Upgrading A Car Audio System.

[Banzai99]

I am not interested in blasting out the windows but I want more bass and a good sound using the standard head unit.

The factory fitted stereo is not really bad, but it could do with better quality speakers I'm sure.

How much in Baht for a noticable upgrade to a 2010 Honda City ?

Also I have a 2006 Fortuner with the factory fitted stereo, that's not bad either but I don't use CD's anymore and I would like a USB connection, maybe would consider beefing the system up too, how much to get that done in the local Car Audio shops

I'm out of country at the moment so can't go and ask at a Car audio shop, just wondering if any of you guys have changed, upgraded your Car Audio gear in Thailand and know the prices and general info recommendations etc

Thanks guys.

[MoonRiverOasis]

If the only complaint from the OEM audio in a Jap car is 'it's missing some bass', it shouldn't cost you much more than 10-15K Baht to fit a small amp and subwoofer to fill the void.

[Banzai99]

If the only complaint from the OEM audio in a Jap car is 'it's missing some bass', it shouldn't cost you much more than 10-15K Baht to fit a small amp and subwoofer to fill the void.

Thanks, I remember many years ago I had a Triumph Vitesse 2 Litre ( Great little car in its time ), I bought 2 Pioneer 3 way door speakers and a sound exploder, LOL, that used to piss the neighbours off,

The head unit in The City is all I need, its got a USB connection, just sound improvement at a budget ( As its the missus car mainly )

The head unit on The Tuna could do with replacing really, I need USB now in 2012 !!

I have no idea how much Car audio is in Thailand, any website links ?

Thanks guys, oh, I was thinking of going to Boy Audio in Pattaya as I have seen other people recommend them on this site, good idea ?

Edited February 16, 2012 by Banzai99

[MoonRiverOasis]

If the only complaint from the OEM audio in a Jap car is 'it's missing some bass', it shouldn't cost you much more than 10-15K Baht to fit a small amp and subwoofer to fill the void.

Thanks, I remember many years ago I had a Triumph Vitesse 2 Litre ( Great little car in its time ), I bought 2 Pioneer 3 way door speakers and a sound exploder, LOL, that used to piss the neighbours off,

The head unit in The City is all I need, its got a USB connection, just sound improvement at a budget ( As its the missus car mainly )

The head unit on The Tuna could do with replacing really, I need USB now in 2012 !!

I have no idea how much Car audio is in Thailand, any website links ?

Thanks guys, oh, I was thinking of going to Boy Audio in Pattaya as I have seen other people recommend them on this site, good idea ?

A basic amplifier with subwoofer is easy the most effective and economical upgrade you can add to an OEM sudio system. There's nothing else that can match it Baht-for-Baht for overall sound improvement. Anything you might upgrade after that (or instead) simply cannot give the same bang-for-buck.

When it comes to head units, I have vowed never to install one again. The next time I have a car that needs a source unit upgrade, it's going to be a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. Why add just USB, or just Video, or just internet Radio, or just Bluetooth, or just GPS when you can add everything plus internet and virtually unlimited apps for around the same sort of cost as a decent aftermarket CD player?

[Digitalbanana]

If the only complaint from the OEM audio in a Jap car is 'it's missing some bass', it shouldn't cost you much more than 10-15K Baht to fit a small amp and subwoofer to fill the void.

Thanks, I remember many years ago I had a Triumph Vitesse 2 Litre ( Great little car in its time ), I bought 2 Pioneer 3 way door speakers and a sound exploder, LOL, that used to piss the neighbours off,

The head unit in The City is all I need, its got a USB connection, just sound improvement at a budget ( As its the missus car mainly )

The head unit on The Tuna could do with replacing really, I need USB now in 2012 !!

I have no idea how much Car audio is in Thailand, any website links ?

Thanks guys, oh, I was thinking of going to Boy Audio in Pattaya as I have seen other people recommend them on this site, good idea ?

A basic amplifier with subwoofer is easy the most effective and economical upgrade you can add to an OEM sudio system. There's nothing else that can match it Baht-for-Baht for overall sound improvement. Anything you might upgrade after that (or instead) simply cannot give the same bang-for-buck.

When it comes to head units, I have vowed never to install one again. The next time I have a car that needs a source unit upgrade, it's going to be a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. Why add just USB, or just Video, or just internet Radio, or just Bluetooth, or just GPS when you can add everything plus internet and virtually unlimited apps for around the same sort of cost as a decent aftermarket CD player?

There would be some safety concerns here. Tablets and computers should be be operated in the rear passenger seats rather than front of car unless the interface is severely crippled so as to make the options limited and allow driver concentration on the road conditions.

[Digitalbanana]

If the only complaint from the OEM audio in a Jap car is 'it's missing some bass', it shouldn't cost you much more than 10-15K Baht to fit a small amp and subwoofer to fill the void.

Thanks, I remember many years ago I had a Triumph Vitesse 2 Litre ( Great little car in its time ), I bought 2 Pioneer 3 way door speakers and a sound exploder, LOL, that used to piss the neighbours off,

The head unit in The City is all I need, its got a USB connection, just sound improvement at a budget ( As its the missus car mainly )

The head unit on The Tuna could do with replacing really, I need USB now in 2012 !!

I have no idea how much Car audio is in Thailand, any website links ?

Thanks guys, oh, I was thinking of going to Boy Audio in Pattaya as I have seen other people recommend them on this site, good idea ?

