Adding A 5 Channel To The Stock Hu, Sq Any Good?

[mike2002]

ok, i know what i have to do to hook it up, thats not a problem. what i want to know, is how is the sound quality? the amp is a very high quality, soundstream van gogh series vga800.5. running soundstream exact components up front and tarantuala 6x9's in the back...so they're pretty nice speakers too. the stock amp just doesn't have enough power.

how's the sound quality? i know a aftermarket deck would work better, but i want it to look stock, not a flashy HU. that and funds are low.... and HU's are starting to look more conservative, so maybe ill like next years stuff.

thanks

[Vtolds]

Check out Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com) and out in all the Alero info and it will give you every thing that they sell for the Alero, all there headunits ad speakers come with directions and free mounting and wiring to hook it all up. if you want it to look not flashy go with a ful 3 din head unit so it would be the stock size atleast and just pick out the one you like.

[FormulaNERD]

ok VTOLDS. he's curious of the soundquality with the factory deck, not where to get a new deck.

and mike, it will still sound decent, especially with the equipment you're using. maybe you could also get an EQ?

[jamcllw]

I would try and get an equalizer to increase the output voltage to the amp. It would probably sound decent without 1 but it would make a world of difference with 1.

[Vtolds]

Actaully I belive I know what he asked about I was giving him a very good option of buying or atleast checking out a top notch company for getting new head units, seeing how i know a aftermarket deck would work better, but i want it to look stock, not a flashy HU. that and funds are low.... and HU's are starting to look more conservative, so maybe ill like next years stuff. he wants to get one but doesnt have the money.

[mike2002]

actually, i dont want to spend alot of money on a deck that i think will look like crap. so for now, i want to keep the stock HU, maybe in the future id upgrade. only if i see one that looks like it will flow with the car. right now the only deck i like is the kenwood excelon 2 din tv deck ($1399) but i for sure dont have that, and im not sure if a din would fit...so for now, im using the stock HU. i dont like any of the "1.5 din" decks but i want a deck that fills the whole spot.

ill check out a eq, my brother gets deals on them, but i think the one he stocks has 13v output, i thought van gogh's are 12v max.

[Vtolds]

3 din is the size that GM and Chrysler use they will fill the whole spot and you wont need a ugly mounting kit which most of us have.

[FormulaNERD]

Originally posted by mike2002@Oct 24 2004, 08:13 PM
actually, i dont want to spend alot of money on a deck that i think will look like crap. so for now, i want to keep the stock HU, maybe in the future id upgrade. only if i see one that looks like it will flow with the car. right now the only deck i like is the kenwood excelon 2 din tv deck ($1399) but i for sure dont have that, and im not sure if a din would fit...so for now, im using the stock HU. i dont like any of the "1.5 din" decks but i want a deck that fills the whole spot.

ill check out a eq, my brother gets deals on them, but i think the one he stocks has 13v output, i thought van gogh's are 12v max.
i thought soundstreams accepted up to 14.4v?

[mike2002]

your thinking power voltage i think...then they're good for at least 16volts

i found out, the eq he has is 8volts

so im getting a LOC, 8v 4 band eq, vga800.d (80x4, 400x1)
i think im going to wait on the sub for now, and just run a big enough power wire for that, i dont want to upgrade the alternator just yet.

[Crazytaxi37]

Most of GM's decks are din and a half as our stock stereo in the alero's are.

[mike2002]

yep....for a deck, ive already planned out what ill do

this isn't till next year, tax season, so no point in thinking to much about it


6.5" TOUCHSCREEN widescreen tv in the factory location, dvd/cd/mp3 player......somewhere, not sure where, glove box? dont know

but for now, ill do the LOC, eq and amp

[mikegett]

If you want the eq for the added voltage then don't waste the money. If your amp has high level input then use it. Otherwise stick with a thirty dollar LOC. You will get no added sonic benefits from a eq loc from a dedicated loc. Any time that you use the factory high level input voltage there is already a distortion present. This distortion is from the HU amp. As for the eq, they do not clean up the sound of the signal but eliminate certain frequencies from being present. I would also suggest that you try out the lcd display HU's. I work for eclipse and was extremely close to buying the navigation HU. After seeing it in the car enviornment I quickly changed my mind. The LCD's suffer from the same problems that a laptop has in sunlight. They wash out very easily. The problem is that home lcd's use 110 volt power. They can achieve a high contrast and brightness with little amperage. The dc counterparts need alot of amperage in comparison. This creates heat which is the highest killer of lcd's. A few degrees will decrease the lamp life drasticaly. In my opinion, it is better to have a dedicated HU and buy a external lcd that can be placed somewhere out of the sunlight. Like on the roof.