Inexpensive suggestion for better sound??
 

I picked up my BRZ a couple days ago and I'm not an audiophile or anywhere close to one but I want better sound.

Is the problem the speakers and/or the headunit?

Would buying an amp take care of this issue if I kept speakers and headunit? I don't mind the headunit and would rather keep it unless I'm told it has to go.

I don't know much about sound systems obviously :drool:

Although im doing more, I added an amp to the factory head unit and speakers. To be honest it sounds much better and the ability to set cross over points on the amp really helped.

Get a 4 channel amp and you'll enjoy it more. The stock stereo uses a 23w x 4 MOSFET chip in the head unit with an amp for just the door speakers. It's not the best.

Should I get a 5 channel just in case someday I buy a better headunit that supports it??

Usually for best sound your going to need a HU, amp, speakers and maybe a sub if you want some thump.

You could add a nice 2 channel amp (or 4 chan) and it would add some loudness to the system and some quality to the sound but the speakers will hold it back because they will distort easily.

Good quality splits for the front speakers would be next, you can disconnect the factory rear speakers as you dont need them and only really provide sound for passengers and in a quality setup all the sound should be coming from in front of you, like a stage. You will use a 2 channels from the amp for this, one for left and one for right.

headunit will add some quality but good for more featues like mp3 playback, looks etc. The better quality the HU the better signal it is sending to the amp which in turn is sent to the speakers.

You can add a sub and wire the other 2 channels from your 4 chan amp to power a small sub or you could get a monoblock (1chan amp with high power output) to run a more power hungry sub.

Hope that helps. Dont forget to add some funds for the little extras, power wires, distribution block from the battery, sound deadning, installation.

If you had to pick only one or 2 things though, i would prob go front speakers (splits) and amp in that order.

Pretty much thats the way to go when upgrading sound.

Here is another one that people take for granted. Check to see the 'Source' of your music tracks to make sure it's the highest of quality, Lossless (ie FLAC, 320bits mp3).

What settings are you running? I would recommend turning off any system that raises the volume as the speed increases as well as turning the fade fully to the front. Also, if you use any bass and treble adjustments, try to keep them as small as possible and raise the volume a little instead. While the sound might not be as impressive, it'll be cleaner and cause less fatigue.

As for upgrades, I'd start with sound deadening/sealing the doors. It'll help with any system and most of the cost is labour so if you don't mind doing it yourself it doesn't cost much.

As for the sound, the FRS HU and speakers seem pretty well matched to my ear. I'm not sure how much difference there is internally to the BRZ HU. To me though, if your gonna change either the speakers for the HU, you'll probably be unsatisfied until you change both and add a nice amp.

What are the specs of the BRZ sound system? I hear it's 196 watts , 8 speakers.

Yeah unfortunately theres no cheap way to it when it comes to audio systems, i did my celica in bits and it kind of killed the end quality cause i didnt get the sudden jump from stock sound to aftermarket audio. I just got sligh improvments with each component added. its best to save the pennies and do it all in one go.

I havent looked into the frs/brz stock audio much but when they talking 180 watts 8 speaker etc etc you can expect it to be average quality stuff. All components hitting the power limits of the headunits power output (i hear it has an amp though).

point im getting at is any stock part you use is what will be holding your after market gear back. Getting good quality speakers will run only half as good from the stock amp etc. Welcome to the world of car audio :P

Thanks. Yeah I'm agreeing on waiting to do everything at once. I guess I gotta figure out what that is going to run me.

I have to put priority on winter tires then performance upgrades after the winter. A new sound system may be a while away unless I get it during the winter months after buying the tires.

No worries its prob the best way to go but certainly isnt cheap, work out a budget but dont forget installation and extra costs (install, wirring, sound deadening).

To give you an idea of my planned install all im going to do is see how the stock system is and most likely just put a decent set on component speakers in the front and fade out the rear speakers (focals or high end alpines). Followed by sound deadening the doors. I think ill be happy with that.

How much weight do you think sound deadening will add to the car?

Depends how crazy you got with the sound deadening. Its negligible though really. If you deadened most of the panels and doors/boot you would be looking at easily under 20lbs if using a good mat style deadener.

Yea, its got 8 speakers, 4 of which sits on the top of the cabin on the very front of the car (2 speaker and 2 tweeters), 2 on the doors, and 2 on the back.

