I just had my whole oem audio system professionally replaced w/ an Alpine h/u, audison amp, morel speakers, separate alpine amp for oem subwoofer and........it doesn't sound that great...... at low volume???

At full crank the sound holds together fine and it is truly nice and loud....

But for local cruising the volume can't be that loud and I'm finding that I can not hear mid-range(?) well. I am hearing the highs (tin-y?) and the bass but I am having trouble listen to the spoken words...

I was hoping for opinions, past experiences, suggestions...

I'm going to bring it back, as it was a very expensive job.

All greatly appreciated!

 

Have them tune your new system. Sometimes they will
Just install everything and leave it to the customer to tweak it. The head unit should have a decent E/Q.

Bring in a few samples of the music you listen to and tune accordingly.

 

Thanx,
They talked about it tuning it at the crossover unit or amp. The h/u doesn't have an elaborate e/q (bal, fadr, trbl & bass only) that I could fool with. I'm really wondering if the 911 interior setup/speaker placement is so restrictive that I'm never gonna get clear audio over the ranges. I expect that I will have to spend more time with them.

Perhaps there are a better fit of speakers? (though the morels are supposed to be high end)

 

There are so many parameters you can jack with. A car is the worst place for trying to tune audio system. All that glass is bad for acoustics. You should replace the oem sub since everything else is high end now.

 

I'm using the stock sub but off of a separate 300w amp. Bass sounds fine so I'm thinking it's the mid-range I'm missing - worst fear yesterday was that the mid-range in the speakers was blown? - But I will be the first to admit I am nothing but a back-seat driver when it comes to audio.

I agree I have heard someone else mention about the glass thing, hence probably stuck there - I hope I do not regret changing out the radio... or maybe it's the cost I'll regret, since at least I have Sirius now and bluetooth

 

Are the Morel speakers amped separately?
The porsche's I've heard that sounded great usually had door speakers (mid-bass or door subs) and dash speakers on separate channels (amped separately). It gives you much more option for X-over points, gain, etc to fine tune the front stage.

 

I have an audison 6 ch amp - all spkrs are amp'd separately; the oem sub woofer is off a sep 300w amp. Could be me... maybe a separate equalizer is needed for my listening tastes..

 

My 2 Cents have them check the Polarity of the speakers + is + and - is -, i have seen this LOTS of times. I don't care how much time is spent or Money is spent it a simple Mistake and anyone can make it.

 

Ask them to use an RTA on it. That will tell you EXACTLY where you are lacking.. You can make the adjustments in real time and see how it changes the soundfield.
RTA= Real Time Analyzer. GREAT TOOL!

 

There's three parts to a good car audio system; first is the quality of the components themselves, second is the compatibility of the components (with other components as well as the cabin environment), and third is the tuning of the system to the car cabin as well as your ears. Contrary to most peoples' opinions, the component quality is not as important as the other two; but usually stereo shops usually hype up the component name b/c they sell components instead of sound. I've heard a number of cars with very expensive components installed by "well known" installers that sounded mediocre at best - but the owners convinced themselves that they sound good b/c they have to justify spending $5-$10K. The experience of the installer in selecting components is key. For example on my first system I was told my system would have a 10" subwoofer, even though I had room for a 12" one. When I asked why don't they put the 12" one in, the installer said he would let me hear why. He let me listen to my CD's with the 10" playing and the bass was low and tight. Then he put a 12" in and the quality of the music went down instantly no matter how much I tried to tune it. That was a very valuable lesson for me. My current system on my M5 took about 3 hours to tune to the way I like it. Think about tuning the system like tuning a guitar; you can own the finest guitar in the world but if the strings are not tuned, it won't sound good. Just remember, when tuning your car make sure to bring the CD's you listen to (not an IPOD which is compressed music) and make sure the music is well recorded. Believe it or not, as a rule of thumb country music is by far the best recorded and mastered genre. Be patient b/c it takes some time to get it just "right".

Matt

 

But don't forget, if you are getting a TRUE custom build, a quality shop can absolutely build an enclosure for a 12 that would have had better sound than that 10. The Q number is one of the key numbers for example to look at for each driver. If the guy knows what he is doing, he can let you listen to a dozen subs, find out which sound you like best, then build an enclosure to make the bigger driver make the best quality sound at the given frequency. Problem is there are not enough shops that actually build like that anymore. How many times have you had an installer pull out the spec sheet on a driver and talk with you about the possibilities?

 

That's a very valid point. However, my driver was custom built into my spare tire facing upward into the cabin (it was a SUV) with no enclosure. I just used that as an example to not get sucked into the numbers game salesmanship (i.e. I have a 16" driver with a 1000 W amp, etc.)

 

I gotcha....I think we are on the same page. Too many times, like you said, guys focus on how much the components cost. They think just cause they drop 10-20 large it will sound great. Not true.

I owned a chain of stereo shops that did nothing but one off, hand built custom stuff. Partner was an electrical engineer. Built many a show van for Sony, Kenwood, Orion, etc back in the day. My guys would "sell" a system with a legal pad, a measuring tape and a scientific calculator

 

Now that's "old school". Not many guys like that around anymore unfortunately. I always ask our customers if they want to install a true auditory experience in their car or just some name brand components?

Matt

 

are the morels 2 way or 3 way speakers. Did you compare them with the mb quarts?