a follow up. my son demonstrated the sound quality in his 2003 saturn. sucks big time with lots of distortions even at medium volume. i was almost convinced the stock speakers must have rotted away. then we installed a low end pioneer HU ($50-$60). wow, the sound is much better now and almost no need to replace speakers. i shake my head and can't believe the low quality OEM HU saturn crammed in this car.
surprizing stock car speaker quality
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Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
The factory stereo in my M5 is fantastic. Tweeters on all the doors along with mid-range speakers; factory subs behind the rear seat. Don't remember the exact speaker count but it is decent. Factory DSP...etc.
The system in the Charger is also surprisingly good, manufactured by Alpine IIRC. Good bass reproduction, which is good for the wife as what she listens to tends to be bass heavy.
The Expedition system is decent but not great. The old JBL that came in the Town Car was a lot better.
The charger sounds great. I've got the DVD option so it's fully loaded with a sub.
Either alpine or Boston acoustics supplies our particular cars bumps.
Everything else I've ever had I had to put a system into.
My old 89 Dodge Ram had 3 subs. 2 10s and a 12. Mtx RFL for the 10s and a kicker comp for the 12.
I had these alpine door speakers that used an electromagnet. Best sounding speakers I ever had.
Mickey shore electronics. Loved that place.
The factory stereo in my M5 is fantastic. Tweeters on all the doors along with mid-range speakers; factory subs behind the rear seat. Don't remember the exact speaker count but it is decent. Factory DSP...etc.
The system in the Charger is also surprisingly good, manufactured by Alpine IIRC. Good bass reproduction, which is good for the wife as what she listens to tends to be bass heavy.
The Expedition system is decent but not great. The old JBL that came in the Town Car was a lot better.
The charger sounds great. I've got the DVD option so it's fully loaded with a sub.
Either alpine or Boston acoustics supplies our particular cars bumps.
Everything else I've ever had I had to put a system into.
My old 89 Dodge Ram had 3 subs. 2 10s and a 12. Mtx RFL for the 10s and a kicker comp for the 12.
I had these alpine door speakers that used an electromagnet. Best sounding speakers I ever had.
Mickey shore electronics. Loved that place.
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
My biggest complaint with my OEM Bose systems is the artificial bass boosting at low volumes, and I'm someone who likes bass. It is not a normal loudness curve.
My second biggest complaint is how bad XM/Sirius satellite sounds.
Our E60 BMW stereo sounds decent in most conditions, I don't remember what stereo option it has aside from the iPhone & USB connection.
Totally agreed on the satellite radio. They are dead to me. I bring my own stuff and stream it into the head unit from my phone...
My biggest complaint with my OEM Bose systems is the artificial bass boosting at low volumes, and I'm someone who likes bass. It is not a normal loudness curve.
My second biggest complaint is how bad XM/Sirius satellite sounds.
Our E60 BMW stereo sounds decent in most conditions, I don't remember what stereo option it has aside from the iPhone & USB connection.
Totally agreed on the satellite radio. They are dead to me. I bring my own stuff and stream it into the head unit from my phone...
My wife's Subaru has a pretty good factory system, and I'm going to leave it alone. The rest of my vehicles had mediocre to terrible factory systems, especially since half of them are over 20 years old, and they have all been upgraded with aftermarket head units, speakers, and subwoofers.
My LS400 has Nakamichi system so it is very good, E430 has Bose so it is okay but the OEM system in Honda S2000 is so weak at any speed above 50-60 MPH. I changed the whole system to Nakamichi head unit plus Boston Acoustics 240W amp to drive the front Infinitive Kappa 2-way component speakers, I added Kappa 2-way speakers to the rear plus couple small subs in the place of spare tire in the trunk. My parts cost was about $1k plus labor of $300-400.
Now I can turn up the volume to listen to music at 80-90 MPH with top down without distortion.
Now I can turn up the volume to listen to music at 80-90 MPH with top down without distortion.
