Dear friends,

I have a 2003 S-type R - while I love the performance and just about everything else about the car - the stereo is very unimpressive - I have the ALPINE indicias on the door speakers - QUESTION - how to tell if this is premium sound?

Is there any least cost way to improve it ?

thank you !

 

I will be changing out the stock sub woofers with some 8-10"s.......as far as the high......that will be later down the road......Alpines are the premium sound system for the car.....No car "stock" ever has the best sound, until you change it with higher end products....

 

Biggy, funny, I felt the very same way when I looked at an 05' STR last fall, great car in so many respects and - thats it from the audio?
The only thing i liked about its stereo was a) the single dash CD as well as the changer, and b) the little rotating volume knob - so you can quickly adjust - touchscreens not that nice for some of the simpler functions sometimes.
Pete

 

magnum subwoofers require .5 cube subwoofer box very little room very accurate not to loud either and you can just go with coaxial door speakers boston acoustics make good ones or if you want to go higher in class with your high class car you can go with dynaudio speakers. If your car already has alpine amps then you can go with alpine to make sure everything is easier on the installer

 

So which Prem. audio is worse Alpine or Fords?

 

I only can Imagine its all pretty bad.
BMW is ok distorts when turned up High.
Aftermarket is the way to go for Audio

 

It seems to depend on the listener (owner). Some are happy with the sound, but others feel the need to make changes. Apparently a personal choice, similar to which color you like.

 

actually the highs n the vehicle are on par with most replacement speakers available. The subs are the main issue with the str sound system. The amplifier is the second weak link. My suggestion is to leave the factory amp on the highs, replace the subs and add your own amp for the subs. This would be the first step. At that point i would replace the headunit and hook that up to the factory amp and leave the door speakers alone, especially if they work fine. If you really want to change them out, Hertz/ Audison or some Image Dynamics or Arc Audio would be the choices i would look at. JL audio and then the new German MAestro (seems to be the original MB QUART stuff) i havent heard the German MAestro stuff personally but from what i hear, it sounds damn good.

 

Do the Ford Prem. have a seperate sub?

 

if u wanna know if u have the premium audio check behind the carpeting on the left side of the trunk. If its premium there will be an amp in there.

 

There is no "premium", its either very bad, or bad. Not impressed one bit, ESPECIALLY with the sub. I also will be getting that replaced at the very least........soon.

 

No offense but if its Stock Alpine I seriously Doubt it would be on Par with Replacement Speakers Like RainBow, Dynaudio, DLS ect. You can always do much much better then stock and I wouldnt put anything less in a Jag.

Alpine is still an ok brand I use it in my lady friends Honda, but thats a Honda and we definetly dont use the lower end coaxl like what comes with Jaguar.

 

Pretty Much. Your either the Type of Person Thats content with Stock Speakers or your not. Theres no inbetween and with that being said. I would never advise someone who is unhappy with there stock speakers to leave them in and add a Sub to it. The sub will Drown out the underwhelming highs which you never really like anyway. Without a Dought.

 

Very true you either like or its not good enough for you

 

i agree to a point, however, when you start talking about Rainbow, Dyn, DLS, etc.....you are way beyond what it takes to make the FACTORY system sound better with minimal work. Actually if you want to discuss sound, feel free to take it over to the audio section. I will be more than happy to play over there.

 

Your question -- " QUESTION - how to tell if this is premium sound"?
My answer -- your own ears. They are far better than any measuring instrument, and someone else's opinion, while helpful, is really only about how it sounds, to THEM. And no two people hear sound the same. Some can't discern stereo, some have poor selectivity like me, can't 'pull out' one conversation among a babble of others, some can't hear the upper treble due to age or infection (daft though it sounds, you CAN get arthritis of the hearing), some have generator noises as with tinnitus.
If the speech and music sound ok to you, just leave it as it is. After all, you're listening in a CAR not at home to the Tannoys!
Leedsman.

 

I just noticed your handle name. Noticed who you are in the sig, I am in no way Challenging you. I actually agree with you that adding 3 way and 2 way wont be minimum work, I assumed that he wouldnt be doing the work, its a hot july I wouldnt be fooling around with it.
But yes you are right again
Adding Rainbow, DLS Dyn and the likes mean Potentially buying an Audio Control, Amp for the Highs, Amp for the Subs, oh and Subs we cant for get the Clean Sweep from JL.
I just find the sound in these cars horrible is all and all this can be done and procured for $2000 if you know a few dealers which are every where online , Whats it to us? we already put down 10s of thousands on the car. Not to give the Vibe as if we own Masaratis lol
would be honored to have the west coast guys do my install however; no hi-fonics though hehee