Why does my stereo suck

[summitlt]

I dont get it, heres the specs on my "system" in my MJ

160 Watt JVC headunit
300 watt Pyramid amp running to JBL 6X9s
Two pioneer 4" in the doors

My moms ZJ has stock speakers, and a Pioneer 140watt headunit

Hers sounds SOOOO much better! Doesnt distort when its loud and has more bass then mine with a much cleaner sound.

Why does mine sound so crappy? Do I need stock ZJ speakers for my MJ?

 

[Jeffro600]

My first assumption would be the pyramid amp!!! Second, would be a lousy install.

Then id take a good look at the quality of your speakers...just because they have JBL or pioneer stamped on them does not immediatly mean they will sound good.

 

[goodburbon]

also, let the amp do the driving if you distort early, it means that your head unit is trying to do the pushing distorting a bit and then the amp is amping the distortion. we call this "over-driving" it is the principle behind a guitar distortion effect, we pre-amp the living hell out of it and then use the second amp for volume control.........

to counter this, you should turn the amp up, and your head unit volume down. use a high pass filter for your 4" speakers because low frequencies will cause them to "fart" even if its clean power. the 6x9, however is a full range speaker and if its a 2-way or 3-way it has its own filters for the smaller components. Using line level inputs (speaker outputs from head unit) on an amp is not as good as using RCA type pre-amp outputs.

bottom line is.........the wattage output of your stereo doesn't mean doo doo if you want to use an amp.....because the amp needs a low wattage clean input to give you crisp sound on the output side.

 

[scoobyxj]

Here is something I have found JVC sounded like crap, Kenwood sounded like crap, Pioneer sounds awsome, Both the others where midlevel decks as is the Pioneer. Even the cheep Pioneer my ex has in her ZJ soundes better than the other two I had.

 

[XJ Dreamin']

Here's a thought. Your mom's cool, and your not. Sorry, but you asked. You gotta admit - it's a possibility :wave:

 

[Darky]

Here's a thought. Your mom's cool, and your not. Sorry, but you asked. You gotta admit - it's a possibility :wave:

I like the way this guy thinks...


My Alpine (came with it when I bought the Jeep) couldn't push a pair of Yokohama (or something like that) 6.5's in the rear soundbar so I took em out. Sounded like they were blown. Used an amp (Pyramid Audio for $42) they were good, but I had other intentions for that amp (Lightning woofer box, free from father in law). Over time, I lost one speaker to my brother in law, and then I moved. He found the one we lost, gave it back and now I've lost the one I had when we moved. Hooked the one speaker up to the new Kenwood head unit and it sounds great. I've always had good luck with Kenwoods. Now I just need to find my other speaker, or find the money to buy new ones for the rear.

 

[XTrmXJ]

Something to think about you have a standard cab and your mom has a bigger area for the sound to manipulate and aplify the sound from the spacing in the Grand

 

[carmike692000]

Why does your sound suck? Well, to be brutally honest, because your equipment sucks. I would personally never buy a JVC headunit. I'll always stick to Pioneer Premier, Alpine, and Kenwood Excellon. For speakers, never go with Pioneer, JVC, Audiobahn, Sony, JBL, etc. Go with speaker companies, such as Alpine, Polk, Memphis, Boston Acoustics, MB Quartz, etc. For amps, look at Memphis, Alpine, MTX, Orion, Polk, etc.

Sure, Audiobahn, Sony, JBL, Pioneer speakers and subs will go loud and maybe look flashy, but they won't sound good. And you're complaining about your system not sounding good. I personally go after sound quality over volume. And nothing you have is about sound quality.

 

[funvtec]

do you have the wires to the speakers backwards?

 

[Starscream]

Go with speaker companies, such as Alpine, Polk, Memphis, Boston Acoustics, MB Quartz, etc. For amps, look at Memphis, Alpine, MTX, Orion, Polk, etc.

Don't forget Focal. I love mine.

Sure, Audiobahn, Sony, JBL, Pioneer speakers and subs will go loud and maybe look flashy, but they won't sound good. And you're complaining about your system not sounding good. I personally go after sound quality over volume. And nothing you have is about sound quality.

x eleventybillion

In my XJ, a pretty large space, I don't even have a rear soundstage. I went with a deck and 2 setup for the front. It sounds great, and I don't plan on rear speakers anytime soon unless I feel I need the fill-in.

With a cab area like a MJ, I would suggest selling all your speakers and investing in a quality set of components. Get a better head unit, too.

If you do it, here's what I would suggest:

With Alpine you can never really go wrong for a head unit. I run an Eclipse, but Alpine is great stuff.

For components, go with Infinity, Polk, JL Audio, Focal (what I run), or MB Quartz.

For an amp (which you will need for components), try either JL, Eclipse (what I run), Alpine, or MTX at the least.

I think you'll be VERY happy with a simple setup like this. I know I love mine, and since I have a sub it sounds even better.

Hope that helps...

 

[summitlt]

All the stuff came with my truck, I figured it was good since it wasnt walmart stuff (durabrand) or "lightning audio"

With the amp, I adjusted it right, and it sounds fine now, not aweseom, but ill live with it.

 

[the_chief]

It has already been mentioned, but not clearly, check polarity on your speakers. As also previously mentioned, you may be losing quality by trying too hard. Your (used) equipment may be beat up. Everyone has their own favorite brand, so don't worry about that.

Btw, pioneer premier is just pioneer with one less 0 on the model number, a two year warranty, and a steering wheel remote instead of a card (depending on the year). pioneer (8 series and below) is complete garbage and has no support from it's manufacturer. (i have a few beefs with these bastards)

If you really want to work it out, read up about sound dynamics. If you have a good understanding of how sound works, you can fiddle with any stereo for a while and make it sound 10x better.

good luck