does this sound like a good recipe for a decent sounding system? In past cars I have typically taken the route of doing an aftermarket headunit, a good sub (like a JL10W6), and a good amp powering the sub and the (factory) main speakers... this provides what I consider the best bang for the buck... on the G35, however, with its heavy dash and steering wheel integration, I would prefer to leave the factory head unit in place as well... i don't even know, does the base (non bose) head unit use an external amp or is it built in? in either case, is the output of the HU suitable input to a good quality amp (i.e. does it do any lame filtering of bass at higher volumes or in any other way "destroy" the signal)? and are the stock speakers going to accept a good amplified signal (i.e. are they any kind of crazy impedance)?

from reading one Bose "issue" after another, i certainly don't think that HU would help me much with this project... I'm actually thinking the more "plain" base HU might be a better canidate to feed to an aftermarket amp?

any thoughts would be appreciated, I just want to nail this detail/option down 100% before placing my '05 order...

thanks,
Jeff

 

surely somebody has done a setup like this! any comments on how it sounds??

 

I decided to keep the stock HU on my 2005 G35x especially given the in dash CD changer MP3 player. The steering wheel controls are really nice benefit of the stock HU as well. I contemplated doing the install myself but had a local shop install a line output converter and wire up a sub amp. The signal you get with this configuration has proven to be quite good if you search for the Dave Navone thread.
To our surprise, the 2005 stock set up does not have 6 x 9 speakers in the rear deck so they had to remove the center console and get to the HU to tap into the speaker output. It took the guy 5 hours to complete and I'm just glad that I didn't attempt the install. So just with a JL 250/1 amp and a 10" 10w3v2 in a 4080 box the sound is vastly improved. I'm considering just leaving things as they are now since the sound is decent. The next step will be adding Infinti Kappa components and a JL 300/4 amp, especially for songs without much super deep bass. So if I were you I'd keep the stock HU.

 

PS: To my knowledge there is no external amp in the stock system.

 

There is an external amp in the coupe. But I talked to someone at Al and Eds autosound and they said that since your bose headunit is specifically taylored to the stock amp and speakers, if you try and hook up aftermarket amps and speakers through the bose amp, you cant get any more power out of the speakers than what the stock amp specifies. I dont know if the david navone unit takes care of this or not though.

 

i think he's trying to get info on the non-bose.

 

Thanks for the responses guys!

radzguy: you make it sound almost like there were no speakers in the back at all? Are you saying that they are just in the rear doors or something and not actually in the deck for easy trunk access? The in-dash changer, factory dash integration and steering wheel controls are what is making me want to stick w/the stock HU...

does the base stereo have an external amp?

did you guys use "bass blockers" on the main speakers so you can turn the volume up more w/o distortion?

thanks again for the info...

Jeff

 

I also got the base (Non-Bose) package 2005 G35 couple. I just recently did 2 phases of my upgrade plan and it's starting to sound damn nice.

I swapped out the front speakers with MBQuart PCE216 component set running off of a JL Audio 300/4. Last week I added a JL Audio 10W3v2 10" sub in a JL enclosure running off of a JL 500/1. I have a gain **** for the sub running up to the front (right now I just have it free floating in the center compartment not mounted anywhere.)

Both amps are stacked in the back left corner next to the spare tire and they fit nicely under the mat so you don't see them at all.

Everything sounds really full and tight now - and loud!
Next step is to swap out the rear 6 1/2's probably with another set of MBQuart components but with the tweeter mounted coaxially. Also want to replace the JL enclosure with one of 4080's custom babies so I get some of my trunk space back!

As far as the head unit goes I've been flip flopping about replacing it. Honestly I think I'm going to hold off. It's nice to have the in-dash disc changer and MP3 capability and it seems rather costly to get all the parts to swap it out on top of the price of a new unit to boot. My only real complaint about it is it has no EQ to tune the system. I have all the amps and crossovers tuned as well as they can be without an EQ.

So that's my story and I'm stickin to it.

The only thing I'm trying to find out right now is if the stock head unit has aux input for an iPod. I've read that they took out the SAT button but the RADIO button might do the toggle if it sees another input. So I'd like to confirm if there are in fact additional inputs. Anyone?

Andrew

 

what do you mean they took out the SAT button? XM/Sirius is still an option on the '05 w/the base radio, right?

 

With the G35x non-bose system, there are no speakers at all in the rear deck is what I was told....there are these plastic rectangle things on the bottom of the back deck but these are for the rear seatbelts apparently. So yes, the rear door speakers seem to be the only rear speakers in the non-bose system and there is no external amp in the non-bose system. There's actually a wiring diagram somewhere on the site. So I guess the only option is to tap into the rear speaker wires behind the head unit which requires taking apart the center console....it's a pain.

You shouldn't need bass-blockers....my mono amp has the low pass filter thing built in and really, I just keep the bass on level 0 or -1 and it's sounds good. A 5 channel amp probably has a built in crossover too for the sub. For more bass I just turn the fader to favor the rear speakers which feeds the amp and then you get more sub volume.

As far as no EQ on the head unit, I took the advice of someone on here and bought this audio control EQX thing off Ebay for $90. I plan on installing this when I add new interior speakers and the JL 300/4 amp. The EQX takes 1 set of RCA's then boosts the signal and allows you to fine tune with the EQ and gives you 3 sets of RCA outs. I've heard some people had problems with altenator whine with this thing though so we'll see.

There is no button that says SAT on the 2005 headunit but I have the XM option and basically you just hit the RADIO button to toggle between AM/FM/XM.

 

I've got a non-bose sedan, and it seems to be the easier path towards upgrading. I'm installing a modest system this weekend with Infiniti replacements in the 4 doors, plus either an 8" hanging in the rear deck, or a 10" in the trunk ... that'll be a last minute decision at Al & Eds. I'm up in the air about dynamting the whole thing right now ... I might hold off on the dynamat install, then work on it on my own time down the road.

Right now I just want it to sound better than stock, and over the next few months go back and do the dynamat in pieces. One thing I am installing myself next week is the B-quiet hood liner ... I've heard that does a nice job of quieting the engine. I've got the 6MT that literally screams every time you shift over 4000 rpm. Got to quiet that nonsense down!

 

Well, had my install done this weekend and I can say that a 5 channel amp with replacements in the doors and a 10" in the trunk sounds great - even with the stock HU. I haven't done too much tuning with the amp, but the Eclipse 5 channel sounds great, and my music is finally louder than my road noise The amp is 45x4 and 150x1. Of course a bigger amp would still sound better, this system will keep me happy for years, and the amp was highly recommended, with a 3 year warranty to boot.

I bought Infinity speakers for the doors on sale from Crutchfield: they are way too bright to recommend to others, but with treble turned down they are manageable to me. The installers said the stock speakers were pure garbage, so even if you replace them with cheap Infinity's like mine, they'll sound 5 times better than the stock paper cones.

Whole system was only $750 in parts, then xxx for labor depending on if you can wire this yourself, or chump out like me and have a shop do it. The nice thing is that I had them dynamat the doors and trunk, and there isn't a single rattle, which is relatively impressive.

Goodluck!