please save me...

[dork]

... from dumping any more bad money.

i should have come here first. i'm an idiot.

start:

'05 Dodge Ram Quad Cab w/ factory upgraded sound. Infinity 6 disc changer/7 speaker setup (5 1/2's in the rear doors, 6x9's in the front doors and 3 tweeters in the dash deck.

added XM Roady2 and iPod, both through FM Transmiter. bleh, ptooey.

decided it was time to get a decent signal.

retail outlet #1 installed an Alpine 9856 with AINet for iPod and RCA out for XM. They said thay had to bypass the factory amp, because it wasn't compatible. Well, the sound quality went to sh*t.

retail outlet #2 installed an Alpine MRP-250 amp. They said that retail outlet #1 didn't have to bypass the factory amp, that is only if it was the Bose system, but they were already halfway through the amp installation. I know that's not much of an amp, but i'm not after a monster system, just good clean sound at low or high volumes. The sound still isn't even back to as good as it was from the factory. i have spent hours tweaking the head unit and the amp.

now:

i have spent $875 to get my iPod and XM connected, and now my sound quality *****.

should the sound really be worse now?

what's the smartest move now?

return the amp for a better one?

replace the factory Infinity speakers?

drop in a powered sub and tweak the speakers to carry the highs (it must be hidden/low profile, i need the space)?

other sugestions?

please help me. i don't want some sales weasel to talk me into something that won't help, for more $$. my budget is blown already.

Click to read more...

 

[dork]

anyone...?

anything..?

tell me to f*ck off!

whatever.

 

[chubby 10+ year member]

f*ck off.

 

[chubby 10+ year member]

sounds like the first place ****ed up on the HU.

even if you Bypass the factory amp you should still be able to run your factory speakers off the power form the headunit, and the sound quality would be fine. is it just with Ipod? or with all music?

can you take the headunit it out of the dash? how much experience do you have with this stuff in general, so i know if or how i could help you.

 

[dork]

thanks chubby.

i'm no pro by any means, but i can find my way around a system. i could have installed everything myself, but didn't have time. i have pulled the head unit to check the wiring. they had the front/rear channels backwards, and they chose some poor locations to cut into the existing wire for the speakers.

i did have just the Alpine head unit powering the factory installed Infinity speakers, it was bad enough that i bought the Alpine amp and had it installed.

i went back to the first place today. i had it out with the manager to no avail. her only solution was to return the head unit and the amp, leaving me with $475 worth of wiring and labor to eat. i asked her what person in their right mind would do that and then i left.

i did find an installer today that seemed to shoot straight with me. he said that the factory Inifinty speakers would only handle so much, and the sound quality is tuned to the system, so i should replace the speakers. 5.5 in the rear doors and 6x9 inthe front doors. he suggested JL Audio or Boston Acoustics would get me the depth of sound that i lost. or a small powered sub, but he leaned strongly towards the speakers first. like i said, i already passed my budget for this, so i need to limit the new hardware.

...and this is on all inputs, AUX, iPod and CD

thanks again

 

[netherland24 5,000+ posts]

well u could of got a Wired Modulator.... and have it like hooked up through the Mini jack plug on ur IPOD or XM....

there is a Direct connect FM modulator WIRED just for XM units taht u could of used.

if u can return radio and go back to factory HU and get the Wired Modulators

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

look for logjam electronics and see if they have an aux adapter for your STOCK HU. There may be a simple solution to this if it isn't too late.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

the problem is most likely your speakers. In some cases the stock speakers are designed for the car they are put into. Meaning engineers tuned your headunit's preamp EQ make your fairly cheap stock speakers to sound good. When you switch out your huyou no longer have that processing. I'd go ahead and switch out speakers.

A nice comp set would sound nicer off a fairly flat signal than your stocks.

 

[Jaredl 10+ year member]

i did find an installer today that seemed to shoot straight with me. he said that the factory Inifinty speakers would only handle so much, and the sound quality is tuned to the system, so i should replace the speakers. 5.5 in the rear doors and 6x9 inthe front doors. he suggested JL Audio or Boston Acoustics would get me the depth of sound that i lost. or a small powered sub, but he leaned strongly towards the speakers first. like i said, i already passed my budget for this, so i need to limit the new hardware.

That installer did give you good/true advice, but you shouldn't have a serious drop in sound quality as is. Honestly, if the last shops were dumb enough to screw up an HU install I wouldn't be surprised if the amp is incorrectly grounded or wired out of phase to the speakers. I would get a 6.5" component set for the front. Put the 6.5" woofer in a baffle over the 6x9 hole, put the tweeter somewhere (I would think there is a stock tweeter location somewhere), and leave the rears empty or throw coaxials in them. JL or Boston are good brands, it all depends on budget and personal preference. If you really care, listen to some different sets to see what sound you like and what fits your budget.

If you want to drop the cash on a professional installation, that guy sounds like he knows what he's doing. You should ask to see some prior work, though. If you want to go big, you should talk to Jeff Smith at Audio Designs of Atlanta or his old shop Car Tunes.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

also keep in mind capacity

xm radio sq blows ass to begin with, so don't judge your sound on that; i would buy xm in a heartbeat if they would've used the huge capacity of satelite signal to broadcast, say, 20 cd-quality channels rather than 200 channels that sound like they're on a phone

and mp3, an external player especially, isn't doing you any favors. if you really want to be able to take your mp3's with you on the road, get a hd-based, or cd-mp3 headunit. Ipod's made to be listened to on headphones above anything else, and the converters are geared more toward battery life than sound quality

how do cd's sound?

and ya, that sounds like a lot of wasted money. should've spent the cash on some good speakers and a nice head unit before anything

 

[dork]

Thank You all for the input.

It sounds like replacing the factory speakers is the way to go. I'm thinking Boston components in the front, leave the factory tweeters in place for now, and JL Audio 5.5's(?) in the back to get some punch. i should also check the wiring on everything again. i had forgotten about things being out of phase. that may be a part of the problem.

no ********, thanks.