Damn 2 speakers and 2 tweaters on the dash and 2 speakers in the door? Whats the best way on that, splits on dash and speakers in the door or a 3 way system?

I'm planning on using 6.5's in the doors and putting the matched tweeters in the dash. The dash panel appears to pop off easily; I may even modify it to make a partially recessed tweeter pod. I'm going to use an active setup with an independent amp channel for each tweeter and door woofer, and another for a sub.

Some are doing 3-ways, but the mid driver is kind of a funky 3.5 size, really shallow clearance.

Make sure it's in the right mode for the car. As a number of people have found (including me) the dealer doesn't always program the head unit correctly before letting the customer take the car home.

Mine didn't sound that great until I changed the mode to the correct one for the car. After that it sounded MUCH better.

Also, I'd say getting some subs in there with a dedicated amp will help a bunch.

Most stick on stuff is around a pound per square foot. If you read this they say you only need to cover about 25% of the panel. So, I'd second the 20lbs.

What setting/mode are you referring to?

you are kidding right. try looking at the only sticky on this subforum.

I think the main problem with the stock setup is those rear speakers. What I did was adjust it to just rear speakers and you can tell how shitty they are. I feel like all the sound is in the front of the vehicle and coming from all surround sound audio setups this really erks me. I feel those rear speakers need to go. Problem is it looks like we have to wait till someone fabs up a set of brackets.

I think the cheapest and most effective way to make the stereo sound better is to buy some sound deadening material and hit the doors and dash area by the speakers. Get something like raammat. It shouldn't take alot, just around the speakers and directly behind them. Then liberally apply some ensolite foam to the door, door panel and dash. Do something to stop the power window switches from rattling. You can epoxy them in place or just wrap them in electrical tape.

For around $100, your stereo will sound much better and your doors will also be luxury car solid. You don't need to go crazy with the raammat. Maybe 10 pounds total will be fine. Ensolite weighs nothing.

How bout something like this? JL Audio Clean Sweep

http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchf.../136441DSP.jpg

What about the Bongiovi DSP. Its a $450 option for Canada and the website says that it greatly improves sound.

I'd like to hear from people that have first hand experience.

The problem with that is the Stock HU's output equalization changes as the volume changes. But the clean sweep, much like the bit one, bit ten, etc. aren't able to compensate for this. To avoid this, you can use a supplied volume knob with some of them but they look like ass, in my opinion.

Thats why I just run an aftermarket deck with active crossovers and time alignment.

That's what my local Car audio store suggested. The guy has a Legacy. He also suggested a 300rms watt amp and 300rms watt sub.

I'm not sure if he suggested that because I told him I like the NAV on the stock head unit and didn't want to give it up.

300 watt sub and amp is a fine idea but sounds like an off the shelf answer. It really depends on your goals and tastes, not to mention your budget.

Personally, I try to run an amp that can double the subs input wattage recommendation, but that's because I typically run my subs sealed and in small enclosures. I find this helps a lot with the phase variances seen with other box types,(if you don't know what I'm talking about, download a copy of winisd beta and play with it. take a look at the phase plots for various box designs) but it takes more power to get the sub moving hence the extra amp power. BTW, I've never blown a sub like this. A drivers power handling ability has as much to do with it's heat dissipation capabilities as it does the drivers suspension not bottoming out. With the music I listen to, I don't get many constant bass notes so the heat dissipation isn't that much of a concern for me. So that just leaves the suspension and the small sealed box helps that a bunch.

As for the clean sweep, head over to diyma.com and check some of the reviews. I don't have any first hand experience with it.

Yuk
 

I had the original replaced with the upgrade - more boom and tizz only louder with more distortion and rattling.

It plays much louder than the stock radio but the harshness is much louder.It is fine with lower volume.

The main problem I think is the quality of the factory speakers - junk. Very harsh especially in the high frequencies.

Niether stock or upgrade qualifies as a hi-fi sound system , but they ARE GREAT car radios.

If I had it to do over again I would replace the stock radio with aftermarket and add a proper amp and replace ALL the speakers.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...er_03/ar15.gif:mad0259:

Both the OP and myself have a BRZ so the sticky bears no relevance. I thought he was maybe referring to some setting on the Subaru NAV unit.

I keep forgetting about that difference, now your response makes sense.:bonk: