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"In-Car Express" wrote in message
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On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 21:42:08 GMT, "Mark R Penn"
wrote:

Trouble is, I'm not sure where to start with any upgrades. Any advise
about
where to look first would be appreciated - will upgrading speakers be
pointless without a better head end? Is the quality of the sub woofer
likely
to be suspect? etc etc etc.

Depending on your budget, it might be worth looking at JL Audio's new
CleanSweep processor. You'd also need to add an additional amp, plus
possibly speakers as well (I'd probably change the fronts first and
assess the system from there), so it's not the cheapest option, but
seems to work extremely well.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...php?page_id=79

In effect, this takes a poor quality audio signal from the OEM head
unit, measures and equalises it, and then sends it back out as a high
voltage preout which you can connect to aftermarket amplification. The
advantage to this is that you'd then be able to uprate power,
speakers, etc, but keep a stock looking interior and retain the
existing remote display. The only minor downpoint is that it has it's
own volume control - so although your steering remote volume will
still work, it's preferable preset the radio volume and to use the one
on the EQ.


Does that really work?
If you've got a poor quality source, I can't see how any amount of clever
processing can make it better, doesn't the old adage 'Garbage In, Garbage
Out' still hold?

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 15:32:40 +0100, "Chris M"
wrote:

Does that really work?
If you've got a poor quality source, I can't see how any amount of clever
processing can make it better, doesn't the old adage 'Garbage In, Garbage
Out' still hold?

Not really - in effect it doesn't take a bad signal in, as it matches
to the head unit output far more effectively than a direct amp
connection, or conventional speaker to RCA adaptor. 50% of the issues
connecting to OEM head units are to do with mismatched signal levels
or grounds. It's never going to be as good as the best aftermarket
head units, but that's largely irrelevant in some newer vehicles where
you literally can't change the head unit without major surgery.

The other thing is that factory head units are becoming more and more
car specific. If for example the OEM speakers can't hack 20w RMS at
30Hz, rather than fit better speakers, the manufacturer will just roll
off the output at that frequency. Which is fine for most people, but a
major nightmare the second you change any system components. The
CleanSweep dynamically measures the head unit output, calculates the
equalisation that's being added by the factory system, and then
applies the same in reverse to give you a flat output.

Jon
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