Disappointed with XG's bass/treble controls (and Stereo)

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Robin

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These are the cheapest, plastic-y, most archaic knobs/controls I could ever imagine, not even as nice as what came with my standard AM/FM radio on my 1987 Corolla. No ability to let you know what is mid range in any of your settings except your ear, and I feel I have to be careful so the knobs don't break off in my hand. I guess this is what I gave up to get the two of four air bags, or perhaps it was the roadside service.

And I cannot re-produce that beautiful, full rich stereo sound that I heard on the XG350L I test drove last Saturday. It sounds like what would have been the base stereo unit in the 4cyl Sonata. I was sure to check and it does say Infinity on both the stereo unit and the speakers. Any ideas what the problem could be? BTW, I am aware that the knobs pull out at two points so you can adjust speakers from side to side and front to back, and then again, base and treble, then depressing knob so it's almost flat against unit.
 
Ah, this is starting to sound like the guy who moved to snowy country and sent his first letter home talking about how lovely and cozy it was. You know the drill...by the 40th day of snow, the guy was cussing every flake that fell ;>)

Yeah, the stereo betrays the Infinity name. The treble and bass controls are fair at best. You have to rely on the EQ settings to deliver something close to what you hoped to hear. I found that the sound varies with input. FM stereo sound was ho-hum. Sound with a good CD was noticeably better. But the unit doesn't begin to resemble the JBL unit in our old Avalon, or the Monsoon unit in my Passat. Again, I recognized this going in, and it was part of the give and take to save money. Plus, as I mentioned previously, programming here in eastern NC leaves a lot to be desired for me, so if I can sneak it past the wife (she can be pretty oblivious) I may try and install an after-market unit with satellite radio, if I can find one that mimics the night-time color of the surrounding devices.
 
Yeah, the stereo betrays the Infinity name.
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Can the quality of sound vary from unit to unit? As I said, the stereo in the car I test drove was awesome.

Here goes my vivid imagination, but I did get a very good deal on this car - is it possible that the stereo in this car was known to be inferior, or parts were switched?

But the unit doesn't begin to resemble the JBL unit in our old Avalon, or the Monsoon unit in my Passat. Again, I recognized this going in, and it was part of the give and take to save money. Plus, as I mentioned previously, programming here in eastern NC leaves a lot to be desired for me, so if I can sneak it past the wife (she can be pretty oblivious) I may try and install an after-market unit with satellite radio, if I can find one that mimics the night-time color of the surrounding devices.
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What do you suppose JBL unit would cost to replace my current stereo? Any other brand recommendations and approx prices? I'm clueless about these things.

Robin
 
Robin - have you tried the various EQ settings (Acoustic, Jazz, Rock)? The unit sounds meager without them, but noticeably improved with them (especially Rock - even with classical music). Then again this is with my '02 and the units may now be differerent. My only quibbles are the lack of a valume control on the steering wheel that I had in my old Legend, and no time or time remaining indicator for tracks on the CD player.
-B
 
Briggs said:
Robin - have you tried the various EQ settings (Acoustic, Jazz, Rock)? Yep.

The
unit sounds meager without them, but noticeably improved with them
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Only slightly (in my car).

(especially Rock - even with classical music).
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Yes, I noticed that also, Rock seems to work best for classical and other types of music as well. I'm trying to determine if its only because its louder.

Robin
 
Robin said:
Jazz, Rock)?
Yep.

The them
Only slightly (in my car).

Yes, I noticed that also, Rock seems to work best for classical and other types of music as well. I'm trying to determine if its only because its louder.
Click to expand...

Could a speaker be out of phase?! With just the front or rears on, balance full left to right, if the base is weak in the middle and the sound is 'spacy' thats it! I have heard many test set-ups in stores sound like that....
 
I'm not sure JBL makes an after-market unit. The one in the Avalon was very upscale, and was a custom design to fit their dash-console unit. But there are lots of very good after-market stereos. Personally, I've only been researching the ones that get either XM radio or Sirius radio in addition to normal airwave radio. Those units come with CD but generally not with tape. (Getting tape with non-satellite radios should not be hard.) The units I've looked at ranged from $150 to $400, but I imagine most electronics go for less on the left coast. The real trick is to find a unit that looks like it belongs in your car. Professional installers can get facia units to take up the extra space and blend it into your dash, but will the color of the lighting match? The only way to tell is to find the unit you're interested on display in a store. As Brigg said, the EQ presets on the stock unit help a lot, but everyone's musical ear differs.

