to.

I will recheck the ground, sand it down some more if needed, and try messing with the gains. The gains may need adjusting anyway, there is some distortion on the low frequencies.

Also, do have a list of what the speaker wire colors are coming out of the head unit just so that I can check my polarities? I searched the forum before but found conflicting info.

 

I would move that ground. I had it on that jack bolt and it had to much noise, not sure if it was the type of metal of the nut and bolt used but I moved it to a spot under the carpet and problem solved. Also you really need to use high to low line convertors, the high level inputs are just to noisey. I have my LOCs set to 1/4 and my amp set to 3/4. That setting just depends on the amp.
Good luck!

 

Hey, thanks Dupuis. I was wondering about that jack screw ground, being that there was noise even with the radio off.

What is a good LOC to get? Crutchfield has some for about $25 a piece.

 

Go to Best Buy, CC or any sound shop. Walmart even has them. They run between $10 to $20. Unless they just feel cheap, most will work fine. Just make sure they have the gain ajustments on them.

 

I highly suggest trying one. LOC's will give you less noise than what you got going on now, that's for sure. Some amps sound clean using high level inputs but more times than not it is not the case. I am also guessing your using speaker wire to reach the amp which will slao cause noise.

Your positive leads are LF Orange/ Light green, RF White/Light green, LR Grey/light blue and RR orange/red

Lots of p[laces carry them but i reallylike davidnavone.com under adapters. They have all levels of LOC's and also have balanced gains. Good luck