I have not purchased any aftermarket audio equipment in quite a few years, but am looking to replace the entire system on my 05 LS430 UL as a possible christmas gift to myself. I have several questions...

If I replace the head unit, can I tap into the factory steering wheel controls and such? Or am I going to have to use whatever comes with the new HU?

I need brand advice. The car has 6.5 components (2-way) front and rear, and then I will be adding a sub or two. All factory speakers will be removed. I was looking at maybe an Alpine Type-X setup with 17Pro's for the components, a couple of 1043D subs, an F4 to power the little speakers, an M6 or two to power the subs, and W900BT HU. I like the ALpine setup because I can have everything in the car from the same brand. Not really sure if that matters or not. Thoughts? Other brands that you like? Looking to stay around 3-4k if possible.

I'm assuming that the double din beat-sonic kit is what I will need to use to replace the HU. Are there any other kits? I couldn't find any single din kits that would let me keep all the factory wood trim, nor am I finding any single din HU's that seem to have as many features as the DD's. Do I even need to replace the HU, or would I be better to run the factory HU with some sort of adapter to the aftermarket amps?

Any help is appreciated with any of the topics here.

 

1. There's usually adapters to keep steering wheel controls..not sure which one is compatible for the ls, though.

2. 4k is a NICE budget for a system.

3. what are your goals? if you just want something a little bit better than stock, 1k could probably suffice. Since you have nav(i assume), i would skip the hu and just get a processor in there.

 

I figure if I am going to put in this much time to replace everything, I want to make sure it is a significant upgrade over the stock system. I'd like to keep the stock HU, because I don't like losing all the factory wood trim if I use the beat sonic kit. I'm just not sure if it would be the limiting factor in making a really nice sounding system.

 

Ok, so I am making some progress here. Just found the JL Cleansweep SSI and 441 that should let me use my factory head unit, sum the signals from tweeter, mid, sub, and then give me a balanced, flat output. Not a bad price, either. Way less than replacing the HU would cost.

So now I just need speaker and amp advice. I'd like to use only one brand for everything. Focal is nice, but the subs are over 1k apiece. Alpine is looking promising. Anyone have any opinions about any particular brand being good or bad? I'm all ears here.

 

Where are you getting your CleanSweep from? Make sure that you buy from an authorized dealer to prevent any warranty issues from creeping up. That is a fairly expensive piece, so not worth risking, IMO.

Any particular reason you want both from the same brand? Many times a good amp company is challenged when building speakers, and vice versa. While Alpine's offerings are nice, it does to be a bit pricey for the features (although getting better).

Big Mack

 

The cleansweep is pretty basic for what they want

Rockford 3sixty.2 is a lot better. It's crossover is much more complex and it has a 30 band eq on all channels + time alignment which is crucial for an sq install.

As far as product selection goes, Mack is right. What one excels at, they're most likely average elsewhere.

Since the rockford has a nice active crossover system, it'll allow you to pick out raw drivers instead of buying a comp set. You'll get a much better value going the diy route.

 

Let me run something by you...

If I used 2 Cleansweep SSI's, one for the front and one for the back, both running in 3-way mode, I could create 4 full range outputs that are correct to their corner of the car. If I then used 2 441's, one on each SSI, I could use the level correction in the 441's, then once set, the factory fader, level, and DSP settings should still work because each channel is being processed individually and the 441's will not alter any settings in real time.

In that case, I can then use the equalizer on each channel individually to tune the sound in the 441's, but the time delay from the factory DSP should still be intact and able to switch between seating positions. Also, if there are any frequency changes to any individual channel when selecting a seating position, the not-real-time processing of the SSI's and 441's should continue to make their same adjustments, thereby letting the change to any channel effectively pass through, which is also why the fader, balance, and sound controls should still work.

Right?

If that is correct, this is the plan. I'm going to call JL to make sure it will work that way.

 

Take a look at the Audison BITONE also.
http://www.audison.eu/index_main.php?Section=BITONE

 

You should consider the JBL MS-8. It will do what you want.

For amps, Sinfoni (there is a really really good special going on right now on DIYMA). I've never seen them BNIB/from an authorized dealer at this price ever! (You can get 2 Ad Libre and a Grave)

Speakers, since you're wanting the same brand, are here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mob...r-passive.html

 

bit.1 is nice

One thing i hate about the ms8 is it's basically a self thinking processor and doesn't allow much manual tuning.

LOL@1025 for that component set. You could piece together a better mid and tweet with that kind of money on partsexpress or madisound

 

I prefer the DQL-8 from AudioControl to the Rockford piece. 8 inputs, full crossover and EQ, and the DDC is a very user friendly interface.

As for using the CleanSweep with the other pieces, the SSI removes any equalization done by the DSP, so you would lose that. It does have EQ built into the CleanSweep itself, but I don't like switching from one unit to another and losing signal quality in the process.

I don't know if the Sinfoni pre sale is still ongoing at DIYMA, but those amps are gorgeous. Fantastically overpriced (IMO), but beautiful quality.

You did not answer the Q's posed, though...

Big Mack