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Planning a stereo upgrade

4K views 28 replies 9 participants last post by  swill72 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

One of the first things I'm wanting to do to my G8 is upgrade the stock sound system. My music preferences run the gamut, but I most frequently listen to hard rock (Fuel, Audioslave, Shinedown) and rap.

After poring over every audio upgrade thread I could find in this forum, I've done the following:

  • Turned DDL down to 1
  • Turned up the gain on the stock sub amp to ~75%
  • Disabled the factory EQ
  • Set Fade to Rear +2, Treble to +1, Bass to +2

With this configuration, I find that rock sounds pretty good, but rap songs are very hit or miss. Seems like a good chunk of the mid-bass range is either distorted or missing altogether. That said, my current plan is to keep the stock HU and upgrade the following components



I'll be using the Dynamat mainly on the rear deck and in the front door speakers since that seems to be where the majority of the rattles are coming from.

My primary goals for the project are to get solid bass coverage from low to mid-range and crisp sounding highs. Given that I just picked her up a couple of weeks ago, the pocketbook is in rough shape right now so I'm trying to keep the budget as slim as possible while still accomplishing my goals.

My main concerns with the setup I outlined are:

  • 8" subs won't be enough to handle the low end (especially with rap)
  • May need to replace the center speaker to get the crisp highs I'm after
  • Concerned I may blow the rear door speakers with the Jensen amp

That said, I'm open to any and all feedback you guys have.

Thanks in advance,
Brian
 
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#2 ·
Jensen and Boss are both crummy amps, IMO. If you're spending the effort running wires from the head unit back to an amp and then back to the speakers (no small amount of work) then I'd pony up a few bucks for quality electronics.

I'd plan to replace the factory subs (and the amp to power them) and the 6.5s in each door. I used Polk 651s, which mount right in, and they sound pretty good for the price. WAY better than stock. This is without an amp. Speakers are running from the factory deck just like stock. Install sub/amp combo of your choosing in the trunk, but I'd recommend at least a 10" speaker. I unplugged the center.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the response. I had been eyeballing the Polk's as well, but based on reviews from a few different sites, ended up on the Infinitys due to difference in price coupled with the (seeming) minor difference in quality compared to the Polks.

Also, if I can squeeze enough power out of the factory amp up front to get what I need from the doors, I am by no means sold on needing to go aftermarket.

Are you still using the factory 8s and amp in the back?
 
#3 ·
Getting mid bass from these cars is a pain. I started with speakers and am now up to the below:

Alpine PXE-H660
Alpine PDX-V9
Infinity Kappa 60.9cs
Infinity Kappa 65.9cs
2x Infinity Reference 860w in small boxes, not in the rear deck.
Heavily sound deadened doors


Things are acceptable now but it's still hard to get a lot out of the doors. I also find myself using the sub gain a lot to compensate for differently mixed songs. Sometimes I need to turn it up and other times way down. It's really a bit annoying.
 
#8 ·
There are quite a few threads about it. The subs on many g8's are out of phase with the door speakers so by switching the wiring around either at the sub or amp they are reporting a lot more bass.
 
#11 ·
The mid-bass will be a challenge, which really takes more time than anything. Deaden the piss out of your doors and fashion a baffle around the speaker so that the front of the driver doesn't interact with the rear...essentially isolating the speaker and sealing the door off. That alone will drastically improve your midbass response even on the crappy stock drivers.

Just disconect that center speaker...you won't miss it when those mids are thumping.
 
#16 ·
I actually copied therapture's build for the most part. He is a good dude to talk with if you are wanting more of an SQ build as opposed to an SPL build. I went through about 12sq/ft of deadening material per door and another 15 or so in the trunk+lid. My car is solid and my midbass will slug you right in the chest and I use a little class d amp to drive it all with a good dsp unit to work the eq.
 
#19 ·
Okay, the pdx-9v is not a small amp power wise, but it is a pretty small package for 900 watts :)

I run my front stage active and use the same amp to power my 12" sub. The 8's that are powered by the stock amp were removed so the stock amp powers nothing. As far as deadening material, I used gtmat. Good price for the quality. Specifically, I used the gtmat onyx which is 80 mils thick so it is some pretty heavy stuff. Deadening the car isn't cheap if you want to do it up real nice and was quite honestly the longest part of mh build. It was worth all the time I spent on it, though.
 
#21 ·
Not at all. As a matter of fact, I did my install in January when it was 15-20 degrees and it stuck just fine. It's important to clean whatever surface you're applying the stuff to and use the roller with a decent amount of force so it adheres to the metal. That's not to say that the doors are the biggest pain in the ass to get good coverage on, but I had no issues getting the product to work the way it should. I was actually impressed with how nice it was to work with.
 
#25 ·
Seems to be effective adding deadener on doors sparingly really helps with some good mid bass drivers. I've had to change things up to achieve sound liking. Like amps made a big difference to me from digital amps, to class AB. I currently have a 13 inch sub but might add a second. There is no way I would turn on the tunes before all this due to such a crappy sound before and even minor changes I feel is not enough in my opinion. Hard hobby to find an end to at times, so just have fun doing it.
 
#26 ·
#1GXPmaggie2.3,
Thank you for your kind words of advice.


Was wondering if you have any current pics or video of your set up? Also, how hard is it to re-run the speaker wires through the doors? Would you recommend re-running the wiring with the simple system I'm putting together? Or do you think the stock wiring will be sufficient for a PDX-V9 or an Arc Audio 1100.5 & HAT Imagines in all four doors?

Speaking of doors, when you say to deaden the doors sparingly, how so do you mean? Did you do the inner door skin and outer door skin? Everyone seems to have a different opinion. Im getting ready to deaden my doors this weekend.

I just finished installing my Avic 8100/G8 Designs kit and have run interconnects and remote wire to the trunk. Just trying to make up my mind on the amp and whether or not to run new speaker wire to my doors.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Eric
 
#27 ·
I should have some pics or videos, will look where I have saved and try to post. Id probably run new wiring if it was my setup. As far as deadening doors, my inners covered well and outers lightly. As far as amps I felt getting away from digital amps and converting to AB style amps helped bring some fullness to the sound that I was missing.
 
#29 ·
STereo Upgrade

I know this is old post, but I do see some people still commenting a couple of months ago.

I just bought my soon to be 16yr old son a G8 (V6, if it were GT it would be mine, not his....lol). I told him we would upgrade the stereo, then after looking into it, it isn't as it seems. This is where I am right now. It has a standard CD player totally stock stereo. I believe there is a sub of some sort in middle of dash....appearantly blown. So this is what I have done thus far, you may tell me if this is too much for the car:

Purchased:
* Stereo kit from G8 Designs that turns the AC controls into a puch button screen and allows a double din stareo to be installed ($650)
* Kenwood Double Din stereo with all kinds of options including GPS and DVD player and back-up camera capability ($450)
* OSW-C1 (Something like that) link to keep the steering wheel controls working for the radio

Install Plan (only priced, not purchased yet):
* (2) 12" DBL Subs in a box in trunk with 1900watt DBL Amp ($600)
* (4) New DBL 6 1/2" Door Speakers with 4 channel amp (Don't remember the watts) ($250)
* Labor to install everything ($480)

I could install it myself, but don't really feel like it and would rather spend the money to have it done professionally and it be warrantied....since I have the $$$ anyways.

Main question is, am I going to much with the subs? I know teenagers like the boom boom, but wondering if I should go with 10's instead since it will be in the trunk....which will add extra sound as well. I remember when I was a teen....wiring up a home stereo speaker to try to get some good sound......lol

Thanks,

Scott
 
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