Newbie wants to learn the best 'Original' aftermarket audio system for BRZ

[HaXx]

Originally Posted by soundman98

they are 2 ohm, 6.5" speakers. as far as i'm aware, there is not an upgrade available within those specifications anywhere in the world.

Ok, awesome, I'll probably just replace with a oe door speaker in that case. But before I do that, I found that a rattly drivers door is quite common, so I'll try some foam before I say the culprit is a blown speaker. Thread I found called rattly driver door, or something or other.

[soundman98]

yeah, i forgot to add that-- a little bit of sound dampening can go a long ways.

[ArrrBussiere]

Originally Posted by HaXx

I'm going to ask this here, while theres a current thread about audio going:

My driver door speaker is on it's way out, getting rattly. I was looking at interior partouts for a replacement, but I generally upgrade when something needs replacing

Is there such thing as a drop in upgrade main door speaker upgrade? I am 100% not looking to get a new head unit, bigger amp, or anything else. I appreciate sound, but i simply am not invested that much.

Totally piggy-backing off this and using this thread instead of starting a whole new one as it seems to somewhat pertain:

I want to put a sub into my car but I'm not really looking to upgrade anything else. If I install the sub and amp, does that "take away" some of the load from the door speakers (from what I can gather are more just "subwoofers" rather than speakers?) or does it make no difference at all?

I am going to do some deadening as well, help try and clean up the rattles and sound

[soundman98]

no, it would just come through louder.

imagine each and every speaker in the car is a person singing a song in a group, but you're not particularly happy with the singing of one of those particular people.

what you're proposing would add another singer that you're hoping to sing louder, over the person singing that you don't care for.

a number of people do it, but because it doesn't fix the underlying issues, it's generally not recommended-- you will eventually have more problems because of it.

[ArrrBussiere]

Originally Posted by soundman98

no, it would just come through louder.

imagine each and every speaker in the car is a person singing a song in a group, but you're not particularly happy with the singing of one of those particular people.

what you're proposing would add another singer that you're hoping to sing louder, over the person singing that you don't care for.

a number of people do it, but because it doesn't fix the underlying issues, it's generally not recommended-- you will eventually have more problems because of it.

That's the answer I was expecting, just not the one I was hoping to hear, hahaha.

So it would seem the best bet is to get component 6.5" speakers up front, put those in the door, put the tweeters up in the factory spot and then have the subwoofer in the back and just leave the rear speakers as-is cause they don't do much of anything anyways

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by ArrrBussiere

That's the answer I was expecting, just not the one I was hoping to hear, hahaha.

So it would seem the best bet is to get component 6.5" speakers up front, put those in the door, put the tweeters up in the factory spot and then have the subwoofer in the back and just leave the rear speakers as-is cause they don't do much of anything anyways

there's a number of ways to do it, but that's probably the most cost-effective

[ArrrBussiere]

Originally Posted by soundman98

there's a number of ways to do it, but that's probably the most cost-effective

That's really all I'm looking for. I don't need anything super amazing, I'd much rather listen to the supercharger and exhaust with the windows down whipping through the PNW twisty roads but for long road trips or whatever it would be nice to not have this absolute dumpster fire of a sound system

[DocRecon]

Can you get any double din head unit to fit in our cars or do they have to be a specific size?

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by DocRecon

Can you get any double din head unit to fit in our cars or do they have to be a specific size?

Double-din head units are what fit in these cars best. But in order to make them look at least halfway decent, you should use the Metra or Scosche kit that fills up the left and right sides of the dash opening. Just do a search for the kit online for your make and model of car.

There are a few head unit manufacturers out that build modular units with even larger “floating” touch screens, but I’ve not seen any installed in our cars that fit properly.

[LimitedSlip]

Originally Posted by DocRecon

Can you get any double din head unit to fit in our cars or do they have to be a specific size?

The correct Head Unit for these cars has what is called a 200 millimeter nose piece. The opening is the same height as a double DIN but would require a mounting kit with filler plates for the 3/4 inch gap that results on either side. Crutchfield is one good resource:

https://www.crutchfield.com

Unfortunately, 200mm head units are hard to find but there are some available:

https://www.fasmoto.com/audio-video/...ead-unit-200mm

[indio22]

I read through some of the audio threads. I want to add a trunk subwoofer, but don't want a new head unit or take apart the dash at this time. In light of that, maybe someone can add insight to the below questions?:

1) I can tap into the audio signal wires coming to the stock rear amp, in order to provide a subwoofer with that same audio signal?
2) Is the above mentioned audio signal full spectrum at that point?
3) Is it better to ground the sub for the power return, or run a dedicated return line to the battery negative terminal?
4) How are people adding high-pass filtering to the door speakers after a sub install (since bass is no longer needed for the doors)?

