GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Everyone has different tastes in music and expectations from their stereo systems. How does your Vibe sound system work for you?

i have the moons and tunes and all i added was a 300w amp and 2 12" mtx subs.i get compliments all the time on how clean it sounds

I removed the stock head unit on day 1 and installed an aftermarket one.I added a sub and tweeter.The next step is to change the stock speaker. I'm currently looking to some component set....

I have the M&t package. I removed the stock speakers and head unit, leaving the tweeters. I replaced the stock speakers with Infinity Reference 6.5" 2 ways and left them attached to the M&T amp. Threw in my JVC head unit from my old car (was only 6 months old when taken out of my old Z34) and added my RP Punch300 amp and 2 10" Kicker Comp subs in a bandpass box. Very clean sounding with a little bit of rumble, but not so much that you can't hear the highs.

Quote, originally posted by Sub-Vibe-R »I removed the stock head unit on day 1 and installed an aftermarket one.I added a sub and tweeter.The next step is to change the stock speaker. I'm currently looking to some component set....I would check out Clarion, they have some really nice component sets.

Quote »Total overhaul - head unit, amps, speakers, subs. (16%, 1 votes)That would be me, but I'm not too happy about the engine noise my Audiobahn amp is putting out...argh

How do you have it rigged?

You still have noise? Man..there's something wierd going on there..i've never had a problem with those..

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »That would be me, but I'm not too happy about the engine noise my Audiobahn amp is putting out...argh You can try an inline noise filter, I think you can get them very cheap. I've never tried one but I hear they work. Just a thought.

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »You can try an inline noise filter, I think you can get them very cheap. I've never tried one but I hear they work. Just a thought.We tried some rather expensive filters to no avail. This is one of those occasions where I wish I was the installer here, but alas, I was not, so I don't know how it's grounded. This guy does very good work, so I have no reason to disbelieve him. One of these days I'll give him my Vibe for the day to figure it out

Hey..that on/off switch next to the steeringwheel...is that for the amps? If so, for both amps? I have to wonder if that's getting power from the amp turn-on wire behind the radio..if it's coming from somewhere else, that might be introducing noise. Not sure..but it's the 'grasping at straws' answer..

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »Hey..that on/off switch next to the steeringwheel...is that for the amps? If so, for both amps? I have to wonder if that's getting power from the amp turn-on wire behind the radio..if it's coming from somewhere else, that might be introducing noise. Not sure..but it's the 'grasping at straws' answer..What switch??

I have spent a total of a whopping $45.00 for my sub amp (open box el-cheapo "DUAL" brand from Best Buy), $70.00 for my sub and box ($50.00 Circuit City clearance on a dual voice coil bazooka 10 inch sub and $20.00 for a box from wal-mart), $50.00 for new rear speakers (KLH outdoor speakers from Best Buy that I hooked up to the utility rack in the back), and $12.00 for an amp wiring kit (walmart). It is definitely NOT competition quality, but it does the trick for me!

I just use it to listen to books on CD and to conservative Right wing talk radio (Sean Hanity). Stock radio sounds great to me, but then I can only hear out of one ear!

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »What switch??Thought I saw a switch on your cardomain page...red one..

I'd have to look at the cardomain pics to understand what switch you speak of.

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »Hey..that on/off switch next to the steeringwheel...is that for the amps? If so, for both amps? I have to wonder if that's getting power from the amp turn-on wire behind the radio..if it's coming from somewhere else, that might be introducing noise. Not sure..but it's the 'grasping at straws' answer..Yep, that would be the turn on switch for my sub amp, but not for the 4-channel. I don't have a switch installed for that since I know I want it on all the time.

You tried pulling the RCAs to the sub, or disconnecting that amp entirely for a little while, see if that isn't some how feeding back into the Audiobahn? Or try unplugging the RCA's and plugging them in one at a time into the audiobahn, and see if one of them isn't causing it..

Nope, i haven't tried any of that yet...maybe I'll do that this weekend.

I have the Tunes out of the Moones:(.I just changed my HD for a Pioneer Premier.Does the trick for me!

I have the tunes but no moon. 6disc and premium sound but no sunroof. I'll probably keep it like that, all stock sound for now.

installed some decent door speakers and then added amps and sub for the rear. i like my 6 disc in-dash player.

