I've had my Gs3 for about a month now and the stock pioneer system is killing my ears.

I was thinking of Replacing all the speakers and sub and adding a 5 channel amp (600 watt). Only thing I wanted to do is keep the stock radio.

I brought this suggestion to a local audio shop and they told me to save my money cause it will sound like crap with the stock radio.

Any suggestions? Should I cave in an get a new head unit too? I would rather not change the appearance of the console, but if I have to, I would.

Also, any chance to get the stock cd changer to work with an aftermarket head unit?

 

just to let you know what I'm used to for comparison sake.. Both my previous cars had all speakers replaced with new aftermarket ones, a rockford 600a5 amp, 2 10" subs in a sealed box with a pioneer 8000-r HU. How would a setup like I want to put into the lexus compare to my previous setups?

 

I think your on the right track...they probably just don't want to deal with the integration of the system to factory I'll bet that system will sound better than any of your previous did, just because that factory deck is fairly clean power after the amp. (Yes you will need to keep the factory amp)

 

I doubt this will sound much better, my previous systems rocked. Crystal clear sound and extremely loud volumes

I do kind of like to follow the rule of thumb.. if you amplify crap, it will be amplified crap

one thing I don't know if how powerful is the stock head unit and how clean is the sound. Also, does it have any pre amp outputs?

As far as the stock amp, I want to get rid of it completely.

200 watts for 1 sub would be enough bass for my liking.

Thanks for the input, i appriciate it.

 

I know how you feel, in my last car I had about 5k in parts (focal, xtant, ID, Kenwood) Im just getting around to redoing the pioneer. What do you have now as far as car audio? What is your budget?

If it were me Id stick with the factory head using good LOCs or solder into the preamp to get the signal then use line drivers. Your shop might not be able to tap into the head unit, maybe thats why they said it would sound bad. Look at my LOC thread below.

The signal "should" be decent, i dont know bc i havent done it yet. this is also the only way i know of (so far) to keep the factory changer.

 

Does the stock HU have 3 pre outs by any chance or only 2?

I would imagine only 2, but I may be wrong. Has anyone done this kind of an upgrade of replacing evrything by the head unit? how did it come out in the end? What kind of products did you use? What did the entire project end up costing you?

Thanks once again.

 

It doesnt have 3 or 2, more like zero. Thats why i recommended doing those other things. read some more articles in this forum, I remember an Is300 with a nice install that used the factory head unit.

this is what im probably doing:
Solder into the factory head unit to get a low level signal. then run it through a line driver, after that to an EQ. From there to aftermarket amps, probably 1 4ch and then 1 sub amp. the speakers are going to be focal components and the sub will be idmax(s). Im guessing about 1k in labor/materials if a shop does it all. Probably about 3000 for all the pieces. It can be done for much cheaper, depending on what you want.

 

This doesn't sound like the most economical way of doing it.. but I guess if there is need to retain the factory unit, thats the way to go. For a few more bills an aftermarket player can be had. 3 g's seems like a lot more work then its worth.

 

Those prices were for the entire system. Basically what im talking about is having a shop tap into the preamp board in the head unit and run RCAs. I think it could be done for less than 200-300 including parts, just have to find the right person to do the work. Sorry for the confusion. You could also add a monitor(s) into the equation if you wanted.

 

I think I would rather go all afetrmarket is this was teh case. Does any company make a TV screen, dvd player, mp3 player all in one combo. I;ve only seen the screen/dvd/cd combo.

Alex

 

I know both kenwood and alpine have add on dvd based nav systems for their screen/dvd unit. Only the kenwood has a touch screen.


...Once installed you won't be able to tell that they aren't one unit.

 

Your biggest bang for the buck with the stock Pioneer system is to replace all the door/front speakers, add a separate subwoofer amp off of the factory amp leads using an LLC, and replace the sub with either a free-air (prob easiest) or another of your choice. Many people have done that with good results, but if you want to throw more money at it, you can do much better. The stock subs are universally garbage. Keep in mind that, if my memory serves me correctly, although I do not have the stock Pioneer system, there are preamp signals from both the radio unit AND the CD changer separately, making the whole scheme difficult as far as grabbing "the" pre-outs. The factory amp normally does the switching. It seems more painful than it's worth to hack the system before the factory amp.

 

Welp,

The GS is more difficult than the SC but it can be done pretty easy.

Pop open the factory amp....you will see the trace lines from the inputs going toward the heatsink side of the amp. That is where you will find the swiched pre-outs right before the amp circuit. Just solder on a pair of rca cables right there... It will work. Takes about $5 in parts (rca cables) and about .02 worth of solder.

Good luck,

If you get it apart and get lost...take pics and post them....I will circle it for you...

MW

 

Is it really as easy as popping open the amp and just finding the right places to silder the rca's to? how my preamps would be needed? 3 right? Would the sound quality be decent if I go this route? sounds like something worth considering.

 

Was that a nu kida enwish? j/k

Nothing is ever that easy...but this is nothing as difficult as soldering a chip into your little brothers PS2..... LOL

The soldering of pre-amp wires has been done time and time again. If you have trouble...I would seek out a car stereo repair shop to help guide you.

Good Luck,

MW