Hey guys. I am planning to put a system together for my G35, and am having a really hard time. From what I understand, is it not even practical to keep the stock Bose head unit? How else would I go about putting a head unit into this car? I already did a search on this, in hope of finding pics and such, but this was almost useless, as there are very few threads even addressing this issue, and the ones there are all of the pictures are screwed up.

I have about $1500 to spend in total on my system. I was thinking about going with a single JL 10" W7 subwoofer and 500/1 amp for that department. Would that be enough? Or would it be a better idea to go with a less expensive sub there and then put the rest of the money towards the components? With the sub and amp it would be about $750 plus an enclosure. Is that spending too much for that department? How much money am I looking at for a good set of components with a good amp for them too? And what else is necessary for a system? Just looking for some good suggestions. I really don't have much of an extensive knowledge when it comes to car audio, other than you need a Sub, an amp for that, Component speakers, and an amp for those, and then a capacitator. Is that right? Anything else? Do I need a headunit, and if so what solution is there for adding one in a G35?

Any suggestions with a $1500 budget will be appriciated! Thanks!

 

1) Definitely practical to keep Bose HU.

2) Coupe or sedan?

3) You don't *need* a capacitor.

4) Where are you geograpically? And are you doing the install yourself, or will you have it done?

5)I'll give you two quotes - one for what we would do at my shop and the other what you could have done most places.

OTS system:

JL 300/4 amp
JL 10w3
Alpine 177 X-type components (if they fit - these are made in Europe, not SE Asia, and sound way diff than other Alpine speakers). Other possibles are Focal, a/d/s/, Morel Dotech, and MB Quart if you HAD to.
Fiberglass sub box
OEM HU interface (NO CleanSweep! This amp will work fine with the OEM Bose HU!)
Installed for $1500 most places (including $400 for a fiberglass box).

Avincar system:

DLS CA41 amp
DLS UP6 components
DLS Magnesium 10"
OEM HU interface
Fiberglass box
OEM mating spacers for F mids
some damping in F doors and trunk lid
$1500 installed

(for $1700 you can use the Genesis Profile 4 amp and have it fit where the Bose amp fits in the sedan. It's fan cooled and 1.25 thin so the over will fit over it).

 

Hey, heeb, I see in your sig that you are in NJ. If you're in the south end, go visit my buddy's shop in Colonia.

www.streeteffectz.com

He has great gear and does sick work. Just had a car written up in some big magazine. Carries good gear too.

 

Hey thanks for the response! I appriciate it.

Colonia isnt far at all from me. Its like a 20 minute drive.

Sorry I forgot to mention, its for a Coupe.

And I'd like to install this myself, but I dont know how much is involved. I love doing everything myself from rebuilding my own dirtbike engines, building my own computer, and my own home theater.. but I really dont know much at all about car audio. I think I might consider taking it to the shop for this one!

Also: So the stock Bose headunit will work okay? Will I be sacrificing sound quality with it? I really didn't like the idea of sacrificing the factory look, and everything from the 6-disc cd changer, steering wheel controls, SAT radio built in, etc.. but if its crucial to sound quality, I wouldnt mind working around it - Around Christmas time, I might be considering an Avic N1 or N2 as well anyway, so maybe the Bose wouldnt be so bad temporarilly anyway. (possibly D1, but looks like a lot of work and expenses for that flush look)

Thanks!

 

There is a limit to how good the OEM HU can sound, but you have to get pretty good gear before you'll hit that limit IMO.

On your budget, SE can get you an all-DLS system that kicks ***.

 

Hey Duderino, I'm in Norcal and I'm planning on doing a setup for my 05 coupe, i've heard motor music is pretty good, how much would you quote a set up like this:
1 jl10w7
jl 500/1
jl 300/4
Whatever good components and coaxials I can get in there (i've been told just keep it all JL)
and obviously custom box
I want to keep the OEM HU, motor music said do cleansweep, you said earlier to do an OEM HU interface, what is that exactly and why shouldn't I use cleansweep...I'd really appreciate your help bro

Thanks

 

As far as the Cleansweep goes, it's a $400 solution to a problem you don't have.

The signal from your HU is flat as a pancake (the CS is supposed to correct non-flat signals). It's also balanced, so some amps should work fine with it and some don't. The CS is a balanced to single-ended adapter with a lot of digital processing to reverse the Bose EQ that isn't in your HU, in my opinion. All you need is a balanced to single ended adapter, at most, like the Soundgate LOCPREA or maybe the LOCB.2 (maybe).

I would use a DLS UR10 sub, a Reference RA10 sub amp and a RA40 4-channel amp (if I couldn't talk you out of rear fill, which by the way is a commie plot that threatens our American way of life).

For components, I am on record as thinking that the DLS UP6 just totally kick a$$.

For rear fill, I'd go midbass only if I can't get you out of it entirely. We have some euro-made avincar-house-brand mids that should work fine. If we HAVE to go coaxials, I would probably use avincar brand again.

I'm guessing we'd do something like that for around $2500-2700 depending on details and specifics. (w/o R fill, around $2K, and better sound quality: )

 

I guess it depends on what you're saying.