I opted for Moon & Tunes. While in the future, I'd likely get the most simplistic system and then upgrade it myself, I kinda had little choice here, as I wanted a moonroof.I'm running a Pioneer DEH-P7500MP head unit, has MP3, CD/R - R/W read capabilities, and an awesome organic electroluminescent display. It's XM ready, but I opted to go with a Delphi SkyFi rather than the Pioneer tuner. The IP Pioneer WOULD be cleaner, but I like the features of the SkyFi. Plus, I have the boombox and home cradle as well, so I have XM EVERYWHERE I want it, for one small monthly fee (instead of multiple subscriptions). I have yet to replace the amp or door speakers, but am seriously considering doing so, as I've had a mysterious "white noise" since day 1. But, I'm happy with things now -- anything else would just be tweaking IMHO.

I opted for the 2004 Sports Package. (formerly Moons & Tunes with added Aluminum wheels) When I first got the car I was really disappointed. The upgraded stereo is supposed to be a 200W w/6 speakers. Nowhere on the head unit does it say 200W, but I tried a different equalization and now it sounds good. I actually showed up a guy with a 300W amp and two 150W subs last night! Hard to believe, I know I know, but he was embarrassed. HAHAHA. If you don't like your stock system, try these equalization settings...Treble 5, Mid -6, Bass 6The radio may not sound that good, but CDs with heavy bass sound great!

The tell-tale sign of a M&T equipped system is the amp under the passenger seat. If it's there, you got the premium sound. Also notice the two tweeters behind sail panels on the front doors.The radio itself doesn't change between standard and premium sound -- it's the presence of the outboard amp that makes the difference.

Whatever I got is stock and it will do the job for me. When I upgrade to a luxury car, or have more money to spend on my car then I will upgrade the entire system (stereo and speakers). Until then, stock it is.

Well I replaced the stock HU with a Sony HU (still rocks!) slapped in a sub and amp thanks to Sub Vibe R....now I am saving up for some nice speakers.

Well, I started this thread but I've never actually posted anything about my stereo!Now seems like a good time - I've had my new system installed for over a month, so I've spent some time with it. My system is all Alpine. I already had the head unit (CDA-7874) and amp/sub (MRP-200, 12" Type-E) from my old Civic. I spent $300 on new speakers, though: Type-S 6.5" components in the front, Type-S 6.5" 2-ways in the rear. As I've already discussed in detail in this thread, I bypassed the M&T amp and am running off of the head unit's power (approx. 18w x 4 RMS). I installed everything myself; this was the first time I'd ever installed anything. I'm planning on posting a very detailed thread about my amp/sub installation, someday.I thought the stock stereo was actually pretty good, besides the lack of a subwoofer. Still, I thought I could get a better sound out of an aftermarket system. After a month or so with the new system, I'm kind of disappointed. Obviously, the sub adds some nice bottom end, but as far as the head unit and speakers go, I'm not so sure that it sounds any better than it did with the stock system. Not that the stock system sounded bad to begin with, but after time and money are put into it, you expect it to be that much better! I can't do an A-B comparison (unless someone in the Chicago area with a stock system wants to come over and try it), but I think quite often "better" sound is purely psychological - you want your new stereo to sound better, so it does. I tried to be as objective as possible when listening to my system, and it just doesn't seem to sound much different than it did before. I have a hard time believing that Alpine's products aren't good, and I doubt there was anything about my installation that I didn't do at least as carefully as a professional shop would have done.I have an expectation of how something will sound right before it starts, and then when it does start, it doesn't sound as good as I expected. The midrange (which I've found to be the crux of pretty much every car stereo) sounds flat, maybe even distorted. Just the other day, I was on a long trip and started playing around with the fader. I noticed how much better the front (component) speakers sound than the rear ones (2-way). It's a joke, really, how much better the components sound. The components have the potential to justify the new system. The 2-way speakers sound downright bad, I have to say. I don't know why. Maybe they just need a totally different EQ than the components to sound good. Regardless, I think they're the main reason my system sounds mediocre. I was fading the speakers to the front and cranking it. Very nice, but they seemed to be missing some midrange; adding the rear speakers - crappy-sounding as they may be - really helped fill it out.So I'm left with a dilemma - it's obvious that these speakers need a lot of power to shine, but should I get a 4-channel amp or dump the rear speakers and just get a 2-channel amp for the components? (money is tight, but I could always save up.) I noticed that the JL Audio Vibe, which won the CES Best of Show sound award, only has front speakers. I have no doubt that if these Type-S components were juiced, I wouldn't need rear speakers (though you do lose the nice omnidirectional sound of 4 speakers). The only thing I'm worried about is that by themselves they weren't putting out enough midrange... would more power fix that, or just boost the frequencies I'm already hearing? (for reference, I have the EQ on the head unit completely flat) Or could a 4-channel amp do wonders for my rear speakers?The amps I have in mind are the Alpine V-Power series. The 2-channel puts out 50w x 2 RMS (which happens to be the component speakers' max.); the 4-channel puts out 40w x 4 RMS (the max for the 2-ways).Thanks for any insight anyone has.

