Advice on this setup that I had installed, and is not performing.

[sincraft]

Hoping someone can give me advice on my level of expectations or, if this setup is ok or not?

I wanted an upgrade to my factory setup in my 2006 nissan frontier

I visited a local stereo shop, had them check my setup and they assured me I would get TONS more volume (ear bleeding is the wording used), if I moved to the following items

Alpine head unit - CDE-W235BT $200

6x9's in the front - Pioneer - TSA6983R (4 way) $100

6.5's in the back - Pioneer - TSA1684R $100

Alpine Power Pack (amp) KTP445 $100

Installation $100

All told I spent $600 for this setup.

I was very disappointed in the result. Everyone I talked to at the store while waiting for my vehicle to be done, as they were not busy and wondering why I was lingering around their store, said that the choices I made would REALLY change my experience and that I would have a seriously nice sounding system.

I originally came in with the idea of adding a 'real' amp to this mix.

When I listened after the 3 hour install, I was shocked. There was almost NO difference. At my factory 21 setting (which is maxed out), I have clear hard pounding music. Did it shake the neighborhood? No, but it was loud enough for me to really enjoy the music. I wanted a bit more though. I wanted more clarity, alot more volume but didnt want the big base and extreme highs I hear in many setups today.

I came back into the store and told them, that obviously the sales person didnt qualify me very well. Talking with the installer, apparently my current setup was a 2 ohm setup (whatever that means) and my factory speakers were blaupunkt speakers.

They said to really upgrade, I should have gotten the alpine speakers at twice the cost, and done a full amp.

They offered to get a Rockford R400-4D amp for me at cost and install at cost for $160. Looking online though, this doesnt seem like a super amp, and is only $140 online. I'm not seeing the deal here.

They also offered to sell me the Alpine upgrades at cost, shaving $100 off retail for a $100 difference.

So the question begs to be asked, would spending an additional $260 make THAT much of a difference in what I am experiencing now? Or am I throwing good money at bad?

Also

Why would a new head unit, a new set of speakers, AND an psuedo amp, sound only a VERY minor much better than my factory. Honestly, my factory was more clear; however, this setup is a TINY bit louder. At volume 27, it's way too much distortion

Suggestions? I'm half tempted to tell them to rip it all out and replace with my factory stuff.

Oh they also cracked my dash which they have to replace now too //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Thanks for looking at my post!

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[slvrado28z 10+ year member]

well probally your pioneer speakers and amp...i would look into some different equipment

 

[slvrado28z 10+ year member]

i would have just gotten the head unit and kept the stock speakers in your case..it would have sounded better probally

 

[etm34 10+ year member]

well probally your pioneer speakers and amp...i would look into some different equipment

i second that

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

The power pack is a joke on you. A dirty little class d shitpot. Get a real class A/B amp with a solid 100w per channel and you will not look back.

VIBE Audio DEATHBOXS4-V1 700W RMS Death Box 4-Channel Amplifier

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

A better amp should make a big difference. If you get a solid 100-150 watts per channel, that should be plenty for 95% of the listeners out there.

Don't expect online prices or anything close when dealing retail or B&M stores. There is no way that us little guys can sell equipment for close to online when wholesale is sometimes higher than online. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Gotta love those big corporations undercutting competition with huge volume discounts. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[sincraft]

Thanks for the input guys. Now I'm at a point where I'm rather 'blah' about the head unit. Loses its connection via BT to my Droid Bionic constantly. I had planned to move to an iphone at some point, but probably not for almost a full year. Unfortunately, they have no other head units that are double din. They do have single din models that are compatible with Android; however, when I bought this they said the only difference is it wont show the songs and I may need to use the phone to skip music.

For some reason, it plays random music from my music player left in the cache, THEN it will play Pandora or whatever.

Then I get the dreaded BT PAUSED, so I have to cycle through to BT again, and then it goes to SEARCHING for about 10 seconds, then starts playing the song already playing.

Then, it will just go blank and say 'no unit'

The other day, one the way home from work, I tried EVERYTHING to get it paired up again. It wouldnt see the phone. The phone would try and try to connect - nothing. I tried to delete everything, start over - same thing , nothing

Next day, I turn the car on - and bam everything syncs up. Go figure.

Pandora even worked for about 30 minutes, changing from song to song without a pause. Even with skips using the radio.

Then after that, it went back to its old behavior.

$600 wasted in my eyes. OH well, I tried.

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

Thanks for the input guys. Now I'm at a point where I'm rather 'blah' about the head unit. Loses its connection via BT to my Droid Bionic constantly. I had planned to move to an iphone at some point, but probably not for almost a full year. Unfortunately, they have no other head units that are double din. They do have single din models that are compatible with Android; however, when I bought this they said the only difference is it wont show the songs and I may need to use the phone to skip music.
For some reason, it plays random music from my music player left in the cache, THEN it will play Pandora or whatever.

Then I get the dreaded BT PAUSED, so I have to cycle through to BT again, and then it goes to SEARCHING for about 10 seconds, then starts playing the song already playing.

Then, it will just go blank and say 'no unit'

The other day, one the way home from work, I tried EVERYTHING to get it paired up again. It wouldnt see the phone. The phone would try and try to connect - nothing. I tried to delete everything, start over - same thing , nothing

Next day, I turn the car on - and bam everything syncs up. Go figure.

Pandora even worked for about 30 minutes, changing from song to song without a pause. Even with skips using the radio.

Then after that, it went back to its old behavior.

$600 wasted in my eyes. OH well, I tried.

A lesson you should not have had to deal with in any case. Judging by your OP, I would guess you probably have some speakers wired incorrectly causing phase issues and distortion.