aftermarket system

tom f · January 8, 2004

i let the local shop install a system in my 2000 z71 ext cab.i'm not satisfied,i wanted to see what the problem is.I bought the pioneer component set up front and some bostwic speakers in the back to replace factory and then added 2 kicker 10 all powered by a older used sony explode aamp.it sounds like it is blairing out if you turn it loud.the subs sound ok. what is the problem?

J-rod · January 8, 2004

Well, it could be a few things, but not knowing the details of the setup, these would be my top picks:

1) The Sony amp is too small and is therefore not able to reproduce "clean" sound at that high of a volume.

2) The exact opposite: the amp is too large (and the gain cut up too high) and is overdriving the speakers.

3) It could also be as simple as the speakers playing frequencies they're not meant to. Does the amp or head unti have a built in crossover? Do you have an external crossover, either active (a powered, adjustable crossover) or passive (bass-blockers)? I would think any decent audio shop would know to at least put bass-blockers on em but who knows!

4) The head unit doesn't produce a clean signal at that volume. Are you using the stock head unit? I know they aren't rated for much wattage at all, but I've never heard one pushing a system myself so I don't know if this could be a problem or not. I do know that I've seen several posts here by ppl with aftermarket systems driven by the stock head unit and I don't recall any of them having any complaints.

I welcome any corrections / additions as I am *NOT* a stereo wiz! What I listed are some of the things I've run into either in my own equipment or helped buddies with. So yeah, not sure that helped, but maybe you can narrow it down a little.

tom f · January 8, 2004

well,i have a pioneer head unit,the one that has likeseveral things that it plays on it like race cars and all that like a little moniter i guess(i dont know that much about this stuff)anyway it was like 300 bucks and i think they do have some of the stuff on ther that you named.they said i needed to have 2 amps.I was just trying to get alittle better sound i hate to spend to much more money on it.

J-rod · January 9, 2004

Ah, I see. (Those pioneers with the little 'screensavers' or whatever they call em are pretty cool, imo.) I probably should have asked this to begin with, but when you said it was "blairing out" when you turned it up, I assumed you meant that the door speakers (but not the subs) were distorting ... meaning the music was no longer 'clean'. Is that correct or did you mean something more along the lines of "the system isn't balanced well ... when I turn it up, the mid and high range drown out the subs which otherwise sound fine"??? Also, do you know if the rear speakers are hooked to the amp or just pushed by the head unit (in other words, the only thing the amp is pushing are the subs)?

I don't know man. I wish I could help more. If all else fails, maybe you can find a buddy close by who knows a little about it. Heck, I suppose it *could* be as easy as adjusting the crossover/bass/treble settings on the headunit! I've been in your shoes before and I can definitely sympathize ... it sucks to dish out that much $$$ and not be happy with the results. On a slightly more positive note, if it does come down to needing that second amp, you can probably get away pretty cheap with one off ebay or something.

tom f · January 9, 2004

thanks for the help.All the speakers are on the amp and yes the blareing is just like distortion,but it dosent really drown out the subs.I think you were right about the amp not having enough power.I checked it and it was way up ,I turned it down and it sounds better it just dosent get to loud.I think i will let them put the other amp in.I dont care about loud i just want it super clean.Do you think the pioneer comp. set are good?I tell you my bud just bought a 03 gmc and his factory cd sounds pretty good.they must have upgraded the stereo.

J-rod · January 9, 2004

Well, I'm glad ya got it sounding good enough for the time being. As for the Pioneers, I've never heard em so I can't say. But I did find a good car audio site with a ton of reviews when I was shoppin for my stuff. I'll think of it <goes to Google to do a little searchin> ...

Ah, it was www.carreview.com!

They're supposed to be reviews from ppl who own the equipment but every once in awhile you'll come across one where you can tell they didn't know anything about it and were just writing ... well, I don't know why they were writing.

Anyway, good luck with it and I hope it exceeds your expectations (and not your budget) when ya get done!!!