Changed my mind, need some advice..

[Bossman150]

Sigh, decided that just the sub isn't going to be enough in my '12 Maxima. I already have the box, amp (JL 250/1) and sub (JL 10" w1v3) and an lc2i. I decided I am going to buy everything else through my shop/installer so that if something goes wrong I only have to go to one place, even though I know it will cost me extra.

My shop sells mostly JL stuff but also has some Kicker, Pioneer, Kenwood and some other brands I am not familier with. I admit I am I a JL fanboy, but that's probably because I have used this shop for over 20 years. Anyway I want to replace the factory speakers and add an amp to push them. The biggest question is aftermarket headunit or use a processor like the JL one. My car does not have the navigation/camera package so it is possible to replace the factory unit, I just lose the top display screen but its the ugly amber anyway. Climate control is separate, so I don't lose that. My budget is $1500. I also don't want to have to change the alternator, I have a brand new battery and I really don't want to mess with that either. So I know I am looking at a fairly low watt system which is fine. I am not cocerned with being super loud, I just want it to sound clear and balanced.

Any thoughts on processor with factory unit vs aftermarket?

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[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Get a new head unit, one with time alignment. You get modern features and clean outputs.

JL is a good brand, can't really go wrong.

Feel free to shoot me a PM.

Sent from mobile device.

 

[Bossman150]

Thank, any thoughts on a double din head unit? For head units they feature Pioneer and also carry Kenwood. They use to feature Alpine so I think they still carry those as well, Alpine used to be my go to for a head unit. I need bluetooth and I need to keep my steering wheel functions for hands free calling and audio controls. I would prefer one with a front aux in, but with bluetooth its not essential, dvd would be nice as would iphone control.

 

[Bossman150]

This is the head unit my installer is recommending, they will sell it to me for $620, this one pretty good?:

Pioneer AVH-4000NEX | Stereo West Autotoys

 

[Bossman150]

Ok I already broke what I said earlier lol, I bought a Soundstream STL4.500 to run component speakers off Amazon, they just want too much for their amps in store. According to Crutchfield my car has 6x9's in the front doors and on the back deck. Is it best to just replace those or do the front door and the back door that has 6.5 speakers? I am looking at the JL c2 series speakers.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Ok I already broke what I said earlier lol, I bought a Soundstream STL4.500 to run component speakers off Amazon, they just want too much for their amps in store. According to Crutchfield my car has 6x9's in the front doors and on the back deck. Is it best to just replace those or do the front door and the back door that has 6.5 speakers? I am looking at the JL c2 series speakers.

The C2 is horrible, tweeters randomly protect for no reason.

 

[Bossman150]

So would the TR690-TXi's be better? The next step up for JL anyway are out of my range. So far with the head unit, soundstream amp, install and parts/sales tax I am at about $1100. I can already see I am going to have to go above my budget, but I need to stay as close as possible.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

So would the TR690-TXi's be better? The next step up for JL anyway are out of my range. So far with the head unit, soundstream amp, install and parts/sales tax I am at about $1100. I can already see I am going to have to go above my budget, but I need to stay as close as possible.

I'm not a fan of any JL speakers. The C5s are ok if you want very neutral.

 

[Bossman150]

I ended up going with Kicker 40CS654's for the back door and kicker 40CS6934's for the front doors. I know they are not the greatest speakers, but they will be better then the factory ones by a mile. I had the install done yesterday and they ran short on time today, had one mix up and one issue that wasn't their fault. First they set aside a 4 ohm sub instead of a 2 ohm and they were out of the 2 ohm. So I only have a 4 ohm installed right now, meaning its only getting about 100-120 watts to it because the amp is meant to run as a 2 ohm. It still does pretty good on the bass, but I can't wait to have the 2 ohm in there and really hear what it can do.

Then I spent extra $ on a Stinger 8000 4 channel RCA cable, and of course tonight after the amps are all wired up and run, the right front channel on the RCA is making god awful feedback and engine whine. They pull out the head unit and one of the RCA jacks came apart, when they pushed it back together manually the noise is gone. It was already 45 minutes past closing at this point though so they simply don't have time to run a replacement. Even with the front speakers faded off the noise still came through, so I ended up pulling over about 3 blocks from the shop and just disconnecting that channel. It's not fun trying to listen to your new system with the front right two speakers off.

They didn't have time to install the door speakers either, so I am going to drop it off on Thursday while I am at work and have them run a new RCA and install the new speakers. I can't complain too much, the installer that did the work was a perfectionist just like I am, so it takes him much longer then some of the other installers but he does a fantastic job. He even ran the USB and AUX cable into the center console where the power plug in is, I believe that is where it would be from the factory if I had the nav package. They usually run them to the glove box but I asked them to run it there and he had no issues with that. He put the remote sub amp gain control under the dash where the stereo is closest to the driver side, it looks good and its very easy to get to.

I am loving the head unit so far, seems easy to control and the touch screen is very responsive. I set the crossover's (low pass 80hz 18db high pass 100hz 12db) and timing as best I could with the missing channel, and even with the missing channel and factory speakers I was impressed with the sound, even the underpowered sub sounded good. He wired the 4 channel amp so its actually running all 8 speakers (not sure about the 9th in the center of the dash). I didn't really understand how he did it but he has the front ones wired together and the back ones wired together. Any thoughts on this?

Oh, I did notice on the way home tonight that the Service Engine light is on. It's on solid so the manual says that is either a CVT or Emissions issue, is there anything they would have done with this install that could cause that light to come on?

Here are some pics, sorry my car needs cleaned and the iphone pics are not great:

bossman0150's Pictures, Photos & Images | Photobucket

 

[negolien]

I run an AVH-X5500BHS and love it all the stuff us normal guys need. Can't really comment on the rest of the post live and learn I say hope you enjoy it when it gets done. Keep us updated.

 

[Bossman150]

When I go back to have the new speakers installed Thursday, should I have them just power the 4 new speakers that are going in the front and rear doors and ignore the rest of them? If so if they have it wired to power all of them currently, how hard would it be to change it to just the 4 new speakers?