Poor Sound Quality w/Aftermarket Head Unit.
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Poor Sound Quality w/Aftermarket Head Unit.
I recently installed a Kenwood 7140 double din head unit. After changing it out I noticed the stock speakers are not nearly as loud. Along with not being as loud, the sound quality seems to have gone down as well. Anyone know what the problem is? I have an 08 touring so i do have the Bose System. If I can't get the problem straightened out I will most likely put the stock head unit back in.
Stock bose speakers normally run at 2ohms..head-units normally output at 4ohms..
Upgrading the aftermarket head-unit will not make the speakers sound better, it'll probably make it sound worse. Upgrade the speakers and an amplifier for them and you'll be a lot more happy.
Upgrading the aftermarket head-unit will not make the speakers sound better, it'll probably make it sound worse. Upgrade the speakers and an amplifier for them and you'll be a lot more happy.
i must have said this a million times hehe, on the bose equiped Zs and Gs.
swapping in a HU gets you these results:
1. similar to stock SQ
2. much less output than stock with equal or worse SQ, reason for htis is not the impedance acutally, becuase you are still sending signal first to the bose amp and it is the bose amp that sees the end impedance of the speakers. instead, when you use a bose adapter harness, you have to lower the gain of the to avoid over driving the bose amp and getting a ton of hiss. its a very hard thing to coordinate depending on which adapter you use, but most of hte time, to avoid excessive background hiss, the gain needs to be pretty low. this varies from HU to HU, but in general, even the best, you can only expect scenario number 1.
3. if you dont use an adapter, you get super loud background hiss at ALL volumes and it will get usper loud by the time you reach volume 3 or 4 on the new hu, after that it starts to distort.
you cant direct wire and bypass the bose amp either, as quakeroatmeal pointed out, running a HU a t2ohm nominal impedance is going to generate too much heat and melt the HU down in a flash.
b
swapping in a HU gets you these results:
1. similar to stock SQ
2. much less output than stock with equal or worse SQ, reason for htis is not the impedance acutally, becuase you are still sending signal first to the bose amp and it is the bose amp that sees the end impedance of the speakers. instead, when you use a bose adapter harness, you have to lower the gain of the to avoid over driving the bose amp and getting a ton of hiss. its a very hard thing to coordinate depending on which adapter you use, but most of hte time, to avoid excessive background hiss, the gain needs to be pretty low. this varies from HU to HU, but in general, even the best, you can only expect scenario number 1.
3. if you dont use an adapter, you get super loud background hiss at ALL volumes and it will get usper loud by the time you reach volume 3 or 4 on the new hu, after that it starts to distort.
you cant direct wire and bypass the bose amp either, as quakeroatmeal pointed out, running a HU a t2ohm nominal impedance is going to generate too much heat and melt the HU down in a flash.
b
time for me to spend the $ on some kicker components and a nice Navi Headunit
Maybe you did this already but did you check the equalizer settings? I just recently had a JVC double DIN installed and at first, the bass was lossy and the mids and trebs were too brassy but after playing with the equalizer settings to suit my taste, I got better sound quality than I ever did with the stock HU.
I don't have the Bose sound system, BTW, just the base Clarion speakers (which can surprisingly handle a lot of bass).
I don't have the Bose sound system, BTW, just the base Clarion speakers (which can surprisingly handle a lot of bass).
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i must have said this a million times hehe, on the bose equiped Zs and Gs.
swapping in a HU gets you these results:
1. similar to stock SQ
2. much less output than stock with equal or worse SQ, reason for htis is not the impedance acutally, becuase you are still sending signal first to the bose amp and it is the bose amp that sees the end impedance of the speakers. instead, when you use a bose adapter harness, you have to lower the gain of the to avoid over driving the bose amp and getting a ton of hiss. its a very hard thing to coordinate depending on which adapter you use, but most of hte time, to avoid excessive background hiss, the gain needs to be pretty low. this varies from HU to HU, but in general, even the best, you can only expect scenario number 1.
3. if you dont use an adapter, you get super loud background hiss at ALL volumes and it will get usper loud by the time you reach volume 3 or 4 on the new hu, after that it starts to distort.
you cant direct wire and bypass the bose amp either, as quakeroatmeal pointed out, running a HU a t2ohm nominal impedance is going to generate too much heat and melt the HU down in a flash.
b
swapping in a HU gets you these results:
1. similar to stock SQ
2. much less output than stock with equal or worse SQ, reason for htis is not the impedance acutally, becuase you are still sending signal first to the bose amp and it is the bose amp that sees the end impedance of the speakers. instead, when you use a bose adapter harness, you have to lower the gain of the to avoid over driving the bose amp and getting a ton of hiss. its a very hard thing to coordinate depending on which adapter you use, but most of hte time, to avoid excessive background hiss, the gain needs to be pretty low. this varies from HU to HU, but in general, even the best, you can only expect scenario number 1.
3. if you dont use an adapter, you get super loud background hiss at ALL volumes and it will get usper loud by the time you reach volume 3 or 4 on the new hu, after that it starts to distort.
you cant direct wire and bypass the bose amp either, as quakeroatmeal pointed out, running a HU a t2ohm nominal impedance is going to generate too much heat and melt the HU down in a flash.
b
Is it necessary to get an amp and better speakers though? I'm not an audiophile. I don't need amazing sound. The Bose suits me just fine, I just want nav/dvd but at least retain the same sound quality. I don't want it to to be worst. I just shelled out a lot of money for my head unit, front lip, sides, l.e.d. tails, and wheels, I really don't want to spend any more money especially for audio unless really necessary. Anyone with stock Bose and aftermarket H/U (specifically Avic-Z2) chime in?
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