I doubt very sincerely that they'd have switched units on you.
 
Actually, the stereo in your car isn't Infinity at all, but JBL. If you take off your door panels and look at the actual speaker, you will see that they are indeed made by JBL. If your car has an amp like mine (03 Tiburon), it is a JBL amp as well. Either way, if you want better sound, buy first a new head unit, then look at replacing speakers and adding an amp and small subwoofer. You can upgrade it all for a nicer sound for under $500. If you like to listen to music in a good environment, it is a good investment.
 
Actually, the stereo in your car isn't Infinity at all, but JBL. If you take off your door panels and look at the actual speaker, you will see that they are indeed made by JBL. If your car has an amp like mine (03 Tiburon), it is a JBL amp as well. Either way, if you want better sound, buy first a new head unit, then look at replacing speakers and adding an amp and small subwoofer. You can upgrade it all for a nicer sound for under $500. If you like to listen to music in a good environment, it is a good investment.
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**You're right about going with the head unit first. Years ago, when I owned a Scoupe, the weak OEM stereo started malfunctioning. I went and bought a new Clarion and asked Hyundai to yank out the old one and keep it and then install the Clarion for free, which they did. :) The new stereo was a fantastic improvement, it was like I had bought a whole new set-up. Never had to bother with updating anything else.

kaboomie
 
I have a 2002 Sonata GLS V6 and I wanted more "punch" in the stereo without going nuts and doing the subwoofer/amp madness. I listen to Jazz (both acoustic and electric fusion) and I love to feel a properly recorded acoustic bass. I went to the local Car Toys in the Seattle, WA-area a spoke to both a sales person and an installer. I ended up just replacing my rear 6x9 speakers (they were cheap Panasonics with a "whizzer cone" for highs) with two Alpine 3-way 6x9 speakers. The change exceeded my expectations - the bass and clarity was astounding! I'm going to do the same with our new 2004 XG350L when I get it next month.
 
There is a detent (a feeling of a click) when turning which is midway. Your average XG owner uses the EQ setting of Classic and adjusts the sound to his/her taste. They may be "pulled out" which means they are not adjust trebal or base but left to right/front to rear. It acually is a very good sounding system, and on the 04 it's an infinity. Good Luck.

XGCA
 
Hey Carl--

Please provide the exact model number of the new Alpines---

I, too, feel that the audio setup in my 2004 Sonata GLS has plenty of power, but the sound quality is best described as "flat", "muddy", "dead toned", or lacking separation; especially in bass and midrange.

Thanks in advance--
 
I'm very happy with the unit in my '02. And I listen to A LOT of music and A LOT of variety. As a point of reference, I have a Bose Acoustimas setup at home (okay I'm a barbarian - so they're not Martin-Logans...).
-B
 
Crotchfeel has prices set too high.

www.bought4less.com has been around since 1972, longer than crotchfeel. www.bought4less.com has a great selection, low prices, real live customer service with out a phone menu. www.bought4less.com has immeadiate shipping, not a 2-3 day wait.

TDRacin® said:
Sorry, you're wrong. One word: Crutchfield. Do a search and compare.
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I don't trust them, no matter how long they've been around. Their web site looks like shit, is covered in banner ads, has a missing picture on the bottom of the first page, and has multiple syntax errors on the main page.

Crutchfield, on the other hand, has a very clean web site where you can tell them what car you own and they will only show you parts compatable with your car.

Your site has "real live customer service." That just means that they only have one or two CS people and can't afford the necessary equipment to run a proper phone system.

Oh, and I've never had my orders from crutchfield take more than one day to ship.
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crotchfeel.
Bough4Less is the internet area of Air&Sound. Began in the fall of 2000 to meet the needs of more customers.

However it must be this reciept from Crutchfield I have that shows a 1971 date must be wrong then huh...

