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

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.

 

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?

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

 

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.

Robin

 

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.

 

www.bought4less.com
is the place to buy a new stereo

 

Sorry, you're wrong. One word: Crutchfield. Do a search and compare.

 

**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.

 

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

 

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.