I have the nav system. It's not too bad, but doesn't compare to the factory Bose system in my Olds Intrigue. When I get the bucks, I'd like to replace the speakers, but I cannot find any data on the power output or impedance of the nav unit. I've taken it in to a couple of car audio specialty shops, who have told me that it is quite good for not having an external amplifier and subwoofer.I'll probably never go there, since I don't care for the pounding that most subwoofers produce. But I think the audio output is too powerful for the stock speakers, since I can drive them to distortion with certain CDs.

I got rid of my stock system within the first 5 months of having the car. And I put in a Sub 6 months into having the car.Inder

Quote, originally posted by esjones »I'll probably never go there, since I don't care for the pounding that most subwoofers produce. But I think the audio output is too powerful for the stock speakers, since I can drive them to distortion with certain CDs.Actually, that's not the speakers distorting. The amplifier isn't powerful -enough- to drive the speakers correctly. I added an external amplifier to my NAV system (currently losing the voice navigation, but I have plans to get that back), and new door speakers, and the NAV system sounds great!I don't know what the exact specs are, but if you change out your speakers without getting an amp, it'll still sound great, but it's nowhere near loud enough for highway speeds with the windows open.

Quote, originally posted by lazytiger »I bypassed the M&T amp and am running off of the head unit's power (approx. 18w x 4 RMS). Therin lies your problem. You need a much more powerful external 4-channel amp to properly puch those new 4 ohm speakers. Keep in mind that the factory speakers are rated at 2 ohms, and the M&T amp was pushing approx 25w RMS per channel, or only 12.5w @ 4 ohms (not much worse than your HU).I remember how my polks running off the M&T sounded BEFORE installing my Audiobahn 4-ch amp, and it was very shallow and flat, with the highs overwhelming the mids. As soon as I installed the external amp, the mids and depth came back -- it was a HUGE difference. I think a GOOD 4-channel amp is the missing peice of your puzzle.Oh, and as an update to my posts in this thread, we bought some higher quality filters, and my system has worked flawlessly since.Now I need to find the time to install my new door panels and move my tweet (didn't realize at the time of installation that my freakin' arm would block the sound where they are located now! duh!)Good luck!

Yeah, I have no doubt that getting an external amp will make a difference. The question is, how much of a difference will it make? Can it turn water into wine? Hay into gold? In your case at least, it sounds like it did in fact make a pretty significant difference. That's encouraging. I have good speakers, damn it - they should sound awesome!I will get an amp when I get some money. But that leads me to another question: how do you install a second amp in a car? Should you run a second power wire all the way to the battery, or do you just run a real beefy wire from the battery to the cabin and then split it? And at what point are you taking too much power from the battery? Is there a better indicator than just seeing if the headlights dim?For reference, my mono sub amp is 150w (300w peak), and the 4-channel amp I'm looking to get is 160w total (300w peak). My battery is a Delphi 55D23L (like every other Vibe, I assume).

Another question: What's the difference/advantage of RCAs over speaker-level inputs? I was just thinking, if and when I get my new 4-channel amp an put it under the passenger seat, it would be totally simple to use the speaker wires. If I use RCAs though, I'd have to run those from the dash, and my current Alpine only has two pre-outs. I know the 4-channel amp has a pre-out that I could hook the sub up to, but then I think I'd lose the head unit control of the sub volume.So what's the difference, really? With speaker-level, does it add the head unit's wattage to the total, or does the amp nullify the incoming wattage? Are RCAs just a purist thing? Maybe I'd care more if my HU RCA pre-outs were 4-volt and I had three of them, but they're only 2-volt.

