thill444

Have had my 2016 Z51 for a little less than 2 months now. I have the 9 speaker Bose package (no subwoofer). At first I thought the audio was okay but the more I drive the car the more I find the Bose lacking compared to previous cars I have owned. They seem to be lacking dynamics and the Bose woofers in the doors have some rattles and distort pretty easy.

Bluetooth streaming is noticeably bad (much quieter than using a lightning cable and Carplay and no dynamics). Even regular FM and iTunes via Carplay is average at best.

I already owned some JL Audio C5-650 component speakers (which I had in a 2015 WRX and sounded quite good).

I started digging around on various Corvette forums and did not find many C7 audio builds. At least modest builds (I am not looking to spend $4K+).

I did stumble upon the vendor DD Mods and gave them a call. Dennis was great on the phone and he put together a really nice package for around $1200 shipped for me:
- JL Audio Stealthbox (single)
- JL Audio C2 5.25" rears
- Audio Control LC7I
- Kenwood XR 900/5 5 channel amp
- JL Audio 4 gauge ASC60 amp kit
- 18FT JL Audio rca cables
- Pair of speaker adapter plates for front doors
- 5 0ft speaker wire

Combined with the JL Audio C5-650 component speakers this should be a solid upgrade over what I have now. I have spoken to several installers and found one I really like. He has done a few Corvettes and we went over the DD Mods package before I bought it and the installer agreed that this would be a nice jump over stock but would not break the budget. I did talk to a highly rated local installer who does mostly high end cars and he was awesome to talk audio with. He really seemed passionate and had some great ideas for my car, but in the end it was gonna cost me $4-5K and I just did not feel comfortable spending that much on my car. I don't need the best system, but something noticeably better than the stock system.

Aside from the above they will be adding some sound deadening to the doors and the hatch area.

I will keep the thread updated with pictures and progress and my thoughts after install. If anyone has any tips please share. I was on the fence about going with a processor vs the Audio Control LC7i. For my purposes I think the Audio Control will give me what I need but I may consider a processor down the road if needed. Thoughts?

Jimnc

I did a similar upgrade but went with C5525 speakers and an Audison Bit Ten processor. Major upgrade over the stock sound.

thill444

That is encouraging . Did you so a JL Audio staelthbox?

ya3coub

Can you please share some photos with us specially to the stealth box and it's wiring

thill444

Will do. Installation is in a few weeks but will share details.

thill444

Well this took much longer than I originally planned (JL shipping delay, vendor shipping everything to the wrong house and everything got returned and then reshipped to the right address, etc)...

Everything was installed on Friday and Saturday. Again a breakdown on what I added:
- JL Audio C5-650 component speakers (6.5" woofers and 1" tweeter)
- JL Audio C2 5.25" rears
- JL Audio 10" Stealthbox
- Audio Control LC7i
- Kenwood Excelon XR 900/5 to drive everything
- Sound deadening in doors and rear area

First off I was very impressed with the install company I used. We spent about 30 minutes just going over the install, where I wanted things placed, goals, and then they documented every little nick and scratch on the car along with mileage. They put protective covering over areas of the exterior and I could tell they were very serious about the treatment of the cars they work on.

Due to Mothers Day, etc I have only driven the car about an hour or so since installation but the sound is noticeably improved:
- Much more clarity on highs
- Lows are deeper and tighter
- Much louder at lower volumes
- Even with windows down everything is much clearer now
- With the sound deadening road noise seems reduced and I had one rattle in the door (I suspect by the 10" Bose woofer in the door) and that is gone now.
- It is surprising how light and cheap the Bose speakers are compared to the JL speakers. They are very low budget.

I need more time to listen to music that I am very familiar with, and I took some pictures and video I will be sharing in this thread. Everything looks OEM, they did a great job hiding everything. They want me to drive the car for a couple weeks and then come back for fine tuning.

More thoughts to come. So far no regrets. Overall, I will say for most people the Bose system in the C7 will be adequate. For me, I wanted the next level (especially with top off and/or windows down), and I feel like I have achieved that on a budget.

thill444

Oh and the other thing I like is I told them I want the Stealthbox easily removed for track days

Woodson

Subscribing.

ya3coub

Everything is a perfect scenario to what I want and need

I just need to see photos of everything

I've had my vette for less than 2 mobths already changed many things and upgraded the power, curently the exterior, now its time for tge interior and as you mentioned the sound is just very low and not clear enough

I hope the ship internationally after seeing your shipment delayes i will make sure that once i orrder i dobt have my hopes high on getting them on time

Please thill444 keep us updated im sure the more details and photos you share, the more will get encouraged to do this needed upgrade maybe even come up with ideas and other options

thill444

Here are some pictures for you of the install (at least what you can see).

This is the **** to control bass output on the JL sub. You can still adjust bass via the audio settings on the head unit, but this gives you more control.



This is the JL Stealth box installed with the C7 roof off the car and installed in the back. As you can see no issues with the JL Stealthbox installed:


Here is what the sub looks like:



This is where the LC7i line controller is installed along with the amplifier. As you can see this is in the rear of the car (hatch area by the back bumper. There is a panel on the very back of the car that you can remove to access the hatch mechanism and rear lights. Everything is tucked in nice and and neat and was a very clean install). That's all there is to see. Everything else looks completely stock and you would never know there is a aftermarket system installed.

thill444

I have been living with this for awhile now and everything was a little bright. Went into the audio settings and turned down the treble/tone control and bumped up the bass a little. I think there are some final adjustments, but when you play a good audio source with the windows up and top on it sounds incredible. With the top off and windows down it sounds much better than stock in terms of overall output. About halfway on the volume level and it is very loud.

I want to be done, but I am thinking about an audio processor down the road if it makes sense, but I want to drive the car through a whole fall/winter. I will take it to the shop for a final tweak.

Ghostnotes

This is next on my list..

Thanks for sharing!

thill444

Just a follow-up. I took my car back to the audio shop where I had my gear installed and was discussing with the head tech there about potentially going with an EQ system and he asked me, since I use my iPhone for all my music playing, if I had downloaded an EQ app? I don't know how I missed this, but there are tons of free and cheap EQ apps out there that you can customize to enhance your iTunes library. I played with a few but have been using the "Boom" app now for a few days and it actually improved the audio quality quite a bit. Just thought I would share

peteinpa

Interesting do you know if these EQ apps have the same ability for pandora and SiriusXM?

Woodson

Sirius XM files are so compressed that no amount of EQ tweaking can save them.

thill444

The two apps I have on my phone cannot. Boom can do my iTunes library on my phone and it can also connect to Google Drive and Dropbox.

snuddenstang

I was thinking about going with a similar package. What processor are you thinking bout going with as I may just get that instead of the LC7i?

TorchRedFred

Check out the Audison bit ten. It's about $300 on Amazon. It has speaker wire inputs and RCA outputs. It might work good for your application. Also, check out youtube.com for some videos and reviews on it. I never used it, but it is one I am considering in the near future.

Ghostnotes

About 90% done with mine. I cut down the heat shield bolts and mounted the LC8 in the bed of it. Fits perfectly. That is going to 2 Memphis VIV 4 channels. All speakers are being replaced with Helix drivers including the subs and tweeters. Im also adding a 10" sub.

racebum

this is my 1st choice for factory intergration

it sounds really good and it's simple to setup