Stereo Upgrades - Reus Systems ?
 

Has anyone used them? Installed a system? Opinions?

I'd like to upgrade my stereo (MY01 Digital HiFi ), but I don't want to spend a lot of money. A car is never going to sound that great and I don't feel it's worth it to spend thousands on car audio. That being said, it's depressing that my nicest car has the worst sounding stereo. It didn't bother me before because it's such a thrill to drive my P-car, but after driving it for over a year I'm finally starting to actually settle down and listen to music.

Has anyone replaced just the amp? Should I look at doing the speakers as well?

I'd love to hear what others have done.

Rob:

I did a complete system upgrade on my 01 Cab before I upgraded to the Turbo. I would consider replacing the front speakers as a minimum if you were looking for an inexpensive upgrade. I don't think replacing the amp by itself will do that much good.

Rob:

mrpc12 is correct above. The most bang for your buck will be to replace speakers. That's the most noticable change for the money. Amplication and decent head units are also important and can really help clean up a system, but a poor sounding speaker is a poor sounding speaker no matter how good of an amp is driving it.

Good Luck
Jay

Hmmmm....

I have an 01 C4 with the DSP system and I would put it up against the Nak system in my Lexus any day of the week. What are you hearing, or not hearing, that makes you think something is amiss?

But I certainly agree with the above posters, after checking with Roger to make sure nothing OEM is amiss, if you still feel you need improvement, then Magnolia HiFi will fix you up.

Oops, just went back and looked, Cabriolet...

Nothing you do is likely to help "at speed" with the top down. You'd be surprised at what small amounts of air pressure does to the sound reproduction capabilities of even really good speakers.

I have a 78 Targa with a truly nice audio system but with the top off at speed all I can hope for is loud music, not good fidelity.

And if your car's interior has ever gotten wet (who am I kidding here, where are we anyway?) you might as well go ahead and replace the OEM speakers. Again, the guys at Magnolia will know what you need.

My cars are at:

<a href="http://hobbystage.net/porsche/wwest" target="_blank">http://hobbystage.net/porsche/wwest</a>

what have folks done to boost bass output, over the stock Bose system?

[quote]Originally posted by urbanski:
<strong>what have folks done to boost bass output, over the stock Bose system?</strong><hr></blockquote>Yer kiddin me? I think the system has a lot of bass.

Thanks for all the replies. I run a recording studio so I feel like I have a pretty good ear ;)
My old Targa had great system in it (an Alpine head and CD changer, 6 Polk Audio speakers, powered by a 250 watt amp, and an eight-inch sub in the rear deck powered by a 50 watt Rockford/Fosgate Punch amp) and I miss it. We occasionally did reference checks in my old Targa. Both the Bose system in my Audi and the Harmon Kardon system in my Range Rover blow away the DSP system in my Porsce. With the top down you lose a lot of high end, but should still have some clarity (I've never gotton the interior wet - god forbid). It seems that the amp is breaking up when pushed and I've heard the speakers are decent. As far as the bass it has plenty, almost too much. I've heard the same complaint from the guys w/the Bose system. Most have the bass set around -3 or -4. I've got mine eq'ed to right around 0 db (depending on what I'm listening to). I'm tempted to pull the speakers today and have a look at them. I still can't figure out where the amp is in the boot.

Keep those ideas coming I love the brainstorming aspect of this....

In case anyone wants to check out Reus Systems:
<a href="http://www.reusaudio.com/" target="_blank">HERE'S A LINK</a>

edit: WOW what a beautiful Targa willwest!!!

Automotive design engineers (purists all, who needs a radio) don't go for the HEAVY magnets in good high fidelity speakers and beancounters don't care for the cost.

You should have seen the cheap Italian $5 speakers that came out of my Ferrari. Maybe I'll take a picture of them if anyone is interested.

After I put on the Tubi exhaust system I had to completely upgrade the stereo because I couldn't hear the stock system any more.

I put Dynaudio 2 ways in the front. Eclipse Head Unit, Brax power amp and Eclipse CD changer in the trunk and a custom subwoofer behind the drivers seat.

I'm picking up my Turbo from the Stereo shop today :cool: Dynaudio 3 ways in the front. Alpine head unit with motorized video display, DVD changer, DVD Nav unit and Zapco power amp in the trunk. I'm running the stock Bose speakers and subwoofer with the existing Hi-Fi amp for the rears.

[quote]Originally posted by Jim Sloves:
<strong>Yer kiddin me? I think the system has a lot of bass.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Honestly! My C4S has the sub(s) in the back, not in the center area up front.
I have bass turned up to +7 AND loudness on.
Want more! :)

Dynaudio speakers are the best speakers I have ever encountered for the car audio environment. I have used them for the front stage on my last 4 cars and I'm still looking for something that can better them. Haven't found anything yet. One of the first things I'm going to do to my C4S ,when I get it, is install a set of Dynaudio separates! Even underpowered with a factory amp they sound fantastic.

Cheers,
Ken

Willwest:
"Automotive design engineers (purists all, who needs a radio) don't go for the HEAVY magnets in good high fidelity speakers and beancounters don't care for the cost."

That is not necessarily true. There are other ways to produce bass in a fixed volume without HEAVY magnets (tuned ports, reflective/plate drivers) likely with high energy/rare earth magnets (Nd) are more efficient for the same mass (compared to Ni based magnets).
The design of an OEM system is a COMPROMISE driven by the volumes available, transducer locations and #, which are all decided by the OEM.
I could put you into a demonstration car which would render you speechless at the sound quality and render you deaf if you like. It is just that most OEMs would not be able to recoup the cost of the system with MOST people.
Car manufacturers offer OEM sound systems (Bose, Nakamichi, Alpine, Levinson, etc) for a reason and it is NOT accoustics. It is simply because they can charge you more for these premium systems due to name recognition and obvious sonic improvements, not perfection. They make a LOT or profit on these systems, actually it is the highest gross profit option item on most cars,
FWIW, one the best sounding OEM cars I have heard (and I have heard way too many in my job) is the MY03 Audi A8. Audi allocated a lot of the vehicle design budget for accoustics and the results show.

[quote]Originally posted by Ken:
<strong>Dynaudio speakers are the best speakers I have ever encountered for the car audio environment.
Cheers,
Ken</strong><hr></blockquote>

I think this relative to the listners ears. Personally, I have JL Audio(subs) and MB Quart (mids & tweets) speakers driven over MB Quart and JL Audio active crossovers by 750watts of Pheonix Gold Amplifiers and to my ears (and those of quite a few others) my system sounds absolutely incredible at both high and low volumes. I have heard the JL Audio MB Quart combination in several other cars and each system I have heard was equally (if not more) as excellent as my own. The Pheonix Gold amps were a plus from the PO (heck he even got lights on the amps that match the color of the car). All speakers fit into the stock location (MB Quart makes a model specific custom speaker set up to fit into the factory speaker locations), except for the 8" JL Subs which fit into a custom sealed enclosure behind the rear seats. The system is minimally invasive and you would never know such a powerful system was in the car unless I gave a tour of where everthing is cleanly tucked away.

What I can say is that 750W of power must be causing havoc to the baterry of my car, I get the blinking dash lights when I play the system extra loud at low rpms.