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New car stereos compared to older cars


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So a friend of mine has a 2017 charger and his stock system sounds better than my 2003 Civic with multiple amps and speakers. I was wondering if this was due to the fact that newer cars have more insulation and are built differently than older cars? I mean I still get interior noise and he gets none so I know this plays a part as well.

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I have an EM2 2001 Civic.  Replace your door speakers with mid bass drivers and make sure the crossover is properly set or have a proper passive crossover in-line with the tweeters.  Make sure the door panels are completely deadened and you will hear a dramatic difference.  I been there done that with components and they didn’t sound great in a civic, especially the EM2.

1 x Fi Audio SP4 V2 12" D2 Fully Loaded

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2 x XS Power D5100's

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25 minutes ago, PaCiFiKbAllA said:

I have an EM2 2001 Civic.  Replace your door speakers with mid bass drivers and make sure the crossover is properly set or have a proper passive crossover in-line with the tweeters.  Make sure the door panels are completely deadened and you will hear a dramatic difference.  I been there done that with components and they didn’t sound great in a civic, especially the EM2.

When you say bass drivers, do you mean pro audio 6.5s or dedicated mid-range speakers like Dayton’s?

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1 hour ago, LoudPackRacing said:

When you say bass drivers, do you mean pro audio 6.5s or dedicated mid-range speakers like Dayton’s?

Exactly.  I have ELAC Midbass 6.5" drivers in my door and they sound solid.  Just be sure you have enough clearance for the magnets since they tend to be bigger.  When I roll my windows down, they hit the magnet, but they go down 98% of the way.  It doesn't bother me though, I can still put my arm out the window comfortably.

1 x Fi Audio SP4 V2 12" D2 Fully Loaded

1 x Wolfram W-4500.1

2 x XS Power D5100's

250A Singer Alternator

2.67 Cubes @ 29hz

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3 hours ago, PaCiFiKbAllA said:

Exactly.  I have ELAC Midbass 6.5" drivers in my door and they sound solid.  Just be sure you have enough clearance for the magnets since they tend to be bigger.  When I roll my windows down, they hit the magnet, but they go down 98% of the way.  It doesn't bother me though, I can still put my arm out the window comfortably.

What tweeters are you running with them? Also do you have them installed in the stock location?

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My current ride is the first time I used a component set vs. upgraded coaxials and the difference is night and day. I will never go back to coaxials.

Back to the OP's question........my friend has a 2018 Yukon and the factory stereo is pretty impressive. I think it's just a combination of higher wattage head units, with better quality speakers, as well as increased insulation/less road noise. His Yukon is whisper quiet even when on the interstate.

2010 Accord Sedan

XS D3400R

Clarion HU

Sundown mids and highs

Incriminator amps

Incriminator Lethal Injection 12"

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3 hours ago, LoudPackRacing said:

What tweeters are you running with them? Also do you have them installed in the stock location?

I have Pioneer TS-T15 tweeters.  The door speakers and tweeters are in the factory location.  I removed my 6x9’s on the rear deck when I sealed it off.  I put another pair of ELAC 6.5’s on both rear quarter panels.

1 x Fi Audio SP4 V2 12" D2 Fully Loaded

1 x Wolfram W-4500.1

2 x XS Power D5100's

250A Singer Alternator

2.67 Cubes @ 29hz

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newer cars audio systems now have some input from an audio engineer to get the best sound possible out of the crappy budget they put into their audio system. you'll notice that his speaker mate up nearly perfectly to his door panel so there is no lost sound produced by the speaker, it all goes into the cabin. while you may spend $200 on a set of front door speaker, you'll notice they only sound moderately better than the OEM. That's b/c key parts were not upgraded like OEM was done also the EQ curve for the OEM speaker is suited to reproduce certain deficiencies that the replacement speaker may not need. Thus boosting or attenuating certain frequencies making it sound worse b/c the replacement speaker doesn't have those same deficiencies. especially in "upgraded" sound systems you'll notice time delays or all pass filters to alter imaging of the OEM sound. if your civic had 1/16th of the audio engineering knowledge into what you have, you'll blow that Chargers sound system out the water. This is why you'll find professional installers like myself drastically emphasizing the installation of a product more than the product being installed. You'll even find people that just appreciate good sound emphasize the installation over product selected. I'd take an intermediate product with a good installation over an excellent product with moderate installation.

