I am sure those of you that have this car notice that the stock speakers are pretty weak. How is the power on the Alpine Deck? I wonder if it would produce enough power to support some pretty nice speakers or should an amp be installed? Any help would be great.

What I know so far is the front speakers are 6.5" and the back are 5.25". The tweaters in front are pretty small and probably too small to worry about switching out.

I know this topic might be better for the ice and interior, but there aren't a lot of 3.0 owners and wanted them all to help me if they can.

Thanks,

Matt

you shouldnt even think about puttin more tweeters in the dash
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/755000-755999/755468_36_full.jpg

I'd imagine the Alpine just looks a little different and has different controls, but honestly, it and the Pioneer stock unit are probably very close in output. Adding those Alpine speakers to the dash isn't going to do much good as the stock wires to the tweeters are crossed over for highs only. If keeping the factory head unit, run some new wires to the radio and add in your own capacitor (bass blocker).

I wasn't going to touch the tweeters, just the 4 other speakers. Do you think that running an Amp to them is necessary?

No, not necessary. But a good idea if you're planning on getting any kind of decent sound. First move, lose the factory radio. The output levels to an amp are too low to make that big of a differance. Any name brand radio would be acceptible, but I prefer Pioneer and Eclipse. I think Alpine's having a bit of a rebuilding year. It all depends on your price range and what you really want out of your system.

I'd imagine the Alpine just looks a little different and has different controls, but honestly, it and the Pioneer stock unit are probably very close in output. Adding those Alpine speakers to the dash isn't going to do much good as the stock wires to the tweeters are crossed over for highs only. If keeping the factory head unit, run some new wires to the radio and add in your own capacitor (bass blocker).

the dash wires are not crossed over for highs. the crossover is mounted on the factory tweeter. i have been through this a couple of years ago. why dont you check out my WWW and see my setup. BTW, like it matters, but i have 12gauge wires running to my highs in the dash and doors

I had an 04 with the stock Pioneer and changed everything.
I have the RS 3.0 and if you got rid of the head unit or speakers you are not going to do much better. The bass response is light years better than the Pioneer stockers, The Alpine head unit is very clean, but you have to tweak it to get the best sound. I think an amp would be great just to get more clean power. Source material also makes a big difference in the Alpine unit. It is nothing like the Pioneer stock unit.

Few things to say here...

First, I am relatively diasappointed with the sound quality at high volume. It can be improved by changing the EQ, bass/treble settings, and the CSE settings. Problem is once you have it sounding good, you change to a difference source (iPOD, CD. FM/AM, or especially SAT) and it sounds like trash again. I'm constantly adjusting the settings to make it sound right. I took it to a local car audio shop and their opinion was that the speakers were good, but the output of the stock headunit needs to be boosted. The distortion that we hear at higher volumes isn't caused by exceeding the speakers capability, but by the lack of power from the internal amp. After a brief listen, they suggested using a good 4x25 or 4x50 add-on amp to clean it up.

So that's exactly what I plan on doing. Besides, the stock HU has so much great functionality that it would be a real shame to lose it. Plus, they are only charging $75 labor to hook it all up. A nice amp should only run me about $250, so overall, a worthwhile investment IMHO.

So keeping the stock speakers and hooking an amp up to them. When are you planning on getting it installed? Let me know how it sounds so I can decide if I need to buy new speakers also, because just looking at the speakers I can tell they are nothing fancy.

Not until mid april. I have to spend the next two weeks getting ready to move and then the following week I'm putting my two Rockford 12s under the front seats, and then... I'll get the fronts amped up. I would do the small amp before the subs, but I already have the 12s and the big amp for them...

Few things to say here...

First, I am relatively diasappointed with the sound quality at high volume. It can be improved by changing the EQ, bass/treble settings, and the CSE settings. Problem is once you have it sounding good, you change to a difference source (iPOD, CD. FM/AM, or especially SAT) and it sounds like trash again. I'm constantly adjusting the settings to make it sound right. I took it to a local car audio shop and their opinion was that the speakers were good, but the output of the stock headunit needs to be boosted. The distortion that we hear at higher volumes isn't caused by exceeding the speakers capability, but by the lack of power from the internal amp. After a brief listen, they suggested using a good 4x25 or 4x50 add-on amp to clean it up.