A basic amplifier with subwoofer is easy the most effective and economical upgrade you can add to an OEM sudio system. There's nothing else that can match it Baht-for-Baht for overall sound improvement. Anything you might upgrade after that (or instead) simply cannot give the same bang-for-buck.

When it comes to head units, I have vowed never to install one again. The next time I have a car that needs a source unit upgrade, it's going to be a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. Why add just USB, or just Video, or just internet Radio, or just Bluetooth, or just GPS when you can add everything plus internet and virtually unlimited apps for around the same sort of cost as a decent aftermarket CD player?

There would be some safety concerns here. Tablets and computers should be be operated in the rear passenger seats methinks rather than front of car unless the interface is severely crippled so as to make the options limited and allow driver concentration on the road conditions.

[MoonRiverOasis]

There would be some safety concerns here. Tablets and computers should be be operated in the rear passenger seats methinks rather than front of car unless the interface is severely crippled so as to make the options limited and allow driver concentration on the road conditions.

I'm guessing you've never (tried to) use OEM systems like BMW's I-Drive, Benz's COMAND, or Lexus' EMV then?

An Android tablet with a few appropriate widgets ought be worth an extra NCAP star compared to cars with those OEM systems

Edited February 19, 2012 by MoonRiverOasis

[mogandave]

There would be some safety concerns here. Tablets and computers should be be operated in the rear passenger seats methinks rather than front of car unless the interface is severely crippled so as to make the options limited and allow driver concentration on the road conditions.

I'm guessing you've never (tried to) use OEM systems like BMW's I-Drive, Benz's COMAND, or Lexus' EMV then?

An Android tablet with a few appropriate widgets ought be worth an extra NCAP star compared to cars with those OEM systems

True that! I hate my OEB display.

Besides, it's probably still safer mounted in the dash than trying to hold it, dick with it and drive at the same time. It is surprising that cars aren't (as far as I know) don't have a main computer with an upgradable, plug-and-play OS that takes care of everything from the ignition to the GPS.

[2unique]

http://formula-technic.com/promotion.html I will point out my wife has banned me from this shop now and I have had to promise no more double amps, sub woofers, door cladding etc etc etc ... just bought a subwoofer and ran

[2unique]

There would be some safety concerns here. Tablets and computers should be be operated in the rear passenger seats methinks rather than front of car unless the interface is severely crippled so as to make the options limited and allow driver concentration on the road conditions.

I'm guessing you've never (tried to) use OEM systems like BMW's I-Drive, Benz's COMAND, or Lexus' EMV then?

An Android tablet with a few appropriate widgets ought be worth an extra NCAP star compared to cars with those OEM systems

i hear that's where Daihatsu are going... and the new Jaguars have something similar

[bobbin]

When it comes to head units, I have vowed never to install one again. The next time I have a car that needs a source unit upgrade, it's going to be a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. Why add just USB, or just Video, or just internet Radio, or just Bluetooth, or just GPS when you can add everything plus internet and virtually unlimited apps for around the same sort of cost as a decent aftermarket CD player?

Is it that easy? What a great idea!

Could it be piggy-backed onto an existing head unit so there would be no ugly space? On second thought, that's probably what you would do for that very reason.

[MoonRiverOasis]

When it comes to head units, I have vowed never to install one again. The next time I have a car that needs a source unit upgrade, it's going to be a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab. Why add just USB, or just Video, or just internet Radio, or just Bluetooth, or just GPS when you can add everything plus internet and virtually unlimited apps for around the same sort of cost as a decent aftermarket CD player?

Is it that easy? What a great idea!

Could it be piggy-backed onto an existing head unit so there would be no ugly space? On second thought, that's probably what you would do for that very reason.

If your OEM source unit has an AUX input, and you already have an additional 2DIN space in the dash, fitting a tablet should be a pretty straight forward job for a decent fitter... If your car has only a 2DIN opening, you're going to need external amplification though, as the tablet is going to have to replace the OEM unit entirely, and it only has line-level outputs.. Either that, or you'd fit a signal processor like the JBL MS-8, which has built-in OEM-level amplification..

In my younger years I was an IASCA SQ judge, so a little custom fabrication seems pretty normal to me, heh

[SoloFlyer]

Keep us posted if you do this. I've been keen on installing an old ipad. But my guy reckons its too problematic (might just wanna sell me a new unit though) and somewhere else quoted silly money.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Keep us posted if you do this. I've been keen on installing an old ipad. But my guy reckons its too problematic (might just wanna sell me a new unit though) and somewhere else quoted silly money.

An iPad is going to be tough given it's size... And an Android is going to be better suited IMHO, with it's support for widgets.

We have 4 ipad's and 2 iphones in our house, but only 3 Android devices total, so it's definitely not an anti-Apple thing

Next opp'ty will be whenever someone makes a pickup truck I want to buy, the other cars in our house at the moment are not one's you do this kind of thing to

Edited February 21, 2012 by MoonRiverOasis

[SoloFlyer]

Thanks MRO. I'm not too keen on having yet another kind of OS to maintain though. Although I presume it would allow for FLAC support. The head-unit is the worst thing about the Pajero, and a year later I still haven't worked out what to do about it. Please let us know if you come across any good online guides for installing a tablet - (stability of power seems to be my guys' concern).

[mogandave]

An iPad is going to be tough given it's size...

Let’s built a custom steering wheel with an iPad/Android mount and get rich. With Bluetooth, all you need is power and you can get that from the horn button.