NickG

Hi I'm contemplating trading my E46 325i Bimmer for the base RX8. Tough decision, but I'm almost there. One thing I can't live with is the base model stereo unit. Even the leather pack Bose system sounds pretty average to me. Has anyone successfully upgraded the base unit? I'm thinking of spending $1500 max.

Grateful for any ideas.
Thanks!

Kev

I have everything selected, I'm just sitting on the fence to see what happens with some head unit conversion kits talked about on the audio forum.

Even if you do the work yourself, you won't get much of an improvement for $1500. That said, if it's not an improvement in musical quality you're after - more and extension of dynamics, you could replace the front tweeters for a "brighter" effect and also add a powered sub (both of these have also been done to death on the audio forum pages, specifically to "improve" the bose system).

A lot depends of whether you get the bose or standard system. Be careful upgrading the bose - the speakers are low impedances (0.5~1.0 ohm nasties).

messix

Hiya Nick,

I'm with Kev on this one. $1500 isn't going to get you anything great. It'd be more on par with the BOSE. The setup in my Jeep was $2000 for just a headunit and 6 speakers (no subs - there's no room in a Wrangler as it is). For $1500 you'd be able to either get a nice headunit or settle on a cheaper hu for the rx and get some average speakers. For the 8 though it wouldn't do it justice settling on a cheaper system :-)

You'd probably be better off saving some cash for a few months to see how things pan out in the Audio forum. Once something is all sorted out then go for a high end system with the cash saved.

Just my 2 cents :-)

labrat

Geez, join the peasantry, Labrat! And I thought the base sound system played my Mozart, Bach and jazz pretty well.

timbo

Actually, I'm with you labrat. Am sure my ears would need $1500 upgrade first :p

NickG

Thanks for the input. Actually I had not planned to upgrade the head unit for this money. My idea was just to get a decent power amp and upgrade some or all of the speakers. In my (limited) experience it's often the junk speakers that come with OEM stuff that are the biggest problem. Decent speakers do however often need decent power to drive them properly, so the power amp upgrade becomes essential as well.

The standard unit probably isn't too bad for classical, but it lacks dynamics and bass slam , plus resolution in the mids and highs. That's a nasty cocktail that just about kills it for rock!

labrat

Rock? I thought you wanted to listen to music.

Sorry, couldn't help myself - just let that one go through to the keeper!

Wildcard

Having driven both the 'pov pack' and the 'leather pack' RX-8's, I can say that there is a big difference in the sound quality between the two stereo's. I am actually very impressed by the 300W system in the Leather pack. It's the best OEM car stereo I've ever heard, and it also sounds better than the $2000 aftermarket stereo I had in my last car.

Kev

Truth be told, the Bose is not too bad. It's just not as clear as I'd like it to be.

High end Alpine speakers and amps, correctly selected and installed, would give you better audio quality. (Spend < $3K)

Go with something like Focal Polykevlar K2's all round and a seperate custom sub and drive it with a classy amp, Cliff Design or something, then you'll get top quality results. Again, installation quality is critical. (Spend ~ $6K)

Blow the bank and go with something like AVI BSM160 mid bass drivers and AVI HF30B tweeters (front and rear) + squeeze in a pair of AVI MXD100 mids at the front. Power it all with Xtant X series (X604,x1001) amps and plug up the bass with an Xtant 1244 in a custom ported enclosure. (At the cost of a new Hyundai - this should sound awsome)

But I'm sitting on the fence with audio upgrades until there's more happening with head unit replacements. I'm not going to compromise the look of the interior to install a high quality source unit, but there's no point in going overboard with AVI and Xtant if I'm stuck with the existing head unit's signal quality (The Xtant amps are very versatile and can be configured to take any sort of input (line, speaker, etc)

DMRH

You know I have been told the following from the guys at Mazda.

The stereo system in the base & luxury version are the same. Its the BOSE amps & speakers that make the difference.

With that in mind, you buy the base model & then buy the BOSE speakers seperately, they will obviously plug straight in.

The key with the BOSE set up is that each (main) speaker has an individual amp I'm told. Yet to prove this on the RX-8 for myself but thats the way the RX-7 BOSE system worked.

With the RX-8 just $36k (base) in Japan compared to $56k here. I simply cant justify the profiterring Mazda Australia are taking us for when you consider some dealers are getting $68k "on-road" for some luxury versions.

Buy the base model & upgrade via the spare parts department.

Kev

To my knowledge, the head units are common, but there are a few differnent ones that seem to be dictated by the country/market.

Some say that the 6xdisc is a sanyo unit. The 1xmp3 is a pioneer (I'll know what the 6x is when I get interested in pulling the dash apart).

timbo

Good concept. But is it possible to buy the Bose components separately? Anyone have any Australian sources?

Kev

Unless you install the complete bose system, you'll be missing parts of your audible spectrum. The bose system is "balanced". Call me cynical, but to me you get a bunch of very average speakers that compensate for each other's short comings.

also, you really need to pick your speakers based on your musical preferences ... equally priced Alpine, Boston Acoustics and Polks will all perform differently with the same type of music, but each will be superior with a specific type of music.

Dez

Kev,

what's your shopping trolly currently filled with then?

cheers,

++Dez

ps: we should catch up agian some time soon.. perhaps a day time drive up the beaches?

Kev

We'd need to do the rounds of a couple of car audio places to show you what I'm wavering over - with fac CD's in hand.

I've still got fence between my butt cheeks

Yo, to the ride - even breakfast at Avalon or something ... any other takers?

Dez

How about a cruise up to Budda Belly for their infamous sour dough toast with advacado, lime and a mint ice tea to settle the jitters after some serious rising sun heal toe work?

++dez;