 

Think about the money that gets put into the OEM audio of a vehicle. it comes down to companies are not going to spend $500 for products on every vehicle that rolls down the assembly line. They will however pay a 1 time $50k charge for an audio engineer to design the best system possible with the $100 sound system parts that the vehicle will roll down the assembly line with. vehicles are becoming more difficult to work on b/c manufacturer are getting audio engineers and design engineers involved more and more. vehicles are not being considered for enhancement but are being designed for initial appeal and replacement.

However as long as OEM keeps rolling out crappy products that are not reliable, there will always be an aftermarket demand. The catch to the whole ordeal with aftermarket. The early 00s littered the market with crappy installers and business owners that killed the pricing for products and labor. So finding a good installer is more and more difficult. The ones that are found usually charge a premium for the ability and knowledge they have acquired. Sorry for going way off into left field on the topic.

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3 hours ago, mothra said:

newer cars audio systems now have some input from an audio engineer to get the best sound possible out of the crappy budget they put into their audio system. you'll notice that his speaker mate up nearly perfectly to his door panel so there is no lost sound produced by the speaker, it all goes into the cabin. while you may spend $200 on a set of front door speaker, you'll notice they only sound moderately better than the OEM. That's b/c key parts were not upgraded like OEM was done also the EQ curve for the OEM speaker is suited to reproduce certain deficiencies that the replacement speaker may not need. Thus boosting or attenuating certain frequencies making it sound worse b/c the replacement speaker doesn't have those same deficiencies. especially in "upgraded" sound systems you'll notice time delays or all pass filters to alter imaging of the OEM sound. if your civic had 1/16th of the audio engineering knowledge into what you have, you'll blow that Chargers sound system out the water. This is why you'll find professional installers like myself drastically emphasizing the installation of a product more than the product being installed. You'll even find people that just appreciate good sound emphasize the installation over product selected. I'd take an intermediate product with a good installation over an excellent product with moderate installation.

 

Think about the money that gets put into the OEM audio of a vehicle. it comes down to companies are not going to spend $500 for products on every vehicle that rolls down the assembly line. They will however pay a 1 time $50k charge for an audio engineer to design the best system possible with the $100 sound system parts that the vehicle will roll down the assembly line with. vehicles are becoming more difficult to work on b/c manufacturer are getting audio engineers and design engineers involved more and more. vehicles are not being considered for enhancement but are being designed for initial appeal and replacement.

However as long as OEM keeps rolling out crappy products that are not reliable, there will always be an aftermarket demand. The catch to the whole ordeal with aftermarket. The early 00s littered the market with crappy installers and business owners that killed the pricing for products and labor. So finding a good installer is more and more difficult. The ones that are found usually charge a premium for the ability and knowledge they have acquired. Sorry for going way off into left field on the topic.

That’s understable. I’ve been in the car audio game for a while now so I have some experience, but also still have a lot more to finish learning. I guess I better start looking at some Second Skin.

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5 hours ago, PaCiFiKbAllA said:

I have Pioneer TS-T15 tweeters.  The door speakers and tweeters are in the factory location.  I removed my 6x9’s on the rear deck when I sealed it off.  I put another pair of ELAC 6.5’s on both rear quarter panels.

So you made 6.5 speaker holes in the quarter panels, how do you like the sound? Also Have you heard Madisound speaker products such as Silver Flutes, SB Acoustic, or Peerless? And do your door speakers ever get wet?

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