[Carpetmanraymon]

Hi not sure whether my FL had the Bose upgrade or not ? How do I check and is it worth looking for a second hand unit ? Help and advice greatly appreciated ?

 

[paxman]

It is called DSP in 166, not BOSE and you can tell straight away by sticking your head into the boot when a nice pop bassy song is playing :jester:

Seriously, if you think the sound is more average than great then you do not have the system in your car. I just installed the DSP system into my car over this bank holiday weekend and the difference is huge. Harman Kardon did an awesome job designing it.

Good luck with finding one second hand, especially the wiring. Good thing with the FL is that you already have the proper wiring in all doors. What you need is the wire that connects amplifier to the ics and all speakers to the amplifier.

I will write a report from my installation with more details hopefully later this week :thumbup:

 

[lizard]

166 never had Bose, but there was a system called DSP, which was probably better than Bose implementations in 147/156/GT.

Here is the guide: http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...uide-for-fitting-dsp-to-a-facelift-166-a.html

 

[scottyf]

I might be interested in doing this providing I can find one. But is it really that much better. Or am I better off installing my own amp in the boot and running components. I have them spare in the garage anyway.

As the battery is in the boot it makes life a bit easier than feeding cables through a firewall.

Is there anything that changes the ics into low level input at all? Ive got converters mind if there isnt to keep everything looking oem.

 

[mick164]

..tonally the DSP system is actually quite nice, but it doesn't have huge thump if that's what you're after. It is a big improvement on the basic system in fairness.

In theory you'd be better off with a good aftermarket install i guess, though these can sound pretty terrible too if you get it wrong...

 

[paxman]

You can get the original HAES amplifier on ebay for £30 (so you get all DSP options in ICS) and then search for appropriate speakers. I know that the large ones in doors are 2 Ohm and 40 Watt but am not sure about the small ones and subwoofers (but it might be the same for all of them). Also there is not enough room (depth) in doors or under the back shelf to fit most standard speakers/subwoofers that today's market offers so you need to search for more slim designs. And the worst part is that the original subwoofers are bolted to a plastic part that is formed exactly to sit nice and tight under the rear shelf (and last thing you want is your subwoofer to rattle while playing your favourite song).

Attached are photos of the subwoofer and comparison between standard and DSP door speakers (a DSP spekaer is always the more massive one :thumbup.

 

[scottyf]

Thing is its still very old speak technology.

I've got a set of four components I can wire in to the doors and I'm not too fussed by subwoofers. I guess it depends on how much a full DSP can be had.

If its Sub <- £100 then in might be worth it. If not. I'll continue putting my ownj stuff from one car to the next.