New headunit with factory speakers ok?

[gemini]

The cheap ass head unit in the Impreza looks bad and sounds bad and will be replaced.

Was just wondering what people think of the factory speakers?

I haven't pulled the covers off to look but got a good gain in my last vehicle just by changing the headunit.

[GT_Head]

From my limited experience you will get a good sound for a bit and then they will probably crackle and die and sound like mud after a while. That won't be until a wee bit down the track though so you should be fine for a bit... the louder you play the music the quicker they will die...

[Scoobydoo]

They have surprisingly good mid-bass from a crappy paper cone speaker... they are okay but if you like any kind of decent quality sound, or you play a lot of music in your car, then you'll want to upgrade. Even if they are cheap Sony's or Panasonic's.. they are still a put-load better than the factory ones.

[gemini]

They don't seem to like bass, they reverberate with the factory stereo set to <Bass +1>.

I'm thinking even factory speakers shouldn't flutter like that at low to mid volume on neutral bass settings.

Maybe a previous owner thrashed them and they're stuffed?

[Joker]

anything older than 2000 will most likely have disintegrated by now

[Scoobydoo]

yeah the surrounds are made of a very flimsy foam and disintegrate with touch. They'll probably be farked

[gemini]

Have decided the factory speakers are not ok!

Only reason I was considering keeping them was when I upgraded the headunit in my last car the whole stereo sounded better.

So looking at a Sony headunit as I have a rotary commander already.

That sets some kind of upper quality limit for speakers I guess.

Any speaker brand/model recommendations to get the best out of a Sony headunit?

[Scoobydoo]

Sony

You only get out what you put in

[gemini]

Any chance Sony remotes (and rotary commanders) are compatible with another brand then?

[Scoobydoo]

Probably not. Do you not know the model of the rotary commander? Is there a model number on it?

[gemini]

RM-X65

Was just looking at Sony headunits. Want one with rear USB input so I can route cable behind and sit phone/MP3 player on little shelf above headunit.

What about these speakers?

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Speakers/A-Series/Pioneer/TS-A1702C

I assume the little boxes send the high end to the tweeters and the rest of the sound to the main speakers

[Scoobydoo]

I cant be certain about 6 3/4" speakers. If you wanted A series speakers then I'd go for http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Speakers/A-Series/Pioneer/TS-A1683R

Or my choice from those Pioneer options would be http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Speakers/D-Series/Premier/TS-D602P

or

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Speakers/D-Series/Pioneer/TS-D1602R

You will be able to get the others in, but you'll need to make an aftermarket speaker ring to replace the plastic factory mounting kit.

[spark_38]

Those Pioneer speakers look ok, they probably need to be amped though - factory headunits generally do not provide enough power for components; the little power they do produce (~18W RMS per channel) is probably dissapated as heat in the x-over units... also for easy fitment, aim for either 6" or 6.5" speakers (16.5 - 17cm)

Sony have not used the rotary commander since the late 90's - be it the wired or wireless model. So I'm guessing it will not be compatible with any of the newer Sony headunits on the market. Think back to the early units CDX-5600X...

The Pioneer DEH-P5050UB has both the USB and 3.5mm aux input at the rear to give the front a tidier look, also has 3xRCA outs, and can be had about $300 (ish) maybe cheaper, being last years model

[gemini]

Speakers

So TS-A1683S is a good speaker?

If i do go for the tweeters would i run the rear speakers off the headunit and then use a two channel amp to power the fronts and tweeters?

Headunit

Can you change between preset radio stations easily on those Pioneer headunits? Don't see the usual 1 - 6 buttons.

[spark_38]

Pioneer headunits are almost the easiest to operate, most ppl don't even read the manuals. Alpine OTOH - not the case, rather fidgety, i should have stuck with Pioneer.

The jog/volume knob; up/down toggle is preset/folder, left/right is tuning/skip, there is also the list button which you can scroll preset stations, playlists on your iPod, MP3 disc, etc... making it a rather versatile unit. For comparison, most other units don't have the list button to scroll songs/playlists.

[gemini]

Looking at the Pioneer 4150SD now, as it can take SD cards. Are Pioneer speakers good too?

[Scoobydoo]

Speakers are as good as what you pay for them. For the sub $200 price bracket, I'd look at Kicker first, then Pioneer. Check your nearest Repco and see what you can get.