I was reading at another forum someone said
that the Titan has unusual 2 ohm speakers. SO,
even if you would upgrade to better speakers
which, which would be 4 ohms, just the
difference in resistance would have the better
quality speakers sounding worse than the stock speakers. Does anyone agree with that??

I agree.

A good aftermarket head unit will sound better. I've heard some high end units used with the stock speakers. There is an improvement even though you can tell it needs better speakers.

Quality speakers will better reproduce the crap coming from the stock head.

I came close to going with a good head, but when it hit me that I was gonna have to go further than that, I backed out for now.

If I ever replace the stock system, it will include replacement component speakers.

Happy Hunting,

Chief

Is the quality of the audio from the stock head unit really that bad? I don't like the look of aftermarket head units in newer vehicles where the radio is so well integrated into the design of the dash - although I've never seen an aftermarket head unit in a Titan.

I plan to upgrade everything except the head unit.

From 1st hand experience, Finkle's (the white 6" procomp lifted beast) Pioneer made the speakers sound twice as good he didn't change wiring or anything, He's over on titan talk

Yes, but I assumed that was just because of the increase in power to the speakers, and that I could get sound equal to or better a high power aftermarket head unit by adding an amplifier to the stock head unit.

I think the sound quality from the stock unit is close to pathetic, (Sorry Nissan) it sounds best when it's turned down low.

Adding an amp will help the sound quality by allowing you to run the stock head unit at lower output where it sounds cleaner.

I've heard Finkle's system like LinkNuc and it sounds Much better than stock. I doubt an amp alone would match the sound.The higher end units give a lot more control over what gets to the speakers.

Never listened to a stock system with an amp added, but I'd make a strong guess that a good head unit will do you better. Not to mention that if you decide to upgrade to better speakers later you'll kick it up another notch or 2.

The only drawback I see to these aftermarket head units is that you sometimes have way too many little buttons to play with where with the stock it is pretty easy operation and the controls are laid out fairly well. It works just like it should usually for a long long time.

Pretty tough making a decision on this one cause you don't know what you really get til it's in. That's why I still haven't touched mine. Also I'll never put 1,000 dollars into a system (well not all at once anyway :twisted: ) Maybe you should go with your idea and take a chance. It's really not a bad idea but no matter what you put in you won't know until you do it.

Man you got me thinking stereos again, I got other toys I wanna buy!!!!!

:D :D :D

Chief

Well I'm giving it a shot. I ordered component 6.5s and a 5-channel amp with a 10" type R and only spent $840. I'm not an audiophile, but I'll do my best to compare it to stock, and to the factory Bose in my '02 Altima that I added one 12" to. I'll post a thread when its done. The goodies should arrive next week. :)

If there is a dealer that sells Brax in your area, take a look at these speakers. They are expensive, but the sound quality is incredible. I had a pair in my MX-5 and loved them. I wish that I would have pulled them out before I sold it.

http://www.theautophile.com/products/BraxGraphicPro.html

I can only imagine what those cost. I bought the cheaper MBQuart 216s. I find that the real high end stuff costs double and only sounds 10% better to me. If had the cash I'd spend it but I think I'll be very happy with what I chose, especially since I don't want to bother with the dynamat nightmare and I still like a loud exhaust.

i just talked the mom into buying me a complete sound system, fosgate head unit, to mb quart components (front and rear), amp and 2 fosgate 10s or 12s.


are you going to run the sub and the components off the same amp?

I was reading at another forum someone said
that the Titan has unusual 2 ohm speakers. SO,
even if you would upgrade to better speakers
which, which would be 4 ohms, just the
difference in resistance would have the better
quality speakers sounding worse than the stock speakers. Does anyone agree with that??
Actually a lower impedence speker will produce MORE volume IF the amp is capable of driving the lower impedence. Normally the output of an amp is doubled if the speaker impedence is cut in half (again, only if the amp is rated for that impedence.) So if you doubled the impedence from 2 ohms to 4 ohms on a amp the output would be cut in half. I don't know what the impedence of the stock speakers is, but if you are going to replace them with better quality ones they should have the same impedence as the originals if you are keeping the stock audio unit.

are you going to run the sub and the components off the same amp?Yes I bought a 5-channel to save time, space, and $$. Precision Power 800.5

Hey Altimat,

Sounds like like you're all set. I really hope it works for you. PLEASE post the results a week or two after it's in for a fair judgement.

I'm really interested in what you think about the new setup and I'm sure others are too!!!!