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by indio22

I read through some of the audio threads. I want to add a trunk subwoofer, but don't want a new head unit or take apart the dash at this time. In light of that, maybe someone can add insight to the below questions?:

1) I can tap into the audio signal wires coming to the stock rear amp, in order to provide a subwoofer with that same audio signal?
2) Is the above mentioned audio signal full spectrum at that point?
3) Is it better to ground the sub for the power return, or run a dedicated return line to the battery negative terminal?
4) How are people adding high-pass filtering to the door speakers after a sub install (since bass is no longer needed for the doors)?

Answer 1) Yes, just make sure that your speaker wires' positive and negative leads are connected properly so that your subwoofer signals are in phase when you connect them up to your aftermarket amp to avoid signal cancellation.

Answer 2) On the input to the amp, you'll have a full spectrum audio signal. The output however, has never to my knowledge been tested for where the built-in low-pass crossover is set at, nor is it's slope value known.

Answer 3) Just ground your subwoofer amp to a bolt somewhere near the amp location. I used the bolt that holds down the OEM amplifier since it's no longer used in my setup.

Answer 4) Since I went all aftermarket, I'm using all active crossovers either built into my head units or built into the amplifiers. You may want to add some passive crossovers to the door speakers as a high-pass filter. In effect, you'll have a band-pass setup in your doors like I do, but in your case you'll have very little adjustment potential. You won't be able to adjust the low-pass setting at all built into the OEM amplifier, and you have to physically replace the passive high-pass crossovers every time you feel the need to make an adjustment. Just remember to design your passive crossovers for 2-ohm drivers.

Just letting you know what you're getting yourself into by trying to integrate existing factory equipment. It may be easier for you to install another amplifier to power the door speakers that has a band-pass crossover built into it. That way you'll have a much easier time making adjustments. Keep us informed of what you end up doing.

I think back now that I could have probably gotten away with removing the passive crossovers from my stock speakers and ran them all off of the active setup that I have now instead of replacing them all with aftermarket drivers. Hmmmm.......

[indio22]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Answer 1) Yes, just make sure that your speaker wires' positive and negative leads are connected properly so that your subwoofer signals are in phase when you connect them up to your aftermarket amp to avoid signal cancellation.

Answer 2) On the input to the amp, you'll have a full spectrum audio signal. The output however, has never to my knowledge been tested for where the built-in low-pass crossover is set at, nor is it's slope value known.

Answer 3) Just ground your subwoofer amp to a bolt somewhere near the amp location. I used the bolt that holds down the OEM amplifier since it's no longer used in my setup.

Answer 4) Since I went all aftermarket, I'm using all active crossovers either built into my head units or built into the amplifiers. You may want to add some passive crossovers to the door speakers as a high-pass filter. In effect, you'll have a band-pass setup in your doors like I do, but in your case you'll have very little adjustment potential. You won't be able to adjust the low-pass setting at all built into the OEM amplifier, and you have to physically replace the passive high-pass crossovers every time you feel the need to make an adjustment. Just remember to design your passive crossovers for 2-ohm drivers.

Just letting you know what you're getting yourself into by trying to integrate existing factory equipment. It may be easier for you to install another amplifier to power the door speakers that has a band-pass crossover built into it. That way you'll have a much easier time making adjustments. Keep us informed of what you end up doing.

I think back now that I could have probably gotten away with removing the passive crossovers from my stock speakers and ran them all off of the active setup that I have now instead of replacing them all with aftermarket drivers. Hmmmm.......

Thanks for the advice. Your suggestion of ditching the factory door amp in favor of a better one with crossover feature makes sense, I'm thinking more of going that route.

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by indio22

Thanks for the advice. Your suggestion of ditching the factory door amp in favor of a better one with crossover feature makes sense, I'm thinking more of going that route.

Good luck with the upgrades. We'll be around if you need any more advice or help.

One of these days someone will connect one of these factory systems up to an RTA and oscilloscope to give us the exact numbers for information's sake. But until then, and as long as we have aftermarket equipment to replace it with, not too many people are going to really worry about it.