Can a good high quality amp improve OEM sound?

[npcout 10+ year member]

I want to leave my OEM system is my 2015 honda fit. Toying around with ideas, and I just don't know, I've always had an aftermarket unit so I don't know how much it matters. From what im reading, adding an amp to an OEM unit, still isn't going to have good sound quality.

Will a high end, high quality amp provide very good sound quality on an OEM system, or is a JL Cleansweep, or JBL MS-8 still basically needed?

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[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

no reason to keep your OEM unit, it's a Fit not a BMW.

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

Unless you can't remove the Radio...

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

high end amp fed with a POS signal from a stock head unit will still sound like crap, the amp does not shape the sound it just provides power, unless you are getting tube amps and they cost more then the ms8.

Your head unit is basically the brain of it all. Imagine your brain tells you to play the guitar horribly, then you play the guitar horribly. With a smarter brain it'll tell you to play the guitar properly, you'll do so. Grab the MS-8, there's a built in amp in there already.

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

Okay, sounds good. I'll get the MS-8 for sure, now I am sold and understand it all. If you have an ms-8, will a mediocore amp, ruin it? Do I need to pair a high end amp with the ms-8?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Okay, sounds good. I'll get the MS-8 for sure, now I am sold and understand it all. If you have an ms-8, will a mediocore amp, ruin it? Do I need to pair a high end amp with the ms-8?

Amp is just there to provide power man. With a good signal comming from that ms8, you just need an amp with low noise floor along with low THD and plenty of clean power. You can get an amp in the 100-250$ range and still sound great. Hold off on the amp and try out the ms-8 amp first, if you need more then upgrade but a lot of people are satisfied with ms-8 built in amp.

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

Amp is just there to provide power man. With a good signal comming from that ms8, you just need an amp with low noise floor along with low THD and plenty of clean power. You can get an amp in the 100-250$ range and still sound great. Hold off on the amp and try out the ms-8 amp first, if you need more then upgrade but a lot of people are satisfied with ms-8 built in amp.

Basically, what I wanted to, but not what I wanted to hear! Financially, that is a better decision. It's just hard to imagine not needing to upgrade my stock speakers.. I'll do the ms-8 first, then decide if I just need a mono amp for the the sub, or a 5 channel for the speakers to. I'm mainly into sound quality.. I don't want my car booming like crazy. I have a TC Epic 10 tuned to 28 which needs 500RMS. Trying to decide whether to give that to my wife and get the JL 8in Micro my friend has that sounds amazing.. I want a trunk! Decisions decisions.

/rant.. appreciate it! ms-8 on sale for $400 at sonic right now.

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

Changing the stock speakers to high quality aftermarket drivers will yield better results. The stock speakers are usually the weakest link in OEM systems. I would shoot for getting a good set of front speakers, & team them up with a decent amp. Properly deadening & sealing the mounting surface will help you get much better results, true for either stock or aftermarket speakers.

 

[csu87 10+ year member]

im using all oem speakers in my BMW right now off the IA3.4 amps. sounds much better than stock

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Changing the stock speakers to high quality aftermarket drivers will yield better results. The stock speakers are usually the weakest link in OEM systems. I would shoot for getting a good set of front speakers, & team them up with a decent amp. Properly deadening & sealing the mounting surface will help you get much better results, true for either stock or aftermarket speakers.

I absolutely agree with the installation techniques and they are a must for stock or aftermarket! However even aftermarket speakers when fed with a weak dirty stock headunit signal will sound weak with a lot of wasted potential. There is also no imaging or sound stage capabilities with stock head unit nor is there proper time alignment. Those things to me are very crucial to sound quality, you need to be immersed and feel like you are in a concert. Stock head units can never dream of achieving that level of processing. A good system starts with its core which is the source.

I've been in kia optima that had stock speakers(non infinity speakers) with nothing but an ms-8 and it sounded better then most guys with aftermarket speakers and 4 channel amps out there with a mediocre head unit.

Even with my stock sienna speakers, before I took them out, I put in my 80 prs, it was a night and day difference. Sounded a lot better, only swapped out because I needed aftermarkets that could keep up with 15s on 4k and also raise the imaging with tweeters.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

I'm using the internal MS-8 amp on my stock bose and it sounds 10x better than stock. Almost 2x as loud to the ear, much more clear, just better all around. I had a 21inch subwoofer in the cargo area on 3k and only when I push the sub amp into a soft clip does it really drown out my mids lol.