How does the stock headunit sound with subs?

[Reap3r]

I'm going to be getting two kicker 15" L7s. I have the 6-disc stock head unit and was wondering how does it sound with an after market system. eventually Ill be changing my head unit but not for some time. also does the stock navigation sound good with subs? Thats probably what ill be getting unless I find a better head unit. I like the look of stock head units.

[pikapp]

It kinda depends on whether you have a "sub or line out" out of that factory head unit. If it does, It should be fine. You will still need to get a secondary amp to power your subs anyways, just make sure you get one that is powerful enough to push the subs you are installing. More power = better sound. If you underpower your subs, you will start clipping your amp, and the sound wont be as clean. Clipping is when your amp is having to work to hard because it doesn't have enough raw power to push your speakers in a fluid wavelength pattern to produce the sound. When you clip, the sound wave becomes a square wave. The sound isn't as good, and it will eventually burn up your amp. The only other problem you will have will not having a seperate sub eq on your headunit. Not a huge problem though. You will still be able to tune your subs using your db and gains on your amp along with the bass eq on the headunit. Aftermarket headunits have seperate controls for subs, its easier to tune the sub to the vehicle and runs a little more efficiently. Go talk to a local stero install place and they will be able to help you out, and give you a rundown on what you will be able to do.

[Jdiddy]

It kinda depends on whether you have a "sub or line out" out of that factory head unit. If it does, It should be fine. You will still need to get a secondary amp to power your subs anyways, just make sure you get one that is powerful enough to push the subs you are installing. More power = better sound. If you underpower your subs, you will start clipping your amp, and the sound wont be as clean. Clipping is when your amp is having to work to hard because it doesn't have enough raw power to push your speakers in a fluid wavelength pattern to produce the sound. When you clip, the sound wave becomes a square wave. The sound isn't as good, and it will eventually burn up your amp. The only other problem you will have will not having a seperate sub eq on your headunit. Not a huge problem though. You will still be able to tune your subs using your db and gains on your amp along with the bass eq on the headunit. Aftermarket headunits have seperate controls for subs, its easier to tune the sub to the vehicle and runs a little more efficiently. Go talk to a local stero install place and they will be able to help you out, and give you a rundown on what you will be able to do.

Thanks for the solid advice Pikapp, I am in the same situation but when I recently went to the car audio people at circuit city they basically encouraged me to keep the same headunit since I am just adding an amp and subwoofer, so I'm hoping this sounds good but I'll post after it's done with the results.

[Reap3r]

well I already have my amp & speakers Im just waiting until my next pay check to get them installed. Thank you for the help

[Bosshogg]

if you dont want to change your head unit you can just get a sound processor. but i would advice you to change your head unit. i had the stock nav then i changed it to aftermarket and there is a huge diff

[Reap3r]

Yeah ill definately be looking into that But i'd still rather have the stock interior look

[DerekBlk06RT]

well i have a kicker amp and infintiy subs as below and they thump like they always have. of course i'm not one for bass that rattles windows in houses three blocks away, but i like to do some thumping in the summer and i have no problem doing that. i want to get a custom enclosure built and do some audio shows this summer to see what i have compared to some of the ppl in the area. it always seems these audio shows around here are kids in neons or cheap ricers. not that i'm old, but.... i'd like to see how i compare.

[sLOWDOHC]

if you dont want to change your head unit you can just get a sound processor. but i would advice you to change your head unit. i had the stock nav then i changed it to aftermarket and there is a huge diff

Im with him. Theres still no factory radio that I have seen that has pre outs. Im suprised Pat (aka Sublime268) Hasnt chimed in. He put an amp/subs off thefactory Navi and was really not impressed. In the next few weeks we will put in a Fosgate 360.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKFORD-FOSGATE-3SIXTY-1-CAR-SOUND-PROCESSOR-EQ-360-1_W0QQitemZ280189047162QQihZ018QQcategoryZ14931QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thats more than a reasonable price for what you will be getting.

[sound&security]

use this part www.reqsound.com and the sub will sound great on the factory amp and head unit. it's a interface and sound gate.

[sLOWDOHC]

Thats true too, and can be had even cheaper. I forgot all about that piece.

[SublimeDaytona268]

Im with him. Theres still no factory radio that I have seen that has pre outs. Im suprised Pat (aka Sublime268) Hasnt chimed in. He put an amp/subs off thefactory Navi and was really not impressed. In the next few weeks we will put in a Fosgate 360.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKFORD-FOSGATE-3SIXTY-1-CAR-SOUND-PROCESSOR-EQ-360-1_W0QQitemZ280189047162QQihZ018QQcategoryZ14931QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thats more than a reasonable price for what you will be getting.

Sorry for not copmmenting earlier, hadnt seen this thread for some reason. Anyways, sLOW pretty much said it all. I put in two Alpine Type-X 12s, and one pdx1.1000 amp, along with a 5-farad cap and a high-low converter tapped into the stock sub and things were just not working out. Whenever I would finally get it all hooked up, id turn the key, the subs would start playing, but if i pushed em to a high volume or flipped the input voltage switch on the amp to the higher setting, the subs would pop and cut out, and all the fuses on the amp would be blown. On top of that, the subs were giving off a wicked smell that took a while to get out of the car. Apparently, as sLOW discovered, The voice coils inside the subs were just smoking away.

