Which Speakers for Upgrade

[Agent 86]

Originally Posted by N1rve

I would start with sound insulation on the doors… quotet trimmed).

This is my plan of attack also.

I figure if I can quiet the cabin a little the sound system performance has to improve. Increasing the volume because of the noisy cabin only introduces distortion.

However, I find the stock system can perform very well depending on the musical selection and source. Even some of my iTunes music via bluetooth has great dynamic range surprisingly.

Unfortunately, good fidelity is only noticeable with the engine off and the car sitting still. Once you introduce engine, road and wind noise its a total loss.

[babydriver]

Originally Posted by Koa

Your advice is kinda backwards. OEM+ charges a premium for it to be plug and play. For the money, the biggest value would be to upgrade the door speakers, tweeters up on the dash, and amp in the rear. Couple this with a good subwoofer, and you have a setup that blows the doors off of the OEM+ rig for half the price. Ask me how I know.

I will disagree in a way that may seem radical. If you do not have good, clean amplification and a great head unit, it will not matter if you put FOCAL woofers and ScanSpeak tweeters in the car. It will still sound like crap.

Focus on the front end, then the amps, and finally on the speakers. Or do them all at once. Speakers are only as good as the stuff that precedes them. Audio 101.

[Koa]

Originally Posted by babydriver

I will disagree in a way that may seem radical. If you do not have good, clean amplification and a great head unit, it will not matter if you put FOCAL woofers and ScanSpeak tweeters in the car. It will still sound like crap.

Focus on the front end, then the amps, and finally on the speakers. Or do them all at once. Speakers are only as good as the stuff that precedes them. Audio 101.

I agree here- but we're talking about value for the money. Focal and scanspeak are not value for the money. That's premium.

The only thing OEM+ truly has going for them in terms of quality is their DSP. That's proprietary, big money research in which they mapped out the whole sonic landscape of the FRS and tuned their digital processor to it. Not very easy for even reputable companies to do.

The downside to this is they will NOT sell you just the DSP.

Again, I'm talking about dollar for dollar quality. Value for the money

I just don't see that with OEM+, given what one can do with $1,000 piecing together a custom rig.

[bigdawg86]

Originally Posted by Koa

why not relocate tweeters if you're going custom? Those dash speakers are in a bad sonic location.. right up against that pane.

Maybe I misspoke... All speakers were in the stock locations, except the tweeters... Which were a modified yet somewhat stock location.

The plain and simple is I don't have time for a full custom install, modding door panels, creating speaker pods etc... So that was the fastest solution. I personally don't see any drawbacks using that location, but that's just my opinion.

[MikeM7]

I was thinking about getting this

Head unit
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130X820...S.html?tp=5684

Speakers
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130TSC1...l?cc=07&tp=105 Speakers

I'm guessing I'd need an amp. Can anyone recommend one?

I'm not going to bother with a 10 or 12 in the trunk, I think this will be enough for me.

[86geek]

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP4...ower-Pack.html

Members here have used this Alpine Amp with the stock wiring. I'll be purchasing one to use with the stock speakers and upgrade to better speakers later.

[babydriver]

Originally Posted by Koa

I agree here- but we're talking about value for the money. Focal and scanspeak are not value for the money. That's premium.

I agree, but my point was that you can't improve the sound of your system fundamentally unless you think from the source to the speaker, in that order. Head unit (preamp), power amp, speakers. I chose those two brands exactly because they are the top of the spectrum. We're probably not so far apart.

[thill]

I did a custom setup in my BRZ. Hybrid audio speakers, 5 channel amp, custom sub box and 10" sub. Professionaly installed and guess what? I was able to listen to the OEM Audio Plus solution in an FR-S and the OEM Audio + system sounded better to me. You simply cannot discount the DSP and its capabilities. For $1K you cannot beat it and I just ordered one for my WRX.

[MikeM7]

Originally Posted by thill

I did a custom setup in my BRZ. Hybrid audio speakers, 5 channel amp, custom sub box and 10" sub. Professionaly installed and guess what? I was able to listen to the OEM Audio Plus solution in an FR-S and the OEM Audio + system sounded better to me. You simply cannot discount the DSP and its capabilities. For $1K you cannot beat it and I just ordered one for my WRX.

Thanks for the info. I will take that into consideration. I think it's more like 1500 than 1k though.

Right now the plan is jl audio stealthbox, door speakers, seperate tweeters, amp, pioneer touchscreen, sound deadening for doors and trunk, and remove rear speakers.

I had to take a break from that stuff to finish my other installs though, but next weekend im going to swing by best buy and a couple places to listen to some speakers in person.

My buddy actually recommended I go with a 12 though.. Says an 8 or 10 won't handle some of the lows in my electronic music.

[thill]

Originally Posted by MikeM7

Thanks for the info. I will take that into consideration. I think it's more like 1500 than 1k though.

Right now the plan is jl audio stealthbox, door speakers, seperate tweeters, amp, pioneer touchscreen, sound deadening for doors and trunk, and remove rear speakers.

I had to take a break from that stuff to finish my other installs though, but next weekend im going to swing by best buy and a couple places to listen to some speakers in person.

My buddy actually recommended I go with a 12 though.. Says an 8 or 10 won't handle some of the lows in my electronic music.

They have $100 off right now + free shipping and no tax (for folks in California where they are based).

They have different options, with the System 400+ for $1099 shipped, and then the Reference System costing $1399 shipped.

http://shop.oemaudioplus.com/86-FR-S-BRZ_c5.htm

For the WRX they only offer the system 400+. The FR-S I listened to was the 400+ not the reference system.

