e-man

Okay, I'm sure this has been asked and answered, but I performed a search and can't seem to find anything on point. I have a 98 GS400 with the non-Nak, stock Pioneer system. It's just not doing it for me. The sound is average at best. I am not a big stereo nut like a lot of you, but I do appreciate a clear, crisp sound with some bass. Also, I want to keep the stock head unit. What's the best way to improve the sound? Can I just buy new speakers? Do I need to install a subwoofer? I am completely ignorant when it comes to this kind of stuff, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

e-man

Guru

You can make a new sub box and have it vent through the stock location (obviously remove stock sub). This is what I did and the sound is fantastic. Just make sure they seal it against the deck. I then upgraded amps and since the stock amp is in the trunk I only had to do wiring in the trunk itself.. One amp I used to drive the sub and one for the front speakers and the sound quality has improved HUGELY even through my stock Nak speakers. I don't know how much better the Nak speakers are but I'm sure you will find many folks selling theirs pretty cheap and they obviously would drop right in. You can also upgrade ths speakers later but upgrade the sub and amps first IMO.

e-man

Thanks for the response. That brings up an interesting question. Can I just buy the Nakamichi speakers and replace my current speakers? Is the wiring the same?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Don't bother buying the Nakamichi speakers for the GS. I ripped all of mine out. Most aftermarket speakers will outperform them. Get decent quality speakers or better. You'll spend less, wind up with better sound, and no one will stamp 'sucker' on your forehead.
You can't do much with the stock amp in the Pioneer GS because it does switching of the preamp signals for both the headunit and the CD changer. You can however, easily add a separate sub amp to it to drive a new sub, while also replacing all of the speakers. These are the easy changes you can make that will result in the quickest upgrade of overall sound. If Guru has a way that he upgraded amps as well, and got around the switching issue, maybe he can advise. (This topic has been discussed extensively here in the forums.)
Since you say you're completely ignorant when it comes to this stuff, I recommend hooking up with a qualified installer at a reputable custom shop for advice on products. Shouldn't be too difficult.
Good luck with it.

e-man

Engin-ear:

I'm all "ears." I'm just looking for good, clear, crisp, high-quality sound. Do you have any recommendations? Also, could I get away with just swapping the speakers without adding the subwoofer? Power isn't that important to me.

e-man

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

e-man:
Yeah, you can just swap out the speakers, but the results won't be nearly as good. The sub is the weakest part of the factory systems. Once you start upgrading the rest, you may find yourself starved for better bass. It's not always about the power & blowing down your neighbor's doors, but about the clarity and dynamic impact that you gain when you swap in a better amp and subwoofer.
Anyhow, it's fairly easy to find tweeters that will swap with the ones in your doors, but direct swap of midranges that fit is a bit tougher. For component speakers, good brands include Dynaudio, Focal, and others on the higher end, with MBQuart, Boston Acoustics, a/d/s, Alpine, Diamond Audio, Polk, etc as good price/performance. Again, seek the advice of a good installer in your area - you may be able to find out who best to go to by posting here, or if you're in the Chicago area, try PM'ing Percy for advice.

e-man

Thanks, engin-ear. What about leaving all the speakers and adding a subwoofer. The salesperson at Tweeter recommended this route. My concern is that if I only add a subwoofer, sure, I'll get more bass, but won't I just be covering up the average sound from the rest of the speakers. The guy at Tweeter said that we would basically turn down the bass output from the rest of the speakers so they can focus on treble and midrange and leave the bass output to the new subwoofer. It seems to me that the sound would still be limited by the lack of clarity of the current speakers. But, then again, I really know nothing about all of this.

In any event, I really don't want to spend any more than $500 to do this, and maybe my expectations are not realistic. I'm not looking for loud, booming sound. I'm 36 years old, married, 2 kids, and just want to be able to listen to the radio and a few CD's with clear output. The current system is fine, but that's it, it's just fine.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

I'm 42, married, 2 kids as well. But I'm also an audio nutcase.
Hearing what you said, try replacing the front door speakers with the best quality tweeters and mids that you can afford that will fit in. Leave the rear doors alone. Keep your stock amp. You should be able to do this easily for less than $500. If willing, next add an outboard sub amp, and a new sub in an enclosure. Install costs will push up your overall outlay, so try the front speaker swap out first, since bass is not your priority. If you later decide to upgrade the bass, then you can add the amp and a new sub. My two cents.

e-man

I think that's a great idea. I assume you recommend not touching the rear doors because most of what the driver hears comes from the front doors and/or the rear deck. So what am I looking at here? Would a pair of quality speakers for the front doors cost around $200? Tack on another $150 for a small subwoofer for the trunk? Wouldn't that be a noticeable upgrade?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

It's 4 speakers for the front = 2 tweets & 2 mids. You can keep the existing stock speakers for rear fill.
Need amp for sub also, plus line level converter to convert original sub output from stock amp to line level for new amp.
You can check out some prices on woofersetc.com, sounddomain.com, crutchfield.com, but I still strongly suggest consulting your local Tweeter or other shop.

e-man

You know what. Tweeter might be on to something. I just drove from work and I was listening to some disks. There's almost no bass to the system. Maybe a good quality subwoofer (either in addition to or in place of the existing one) would do the trick. I'll see what Tweeter has to say this weekend. Thank you for all of your help.

e-man

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

It is a common collective opinion here on CL that the stock bass in the GS sucks, Pioneer or Nak.

e-man

So if I were to do this in stages, a good first move would be to add a subwoofer? Is it possible that that might be enough? By the way, this will come off sounding like a totally ignorant question, but how well can you hear a subwoofer if it's stuck behind the rear seats in the trunk? Wouldn't it be better to replace the "free air" (see, I'm actually learning some of the lingo) subwoofer with a better one?

Jaricho

Hi, I've been following this thread for a little while because I'm in the same boat. I want to improve the sound system in my GS. I think the stock sound system is terrible, especially when compared to what I'm used to. In my Acura Legend coupe I replaced all the interior speakers and added a sub. It didn't cost me more than $400. I wasn't an audio nut and didn't know what was good so I did some research (crutchfield.com was pretty helpful for basic info). I'm finding that upgrading the stock system in the GS is a lot more difficult. It might not seem like the bass will come through the trunk clearly but when I first turned on the new system I thought I had 2 12" subs back there. In the GS I've seen a lot of people pull the stock sub and leave the opening in the rear deck. So if you decide to go that route I think you'll be able to hear the sub pretty well. I'm just starting my research into this and from what I gather to get at the stock sub you have to take out the back seat and rear deck because the gas tank is right behind the back seat. I hope this is of some help to you.

e-man

Thanks. I'm going to see what the guys at Tweeter have to say over the weekend and I'll let you know. I couldn't agree more that the stock system is really poor. That being said, the newer GS stock system (non Mark Levinson) seems to be a step above what I have. I'm not sure what changes Lexus made to the stock premium system, but it's a noticeable difference. Thanks again.

e-man