Upgrade help- what's next for this setup?

[gregr]

Would appreciate your opinion on what to improve next, best bang for the buck.

What I have now is the stock Ford Explorer premium touchscreen head unit (all features tied in- Ford Sync, radio, nav, cam, etc.), LC6i, components in 4 doors, 12" down firing ported sub, Directed 4ch amp for components and mono amp for sub.

My goal was to upgrade from stock but keep the stock head unit/nerve center and get decent sound. I got decent sound now but want better if it doesn't cost a fortune but also I want to keep all the funcionality of the touchscreen.

Is a sound processer the way to go? Is there an aftermarket head unit that keeps all the functionality of the stock one?

Door speakers are Alpine SPR-60C and sub is JL Audio 12W1v3-2. Amp for that is RF R250-X1.

Click to read more...

 

[gregr]

Bueller?

Bueller?

 

[joom 10+ year member]

Have you sealed and deadened your doors?

 

[gregr]

Thanks Joom- doors are very solid. There's no rattling anywhere even at high volumes. I looked when the installer had the panels off and there was insulation in there but how great it is I don't know.

After I posted my question yesterday I started thinking about speaker choices. I could go with some higher end Focal components- the install place said they'd take the Alpines back and just charge me the differnence in price. Still feel like there's more improvement to be gained by EQ'ing, but I'm not an expert so here I am.

 

[joom 10+ year member]

The oem head unit probaly has a volume dependent eq built in. That is something that would need to be defeated. Units like the audio fix and jbl ms8 can accomplish this. Loisisatool here on this forum is well versed in the late model ford sync systems. He uses a ms8.

 

[gregr]

Thanks. I'll go read up on those units now. The more I read about DSPs the more I think I'm band-aiding too much and should just bite the bullet and ditch the OEM head unit.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

A good DSP on a stock HU will crush every aftermarket Headunit

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

A good DSP on a stock HU will crush every aftermarket Headunit

seriously? so its pointless to get something with good dacs and just better internals?

 

[gregr]

Outstanding! I tell ya, it's hard to drill down to the hard facts with so many variables.

Was just looking at another thread where a JL Audio CL441dsp was mentioned. Would this do the trick for me or do I need to look at more expensive options?

PS- I'm not in a competition with myself for best-sound-ever, just best I can get without breaking the bank.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Outstanding! I tell ya, it's hard to drill down to the hard facts with so many variables. Was just looking at another thread where a JL Audio CL441dsp was mentioned. Would this do the trick for me or do I need to look at more expensive options?

PS- I'm not in a competition with myself for best-sound-ever, just best I can get without breaking the bank.

No. It only erases. It doesn't have any tuning software.

 

---------- Post added at 09:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 AM ----------

 

seriously? so its pointless to get something with good dacs and just better internals?

Yep

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

No. It only erases. It doesn't have any tuning software. 

---------- Post added at 09:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 AM ----------

 

Yep

you just dont get it huh? if you start out with poor DACs and ADCs and poor circuity no DSP can make up for it. your ALWAYS going to be limited. you can try to upscale but it just isn't the same. you can tell buy simply sqitching the stock CD player out for even a cheaper unit with decent dacs and it will sound so much better its not even funny.

 

---------- Post added at 09:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 AM ----------

 

Outstanding! I tell ya, it's hard to drill down to the hard facts with so many variables. Was just looking at another thread where a JL Audio CL441dsp was mentioned. Would this do the trick for me or do I need to look at more expensive options?

PS- I'm not in a competition with myself for best-sound-ever, just best I can get without breaking the bank.

stock head-units often have rather poor performance. unless its a upgraded unit id swap it out.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

But how does mine score so good? It must be crap

Or once again you are clueless

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

becasue its so **** flawed. if you over lap the signal from the studio as compared to your car you will get a better perception of just how different then original recording is vs the output. literally people have won SQ comps with the more terrible subs for SQ on the market along with cheap speakers that cannot hold a candle to the really good drivers on the market..

 

[gregr]

Well, I'll go out on a limb and say there are two opinions here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

First- clean sweep plus another full featured DSP- is that right? Big bonus with this route is it preserves all the OEM Sync features right?

Second- aftermarket head unit. Far less expensive but is there any way to preserve Sync and steering wheel features this way?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Please just stop posting on stuff you know nothing about.