If you have the chance to hear it, I highly recommend it. That said, if you go the route you are going and then add a DSP solution at some point, I am sure it would best the OEM + solution. Also, if you really like bass, the OEM + solution is not going to impress. It has some tight, punchy bass but nothing booming.

[Simplicity]

Originally Posted by thill

They have $100 off right now + free shipping and no tax (for folks in California where they are based).

They have different options, with the System 400+ for $1099 shipped, and then the Reference System costing $1399 shipped.

http://shop.oemaudioplus.com/86-FR-S-BRZ_c5.htm

For the WRX they only offer the system 400+. The FR-S I listened to was the 400+ not the reference system.

If you have the chance to hear it, I highly recommend it. That said, if you go the route you are going and then add a DSP solution at some point, I am sure it would best the OEM + solution. Also, if you really like bass, the OEM + solution is not going to impress. It has some tight, punchy bass but nothing booming.

Do you know if the Oem Audio System 400+ is able to listen to anykind of music? Like electronic, to hiphop, then to vocal without any issues compared to some traditional upgrades where it can't handle certain type of music genres?

I was planning on going the traditional route into upgrading everything from the amp, to the sub and speakers, but the oem audio system 400+ seems to be a better route if it can handle anykind of music no matter how loud or what I play.

Any info or suggestions would be great! Thanks.

[bigdawg86]

That's why I like the remote bass knob on my Fosgate amp... I can adjust as needed easily with just a turn of the knob!

[shiro]

OP and fellow thread readers,


I've read on a lot of systems for this car since its released. There are many great options and it really depends on how much time you want to put into your audio system vs the amount of money you want to spend. I think Focal and Infinity Kapas are amazing speakers but you have to be willing to do your own modifications and spend time setting up your own DSP, wires, etc.


One of my favorite setups is at my place. I love the idea of efficiency versus power required. I have a 12K audio system running Klipsch RF-7 IIs, etc. because I love loud, clean music from rock, rap, country to dubstep and electronic. Now I know the difference between home audio and car audio...I'm just trying to establish credibility.


Honestly, you can't go wrong with OEM Audio + Reference Series. The DSP, soundstage and speakers sound pretty amazing, are very clean, and go pretty loud. I haven't had a chance to hear OME+'s subwoofer since I ended up installing everything but the subwoofer and added my own dual custom sub boxes from Integrity Concept. I talked with an engineer at OEM+ (great people to talk to) about where I need to set my crossover on the amp for the subs. Overall, I get the bass I want with the quality and soundstaging of a system already set. I didn't have to modify wires and it sounded great out of the box. I did dynamat a large portion of the car to help reduce road noise, vibrations, etc. I'm very pleased and a lot of car audio shops locally are too.


You may want to consider even if the name "OEM" may sound less appealing. The systems sounds better than my 2014 Lexus and the system in the Lexus isn't half bad.

Originally Posted by thill

I did a custom setup in my BRZ. Hybrid audio speakers, 5 channel amp, custom sub box and 10" sub. Professionaly installed and guess what? I was able to listen to the OEM Audio Plus solution in an FR-S and the OEM Audio + system sounded better to me. You simply cannot discount the DSP and its capabilities. For $1K you cannot beat it and I just ordered one for my WRX.

I fully agree with you.

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Do you know if the Oem Audio System 400+ is able to listen to anykind of music? Like electronic, to hiphop, then to vocal without any issues compared to some traditional upgrades where it can't handle certain type of music genres?

I was planning on going the traditional route into upgrading everything from the amp, to the sub and speakers, but the oem audio system 400+ seems to be a better route if it can handle anykind of music no matter how loud or what I play.

Any info or suggestions would be great! Thanks.

BTW, I listen to electronic, hiphop, country, etc; VibeTribe, Sasha, Infected Mushroom sound amazing on the OEM+ system. For Hiphop, (again, not sure on their bass) the soundstage sounds great as well. For dubstep you can't go wrong with Skrillex and Korn's album, the Path to Totality.


Here's some pics of the setup (I mounted the OEM+ DSP in the stock amp location):

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by bigdawg86

I just about finished my stereo install... so far I love it.

Doors and Dash: Precision Power PPI P65C3, these are 3 way components with a passive crossover and sounds amazing. The reason why I chose the 3 way is so that I can retain and use all the available speaker locations, but have 6 speakers only using 2 channels. I did bypass all the stock wiring and ran my own.

Rears: JBL GTO429, these are 4" speakers and require some modification to get them to fit the rears. These are ran off my remaining 2 channels on my amp.

Speaker Amp: Rockford Fosgate P400X4

Sub: Kicker Comp VX10

Sub Amp: Rockford Fosgate 600.1db

Capacitor: Rockford Fosgate 1 farad

I am currently running these off a cheap car headunit I was using for my garage stereo, but my Pioneer 4100NEX is currently on it's way to my house.

The install was a pain in the ass but worth it. I used great stuff foam (2 cans) in each rear wheel well and then poly fill the remaining dead space (Don't tell my wife, we are missing 2 pillows). The sound deadening difference is phenomenally more quiet. I know people will boo hoo the great stuff, but it worked.

lol, i didn't realize that any car audio company was selling AMT tweeters.. it's about time!

i've been running the dayton amt's for a couple months now. imo, one of the better tweeters i've used, especially with the way the windshield makes most softer silk tweeters sound harsh...