automaticj5

Okayyyy! Trying to decide between Hertz or JL upgrade for all the speakers - I'm already running the JL Stealth box with two 10s...

my big question is about cost - I was quoted about $3k out the door in indiana. Does that seem about right?

and feel free to post opinion on preference!

thanks!

dashotgun

which car do you have I think of myself as having critical hearing and the bose in the Z-51 is tolerable. Then again I have a convertible and with the top down the stereo is secondary. Personally would go with JL they are an older company that is not that flashy and have proven themselves. Is this about a sub in coupe? would go with shallow enclosed sub and dedicated amp have that system in my S4 and it is more then ample and a hell of a lot less money

SpeedUp

I have wondered what people do who want to replace the headunit/stereo in the c7 with the options and customizations you can make in the DIC.

Do most people just upgrade the speakers? Do you just need a simple harness adapter or is it major wiring work ?

sunsalem

There is a gentleman who posts on this website who did a MASSIVE audio upgrade on his Z06.
He started a thread where he talked about it (complete with pics) in one of the subforums of this website.
Suggest you do a Search...sorry, can't recall his name.

VictorBarron

I believe he spent almost 20K on his system if you can believe it.

sunsalem

I seem to recall that number too....and it didn't even have a disk player!

dork

Just a pure WAG, but I wouldn't doubt that. Unless there's a new aftermarket head unit available, the Z06 owner is stuck with the piece of shipt BLOSE factory unit.

The entire sound system sucks donkey ****s. I dunno what my factory BOSE H/U and 10 speaker set-up costs today, but the entire BOSE system in my '03 Z06 was installed at a whole $100 per Vette (from "All Corvettes Are Red"). That's a budget-breaking $151 adjusted for 2016... I bet GM didn't spend more than $225 per vehicle. You can't even by a decent amp for that.

While some true "luxury class" OEMS (Jaguar, Lexus, Acura) use Mark Levinson, B&W, and ELS (Panasonic 'Premium'), we got 'jacked with the BLOSE--and stabbed for their "high-end audio option" in the Z51--a subwoofer.

Ya can't shine a turd. Speakers can only do so much. If you cripple the potential audio output by installing a BOSE amp and H/U, you can't expect the sound delivery to be worthy of a Corvette price tag without having to compensate for the dirt-cheap BOSE components.

Eff A Ford

3k just for speakers and install? Or amp, and processor as well?

sunsalem

I agree with you...Bose is NOT audiophile-grade audio.
Far frickin' from it.
I wish hearing-challenged GM would dump those guys and go with someone else.

themonk

and then guess what, the price of the car goes up. If you're going to pay Corvette prices for a Corvette then you're going to get Corvette quality. We pay for the performance, everything else is secondary.......unfortunately.

I have no idea why GM integrates the HU and car settings, cost savings I imagine but the least they can do is get Bose to have some sort of upgrade available that can seamlessly replace the factory one.

sunsalem

Well, that is true.
Frankly, if the car sounded like a Ferrari and I wouldn't give a damn about the audio system (since I wouldn't use it).

They should go to another supplier for something like that.
An actual premium audio system should DEFINITELY be offered....us old guys like our Tunes.

dork

No doubt the price would go up... but why not offer a true upgrade option? The non-Z06s are MSRP'd in the ~$50-70,000's-- surely anyone who's considering spending that kind of money (even "discounted down") would be willing to pay $1-2,000 for an upgrade into Mark Levinson or B&W merchandise.

Anyone who knows stereo equipment knows the BIG heavy-hitter brand names, and they'd know also that you can't upgrade a system economically and practically for much less. It'd just be another opportunity to make money on the upgrade offering--there's no way GM couldn't negotiate huge volume discounts with a true high-end audio manufacturer.

Sorry, OP. I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I won't post again.

But I will say that I don't think spending $2-3,000 on speaker-related merchandise to enhance the sound of BOSE equipment is out of line. I think it would take a metric sht-ton of money to outfit speakers and subwoofers with comparable amps to drive them properly. Just adding a sub and amp won't do it; all that'd do is highlight the weakness of the Bose mids and tweeters.

davidtcpa

I already blew my eardrums out in my youth. At 50, these stock Bose units are fine for me. I listen to Howard stern mostly anyway.

Fcal

I prefer to spend my money on my home stereo.
At 62 and years of playing electric guitar and going to rock concerts, the stereo in my Z51 Vert sounds fine to me.
My C6 on the other hand totally sucked. I replaced that system with JL audio and a Pioneer Avic.

Hey David, I graduated Miami in 75.

automaticj5

14 stingray - already have the JL Stealth box setup.

CP

I have never understood why someone would spend big bux on an upgraded stereo. There is so much road noise to begin with there couldn't be that much of a sound improvement by the time it gets to your ears.

CaryKen

I get awfully tired of people saying THEY wouldn't bother upgrading their stereo, sound isn't important to THEM, THEY like listening to the exhaust, THEY have a convertible and just listen to the wind. Those are all fine things and perfectly reasonable. Now all you have to do is stay off the threads started by and of interest to people who DO prefer to talk about audio upgrades!

Steam having vented, I will recommend that the number one upgrade step should be to install audio insulation. I got the Exotic Vette extreme kit and had an installer put it in. Made a huge difference.

I then tried a cheap 'n easy approach to just upgrading the "easier" speakers without doing anything to the amp or head unit. I was trying to avoid anything that changed stock cosmetics at all, so no amps in the cargo area or aftermarket SW enclosures. I went with Infinity Reference Kappa speakers and left the stock main door speakers and rear subwoofer, as well as head unit and amp. It was a disaster. Don't mix 'n match in this kind of Frankenstein solution. The better resolution of the new tweeters highlighted the ineptitude of the factory amp, which has been tuned and balanced to meet the limitations of the Bose speakers. The balance in overall tonal quality is now abominable in my car.

I'm saving up to go to another installer to "fix the bad haircut" with a system-wide upgrade. I'd say it's an all-or-nothing proposition. Learn from my mistake and don't try to just pop in a few replacement speakers.

automaticj5

aounds like you have yourself your opinion - fortunately we are all able to have our own lol. I love sound. No matter what I drive or float on it sounds good. Have a powerboat with 18 speakers on it- I love sound. And the market is pretty big and revenue is high. Something must be there for it!

and wouldn't road noise be a good reason to up the stereo?

automaticj5

nailed it on the head.

and into like to keep the stock look - except when it comes to the JL Stealth box. It looks clean and they sound great.

Already did that and you'd have no clue where the amp is by just looking. The regular speakers will all be upgraded and an amp addd as well. Shouldn't see any cosmetic differences.