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?