Hi all,

I am about to sell my car because I just cannot get a stereo to sound good in it. I have a set of component JL's in it, and the sound in the cabin is so harsh I had to buy an EQ box to take down the 4k and 8k all the way to -12 db, and it is still harsh sounding. Everytime I get out of the car I feel my right ear is slightly ringing, and I am not playing the damn stereo that loud. Plus if I get the bass sounding right when stopped, when you drive off, the sound of the engine and road noise completely drowns out the bass.

I think the horrible sound is due to the odd shaped doors and all the hard plastic all over the place. Has anyone been able to tone the harshness down, or do I just have to choose a different car? The only reason why I bought it was I had a 335i and it cost way too much to put a stereo in that thing. So I wanted a cheaper car that I could put a stereo in easily.

I am very upset over this whole thing. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

--Todd

 

lol you are gonna SELL your car because the sound system acoustics do not
meet your approval...lol
You sure have your priorities in the right order.
GEEZ!

 

I could only say add sound insulation, make sure you are running 18" wheels with higher profile touring tires to reduce the road noise.

 

Take it easy. Don't sell yet. If done right you can have the best sounding system in the
Z. What you should have done was to spend some time in the Audio/Video section to see
what others have done. I have driven in lots of cars (friends and family) with custom sound systems but none of them come even close to what I have in my Z. Anybody that rides with me testifies to that. Just take time and money to do it right

 

 

I agree on the road noise.Most of the noise comes from the rear.18" tires
are not gonna solve this problem.What will minimize the noise is to
insolate the hell out of the trunk/spare tire area with sound deadeners.
Include the covering over the spare and in spare wheel itself.Much of the
road noise in the cabin comes from the wheel well areas that by design are
IN the cabin!

 

I myself went through several front door speakers and then found some door pods that allowed for bigger speakers and a they face up and in instead of down. Also getting rid of the stock speaker grill works well. If i can remember where i got the pods from i will edit this post but i did find them and buy them on this forum.

 

+1 on door pods. Huge difference. Wickedcas makes them but I took the time to make some myself. Need to be someone who loves to spend time working on his car otherwise you are better off buying them even though they cost quite a bit. It has to be done right
and takes too much time. If doing the sound insulation, stay away from FatMat.
I had argued in favor of it until I used Dynamat Xtreme. There are other products that cost cheaper though but if I had to do it all over, I will bite it and spend the extra on Dynamat Xtreme or try something else other than FatMat

 

my good god.

How about buy a decent set up if you want to be an audipphile in a tiny car w sh#t path lengths.

Boston components fr and rear, Alpine Imprint eq, time correction x over etc sound processing and some wicked cas pods.. done.
best imagining car Ive ever been in.

 

My system sounds awesome. What are you going to get a Cube?

 

Good sound doesn't come cheap, $1100 DynAudios and custom door panels,
DLS UP6 rears, two 10" Diamond Audio subs, and Three DLS amps, A4 bridged fronts, A2 rears, A6 subs. Clean and very loud.
Pic taken while fitting panels, Have a Pioneer AVIC 930 installed

 

Heh these responses are all over the map. Interesting.

I put an alpine deck with JL components, alpine 5 channel amp and i resorted to an audiocontrol EQ-X to try to tame the highs. Even with the dials down to -12 db, it still didn't tame the highs enough. Even my stereo shop here was stunned as to how much the cab was accentuating 4k-8k frequencies. When he put the RTA box on it, it was just ridiculous.

Also I had previously put insulation ALL over the trunk including the side panels and it helped somewhat.

And yes, the only reason I picked this car is to put a stereo in it. Previously I had a 335i and it cost SO much money to put a stereo in it, I never did put one in. So since there is so much noise and with the stereo sounding so bad, it really does hurt my ears at middle volume, not even cranking it at all.

So, sorry if I actually value my hearing, but this car just is too loud. Anyone want to buy it?

 

sounds like you need an S-class mercedes

 

Got a spare one?

 

Sell the Z immediately. You picked the worst car for a stereo. There is no sound deadening material so it only sounds good when the engine is off and the car is not moving.

Have you considered a honda civic?

 

^ HAHAHAH!!!!
But then you get that annoying trunk rattle

 

I'll trade you my RX8 for your 350z. RX8 already has a system in it so you'll like it. PM me if interested.

 

I listened critically due to this thread yesterday and while I do have the highs turned way down it is not totally off and my system sounds great.

Do you have component tweeters? Are they in the stock location? My Image Dynamics CX64 component tweeters are huge and don't look great in the stock location but they and the system sounds great.