Car audio question for those in the know..

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
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Got a pair of Infinity Reference 6x9 component speakers that came with crossovers. I don't have time to install these myself so I took my truck to a sound shop to have them installed. Price was reasonable but the guy said that most newer vehicles won't need the crossovers installed because the head unit handles it now. Knowing nothing about car audio or even what the crossovers do, should I have just left the shop? He said if for some reason it sounds like it needs the crossovers he'll install them, but most of the time with newer vehicles he said the included COs make the audio sound funny. I decided to let them do the work because I really wanted it done before a trip next week and don't have time to do it myself.
 

Bitek

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
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Just running off the head unit?

Most newer cars do have component systems, so you could just use the stock output. Won't be able to adjust it tho.

Otherwise you need to find a clean, full range signal, then run through your crossover. This can be hard to find sometimes, especially if they pipe fake engine noise (or other manipulation) back in though the sound system.

Unless you are running through an amp, IDK if it would make much difference if speaker sizes are close to oem.


Edit: crossovers split and filter out audio ranges so it's tuned for each speaker's range. Eg, filter out bass and mid-range frequencies on the signal to the tweeter. Filter out high frequency for the mid-range.

The "premium" sound systems in cars are usually built with shit speakers that have just a bunch of signal manipulation to make them sound better than they are. Trying to get in the middle of that can be a nitemare.
 
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NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
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Bitek covered all the points.

I'll just add that in general every OEM stereo has a funky EQ curve designed to protect the speakers. They also tend to be relatively weak. So swapping speakers will help some but the design of the of the stereo/amp means it will only be an incremental improvement.
 
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Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
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Bitek covered all the points.

I'll just add that in general every OEM stereo has a funky EQ curve designed to protect the speakers. They also tend to be relatively weak. So swapping speakers will help some but the design of the of the stereo/amp means it will only be an incremental improvement.

And I’d say that in some instances, the change of speakers can end up sounding incrementally worse…esp. if there was a large change in the impedance of the speakers (new vs old).

Sometimes stock head units don’t respond well to dropping the impedance it “sees.”
 

Bitek

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
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Bitek covered all the points.

I'll just add that in general every OEM stereo has a funky EQ curve designed to protect the speakers. They also tend to be relatively weak. So swapping speakers will help some but the design of the of the stereo/amp means it will only be an incremental improvement.

Yeah, i wrote premium, but it doesn't just apply to premium systems, but they can be even more problematic than the standard systems depending how they are designed.

I always ripped out the headunit, installed an amp, and replaced the speakers. Much less than that didn't get you much. Low end units made this much easier.

But about gone are they days of swapping in a double din HU and having a tunable, custom system. IDK what you do with the newest cars with the huge screens.
 

thestrangebrew1

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Dec 7, 2011
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Well I guess we'll see how the install goes. Yea I want to keep the OEM HU and don't plan on upgrading it anytime soon. I have a 400w Skar audio amp that was gifted to me that I may have them install at some point in the future but maybe that time will come when I decide to upgrade the HU.
 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
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You'd have to use something like this to do it right.


It seems in general people value sound quality less than they used to. So I guess auto makers lucked out? That said some of the truly high-end systems are quite amazing these days.
 

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
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You'd have to use something like this to do it right.


It seems in general people value sound quality less than they used to. So I guess auto makers lucked out? That said some of the truly high-end systems are quite amazing these days.

Good grief that's pricey lol I'm not an audiophile by any means but I can see this starting to go down rabbit hole territory. I just picked up my truck and you guys were spot on. The new speakers definitely improved oem sound quality, but I'll probably be installing an amp etc. sooner than later. It sounds great, but i was hoping for a little louder and a bit more thump.
 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
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Louder = POWER! But again, you can only band-aid the EQ curve.

What kind of truck is it?

Also, the downside of products like that JL audio unit is you basically calibrate it at one volume setting. If you change the volume on the radio, the EQ curve will change and it will be sub-optimal. So for best results you actually install a secondary volume knob that connects to the JL unit.

You'd think with technology the way it is they could overcome that by now. A secondary volume knob is pretty janky.
 
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deadlyapp

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Apr 25, 2004
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If you want more "thump" just install a dedicated sub. Expecting much more usable bass out of your speakers isn't realistic
 
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