Advice on aftermarket Double-Din Radio (Ben Hur) and radar detector
#16
07-16-2021 | 09:10 PM
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I have a 2005 Continental and a 2005 VW Phaeton. I think the prob with the Continental is the speaker placement. My Phaeton's sound system is outstanding. Similar head unit, and similar amp (I think the Bentley amp has more power). The diff seems to be the speakers or their placement and not much you can do about that....
#17
07-21-2021 | 03:52 PM
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From other threads, there are a million of these threads, I have probably three or four you can look through. I don't have experience changing out the amp, but there really isn't any need to, the amp is just fine, it's the head unit that is junk. The speakers aren't great, but replacing them doesn't up the sound quality as much as the cost of 10 speakers would warrant.
I got a quote for $18k to replace the ten-channel amp and all speakers, obviously a stupid, "We don't feel like doing this" price.
The issue with the Ben Hur conversion is that it's only a stereo output, but whatevs.
My advice stays the same; change the head unit to Ben Hur or the Tesla thing if the plastic works with your interior, get a very solid sub woofer and amp, and maybe (?) change out your speakers. I did it all and am pleased with the result but as mentioned, the speaker placement is absolutely terrible, so you get very bright highs right at your ears from the tweeters in the door pillar, but the mid-range good stuff is aimed at your thighs or behind your arms.
For high-end radios, I've done both the best Alpine and the best Kenwood, I think I liked the Alpine a little better but they're actually both nearly identical in functionality. I have the Kenwood that has an adjustable face (it takes CDs and DVDs still, I think that's funny I haven't used either in half a decade). Both sound fine, both do well with Apple Car Play. The Kenwood paired up on wifi for Car Play (the bluetooth can't handle it) and it didn't really work, but I have a hard mount for the phone with a cable, that works just fine.
For all reading, change your radio, it will really change the whole car, a big navigation screen, good sounding music, I even have an HDMI so I can watch Netflix when I'm waiting to pick someone up. I very rarely use it, but I think it's cool to have.
I got a quote for $18k to replace the ten-channel amp and all speakers, obviously a stupid, "We don't feel like doing this" price.
The issue with the Ben Hur conversion is that it's only a stereo output, but whatevs.
My advice stays the same; change the head unit to Ben Hur or the Tesla thing if the plastic works with your interior, get a very solid sub woofer and amp, and maybe (?) change out your speakers. I did it all and am pleased with the result but as mentioned, the speaker placement is absolutely terrible, so you get very bright highs right at your ears from the tweeters in the door pillar, but the mid-range good stuff is aimed at your thighs or behind your arms.
For high-end radios, I've done both the best Alpine and the best Kenwood, I think I liked the Alpine a little better but they're actually both nearly identical in functionality. I have the Kenwood that has an adjustable face (it takes CDs and DVDs still, I think that's funny I haven't used either in half a decade). Both sound fine, both do well with Apple Car Play. The Kenwood paired up on wifi for Car Play (the bluetooth can't handle it) and it didn't really work, but I have a hard mount for the phone with a cable, that works just fine.
For all reading, change your radio, it will really change the whole car, a big navigation screen, good sounding music, I even have an HDMI so I can watch Netflix when I'm waiting to pick someone up. I very rarely use it, but I think it's cool to have.
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