Complete JL Audio installation - factory head unit
06-18-2009, 01:01 PM
#21
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Thread Starter
Hey again -
Just wrapped up the install. I'll post photos after I get back from Canada this weekend.
A couple thoughts: the sound is much, much better than the factory Bose, though I'm not happy with the placements of the front speakers. I'm going to go back and try cutting out the factory door speaker covers for the woofers and using speaker cloth (there's a DIY for that somewhere on the board). If that improves the soundstage, great. If it's still muddy, I'm going to try re-mounting the JL tweets somewhere away from the factory location to improve the overall sound clarity. The rears sound great, but I want the fronts to be where the good sound comes from.
The install was pretty straightforward, except for the re-wiring I had to do to splice in the signal summary interface. The only issue (and it's minor) I have with the Cleansweep is the white noise it generates when you turn it's volume control **** more than half way up and use the factory volume **** to adjust the sound level. The Aux inputs works great and it does everything else pretty well.
Overall, the Cleansweep cost me about 1/2 - 1/3 of what it would have cost to put in a new head unit that has bluetooth, 6-cd changer and XM Radio, while retaining the factory look and the steering wheel controls. It was a pretty good bargain in that regard.
Special props to Zenclosure for their custom sub box and front speaker spacers. They worked like a champ.
Also, I know everyone has their opinion on what sounds best and sticks to their own perceived cost/benefit ratios, depending on their income levels. Audio is pretty subjective, so I'll take criticisms with a grain of salt until you actually hear the system in person. Useless troll comments like "what a waste" without any elaboration are meaningless and waste everyone's time. I've worked with JL before, and I'm happy with the sound, so I decided to stick with what I liked.
I'll have the photos posted on Monday or Tuesday. I'm posting them in the hope they'll at least offer a bit of help to anyone trying to take on parts of this project in the future. It's not a vanity thing, I assure you. Everyone have a good weekend.
Just wrapped up the install. I'll post photos after I get back from Canada this weekend.
A couple thoughts: the sound is much, much better than the factory Bose, though I'm not happy with the placements of the front speakers. I'm going to go back and try cutting out the factory door speaker covers for the woofers and using speaker cloth (there's a DIY for that somewhere on the board). If that improves the soundstage, great. If it's still muddy, I'm going to try re-mounting the JL tweets somewhere away from the factory location to improve the overall sound clarity. The rears sound great, but I want the fronts to be where the good sound comes from.
The install was pretty straightforward, except for the re-wiring I had to do to splice in the signal summary interface. The only issue (and it's minor) I have with the Cleansweep is the white noise it generates when you turn it's volume control **** more than half way up and use the factory volume **** to adjust the sound level. The Aux inputs works great and it does everything else pretty well.
Overall, the Cleansweep cost me about 1/2 - 1/3 of what it would have cost to put in a new head unit that has bluetooth, 6-cd changer and XM Radio, while retaining the factory look and the steering wheel controls. It was a pretty good bargain in that regard.
Special props to Zenclosure for their custom sub box and front speaker spacers. They worked like a champ.
Also, I know everyone has their opinion on what sounds best and sticks to their own perceived cost/benefit ratios, depending on their income levels. Audio is pretty subjective, so I'll take criticisms with a grain of salt until you actually hear the system in person. Useless troll comments like "what a waste" without any elaboration are meaningless and waste everyone's time. I've worked with JL before, and I'm happy with the sound, so I decided to stick with what I liked.
I'll have the photos posted on Monday or Tuesday. I'm posting them in the hope they'll at least offer a bit of help to anyone trying to take on parts of this project in the future. It's not a vanity thing, I assure you. Everyone have a good weekend.
06-23-2009, 11:32 AM
#22
no, hes making an educated observation
for the price of the clean sweep stuff (which isnt that good) you could have gotten a AudioControl DQXS (far superior to CS stuff)
amp wise, could have gotten some Alpine PDX amps (much smaller than the jl's you purchased and much cleaner power)
rear coaxials.... waste of money, you dont need rear fill in a Z, its a damn 2 seater
sub.... could have gotten much better SQ and output out of a set of 8's rather than the single bottom rung JL sub
14g wire on the sub.... im running 8awg to my sub, i save the 14g wire for my tweeters and midrange... 12g on my midbass
all of the money you spent on this..... well lets just say, if you asked some of the people who are familiar with these products and make a living doing car audio you could have come out with a system that sounds 3x as loud and 3x as clear for about 2/3 of what you spent
for the price of the clean sweep stuff (which isnt that good) you could have gotten a AudioControl DQXS (far superior to CS stuff)
amp wise, could have gotten some Alpine PDX amps (much smaller than the jl's you purchased and much cleaner power)
rear coaxials.... waste of money, you dont need rear fill in a Z, its a damn 2 seater
sub.... could have gotten much better SQ and output out of a set of 8's rather than the single bottom rung JL sub
14g wire on the sub.... im running 8awg to my sub, i save the 14g wire for my tweeters and midrange... 12g on my midbass
all of the money you spent on this..... well lets just say, if you asked some of the people who are familiar with these products and make a living doing car audio you could have come out with a system that sounds 3x as loud and 3x as clear for about 2/3 of what you spent
I have to agree. I'm running JL amps and mids in my car so I'm no JL Hatemonger but the money could've been better spent on this system IMO.
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