Stereo Upgrade Issues...

[Senor Carey]

Hello,

Recently upgrade the front door speakers in my Gen 2.5 w/infinity sound. As like other threads here, I bearly got sound of them. These are 4ohm speakers and regardless of polarity, they sound roughly the same. I then put in a new Sony deck with the correct Metra adapter to allow me to use the stock amp. Sounded the same.

The dash speakers were also blown, so I then grabbed some new ones to install. When I installed them, I got the same reduced volume issue. Plugging back the stockers back in brought the volume back up.

Three questions;
1. Is the ohm difference enough to reduce volume levels?
2. Is this an issue with a failing amp?
3. Is the only way around this to wire up the speakers directly?

I've searched the forums/threads and seen a few documenting the same issue(s), but never any real resolution.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Toasty]

Check if your factory amp is well grounded as well as the head unit. Search for pinched wires.

Any aftermarket stereo through the factory amp will sound terrible compared to the stock setup unfortunately. Upgrade the speakers and use the stock stereo and amp it will sound incredible OR switch to an aftermarket amp to pair with your new stereo. Or or! Rewire your speakers to be standard stereo and work off your new stereo (4 speakers) amd it'll be OK but only OK. Nowhere near stock quality.

 

[Toasty]

There are things you can add on to the stock head unit to gain features like iPod, AUX and bluetooth to the stock setup. My infinity stereo quit so I'm on the lookout for a new one meanwhile i have to suffer with an Alpine. The infinity to get is the latest ones from the Gen 1 Outlander 2 din.

 

[Senor Carey]

I'd be interested in the iPhone hookup in the stock deck, as that's why I replaced it. I'm a capable solderer. What about the reduced output of the speakers? Are there some that work better than others? These are Bostons.

 

[Toasty]

I'd be interested in the iPhone hookup in the stock deck, as that's why I replaced it. I'm a capable solderer. What about the reduced output of the speakers? Are there some that work better than others? These are Bostons.

Not sure on the speakers you have but i've always had great luck replacing speakers as for the apple interface it is a little challenging to run through the interface on such a little screen but it does work.
Sound quality is great and it charges as you rock out, the bad part is that it can't diaplay track/artist names on the LCD. You either choose alphabetical or random order OR just hand pick what you want to listen to on the apple device before plugging in.

I'd rather something work really well and be less user friendly than be super user friendly and not work that great.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

There are things you can add on to the stock head unit to gain features like iPod, AUX and bluetooth to the stock setup. My infinity stereo quit so I'm on the lookout for a new one meanwhile i have to suffer with an Alpine. The infinity to get is the latest ones from the Gen 1 Outlander 2 din.

Not quite as nice, but I swapped in the Infinity deck from a Montero Sport and works great.

 

[RyanY]

It would be interesting to measure the resistance of the factory speakers - if you're getting a significant difference in sound level with the aftermarket speakers, I'm guessing the factory speakers are not the typical 4-ohms.

 

[jaccox23]

Wow this got really technical really fast... keep it coming I love leaning new stuffs

 

[plh]

I put a new Kenwood head unit in my Gen 3 and it was simple plug and play with the Metra harness kit. Factory amp works just fine. Sounds way better than the old Infinity head unit that it replaced. I did it mainly for the bluetooth hands-free option. I didn't know that the Gen 2.5 radio setup was that much different.

 

[Swank Force One]

I put a new Kenwood head unit in my Gen 3 and it was simple plug and play with the Metra harness kit. Factory amp works just fine. Sounds way better than the old Infinity head unit that it replaced. I did it mainly for the bluetooth hands-free option. I didn't know that the Gen 2.5 radio setup was that much different.

It worked fine for me in my gen2.5. Kenwood Excelon unit, metra harness.

I later gutted the whole setup to use what i wanted, but the kenwood + stock amp + stock speakers worked fine.

 

[PacS14]

It worked fine for me in my gen2.5. Kenwood Excelon unit, metra harness.

I later gutted the whole setup to use what i wanted, but the kenwood + stock amp + stock speakers worked fine.

Same here on my gen 2.5. I don't know how they are trying to wire their radios, but the wiring adapter makes it pretty simple plug and play for the most part.

 

[TheMole]

Same here on my gen 2.5. I don't know how they are trying to wire their radios, but the wiring adapter makes it pretty simple plug and play for the most part.

Agreed, but the OP is having a low volume issue with aftermarket speakers and not stock. My front door panel speakers were blown on my 98 infinity system, so I installed aftermarket components speakers and directly wired them to a pioneer headunit and it worked just fine. The rest of the speakers were still powered by the factory amp.

 

[Rod]

I've had the same issue with my gen 3..it had an aftermarket stereo when I got it and the front speaker didnt work...well after taking it apart and fixing the wiring which i though was off...they work intermittently now. So not sure if its the stereo or possibly the amp?

 

[Toasty]

My Gen 2.5 and my Gen 3 Limited both sounded like garbage with my Alpine, JVC and some random radio connected via Metra kit to the Infinity amp. The Alpine sounded better with the amp bypassed but that was only running 4 speakers, so far nothing I've found sounded as good as stock with upgraded speakers. So I cling to old parts, I'm sure most people don't care what their stereo sounds like as long as it's loud enough but the stock "premium" audio sounds as if it were engineered for the truck.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

One option is to scour your local salvage yards for vehicles with factory Infinity components and check for speakers and head units, about half of the premium packaged vehicles from the last 20 years used them as a supplier. Ohms are usually stamped on the speaker itself to make it easy. I pulled a set of speakers from a vehicle 2 years ago but can't recall what it was, turned out to be an exact fit for the front doors.