Hi,
Thanks in advance for indulging me.....if this has been covered earlier.

I just bought a 2004 G35 Coupe, with stock--non Bose stereo.
Love the car, but not the stereo.

I want to upgrade it, but want to leave the stock head unit in place.
Somehow like the stock looks........., and the controls.

I have a budget of $1000.
What do you guys suggest. I am not a big Boom, Boom fan.
Just want some clean , but LOUD music.
Looking forward for your suggestions.
Thanks again

 

Be aware, that as much as you love the stock head unit, they're not known for longevity. I've also heard marked improvement in my wife's base system just by replacing the head unit with a good Pioneer unit. Similar reports from Kenwood, Alpine, etc.

For $1k though, you can do a nice $300 set of Boston Acoustics components up front, $200 Boston Acoustics coaxials in the rear, and $400 on a good 4-channel 50-60 watt RMS amp, with $100 left over for an amp wiring kit and speaker wire.

 

@Wrathernaut
Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it.

 

Are you going to DIY?

 

Hopefully somebody in his regional forum can help with it if he needs it.

Otherwise... you're going to drop the quality down a couple notches if you're going to do it for $1k

 

^ least he's not asking for all that plus a DD HU plus the jdm dd/ac controller for $1k


I think $1k could be possible as a DIY:


$100 for a budget set of 6.5" components up front: PG RSD 6.5cs or equivalent (lots of nice midbass here for the price).

$200 or so for a JL Cleansweep sound processor or other sound processor that integrates OEM with aftermarket <-- I've never had to integrate aftermarket with OEM HU so I don't know for sure here.

$120 for some decent sound deadening (Ramaat or equivalent).

$75 for a decent amp wiring kit.

say $200 for a nice 10" or 12" in a simple sealed box.


Leaves about $300 for a nice 4 channel amp to power everything, generically speaking something that does 100 watts to each side and bridged about 300 watts to the sub? I think that's very possible.


^ That's without professional installation, and also could be cheaper by 25% or so if you went the used equipment route. You can always spend more in one area to get something better in another area. This is strictly off the top of my head, so YMMV. I'm not even close to being knowledgeable about car audio.

But hey OP, have you seen this sticky yet?

https://g35driver.com/forums/audio-v...-stock-hu.html


Anything's possible with some time and effort.