New to car audio; budget upgrade for leased vehicle

[ymshulman]

Hi all,

I've been reading through this forum for a while, and just joined to finally ask for advice directly.

I leased a Nissan Altima that comes stock with 6 speakers, and I am not exactly happy with the sound quality. I don't really care about loudness or bass, but I am used to a pair of great headphones with balanced sound (ATH M50x), and the clarity of the music in my car is frustrating by comparison.

Since it is a leased vehicle, and I am a student, I don't have a real budget to work with. So my question follows the limits of a very constrained budget. My first thought is, will I be happy with just replacing the front speakers and tweeters with a set of components, and running that off the stock headunit, without adding an amp? I've heard great things about the JBL P660C's, which are 2 OHM. Just replacing the speakers will have me under $200 with installation, and I can save any major upgrades for when I graduate. If this will give me clarity that I'll be happy with, it's an easy decision to upgrade.

If I need to add an amp- or if I won't be happy unless I do- I am less sure if I should upgrade at all, as it seems the cost will rise quickly. I have read many recommendations for the Precision Power P900.4. But I was just made aware that if I want to keep the stock headunit (as the car is leased), I would need to add a "high to low" (is that an LOC?), which would quickly become expensive.

I would love to hear thoughts from you guys!

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[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Just changing speakers will make it worse. You can try adding a small amp on the factories first

 

[ymshulman]

Thanks...

Are there small amps that wire directly to the factory head unit, that take a high level input? Or is using an LOC a smaller deal (and cost) than I was led to believe?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Some have built in high levels.

D4

More power than you need but you can always use it later

 

[ymshulman]

Do you have any idea how much such an amp runs? (It appears they don't allow their products to be sold online, so I can't get a price that way.)

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

as an owner of the m50s, i can say you can sound way better than those head phones with a car setup. However your stock head unit will completely limit how good any speaker will sound. If you want to keep things simple, find a used JBL ms8 digital sound processor and have it properly installed and tuned. It has a built in amp thats a lot better than your factory head unit which only does 3-5 watts a speaker but makes everything sound a million times better.

 

[ymshulman]

That's interesting info. And that's still with installing new speakers, correct?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I love my MS-8 but they have been discontinued for to long. If a part fails, like the display cable or headphones, it's done and nobody wants to give theirs up.

I dread the day mine dies.

You have to contact a dealer.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

as an owner of the m50s, i can say you can sound way better than those head phones with a car setup. However your stock head unit will completely limit how good any speaker will sound. If you want to keep things simple, find a used JBL ms8 digital sound processor and have it properly installed and tuned. It has a built in amp thats a lot better than your factory head unit which only does 3-5 watts a speaker but makes everything sound a million times better.

Those cans are very good at imaging and tonality. Just not good at the stage or depth. No cans are unless they are open back

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

That's interesting info. And that's still with installing new speakers, correct?

this is what the jbl ms-8 does




New speakers, you'll need a proper head unit to tune and adjust along with an amp to amplify them, sound treatment along with getting proper speaker positioning. even on a small budget will cost you an upwards of 900 dollars total for anything worth while.

JBL ms-8 will make your stock speakers become a sound quality monster without adding anything else, they can be found for around 300 used.

New speakers arent the answer most of the times bud. Car audio is a completely different game vs head fi cr*p which is simple and has no other factors to consider other than throwing money for different head phones. Car audio is a noisy environment and as many acoustical issues to be addressed. You can have the best speakers in the world but if a shoddy tune and install is done, they will sound like flea market junk. while even stock speakers can sound magnificent on a JBL MS-8

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Those cans are very good at imaging and tonality. Just not good at the stage or depth. No cans are unless they are open back

they are mediocre at best but they are very good in the 100 dollar range for what they are worth.

my audiotechnica 20 dollar earbuds have better soundstage than the m50s by far. Enough to make me scared a few times thinking some sh*t was going down around me. M50s soundstage make me feel trapped in a space helmet