ssmoked

i have an amp and sub hooked up to my factory head unit to my 96' ES. now i need to change the head unit. some of the stores (best buy), said i need to bypass the factory amp. others such as (circuit city) said i dont need to. i just dont want to get ripped off because i am perferring Best Buy to do the job. does anyone have experince or had their head unit changed at a store??

thanks in advance

TruPlaya26

iTrader: (4)

Yea man I had mine changed and they bypassed the factory amp, the reason they do this is because the aftermarket HU already has a built in amp and because if you dont bypass the stock amp your gonna get alot of engine noise. I went to smart sounds and they only charged me $35 for the install and $10 for the deck.

ssmoked

engine noise? like actually hearing engine noise while driving? i was told by Best Buy if i dont bypass it the after market radio will not work.

Parker Gen

Just wondering... why do you "need" to change the head unit? Just because you wan't a higher quality or for some reason isn't your subs and amp working with the stock head-unit?

ssmoked

^I dont want to change the head unit, but the car/cd player is 11 yrs old and when i turn up the volume/bass it will cause the cd to skip(since the cd compartment is in the trunk. well higher quality never hurt do you have a stock head unit with your system?

Parker Gen

Well i havn't got the system in yet, but I never thought of the bass making the cd changer skip... hmm.
I want to leave the standard head in the car, because i don't want the hassle of changing it all when it's a perfectly good unit. And yes my CD stacker is in the boot too. I have a 12 stacker there. Is it possible to move the CD changer from the boot to under the driver side seat do you think?

ssmoked

yeah when 500rms of bass vibrates an 11 yrs old cd player, it will skip and sound like ****. dunno if you can, go consult a specialist

TruPlaya26

iTrader: (4)

I think they told me you would hear some engine noise thru the speakers, dont know why that would be tho . They did tell me that without bypassing the stock amp it would sound like crap for sure. All I know is that with my setup the way it is my system is LOUD & CLEAR, and I like the way my Alpine HU looks rather than the old stock HU. Also provides a little extra light inside the car at night when driving .

3000

The engine noise is like an AM radio hum. The higher your RPM, the higher (in wave lengths) the noise will sound. You still get the good stereo sound, just add the noise and it's annoying.

ssmoked

i just got my Alpine head unit today!! the sound from the sub is so so so much clearer and louder, but unfortunately i didnt hear improvement of the voice part compared to stock Lexus head unit. but it was totally worth the $260. There is this humming sound at high revs, my ES 300 sounds like a F1 race cars engine. it was pretty cool but im getting it cleared out by Best Buy tomorrow cause this rookie installer doesnt know how to get rid of it. to the person that said wants to keep his stock head unit, change it

Parker Gen

Going to put up any pictures??? The only way I'd every change my stock head unit is if I got another unit in black or similar and that is the same size as the original! I'm not into the empty dash board...

3000

Oh yea, and change your speakers out for some aftermarket ones, that will improve the sound quality.

TruPlaya26

iTrader: (4)

If you want to improve the clarity of the music and the voices go get a nice 4-channel amp for mids and highs, the difference is unbelievable

ssmoked

i replaced both 6.5 inch at the front and 6*9 in the rear 4 years ago. i think its loud enough for now so a 4 channel is not really necessary. but how much difference will it make??