Chief

I just installed my front tweets in the A-pillars and that went well. Then I measured around for the amp location and it doesn't look good. Maybe two smaller amps would have been easier to find a home for! Oh well we'll see how it goes when it arrives. Its a bit long for under the front seat. :(

ive never heard of someone hooking up their subs and components to the same amp, i figured it would choke either the sub or the components. ive always been told that 2 amps is the way to go. but good luck and let us know how it turns out

ive never heard of someone hooking up their subs and components to the same amp, i figured it would choke either the sub or the components. ive always been told that 2 amps is the way to go. but good luck and let us know how it turns out Well its a 5-channel amp. New concept to me too:

http://www.precisionpower.com/amps/dcx800-5.asp

OK, so here is a question to those that say the stock system sounds like crap...does the stock Fosgate system sound like crap too? I have listened to one, but not like I would if I were alone...old man sales guy.

Thanks,, J

OK, so here is a question to those that say the stock system sounds like crap...does the stock Fosgate system sound like crap too? I have listened to one, but not like I would if I were alone...old man sales guy.

Thanks,, J I haven't heard one.

So far I have three speakers in and the RR door to finish. Component sets suck. Its double the work to install these. Good thing they are only 2-way. Oh and my amp is the biggest amp I have ever seen. I guess I have to make a totally custom enclosure/rack to fit under the entire back seat now. I should be able to save a little storage space under the amp on the driver's side. :roll:

I haven't heard one.

So far I have three speakers in and the RR door to finish. Component sets suck. Its double the work to install these. Good thing they are only 2-way. Oh and my amp is the biggest amp I have ever seen. I guess I have to make a totally custom enclosure/rack to fit under the entire back seat now. I should be able to save a little storage space under the amp on the driver's side. :roll:

Sorry you're having a hard time Altimat. I think the trouble will be worth it. I wouldn't set them up any other way except I was thinking maybe tweets in the dash, one full or mid range on each side (maybe the front doors), and sub(s) in the rear. You can't get that kinda separation without physically separating them. And it WILL sound better that way.

Chief

He he I just realized how good this truck is for playing music with the doors WIDE open on one side. :) Can't wait to go camping.

I almost finished the RR when it started raining. Next step will be getting at the head unit for my inputs and testing this out. I'll need some more motivation before I start tearing into the MDF.

OK its all running except for one small problem. For whatever reason, the audio from the head unit cuts off when the engine is running! The only way to get it back is to power off the head unit (and engine) and then turn it back on in the acc or start positions and without the engine running. SOMETIMES I can get it to stay on by starting the truck quick once its on and in the start position. Sometimes not. :(

I think I'll have to try tapping my amp turn-on into another location. The wire I chose is on at all times with the key and I thought it was switched with the head unit.

One another note and this is rather funny. I was dying to hear bass and the sub alone sitting on the floor was worthless. So I was looking around for some sort of temporary enclosure and I found one. :) An Igloo water cooler/dispenser fits a 10" perfectly. So I taped the sub to the top of it and bungeed it on the back floor until I build the enclosure.

All in all I'm very happy with it so far and the amp works great. I cut off the lowest frequencies to the MB216s and the sub drives that lower range. Sounds fantastic!

OK its all running except for one small problem. For whatever reason, the audio from the head unit cuts off when the engine is running! The only way to get it back is to power off the head unit (and engine) and then turn it back on in the acc or start positions and without the engine running. SOMETIMES I can get it to stay on by starting the truck quick once its on and in the start position. Sometimes not. :(

I think I'll have to try tapping my amp turn-on into another location. The wire I chose is on at all times with the key and I thought it was switched with the head unit.

One another note and this is rather funny. I was dying to hear bass and the sub alone sitting on the floor was worthless. So I was looking around for some sort of temporary enclosure and I found one. :) An Igloo water cooler/dispenser fits a 10" perfectly. So I taped the sub to the top of it and bungeed it on the back floor until I build the enclosure.

All in all I'm very happy with it so far and the amp works great. I cut off the lowest frequencies to the MB216s and the sub drives that lower range. Sounds fantastic!

Hi altimat, you've probably stumbled on the same problem I had when I wired DVD player up. I tapped into the acc and hot wire from the XM plug, well it turns out that there was not enough amperage to run my system reliably. So I went to bestbuy and bought a 10 gauge amp wiring kit. It was $30 but well worth it, and you hook it right to the battery. Just an idea.....

There's only 2 reliable acc wires that I know of if you have to have acc and not hot, they are the 2 cigarette lighter plugs. The one on the passenger side and the one in the rear of the center console.

No its not that. I have a 4 gauge power wire to the amp. I metered the wire I was using for the turn-on and it is 12.7 V and goes to 13.8 when the truck is running.

The problem has to be something to with protection circuitry in the stock head unit. The impedance load that it sees because the speaker outputs are running into the high-level inputs of the amplifier must not make it happy.

I found a solution though. If you leave the head unit on, and start the truck in one swift motion from the ignition off position it works fine. Figure that out. I guess I'll just deal with it.