new radio saounds like crap

[NoSounds]

Just put my new alpine in 2010 gmc sierra and it sounds like crap. It's my first install. All the colored wires have good soldered connections from the radio harness to the schoosche harness. I had two wires left over blue ones cause I don't have those accessories. The factory radio sounded a lot better, The volume on the Al pine isn't very loud and it distorted the louder you get. I have factory speakers. I don't know what to do. I paid a 180 bucks for this radio and it sounds awfull. Maybe I did something wrong?

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[RoYALbLUE08 10+ year member]

maybe you havnt played with your audio settings yet? like equalizer, high pass/low pass filters?

which model radio do you have

 

[NoSounds]

I have an Alpine CDE-SXM145BT. I did play around with the audio settings. Got it to sound a little better, as long as volume stay around 20 or so (it goes up to 35). The higher the volume the worse the sound, It sounds no where as good as the factory radio.

The Scoosche conversion harness that retain the chimes and on star sounds really bad also. With factory radio everything is clear, the chime and onstar, but with the aftermarket kit very distorted..sounds cheap...Any Ideas as far as sound settings or other options to get this sounding even close to factory?

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

I have an Alpine CDE-SXM145BT. I did play around with the audio settings. Got it to sound a little better, as long as volume stay around 20 or so (it goes up to 35). The higher the volume the worse the sound, It sounds no where as good as the factory radio.The Scoosche conversion harness that retain the chimes and on star sounds really bad also. With factory radio everything is clear, the chime and onstar, but with the aftermarket kit very distorted..sounds cheap...Any Ideas as far as sound settings or other options to get this sounding even close to factory?

If your factory sounded good, you buy another head unit and it's immediately distorted then you probably have an amp in the car. It's possible you're overdriving the inputs, might need a step down.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

If your factory sounded good, you buy another head unit and it's immediately distorted then you probably have an amp in the car. It's possible you're overdriving the inputs, might need a step down.

That's what I'm guessing too.

OP, try pulling a door speaker out and hooking it directly to the stereo and see if that helps.

If you don't want to replace the speakers in your truck and amp them, I'd suggest running new wires directly from the radio to each speaker.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

That's what I'm guessing too.
OP, try pulling a door speaker out and hooking it directly to the stereo and see if that helps.

If you don't want to replace the speakers in your truck and amp them, I'd suggest running new wires directly from the radio to each speaker.

Or you could just purchase a step down module for about 15.00, either way will work.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

Or you could just purchase a step down module for about 15.00, either way will work.

Lol, whatever floats OP's goat //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fro.gif.c695f1f814b01c4ad99fe7f8cccadd29.gif

 

[NoSounds]

So ya'll are thinKing that I have an amp in the truck? I have never put one in, everything was factory AM/FM deck is all it came with. What is a step down kit?

 

[murph 10+ year member]

First just because your head unit goes to 35 doesn't mean you should ever play to 35. You saying that it's go up to 20 sounds about right. I'd assume your head unit begins distortion somewhere from 20-24 maybe 25. Factory head units are made to make the best (at least that's what they think) of your system. A factory head unit may be able to get louder (may) but, it will have a better bass response and in some cases heavier mid bass. All of that though to an audiophile would sound awful though because they over amplify those ranges and they end up sounding sloppy (or even artificial) to the above average listener. Your new unit should have very little bass response, a tighter and more pronounced mid bass response. The sound should also be more crisp and depending on the factory head unit, it should be significantly louder.

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

factory bose badge in the car? on the door panels? speaker polarity in phase out of the deck?

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

He says he has 2 blue wires left,so he's not turning any factory amps on....speakers out of phase?..

 

[PocketRocket]

The speakers could be out of phase but I doubt it considering he used the plug. My guess is the part you put in, other people like them but I've seen other wise.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

He says he has 2 blue wires left,so he's not turning any factory amps on....speakers out of phase?..

Hmmm, maybe because he's not turning the amp on, assuming there is one, that's causing the issues? The amp not being on in the first place?

 

[Jepalan]

We need to know for sure which factory system you had originally. Did you have the BOSE factory setup? I am guessing you did and you are overdriving the separate factory amp. It probably isn't crossed over and EQ'd correctly anymore as well.