[znewton1]

Hey all. There's a chance that I may be able to get a sound system as a joint birthday present from a couple people. I just need some basic questions answered (I have searched). For some reason, it seems like the GTO is a very difficult car to put your general head unit swap, subwoofer, and amp, along with keeping stock speakers. I'm guessing this is because of the upgraded blaupunkt sound system.

Pretty much what I'm looking for right now is more bass (I used to have one 12" Memphis M-class in my Tahoe). Not sure if you have heard of Memphis but they're a great company and make some AMAZING amps. I guess for now I just want more bass and a little better sound quality up top. I feel like I'm always listening to the music at around 45 and even than it sounds like shit.

I'm just trying to get an idea of how much I'm going to have to spend. I got away w/around $1500 for new deck, memphis amp along w/sub and ported box installed.

Could any of you who have done sound systems give me a ballpark price on what it costed you and what you're running?

Thanks
Zach

 

[GMLIFER]

Put infinty all the way around up front with alpine head unit and alpine amp for about 1200 i think, and put two w3's in and a 500/1 with custom boxes for around 3000.

 

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Do you mind giving up a chunk of your trunk space for a sub box?

Do you have any idea how much these people are willing to spend on you?

 

[DiamondJoeQuimby]

Put infinty all the way around up front with alpine head unit and alpine amp for about 1200 i think, and put two w3's in and a 500/1 with custom boxes for around 3000.

Better idea...go listen to some different speakers and pick out what YOU like. Run a new deck, again go out and play with some and find one YOU like. For subs, like Lothar said, do you mind losing trunk space? If you do there are a lot of people who have done subs in the side panels and they sound really good.

 

[RobertHammen]

Whatever you do, do NOT keep the stock speakers. They are pure paper Korean junk. Kraco speakers from K-Mart sound better than these...

 

[[email protected]]

I think $1500 should be plenty, especially if you're not afraid to shop eBay for some of the stuff. I spent around there for a new HU, Music Keg, sub amp, main amp and all new speakers.

 

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Are you installing this stuff yourself or having it done somewhere?

 

[bigdave22385]

It shouldnt be that hard to keep yoru stock speakers on a new deck... just a wiring harness... But the question is if you want to... the stock speakers do suck, a lot.

 

[DiamondJoeQuimby]

It shouldnt be that hard to keep yoru stock speakers on a new deck... just a wiring harness... But the question is if you want to... the stock speakers do suck, a lot.

No, a Dyson Vaccuum sucks, stock speakers are absolutely horrid

 

[YellowZQ8]

No, a Dyson Vaccuum sucks, stock speakers are absolutely horrid

That is true...but they do sound a LOT better with a nice high-end aftermarket headunit. I would recommend swapping the headunit first and then changing the stock speakers...except the subs...they have to go

Easy to swap out the headunit and keep the stock speakers. I installed mine using these parts from www.Buy.com - the removal tools are not correct though, had to use 4-large nails to remove the stock headunit. All you have to do is go to buy.com and search for these parts using the 'SKU' numbers below. They will be at your door withing a few business days...

 

[RobertHammen]

That is true...but they do sound a LOT better with a nice high-end aftermarket headunit. I would recommend swapping the headunit first and then changing the stock speakers...except the subs...they have to go

If you're going to disassemble the back seat to get at the subs, replacing the rear panel speakers is a trivial exercise. The front door speakers aren't bad to replace, either. I didn't try to replace the tweeters in the dash because of the PITA factor.

After seeing the junk stock speakers, I can't imagine them sounding decent with any head unit. I think that the stock head unit sounds just fine with new speakers and subs, but that's just my opinion... your mileage may vary.

 

[tfar]

I respectfully disagree. In general, exchange front speakers first; our subs are not that bad for their size. Then change HU, then subs. Zach seems to want big bass though. So new subs and amps will be a must. Do you still have stuff from the Tahoe left over?

I'd go for a nice Alpine single DIN HU for around 300. Lothar dug out a very nice Kenwood (what was the price on that? <200?). That should also do the trick.

The sub install question is crucial. You can only fit 8" in the parcel shelf and even then you get into trouble with mounting depth and free air specs. The sides fit 10 inchers in a sealed box with a volume of ca. 0.5 cuft. And they must not have a bigger mounting depth than 5.5 inch which is already the utmost limit without using fiberglass. Audiobahn has some 12 inchers, AWP312T I believe, that only have 4.5" mounting depth and can do free air. That might be a possibility but they are expensive (at least 240 a piece from non-authorized dealer otherwise 450). Also I have no idea how they might sound and if the side panels wouldn't just fly off. That leaves you with the ritual trunk sacrifice if you want really big bass.

But just for the sake of calculating system cost let's throw in 2x200$ for subs. Our current front system consists of coax tweeters in the door and imaging tweeters in the dash. The locations are not so bad but the speakers suck. Go for a 2way component system installed in the stock location. Add some imaging tweeters in the A-pillars or even in the dash. Count around $300 for something really decent. You are at 900-1000$ now. Get a good 4ch brandmark amp for around $300. Use our current little amp in the trunk to power the rearfills in the side panels or use the HU amp for those. That is if you don't put subs there. In that case you can still put rearfills in the parcel shelf. So you got about $200 left for various installation materials. This fills out your previous $1500 budget.

You can save here with the subs; 2x130$ will already be good subs. And also the component for the front could probably be had for around $200.

Installation cost is between $40 and $80 per hour. It will realistically take some 15 hours to install. So plan not having your car for two days or doing it yourself.

Cheaper route is what I wrote in another thread like this. Lothar's Kenwood unit, JBL GTO or Infinity speakers all around and Kicker 8" free air subs in parcel shelf. You are talking around $600 now, I think. Then find an amp or two for $200. Quite a killer system for relatively little cash and easy use of the stock install locations.

Till

 

[tfar]

As Robert said, our HU is not so bad. So the JBL GTO at 2ohm are the ideal replacement. Then just use our sub output to go into a different amp and put in some good woofers. Cheapest route for around $400 probably.

Till

 

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I don't know that I would get the 2ohm components if I was getting an aftermarket HU and/or amp. You've got a lot more options with 4ohm sets there.