From Crutchfields site-
Free Technical support for a LIFETIME.
Before and after the sale, our people are ready to help. Crutchfield's Product and Technical Advisors receive at least 2 months of training before helping their first customer.

From Crutchfields site-
We stock what we sell - on average, over 94% of our inventory is waiting for you at our warehouse. Most in-stock items ordered by 5 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday will be delivered in 2-3 business days with free shipping on orders of $199 or more.

Yep on a Shitty web site that looks like it was set up by a 5 year old. Hosted on tripod , guess it's hard to afford a REAL web site on a real server. Maybe if they didn't look like a scam operation they would get some real money.
 
Crutchfield does NOT have prices set to high. Compare prices. Here, I'll give you a little challenge, find this HU cheaper somewhere else: Sony CDX-MP70. Now, don't forget that with every HU you purchase, you get everything you will NEED to put it in, and that means everything to make it look factory, and anyone can follow the directions. I put mine in in 15 minutes. Prep time was 10 minutes. Cost-FREE!

Now, to state some facts here. HTH can a .com be in business longer than a brick-and-mortar store that's been in business over 30 years? And where do you get this info they have been in business since 1972? Certainly not from that 8th grade website they have, with such a great selection of out of date products, all 16 HU's they have listed. I mean, Crutchfield carries over 20 Kenwood's alone.

Tech support? What's B4L's tech support #? I didn't see it on their site. Have a link? And shipping, read their page again. Crutchfield has same day shipping with 2-3 day delivery and free shipping on orders over $200, not based on how much it weighs. Oh yeah, want to send it back? Just stick the enclosed return UPS shipping sticker on it and send it back, no fees out of your pocket.

LOL dude, that website is the biggest pos I have ever seen. Their mailto address is someone's personal swbell email account. lol Dude, put the crackpipe down and get serious. sheesh

About pages from both:

http://airandsound.safeshopper.com/about.htm?692#returnp

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fzSXl0tDnJ3/guarantees/index.html?sl=hdr

LOL I hope you don't think people are that dumb.

Tim

I'm Right said:
Crotchfeel has prices set too high.

www.bought4less.com has been around since 1972, longer than crotchfeel. www.bought4less.com has a great selection, low prices, real live customer service with out a phone menu. www.bought4less.com has immeadiate shipping, not a 2-3 day wait.
Click to expand...
 
Crutchfield does NOT have prices set to high. Compare prices. Here, I'll give you a little challenge, find this HU cheaper somewhere else: Sony CDX-MP70. Now, don't forget that with every HU you purchase, you get everything you will NEED to put it in, and that means everything to make it look factory, and anyone can follow the directions. I put mine in in 15 minutes. Prep time was 10 minutes. Cost-FREE!

Now, to state some facts here. HTH can a .com be in business longer than a brick-and-mortar store that's been in business over 30 years? And where do you get this info they have been in business since 1972? Certainly not from that 8th grade website they have, with such a great selection of out of date products, all 16 HU's they have listed. I mean, Crutchfield carries over 20 Kenwood's alone.

Tech support? What's B4L's tech support #? I didn't see it on their site. Have a link? And shipping, read their page again. Crutchfield has same day shipping with 2-3 day delivery and free shipping on orders over $200, not based on how much it weighs. Oh yeah, want to send it back? Just stick the enclosed return UPS shipping sticker on it and send it back, no fees out of your pocket.

LOL dude, that website is the biggest pos I have ever seen. Their mailto address is someone's personal swbell email account. lol Dude, put the crackpipe down and get serious. sheesh

About pages from both:

http://airandsound.safeshopper.com/about.htm?692#returnp

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fzSXl0tDnJ3/guarantees/index.html?sl=hdr

LOL I hope you don't think people are that dumb.

Tim

PS Sorry for the double post if it did, OE freaks out on me every once in awhile. ;)

I'm Right said:
Crotchfeel has prices set too high.

www.bought4less.com has been around since 1972, longer than crotchfeel. www.bought4less.com has a great selection, low prices, real live customer service with out a phone menu. www.bought4less.com has immeadiate shipping, not a 2-3 day wait.
Click to expand...
 

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