Need more Bass! - or Head Unit...? Advice or Recommendations

[clarenn]

Howdy Alfa Bods....

I have been messing about with the stereo in my car for some time now and I want to achieve more bass.

I used to have an Alpin head unit and with some HERTZ speakers achieved a superb sound, and I had the addition of a small sub in my old Sportwagin and all was good.

I have a facelift Alfa now that has a nice integrated stereo into the Steering wheel, but I can change it for an aftermarket as the shape is slightly curved and tapers in on the edges.

Can I run an amp form the head unit and run the speakers . sub from it or will the head unit not support it - or do I take the plunge and invest in a new head unit - but I would want a very nice one that would fit in nicely or a good quality adaptor plate, but again - one that fits nice and doesnt look as though it has been grafted from a cerial packet...!

If anyone can offer some advise or reccommend a good headuint that would be good - I am partial to Alpine, but will considor other brands.. ;-)

Thanks People

[shiny_car]

Depends on your budget, really.

A new headunit will improve sound quality, for sure, though not necessarily improve bass dramatically. I've yet to see a one fitted into an update 156 that looks particularly integrated, so you can't expect too much. You will want to add a dash kit fascia to fill the gap around the new headunit, but even these can look a little odd, and need trimming or respraying for best fitment. No big deal for an experienced installer.

An aftermarket headunit will make it easier/better to add an amplifier, because it will have RCA preouts for RCA cables feeding the audio to an amplifier. The factory headunit has no preouts; you would need to utilise the speakerwire outputs, but the signal is not as good quality as preouts. From the speakerwire outputs, you will need to use an LOC (line output converter) that drops the signal power down from high-level to low-level, to suit the RCA inputs on an amplifier. These are easy to fit and buy, though go with a decent quality product recommended by a good specialist ICE store (cheap ones are prone to interference; so buy what the store recommends, especially cos they should exchange it for something else if there's a problem).

Your ideal budget setup might include a new headunit, with fascia kit and steering wheel control interface; plus a 2-channel amp to run a sub; plus a set of 6.5" 2-way component speakers for the front doors running off the headunit. Or have a 4-channel amp to run the speakers and sub. Or expand from there. All dependent on the budget.

GBP$200-300 would be a good starting point for a good headunit, plus the fascia/steering interface. Then go from there.