Question on adding an amp & sub to a stock stereo

[Graham_A_M]

Hey guys, just curious as to whats out there for equipment. I really don't want to replace the stock stereo on my new DD Saturn aura, so would a JL audio clean sweep work? Or a typical line drive converter to pick up the signal going to the rear speakers? There isn't either a subwoofer or an amp it seems, so would a clean sweep even work? thanks a ton for any insight you guys can offer, kind of lost here

[Ukyo8]

Ive seen a 12" sub hooked up to a stock stereo, sounded fine but you have zero tuning options. All you can do is increase and decrease the bass volume.

Not worth it imo, just get a deck as well, you can get a decent one for about 100 bucks

[spike98]

I have a Rockford 3sixty.1 installed in my car. Great unit. It gives your plenty of tuning options, crossover selection, level adjustment and automatic level matching.

My only suggestion is to go with the 3sixty.2 if you are going this route. It give you many more tuning abilities. 31 band EQ anyone

[Graham_A_M]

^ awesome, where did you get it? or where would you recommend I get one? also how much are they? and whats the install like? thanks.

[spike98]

I picked it up used on canadiancaraudio.com in the for sale section.

I think i paid something around $150. Im sure you can get the .2 model for around $300 on ebay.

Install for me was a little complicated. Thats because i wanted to keep it as easily reversable as possible. I have a VW so i picked up factory VW ends and made myself a harness. I passed through all the radio stuff and left out the speakers. Then i ran a bundle of wires from the OEM deck to the back where i had the unit located. Then another bundle back to the front where the deck was and used the factory wiring to the speakers. This way i didn't cut anything OEM and can reverse it to stock very easily.

After that its the usual power and ground. The unit can output a low current 12v signal to switch on your amps once it senses input from the high level speaker outputs of your deck.

After that setup is a breeze. The unit connects via bluetooth to a laptop or palm. Then you follow onscreen instructions in conjunction with a disk you put in your cd player and it does the level matching and pre-sets an EQ. After that you can fine tune things manually via the software. The SQ out of the unit is PERFECT however when its friggen cold i do get a little bit of alt whine but it goes away after a few minutes and everything warms up. This could be due to the excessive amount of wiring i have picking up some interferance.

Ive never had any experiance with the JL cleansweep but i heard nothing but great things about it. The SQ is also suppose to be superb. I dont know about the "tweakabliity" of it though.

[JfuckinC]

I've used the RE-Q on my own and a few friends vehicles and it works flawlesslyyyyy haha

can be had at any big box store i think, ie. futureshop/bestbuy

[Graham_A_M]

Okay, at F.S. today I got a 2ch & subwoofer RE-Q unit for $60. They didnt want to install it due to the complexities involved. Did you do it yourself or who did you get to install it, and how was it/ how much did it cost?

[carzcraz]

If you're not comfortable with the install, last weekend we had this guy (Mike) do the install of some new speakers in the STi. His rates are cheap, has been doing installs for 3 years and he did a good job! Best part is, he comes to your house/garage to do the install. You do need to supply the parts though (e.g. wires).

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ241478777

[TE4MFaint]

I have never had luck with RE-Q units. They always have a channel fail down the road.
I work with the Perpheral SVEN2 unit. Never had it fail on me. Ever. Easy to install, and never have to worry about it after installation.

[Graham_A_M]

^ damn now you chime in lol. Where can you get it and how much?

[TE4MFaint]

Sorry for the delayed response.

SVEN2 can be purchased at any Visions Electronics. Retail is $70. I sell it to friends for $40.

[Speed_69]

I'm using SVEN2 in my car for the past year and half. No problems and was the cheapest route for me to install a sub to my stock headunit. From the reviews I've read, RE-Q is not the best like TE4MFaint said.

[5fivespeed]

Originally posted by TE4MFaint
I have never had luck with RE-Q units. They always have a channel fail down the road.
I work with the Perpheral SVEN2 unit. Never had it fail on me. Ever. Easy to install, and never have to worry about it after installation.

Wierd question - but what does the SVEN2 do? I have a stock deck in my Tacoma and would love much better sound out of it. Until I can upgrade the headunit and speakers.

Ray

[TE4MFaint]

All the SVEN2 unit does is takes a wire signal and creates an RCA output. People argue the fact that an RCA signal will have less signal noise than a wired signal so thats where this unit comes into play. Won`t make too huge of a difference for a subwoofer signal, but unless your amplifier has a High Level Input, this is one of your only options.

If you`re looking for better sound out of your Factory Deck something like the JL Audio "cleansweep" which eliminates the factory EQ, however then you MUST amplify everything in your system with aftermarket amplifiers. So thats not really what your looking for budget wise.

In all honesty for everyone here, Alpine is taking an absolute HUGE step up this year showing they are going to be back in the game both Competition wise and SQ wise. Their new stuff is going to be a great leap to comparison to what they have been putting out the past few years, I am very excited for their line.

Alpines new PXAH800 is going to be the best per price point Audio Processor on the market. Release it not yet dated however, they are thinking somewhere along the "Summer 2011" release date says the rep in Alberta. This processor will take the acoustics of its surroundings to make the best listening possible. Greatest part about it is that it doesn`t stop. So when you are driving down the road, it continues to recalculate something like 800 times a second (unsure on the exact number) to ensure the sound is always 100% ideal.

Or just add a simple EQ to your system and adjust as you prefer, something like the Kicker KQ9 works wonders.