Question 1: Commonly, run a beefier wire from the battery, then use a distribution block with smaller wires to the two amplifiers. Question 2: Speaker-level really sucks. Why? Because the external amplifier has to convert down to low-level, then re-amplify. RCA inputs keep the signal nice and clean all the way to the amplifier. Your alpine has two pre-outs, yes. One for subs, and one Left/Right. So what you do is this, the four channel gets the one that's left-right, and you buy some RCA splitters that connect at the 4 channel amplifier. Only thing you use is front/rear fader, which most people never use.

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »you buy some RCA splitters that connect at the 4 channel amplifierI thought about that, but wouldn't that halve the voltage going to each channel? I have no idea what difference that makes; I just bring it up because I know people make a big deal about pre-outs being 4-volt rather than 2-volt. What's the difference?Also, this guy on eBay just happens to be selling the very amp and head unit that I want. Considering the vehicle they were in was totaled, do you think that would be a good or bad idea? How resilient is car audio equipment?http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...=WDVWIf I got that head unit, that would solve the pre-out problems since it has 3 4-volt pre-outs. But I'm still wondering what the big deal is about the voltage.

Stock stereo, not moon and tunes. Sounds good but not good enough... I'm buying two ten inch Kicker Componant subs from Inder next weekend so it should sound nice by then finally.

Using splitters in your case wouldn't make that much of a noticeable difference. Maybe need another half-notch of gain on the amplifier.Car audio, as long as there's nothing -wrong- with it, is built pretty tough. If the guy says it's in working order, then it probably is. With every ebay auction, I always say take a look at his feedback, and make sure they're pretty positively feedbacked.

My dad and step mom have an ebay buisness and they told me to allways check their feedback

I have the base head unit, had a local company add a Kicker sub, Amp and 1 Farah Capacitor. This was all installed into a fibreglass shell behind the rear side panels , this way no room is taken up in the hatch. The sound is awsome the look on people's faces when they see it...priceless.

I have an '03 with M&T, blew the right front door speaker just a few weeks ago. I wasn't cranking it too high, but was listening to an Audioslave CD w/ lots of bass. Does anyone have any suggestions on an upgrade?

what did you use for your door speakers? i blew one, and need to replace both.

well the stock speakers are just crappy paper cones. there are many many options for you. i have pioneers in my front doors and sony's in the rear. added a solobaric kicker sub in a ported box and 2 amps... so my soundsystem's going strong at the moment. would love to get rid of the ported box and go w/ a stealth box so i can regain a 1/3 of my cargo space back. oh well... lots of topics on speaker suggestions. i went with ones i knew were decent and i got on clearance at walmart! $100 for all my door speakers. don't ask about the amps and sub....

thanks, after I posted, I took a look at your cardomain site - should have gone there first, you've got a lot on it - I saw the photos of the sub & front door speakers. where did you stash the second amp? under the passenger seat? also, what do you do with the sub box when you need the entire deck - did you use a connector so you could unplug it?

Just like Hope mentioned, there are TONS of better options than the crappy factory paper woofers. I went with two sets of Polk's db6750 components and couldn't be happier. Your best bet is to go with two sets of 6 1/2 two-ways, but make sure they give you enough mounting depth.

The moon and tunes definately doesnt compare to the subs and amp in my car, but it's still good enough.

i got pioneer 4ways in the front, some freebies in the back, a Volfenhag 100w sub and an audiobahn amp.,....loooking this fall to do a total overhaul...putting the sub into my back middle seat.....i cant wait!

I've got the basic one CD system. I am very pleased with the sound. I don't think I've ever had a stock system that I had to turn the bass down!! I've got an 8 inch Bazooka that I'm planning to install for a bit lower bass with a bit more accuracy........ Tom

i got the M&T amp powering my stock speakers. Sony radio, MA sub (1-12") powered by audiobahn. not complete, but added more juice.

Yeah I'm in the same boat as most, cept I'm not happy with the mids, I droped in an Alpine deck and 4 12" Kicker CVRs, the bass sounds great compared to my old car. But I'm just not happy with my highs, the tweeters give a great sound but it seems lacking persay. I'm thinking of putting in a decent 75x4 4-channel amp to replace out the M&Ts amp. Speakers will be components but I'm not 100% on which I'm going so far I'm thinking Alpine, Kicker, or JL Audio. I just want it a bit more fine tuned than what my HD can put out.