As another has mentioned, you gotta have your subs powered right. This time around, I will be coming back with TWO pdx amps, one per sub, a rockford 3sixty to get signal properly, and a Kinetik backup battery. Hopefully this time works out much better, but the first time around with just the amp running off the high-low sounded brutal to me, given the value of the equipment I had in thr trunk. Very discouraged from that, I almost hung up the project right then and there. Thankfully I didnt, and hopefully very soon we will be doing the final install on everything. 3sixty is en route to my house, but there is a hangup with the shipping of the battery. Ill be sure to post when I get it all worked out....

-Pat

[DjShaggy]

I bought one of these (http://cgi.ebay.ca/Dodge-Charger-2006-2007-Radio-Amp-Adapter-Wire-Plug_W0QQitemZ330202160164QQihZ014QQcategoryZ38636 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p163 8.m118). It hasn't arrived yet, but I hope it'll be all I need.

[DerekBlk06RT]

don't hate me guys, but i usually do my own installs for stereo equipment, but the past two cars i've owned ('05 Jeep GC and my R/T) I've have circuit city do the install. I've been impressed both times and for my R/T they used at adaptor that DJshaggy is showing there and i have not had one single problem. Subs sound great. Sorry you guys seem to be having problems, that sucks.

[pmpn8ez]

I did the cheap.....tap into the rear speakers with a line out converter......route before

it sounded awful

I went with a unit like the RF 360...........but it is cheaper

its the audiocontrol LC8........you sum all of the speakers from the factory amp and lead them into the LC8....this way you get a FULL signal going out to your aftermarket amps.........it sounded great

since I took everything out of the 300 after I bought the charger.......I bought the PAC audio add-an-amp harness.......

I should have the stuff installed by FEB.......I will let you know how that unit compares to the LC8/RF 360 type of unit

I will tell you this though........a respectible member on the 300 forums (Mr.iNCREDIBLE) was running a RF 360 for a while and then switched to the PAC audio harness.....

he said he is MUCH happier with the PAC one over the 360!!!!

[sLOWDOHC]

don't hate me guys, but i usually do my own installs for stereo equipment, but the past two cars i've owned ('05 Jeep GC and my R/T) I've have circuit city do the install. I've been impressed both times and for my R/T they used at adaptor that DJshaggy is showing there and i have not had one single problem. Subs sound great. Sorry you guys seem to be having problems, that sucks.

I dont hate you...but...read this... http://www.reqsound.com/howitworks.aspx

For most people a simple LOC is 'good enough'. Then theres the rest of us.:)

[SublimeDaytona268]

Well stated Ron...... I guess we fall into that group. Sad, but true.

-Pat

[DerekBlk06RT]

I dont hate you...but...read this... http://www.reqsound.com/howitworks.aspx

For most people a simple LOC is 'good enough'. Then theres the rest of us.:)


that link doesn't work for me for some reason.........

[Reap3r]

Im looking into the Req 5 channel. Thanks for the link. but does anyone have any experience with it? and how would i go about getting it installed? it sits out of sight when its installed correct?

[sound&security]

yes it piggy backs on to the factory amp under the drivers side dash after the amp. not only does it provide a low level out put for you at 5 volts but you can adjust it just like a EQ and it corrects the bass signal. when you turn up the volume on the stock head unit at some point the bass starts to roll off. well what this part does is corrects that problem and when you turn the loud button up the bass still climb's with the volume level

[Reap3r]

alright sounds pretty good. Where should I go to get that installed? Is it more complicated than an ordinary sound installation, if so would the dealer be best or should I just stick to my audio store?

[SublimeDaytona268]

Well I can tell you right now the dealer will have no clue what to do with that. Where are u from? Maybe someone can recommend a sound shop in or around your area. This is definitely a job for an audio shop though, assuming you cant do it yourself.

-Pat

[BlackCharger06]

I did the cheap.....tap into the rear speakers with a line out converter......route before

it sounded awful

I went with a unit like the RF 360...........but it is cheaper

its the audiocontrol LC8........you sum all of the speakers from the factory amp and lead them into the LC8....this way you get a FULL signal going out to your aftermarket amps.........it sounded great

since I took everything out of the 300 after I bought the charger.......I bought the PAC audio add-an-amp harness.......

I should have the stuff installed by FEB.......I will let you know how that unit compares to the LC8/RF 360 type of unit

I will tell you this though........a respectible member on the 300 forums (Mr.iNCREDIBLE) was running a RF 360 for a while and then switched to the PAC audio harness.....

he said he is MUCH happier with the PAC one over the 360!!!!

Pac makes great stuff. I have an after market radio and amps and the pac stuff I got to make it all work does a great job. The stock system isn't that bad compared to a lot of other cars out there right. If you want to make it sound a lot better you have to spend some money. Cutting corners or getting adapters is never going to be as good as putting in a real sound system. If you could get the chargers with out a sound system I'd be all for it. :)

[BLWN HMI]

Selling a AudioControl LC8 if anyones interested. Only 2 months old. Works perfectly. $125 shipped.