I’ve had my 8 for a couple of weeks now and have officially kicked off my next project: “Stereo Upgrade”. Given my success with my last project, “SRT8 Purchase”, I’m optimistic that the results will be favourable.
First, my long overdue review of the BA6:
On this forum I’ve read everything from “fantastic” to “crap”. Obviously the assessment is very subjective. So I think before people rate stereo systems, they should provide some context. I’ll offer up the following context info as a possible template:
Best Stereo System Owned: Alpine head, amps, & speakers, no sub.
Music Preference: Classic Rock
Volume preference for “spirited” listening (1 = driving grandmother to church, 10 = annoy entire neighbourhood): 7
In terms of stereo systems, I’ve actually been working my way down. Two cars ago I had the aftermarket Alpine, which I was very happy with. My last car was an Intrepid and the stereo was stock, albeit the upgraded Infinity system. While obviously not in the same class as the Alpine, frankly, the Infinity system was considerably better than the BA6.
At low volume, the BA6 isn’t bad. The sound stage is noticeably in the front half of the car (where most believe it should be). The door speakers provide a full, deep sound. (Part of me thinks this was done intentionally to make the stereo sound better than it actually is, but in my opinion, this isn’t how the music is meant to sound.) Crank up the volume a bit, and everything falls apart. Frequencies get muffled, the bass loses its punch (if there ever really was punch), and distortion lurks.
The sound pressure out of the rear speakers is pitiful. In order to get front/rear balance, the fader has to be set to at least 75% rear. With 100% rear fade, you can literally turn the volume to full, and are left to wonder if it’s just a couple of AAA batteries driving some paper cups on the rear sill.
By far my biggest complaint is that with > 50% volume, the clarity, sharpness, and vitality of the music is lost. The music sounds tired. After only a couple of weeks, I no longer enjoy listening to my favourite CDs. This is unacceptable. Clearly, I’ve been called to action.
So, to date, I’ve been to 4 car audio establishments. My only direction to the proprietors was that I wanted to keep the head unit, because I wanted a stealth install, I didn’t want to mess with the aesthetics of the dash, and I wanted to keep the steering wheel controls (which I really like). Here are the recommendations I received:
1) The stock stereo is really not all that bad. All you need to do is add a sub to the rear. You can turn down the bass on the head unit and improve the performance of the front speakers, and increase the gain on the sub for a fuller sound.
2) The front is not bad. Your problem is in the rear. You need to replace the 6X9s in the back with some good quality two ways and add an amp to drive them. Take the speaker level outputs from the head for the rear, add a line level converter before the amp, and run a wire for amp power up to the head unit. Try that first, and if you still want more, you can add a sub later.
3) You need a CleanSweep from JBL. The current head unit is programmed to provide the best sound with its limited power output. This means higher bass at lower volumes and less bass at higher volumes. But the low power causes distortion regardless. CleanSweep will flatten out the frequency response from the head unit. Once the CleanSweep is installed, add a 4 channel amp (50 Watts X 4 or more). The BA speakers should be fine once you give them some decent power. Run a sub off a separate 100W to 200W amp and you’re done.
4) We can add amps and swap out the speakers, but you’ll be disappointed with the result. Unless you swap out the head unit, you’ll be amplifying a relatively poor input signal. Garbage in, garbage out. Besides, you’ll get better FM reception as well. Go away and rethink your desire to keep the head unit. And by the way, with a new head unit, we might be able to find something to help maintain some of the steering wheel controls (but don’t count on it).
So I’m leaning towards (3). By the way, the CleanSweep was mentioned on a previous thread.
http://www.300cforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6098&page=2&pp=10&highlight=cleansweep)
Interesting to note: The CleanSweep is currently “on order”. There’s no estimated arrival date. Pricing has not yet been communicated. Sound familiar :wink1:
Comments are welcome.
Thanks,
First, my long overdue review of the BA6:
On this forum I’ve read everything from “fantastic” to “crap”. Obviously the assessment is very subjective. So I think before people rate stereo systems, they should provide some context. I’ll offer up the following context info as a possible template:
Best Stereo System Owned: Alpine head, amps, & speakers, no sub.
Music Preference: Classic Rock
Volume preference for “spirited” listening (1 = driving grandmother to church, 10 = annoy entire neighbourhood): 7
In terms of stereo systems, I’ve actually been working my way down. Two cars ago I had the aftermarket Alpine, which I was very happy with. My last car was an Intrepid and the stereo was stock, albeit the upgraded Infinity system. While obviously not in the same class as the Alpine, frankly, the Infinity system was considerably better than the BA6.
At low volume, the BA6 isn’t bad. The sound stage is noticeably in the front half of the car (where most believe it should be). The door speakers provide a full, deep sound. (Part of me thinks this was done intentionally to make the stereo sound better than it actually is, but in my opinion, this isn’t how the music is meant to sound.) Crank up the volume a bit, and everything falls apart. Frequencies get muffled, the bass loses its punch (if there ever really was punch), and distortion lurks.
The sound pressure out of the rear speakers is pitiful. In order to get front/rear balance, the fader has to be set to at least 75% rear. With 100% rear fade, you can literally turn the volume to full, and are left to wonder if it’s just a couple of AAA batteries driving some paper cups on the rear sill.
By far my biggest complaint is that with > 50% volume, the clarity, sharpness, and vitality of the music is lost. The music sounds tired. After only a couple of weeks, I no longer enjoy listening to my favourite CDs. This is unacceptable. Clearly, I’ve been called to action.
So, to date, I’ve been to 4 car audio establishments. My only direction to the proprietors was that I wanted to keep the head unit, because I wanted a stealth install, I didn’t want to mess with the aesthetics of the dash, and I wanted to keep the steering wheel controls (which I really like). Here are the recommendations I received:
1) The stock stereo is really not all that bad. All you need to do is add a sub to the rear. You can turn down the bass on the head unit and improve the performance of the front speakers, and increase the gain on the sub for a fuller sound.
2) The front is not bad. Your problem is in the rear. You need to replace the 6X9s in the back with some good quality two ways and add an amp to drive them. Take the speaker level outputs from the head for the rear, add a line level converter before the amp, and run a wire for amp power up to the head unit. Try that first, and if you still want more, you can add a sub later.
3) You need a CleanSweep from JBL. The current head unit is programmed to provide the best sound with its limited power output. This means higher bass at lower volumes and less bass at higher volumes. But the low power causes distortion regardless. CleanSweep will flatten out the frequency response from the head unit. Once the CleanSweep is installed, add a 4 channel amp (50 Watts X 4 or more). The BA speakers should be fine once you give them some decent power. Run a sub off a separate 100W to 200W amp and you’re done.
4) We can add amps and swap out the speakers, but you’ll be disappointed with the result. Unless you swap out the head unit, you’ll be amplifying a relatively poor input signal. Garbage in, garbage out. Besides, you’ll get better FM reception as well. Go away and rethink your desire to keep the head unit. And by the way, with a new head unit, we might be able to find something to help maintain some of the steering wheel controls (but don’t count on it).
So I’m leaning towards (3). By the way, the CleanSweep was mentioned on a previous thread.
http://www.300cforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6098&page=2&pp=10&highlight=cleansweep)
Interesting to note: The CleanSweep is currently “on order”. There’s no estimated arrival date. Pricing has not yet been communicated. Sound familiar :wink1:
Comments are welcome.
Thanks,
