I’m hoping those of you more knowledgeable about the technical aspect of audio systems can give me some advice:

I recently bought a ’99 LS which, sadly, has the stock ‘premium’ pioneer audio system.
I wasn’t thrilled with the system when I bought the car, and am even less impressed now.

My main dissatisfaction with the system that I find it ‘shrill’. The trebles are exaggerated, and the mid-range has no ‘depth’. Listening to opera or orchestral music, the horns have way too much treble, and a tenor begins to distort at much volume at all. You can imagine what the second act of Parsifal sounds like… The volume of the system is ok though.

My wife will forbid any changes that involve visible changes to the car (ripping out the head, tearing out carpet, putting in speakers that bulge out, etc…)
I’m wondering if I can noticeably improve the sound by making any ‘drop-in’ changes, without replacing the entire system. 1) Would better quality speakers of the same dimensions give me noticeable improvement? 2) or is this primarily an amplifier problem? If I replace the amp(s) do I have to rewire?. Or, is this wishful thinking… Any specific recommendations as to equipment or brands?

Thanks for any help you can give…

 

Changing the stock speakers out do a better grade of speaker does not change any outside appearances (unless you purchase bigger diameter speakers which usually require cutting.)
The stock speaker covers can remain where they are and yes, maybe carpet may need to be pulled up, but it always goes back down and it's almost impossible to tell if the carpet has been pulled up to run wiring or whatever is necessary.

I'm not too experienced with giving advice on a better brand of speaker, but I can assume that the stock speakers are made to run at 2 ohms (resistance mesaurement) and alot of aftermarket speakers run at 4 ohms. Taking your car to an audio shop and asking for their advice will help alot if they employ good people. I'm sure other people here can recommend many excellent shops and give you more advice.

Not to sound like a chauvinist, but unless this car is your wife's you should be able to do what you like to increase your enjoyment of the car. A radio upgrade benefits her also if she listens to the radio too you know :-)

Good luck!
-Lee

 

jtparkes,

Since you're interested in orchestra and instrumental music I would guess you're after sound QUALITY and not QUANTITY. There are lots of good brands out there like Focal, Diamond Audio HEX and others, but the one that I will always recommend first would be Dynaudio. They're BY FAR the most accurate and musical speaker on the market. For more info see http://www.dynaudiona.com

Also, listen to them before you buy, or if you do purchase, make sure they have a good return policy. No ears are exactly the same and you may have different tastes. Let your ears be the judge!

You may have to install baffle boards that will make them possible to mount inside the stock speaker area. The changes WILL NOT be noticable on the outside grille area.

Percy

 

Percy i will be putting on my 5.25 MB Q series in front of my gs400 00, will i have to used a baffle board for my speakers as well?

 

knkgs400,

You'll need baffles for the 5.25's.

Percy

 

Percy-

Thanks for taking time to help out. The spearkers it is. I'll see what I can track down in Dynaudio in New Mexico.

Much appreciated!

 

I wouldn't buy the Dynaudios if you aren't going to buy another amp to power them. They have long voice coils which means they're pretty inneficcient. You may end up happier with the output of something less costly like Vifa or Morel.

 

Bababooey,

That's traditional logic and I would agree with you except one thing...they're Dynaudio. The Dyn utilizes dual magnets which concentrate over 90 percent of it's field to the coil. Even when the cone is fully extended, it's still well within the magnetic field.

You can power the Dyns with the stock amp and it'll still sound good. Granted, not as good as if you had 100 wpc of clean power going into them, but they still sound fairly good, even with the stock amp. If I had to upgrade the system, step by step, I'd go for the speakers first, then save up for the amp.

Vifa's are excellent speakers and the Morel is also good. Even though Morel uses the same coil technology (it's liscensed by Dynaudio), they still don't have the MSP cone formula and that's done on purpose.

I'd still be quite hesitant about using home speakers in the car due to the temperature extremes. Most home speakers are happy at 68 to 85 degrees F, but once when you factor in the sub zero weather or the incredibly hot, nearly fry an egg on the seat during summer, then it starts to get to them. At least the car audio drivers are engineered to take the torture and the near field response. (Most home drivers/speakers are geared for farfield response.)

Percy

 

I have the ML in my car, and I want a little more power, or bass, or just want to modify it somehow. Has anyone heard an ML where someone has changed some of the speakers or rear woofer? I would be inclined to think the ML stuff is excellent, and the specs read that way also, but I wouldn't mind getting a little more LFE or visceral attack from the setup.

 

I agree with your misgivings about using hifi speakers in the car, Percy, but Vifa and Morel both have specific car audio models.

I've worked with the Morel 5 and 6.5 inch hifi drivers and they are excellent - a lot better than they look. In fact, I have a pair of the 5's here waiting for a home. I wouldn't recommend their larger models, however.

Stevie

 

Stevie,

Do you have their websites? I know that some of the car audio guys were using the home drivers. Those were the ones I was talking about.

Percy

 

Percy,

There are two sites for Morel. Their main Israeli site (they manufacture in Israel, although they used to be here in the UK) and their American site.

The addresses are: http://www.morel.co.il/
and http://www.morelusa.com/

You'll find Vifa, together with Peerless and Scan-Speak at:
http://www.d-s-t.com/main/index.htm

I don't think that any of then Vifa car drivers are listed on the site. They're in the printed catalogue, though, and they are also on some on the US speaker mail order company sites.

While on the Vifa site, check out the Peerless car subwoofers under Engineering on the homepage and the Scan-Speak D2904/6000-01 tweeter, possibly the world's best in-car tweeter. Unfortunately, I think it's just a bit too deep to fit into the housing of a GS300. They do a smaller OEM version but it's not available to the general public as far as I know.

That should keep you busy for a while-

Stevie

 

By the way, because Vifa is principally an OEM supplier, they don't do component kits including crossover (although they produce in-car coaxials with crossover). So they're not really an option for jtparkes - more for the tweakers among us, or for those with active systems. They provide crossover circuits in their catalogue, but building crossovers is probably a bridge too far for most people.

Morel do complete component systems, however. Because of the similarity of Morel and Dynaudio, this could be a good way of getting something of the Dynaudio sound at a lower cost.

Stevie