So that's exactly what I plan on doing. Besides, the stock HU has so much great functionality that it would be a real shame to lose it. Plus, they are only charging $75 labor to hook it all up. A nice amp should only run me about $250, so overall, a worthwhile investment IMHO.

on some of the Alpine units the sound adjustments stay with the source which you adjusted them on. i know my old alpine that i had in the Benz did that, i could adjust it while playing a CD and then switch to radio and adjust it again but once i adjusted both of them it was fine. i may be wrong on this one.... my Alpine 9855 has totally different software and that is the one i am used to now

i am going to eventaully upgrade the speakers. the HU has alot more power to put out, it just needs a set of speakers to send it to. I really dont want to get a diff HU unless i know for 100% ill still have my steering wheel controls.

^^^^^ Just because the volume will go up higher on the headunit, doesn't mean that it is producing clean power. That is why you get the distortion as you turn it up, not because the speakers are crapping out, but because the head unit is "clipping".
You can put in new speakers if you like, but i bet the sound quality doesn't improve at higher volume. The only way that it would, would be if you used a more efficient set of speakers, not speakers with a higher power output. I don't think the HU has alot more power to give as you say above. I think it runs out of giving at around 50- and even that's pushing it.

Either way, yeah I agree- I wouldn't get rid of the stock HU for a couple of reasons- steering wheel controls, dvd playback, dolby surround, iPOD connectivity & control, multiple source capability (DVD & XM/FM/iPOD simultaneously), etc... I think it offers a lot of great functionality, just short on output power.

On that note, does anyone have the specs for RMS output of the HU? I'd guess 15x4.....

^^^^^ Just because the volume will go up higher on the headunit, doesn't mean that it is producing clean power. That is why you get the distortion as you turn it up, not because the speakers are crapping out, but because the head unit is "clipping".
You can put in new speakers if you like, but i bet the sound quality doesn't improve at higher volume. The only way that it would, would be if you used a more efficient set of speakers, not speakers with a higher power output. I don't think the HU has alot more power to give as you say above. I think it runs out of giving at around 50- and even that's pushing it.

Either way, yeah I agree- I wouldn't get rid of the stock HU for a couple of reasons- steering wheel controls, dvd playback, dolby surround, iPOD connectivity & control, multiple source capability (DVD & XM/FM/iPOD simultaneously), etc... I think it offers a lot of great functionality, just short on output power.

On that note, does anyone have the specs for RMS output of the HU? I'd guess 15x4.....

what are you rambling about??? when i upgraded my stocks to memphis power reference it made a world of difference, more noticably at high volume. i changed out the stocks in my friends xb last weekend and it sounded crystal clear compared to stock, way better at high volume. do you even know the ratings on the stock speakers???

if i listened to what you say then i sould upgrade my radio and leave the stock cardboard speakers in there. maybe you should research the frequency range on the stocks and compare to an aftermarket speaker then maybe you will see where the distortion is coming from.

i think both methods will yeild a better over all stereo. which one is better i dont know. but im not going to remove the head unit because of the reasons that where stated earlier.

The RS3 radio is pretty good up until you hit about 52 if you push beyond that it gets real bad real fast. And it just doesnt seem loud...my best friend has a dodge ram with Infinity perfects and to 12in jls under the bench so i guess my hears are sorta use to really loud....but still i want more

Not until mid april. I have to spend the next two weeks getting ready to move and then the following week I'm putting my two Rockford 12s under the front seats, and then... I'll get the fronts amped up. I would do the small amp before the subs, but I already have the 12s and the big amp for them... I love that idea, I think I will do that also. There is tons of room under the front seats.

Yeah when I first listened to the the Alpine with some thumping music in there I was disappointed, but then I messed around with the controls and it hit me its just more accurate, the pioneer in my old xb, bass was always just a homoginized clump of bass, not very seperate, everything was low on the pioneer. On the alpine there are levels of bass. My wife keeps saying it sounds "clearer" . So over all I am please, though I have sub plans in my future also.

It's not too bad for a "factory" system...if you adjust the settings you can get a good sound for everything from rock to rap. The bass is decent at mid levels, but if you crank it, it does tend to flatten out and get farty.

the clarity is great and the quality is great. It just lacks the low end punch because of the amp and the lack of hard hitting speakers.

If it were mine, I'd get a sub system in it, but it's my wife's and she doesn't care.

Yeah, I'm just looking to add a good sized amp to it and call it a system. Just because when you max out the volume, she just can't take it very well without A LOT of distortion.

I don't want to have to fight changing everything aorund to get DVD playback back into the box, when it already has it. All I really want to do video wise is have another 7" molded into the shelf for the front passenger, so my fiance can stop her b***hing about having to sit in the back to watch DVD's.