how does the stock sound system rate?

[BerniniCaCO3]

Hi!

I have a 1990 colony park wagon that I bought last spring. Most of it is still original, though I've been replacing a lot of mechanical parts that were neglected.

The speakers and radio are still stock, too, of course.

I've inherited a quality amp and subwoofer from my dad, when his car finally gave up the ghost. The head unit was already broken, so we left it in the car.
I also now have the 10 CD changer, and an ipod adapter, though the latter might only be compatible with other kenwood head units... not sure.

So here's my question:
while I'm installing the subwoofer and removing the existing head unit anyway, are there any cheap upgrades?
Will new $40/pair speakers be better than the stock ones, or really not necessarily? Will a bottom-of-the-line $80 head unit produce any better sound, or just have a fancier display than the existing one?

I really don't need a remote, touch screen, satellite radio, 'hd' radio. The only gadget I might appreciate is to take an ipod.


Second question!
My father has, somewhere, a decent alpine head unit from 2002. Got relegated to the garage, the basement, a closet, somewhere
I spent a few hours looking for it yesterday (well, and sorting through and trashing other junk) and still couldn't find it.
Will an $80 or $120 head unit from 2010 be as good as a $300 head unit from 2002? Should I look a little bit harder before I spring for a brand new one versus this free old one?

And, any specific head units you recommend? Specific speakers?
Like I said, trying to keep total cost to about $150. . Just curious about a simple upgrade of the head unit and maybe front speakers, while I'm going about putting in this subwoofer and cd changer.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Oops! Just observed the sub forum. How do I move this thread?

[pantera77]

The stock speakers are just crappy paper coned pieces of junk that are now 20 years old.
Replacing them is ever a bad idea. But, don't just buy the cheapest speakers you can find either.
Just new speakers will make your stock headunit sound a lot better. I'm not really a fan of aftermarket headunits, but if you want cd's, aux inputs, etc... their the only way to go.

[crown vic muscle]

junk the stock headunit. its not worth anything and you have at least one good unit in your hands right now. swapping radios isnt very hard or time consuming to do. replace all the speakers you can get at. i believe all of your speakers should be accessable without much work. if money is an issue, find your nearest pawn and loan store and buy a set of speakers there. your fronts don't have to match your back ones and they can be a lot cheaper than buying new. when you install the subwoofer, you can do it one of two ways. the easy way is to get a converter box at wallmart that hooks up to the rear speakers and converts high level signals (that go to the speaker) to low level signals (that go to the sub amp via RCA cables). the other way is to use the new headunit and run RCA cables from that to the amp and sub.

as far as brands go, pick something YOU like. we all have our top choices, but you will have to live with it for a while, not us.

[Piece-it pete]

I agree across the board.

I think the $300 in '02 dollars would be better than a $120 in '10 dollars, *all things being equal*.

Pete

[86VickyLX]

their the only way to go.

*Cough* Cassette Adapter *Cough* It's entirely up to you what you want to do with your car. The stock system, when working properly sounds pretty damn good. I have my premium sound system still in vicky, and I use a cassette adapter to listen to my ipod in there. Portable cd players will work with that too. I plan on replacing my speakers from the paper ones to better ones and see how it sounds then. That'll be probably after I put sound deadener on the doors to stop the rattling.

[85crownHPP]

Yes, yes, and yes.

the stock stuff is crap, just be sure to hard wire the speakers, give the head unit a good ground, and even 10 year old mid brand speakers and head unit will sound much better.
And actually, 90-91's got different stereo wiring, I think they got rid of the common ground that causes problems with aftermarket stuff, so hard wiring isn't really necessary unless you get a high power deck.

[gadget73]

The only stock stuff really worth a hoot was the JBL system in the Towncars. The rest sounds ok at best, but its nothing remarkable. It looks correct in the dash, and the FM tuner is actually quite decent but thats all its got going for it. Speakers aren't too great either. If it has the factory amp, bypass it and don't feel bad about installing an aftermarket stereo.

[Steve'87]

Car audio can be an art, as nothing is created equal now or then. As far as speakers go, replacing the the worn and faded factory speakers is a must. That alone is a big improvement. I gave up on "matching" speakers a long time ago. My rears are are Kenwoods, and the fronts will be Pioneers. A few years ago I picked up a Pioneer deck for $140 to replace my $350 Kenwood deck that broke. The Pioneer deck was hands down a much better sounding deck then the Kenwood. The factory deck will not have enough power to drive after market speakers properly at higher volume levels. In any case, what you want to do is try before you buy. Use the in-store display and see how it sounds.

[91grandmarquis]

^ this... new speakers will distort at low volumes without an amp... even with a deck that says it pushes 50w.. that is total power 50/4 and at 2ohms... It is very hard, and not good to run at 2ohms with just the deck... it will cook pretty quickly. If you want it to sound good loud get the power away from the deck. The speakers distort without an amp not because they are being pushed hard, but because the amp in the deck cannot amplify the signal while keeping noise out. You want to run a powerful amp 70watts a channel or so... with a low signal to noise ratio. Also crossovers are a must.

I've got my dream system planned out... but I don't have the 1500 dollars laying around to do it.

[sly]

My deck says 45x4 = 180w. wasn't expensive either. I haven't actually seen a deck that has a rating less than 25x4 in years. My sub amp though is 130w RMS per channel (2 channel 760w peak Pioneer job - thumps pretty good with the pioneer 10s attached to it).

[gadget73]

I really love the power figures that head units claim. Theres no way in hell you can make 180 watts from a head unit. Just the basic power numbers make that pulling almost 13 amps, yet the fuse on most stereos is like 5 amps.

[zoomie]

quality stuff can be cheap or expensive, i usually find decent alpine headunits on craigslist, if i had the money i would use pol db series for speakers all the way around, you can also check out sonicelectronix and see what they have. oh and alpine headunits are the best as far as im concerneed they are th eloudest,cleanest units that i have yet to hear and see, i should know i have one installed in my sonata.

[BerniniCaCO3]

I've got at Kenwood amp and subwoofer... now I'm a complete noob at audio stuff: as all of you have warned me about the limited power of the head unit alone, can I direct all the four speaker through the amplifier to get more power to them, and not just the subwoofer alone?

And, second question: finally found my father's old radio! Hooray!
An alpine head unit, the model number is CDA-7897

However, most unfortunately, there was no faceplate in the box. Not surprising: the history is that it broke, was replaced under warranty, but they were so slow in replacing it that my dad bought another in the intervening months; so the box was left unopened, mailed from the warehouse back in 2005 (hence why it was so buried in the basement storage). They didn't need to replace the faceplate, so it wasn't in the box. My dad would have had it somewhere else, and chances are very good that I won't ever find it again.

My understanding is that removeable faceplates deter theft. Does this mean that, like cars with electronic locks, there's a signature between the core and the faceplate? Or can I just call up Alpine and order a new faceplate for $50?
Probably, this is a better unit than buying a new but bottom-of-the-line $80-$100 radio; so might still be worth buying the missing faceplate.

[BerniniCaCO3]

Nevermind, I'm an idiot. I looked up that model radio, and the faceplate should just be internal (and pops out when you power it up). It probably isn't missing at all

But I'm still curious: do I need to run the 4 basic speakers off of the head unit, or can I direct them through the amp...?
And, any advice as to which in the current lineup of bestbuy or walmart speakers will be best?
I realize it's to-taste, but I've no experience in sound systems. I just want something that doesn't suck, for maybe $40-$100 (especially now that I don't have to buy a head unit any longer)