I used to be big time into car audio. Did all of my own installations, even competed in car audio competitions. I've yet to hear any factory equipment that sounds as good as the high end aftermarket stuff, but I will say they have made strides compared to what used to be installed at the factory. I would still have my own aftermarket equipment installed in my vehicles, but my age has made it too difficult for me to be crawling around upsidedown inside vehicles anymore. I also don't trust installation shops to not cut corners, so I just don't have the stuff in my vehicles anymore, though I still have some very nice high end equipment...
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
My biggest complaint with my OEM Bose systems is the artificial bass boosting at low volumes, and I'm someone who likes bass. It is not a normal loudness curve.
My second biggest complaint is how bad XM/Sirius satellite sounds.
Our E60 BMW stereo sounds decent in most conditions, I don't remember what stereo option it has aside from the iPhone & USB connection.
Totally agreed on the satellite radio. They are dead to me. I bring my own stuff and stream it into the head unit from my phone...
Satellite radio doesn't have the sound quality because it's compressed...so is the stuff coming from iphones, it's just not compressed quite as much...the only sources I know of that aren't compressed is high def FM and CDs...satellite radio isn't known for SQ, it's there to provide a wide variety of programming...
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
My biggest complaint with my OEM Bose systems is the artificial bass boosting at low volumes, and I'm someone who likes bass. It is not a normal loudness curve.
My second biggest complaint is how bad XM/Sirius satellite sounds.
Our E60 BMW stereo sounds decent in most conditions, I don't remember what stereo option it has aside from the iPhone & USB connection.
Totally agreed on the satellite radio. They are dead to me. I bring my own stuff and stream it into the head unit from my phone...
Satellite radio doesn't have the sound quality because it's compressed...so is the stuff coming from iphones, it's just not compressed quite as much...the only sources I know of that aren't compressed is high def FM and CDs...satellite radio isn't known for SQ, it's there to provide a wide variety of programming...
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Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The OEM has the advantage of being able to actually test speaker components and adjust crossovers and EQ at the time when the car is being designed. The same cannot be said about aftermarket speaker manufacturers. So, just dumping in aftermarket speakers in place of the OEM ones often can lead to undesirable results as the new speakers may not align well with the available enclosures, crossovers, factory programmed EQ, etc.
Good sound is achieved when the speakers react well with the environment in which they were placed. And only the car mfg knows that environment in advance. Aftermarket speakers are designed to fit variety of vehicles/environments and as a result may not fit any particular environment exceptionally well. Can you get it to sound great? Sure, but it may take a lot of tweaking, and enclosure redesign that most people have no patience or willingness for.
Bingo. This is key and makes all the difference IF the OEM wants to do it right.
I have the OEM Volvo/Alpine/Dolby/Dynaudio center-channel, surround-sound system in the sled. Amazing sound even after 17 yrs. Volvo was the first OEM to have Dolby-certified surround-sound in a vehicle 17 years ago. Not sure what they're up to or offering these days.
The OEM has the advantage of being able to actually test speaker components and adjust crossovers and EQ at the time when the car is being designed. The same cannot be said about aftermarket speaker manufacturers. So, just dumping in aftermarket speakers in place of the OEM ones often can lead to undesirable results as the new speakers may not align well with the available enclosures, crossovers, factory programmed EQ, etc.
Good sound is achieved when the speakers react well with the environment in which they were placed. And only the car mfg knows that environment in advance. Aftermarket speakers are designed to fit variety of vehicles/environments and as a result may not fit any particular environment exceptionally well. Can you get it to sound great? Sure, but it may take a lot of tweaking, and enclosure redesign that most people have no patience or willingness for.
Bingo. This is key and makes all the difference IF the OEM wants to do it right.
I have the OEM Volvo/Alpine/Dolby/Dynaudio center-channel, surround-sound system in the sled. Amazing sound even after 17 yrs. Volvo was the first OEM to have Dolby-certified surround-sound in a vehicle 17 years ago. Not sure what they're up to or offering these days.
I put the factory Mach Audio in my 2001 Taurus. With the Mach RCU (radio control unit?) and the Mach speakers, it sounded quite nice. I had a few people ask me how much I paid for such a nice sounding custom system that still used the factory fascia.
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