Upgrading Factory Fit System

[Damian]

I spoke to a chap at a car ICE place up in Cheadle and told him that I wanted to try and improve the sound in my car without changing the head unit. I have the CD30 MP3 in my SRi with the rear stereo.

So he suggested a 4 channel Kenwood Amp (KDC6402) and a 12" Kenwood Sub in a box.

He said that the amp could take the rear speakers using speaker level input and the sub, taking the pressure off the stereo and leaving it to worry about the front speakers only.

Is what he is saying feasible / worth while. He can do the amp for £100, the sub for £120, and install with leads for £20.

Cheers

Damian

[vectra 2.0 t]

sounds not to bad mate.uve already got the mp3 headunit so its not a bad way to go.the only thing is a new aftermarket headunit would be better quality sound but would be a lot more hassle and expense.

[armoured farmer]

HI MATE, YOU DO NEED TO CHANGE THE HEAD UNIT,IF YOUR GOING WIV KENWOOD ,THEN I SUJEST YOU GET A KENWOOD HEAD UNIT AS WELL. i REPLACED MINE WIV PIONEER 70BT HEAD UNIT,PIONEER 170W DOOR SPEAKERS AND TWEETERS,TWIN HORN POWERED AMPLIFIED SUBWOOFER AND 6100F AMP AND IVE JUST PUT IN THE CB100 IPOD ADAPTER.IT SOUNDS LIKE A GIG NOW...
IF YOU PUT ALL KENWOOD IN YOU WILL BE SO GLAD...
HAPPY DAYS..

[philzi]

I have always found that the headunit is the weak link in the standard setup. The speakers will be ok as they will likely be the same for the standard unit to the top of the range unit.

The biggest loss in the Vectra will be the steering wheel remotes and the display (unless you buy an adaptor for the CANBus which may be expensive).

I am curious to understand what the installer is going to do with the rear speakers, are they suggesting putting speakers in the rear shelf and powering those?

[maz]

I did exactly what you described. I had a kenwood KAC-7201 and pioneer 305C that i connected via the rear speakers of the original head unit. It improves the sound having the sub in the back. But..... Yes theres a but....... I now have a pioneer AVH-P7500DVD running two kenwood KAC 7201 amps both running a pioneer 305C subs and a kenwood KAC-8401 running 2 sets of TS-C1700R's (Theres more but not relavent here). Ask me if its worth it? Yes, and i want to improve it. So the answer is, upgrade that headunit mate, it needs to be done!

[Damian]

I have always found that the headunit is the weak link in the standard setup. The speakers will be ok as they will likely be the same for the standard unit to the top of the range unit.

The biggest loss in the Vectra will be the steering wheel remotes and the display (unless you buy an adaptor for the CANBus which may be expensive).

I am curious to understand what the installer is going to do with the rear speakers, are they suggesting putting speakers in the rear shelf and powering those?

He is suggesting using the rear speakers and connecting them into the speaker level input of the KDC6402 amp

[maz]

I have always found that the headunit is the weak link in the standard setup. The speakers will be ok as they will likely be the same for the standard unit to the top of the range unit.

The biggest loss in the Vectra will be the steering wheel remotes and the display (unless you buy an adaptor for the CANBus which may be expensive).

I am curious to understand what the installer is going to do with the rear speakers, are they suggesting putting speakers in the rear shelf and powering those?

Basically the amp is installed as usual but instead of running the sound from RCA leads off the back of the headunit you take the sound from the rear speakers, Basically split the sound so the rear speakers still work and connect to the speaker level input on the amp (not all have this facility but most kenwoods do.

[philzi]

...seems a little excessive to me. Upgrade the headunit, upgrade the speakers if you wish, but certainly stick an amp and sub in the boot....

[maz]

Every one to there own though hey.

[philzi]

Just seems a lot of effort just to achieve better SQ.

Is the dealer thinking about the labour markup?