Stereo
 

I love my new car, but the stereo is awful. What have others done. I kinda like the head unit (base unit), so I am thinking of changing only the speakers.

Have you tried this?

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7578

you're going to want to adjust all the stereo options first.
TC into FR-S
SubW to On
Check balance treble, etc.

Putting the sub woofer to on isnt really advisable unless you actually have a sub connected to the pre outs on the deck....

I added an 8 inch amplified bazooka tube. The stereo is godly now. All for $300 installed.

I feel like there is a little more kick from the speakers - but it could be my brain making stuff up haha

If a guy isn't too concerned about mad tight bass drops or shaboogie woogie jigga beats ... how is the stereo just for sound quality in general?

The stock stereo is probably fine for anything less than an audiophile. It's not the most fantastic setup out there but it'll suffice and it sounds pretty good. It is a Pioneer head-unit, after all. I actually prefer it to the one in my tC.

The nice thing is that if you want something better it's easy to swap out.

I may be behind on times with stereo stuff but exactly how many channels or power is a guy going to need to power a complete set of aftermarket speakers?

Would you advise scrapping the dash speakers altogether? In the past they have never been great on any car and are usually the first to go when upgrading the system.

Dude theres so many variables. Check out Crutchfield for a laundry list of info. You need to match speaker power with amp power (4 100w RMS speakers = 400watt RMS amp) and it will need to be at least 4 channel. If you are going to to aftermarket tweeters or mid bass drivers you will probably need a new crossover. A sub will need its own amp.... and the list goes on.

Im not an audiophile or pro by any stretch but just dont go connecting nice aftermarket speakers to a stock headunit, it wont do any justice. Thats not to say you cant use it, just put some nice high end stuff in between!

I know the elementary items - but I'm just used to no more than 4 channels. My typical aftermarket stereo is a set of high-end 3 way components in the front doors running off of a 2.1 channel amp and a small high quality ~10" sub in the back filling the sound out.

I have always thought it was pretty decent. I've also owned an S2000 and a couple of Lotus, which have arguably the worst stereos ever devised, so I may have exceedingly low expectations.

For me, the stock headunit seems acceptable.

However.. I probably will eventually replace the door and rear speakers. The door ones rattle, and if i'm going to be in there adding dynamat, I might as well replace them.

The rear speakers just suck.

Good thing they are just filler :)

Maybe fade everything forward if they are bad