Sounds like you're saying that:

1) Rear seat passengers can't hear any words without rear fill.

2) This is bad.

I've heard plenty of cars without rear fill where the rear seat passengers can hear vocals fine from the front speakers. This is helped with tweeters that play a lot of midrange, true, but I have heard it.

But I guess my question is, even if 1) were absolutely true (which I doubt, having ridden in the back seat of one of these cars on a 3-hour road trip) - how often does that really matter to most adults?

How often do you have someone in the back seat AND play your music? Unless you are on a long trip, the music is usually down and you're talking over it.

Most high-performance stereo systems are for driver enjoyment. They usually don't get leaned on with a passenger. (I except the Saturday-night-cruiser behavior from this generalization).

I have had requests (from NBA players) in the past to make sure the boys in the back can hear the words. They weren't really on a budget. If you are on a budget, and you want good sound quality, consider bailing on rears rather than diluting the quality of your front sound.

 

Thanks EL,
but here are some idiotic questions,
what is the rear fill?
and are JL's that overrated that I shouldn't even consider em?
I wanted to do a nice custom setup with the sub facing out the back and two amps diagonally placed in the trunk with some fiberglass and lights etc...recommend any shops in NORCAL? I figured about 2500 for the whole setup, I just wanna make sure it sounds clean and it "hits" when I need it to...

 

In a home stereo (not surround sound, which is usually DVD movies, but 2-channel stereo) system, you have two front speakers, or two F speakers and a sub.

In a car, when you have rear speakers, it's called "rear fill" - because it "fills" in the lack of sound coming from behind you. Some people demand this sound in a car. Others hate this sound in a car. (Guess who's who: )

Rear speakers may seem normal in a car, but they aren't normal in the home, and at concerts we usually face the stage (this is called "front stage" by stereo system designers) so it's a prejudice that I spend a lot of time lecturing against - because it eats up dollars we could use for better front sound.

As far as JL being overrated, they make good amps and some good woofers. Nothing wrong with JL at all. Their mids and tweets and e series amps are a bit overpriced and maybe the components are a bit overrated, but they don't suck by any means.

But I am not a JL dealer, so when you ask me to quote a system LIKE a JL parts list, I won't pick JL parts, because I don't sell them.

I do think that the slash amps are good and their woofers are good too. But you can get better mids and highs for the same amount of money.

 

Oh, I forgot. No dumb questions here... but I don't know many shops in Norcal any more. Rolling Thunder has a good rep but they're in the Bay Area (San Rafael?)

It's more important that you find a shop that you can trust and that can give you some references that you can contact. FOr OEM integration, the CleanSweep does make it easier for shops taht don't know what they're doing to do integrations. I'd rather find someone who does know...

 

I've never heard of DLS, so I am a little skeptical of going that route. There is such a very small amount of information for car audio when it comes to the G35, which is suprising, since IMO the worst thing that stands out with the car is the absolute **** poor audio system.

I've decided that I'm probably going to do the installation myself, and if I run into problems, I can always bring it to a shop. After looking around a little, I found that installation isnt all that pricey. But buying retail is!

I figure I can get a good $400-$500 set of components? Would MB Quarts Q Series (QSC 216 6.5") make a good choice (~450-500 ebay) - Any other reccomendations or suggestions there?

$350 for a JL 300/4 (or maybe even save money and go with a 300/2 amp?) - Any other suggestion for a better amp?

Now that covers the components and amp for that.. but the sub seems like it is a huge investment:

the 4080 box (which I really like, but it seems pricey for just a box) + $450 for one JL W7 10" sub itself, + $400 for a JL 500/1 amp! I have heard JL subs before, and was deffinetly very impressed, but I am thinking that for my budget, that is a bit much to be spending on the sub department ($1150+) and this is not even including things like wiring. Maybe I should go a little cheaper in that department? Should I try to find another enclosure to save money? How much would I sacrifice if I went with one W6 instead of the W7?

Really desperate for suggestions here. Thanks!

 

Fist off, get off of thinking that the box is too much money. The box is more important than the sub (a cheap sub in a great box can sound pretty good, but a great sub in a cheap box sucks). Better to have a better box and a cheaper amp. I charge about $600 for fiberglass sub enclosures, and that's not insane - it is hard work.

Secondly, I'm IN retail. Maybe you're shopping at the wrong places.

Thirdly, if the Alpine 177X mid speakers would fit in the door, I'd recommend them over the Quarts because their Vifa-made tweeter is going to play more mids and be smoother (it's a silk dome with a lower xover point). Same with the Focal 165 (but is not as good as the X type - xover is too high).

Lastly, you are going with too expensive a sub.

 

Thanks, excuse my ignorance. I don't really have a good knowledge when it comes to car audio, so I'll take that into consideration about the boxes. From my standpoint, it just seemed a little odd to pay so much for an enclosure. But if thats the case, I have no problem spending the extra money on it.

What are some subs that you would reccomend getting for a better value over the JL W7 or W6 series, assuming going with 4080's enclosure?

Thanks.