When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Greetings,
I've been thinking about improving or replacing the stock stereo in my C5. Now I don't think the factory one is bad, but it could use some help. I recall back in the day, my brother added an Eq/Boost to an average stereo and it was a BIG difference. So if I were to add an EQ/Boost to the factory stereo in the C5, are the speakers sufficient?
Perhaps replacing just the speakers and adding an eq would work? I'm not crazy about having to buy a whole new stereo, then have it fitted, then mount a power amp, then speakers, then this, then that....
But I will if it needs to be done and I gotta have it.
Opinions?
IF you just replace the factory speakers with upgrade bolt in replacements... Alpine, Polks, Kicker etc... there will be a noticeable improvement...
THEN... you can get an adapter for your OEM stock head unit and make it Ipod, Bluetooth capable... and it's VERY SIMPLE... the digital signal is much much better quality sound and pretty respectable... I am a bit of an audiophille and its sufficient for the vette.
Call Dennis@Double D Mods resident vendor and GREAT guy...
Here is what my Ipod/Bluetooth Receiver looks like installed
...I've been thinking about improving...the stock stereo in my C5. Now I don't think the factory one is bad, but it could use some help...
...Perhaps replacing just the speakers...
Without a doubt, the easiest and least expensive way to upgrade the system with the more bang for your buck is new speakers that can be bolted on in place of the factory ones, keeping the rest of the system intact.
When I first got my C5, I quickly found out that the radio sucked, but playing a CD sounded awesome. Mentioned it to others and they replied in same. I've since upgraded to a Double D system and all sounds good now but on the stock unit, it was remarkably better on the CD than on the radio.
I was cruising around in my C-5, yesterday, and between the hum of the tires, and the noise of the exhaust system, even though it's the stocker, it's difficult to hear the radio at all, unless it's really cranked up.
In my car, I replaced the tweeters in the doors, with a pair of Pioneer tweeters, and I had a pair of Kenwood co-axial speakers left over from another car, that I put in the rear location. That helped, and was a very inexpensive upgrade.
However, if I was really going to get serious about audio for a C-5, the very first thing I'd do, is a full DynaMat installation. I remember that a supporting vendor used to sell pre-cut kits for our cars, although I haven't seen him mentioned in a while. In fact, deadening all of the car's extraneous cabin noise, might be all that you'd need to do.
Without a doubt, the easiest and least expensive way to upgrade the system with the more bang for your buck is new speakers that can be bolted on in place of the factory ones, keeping the rest of the system intact.
OEM C5 Speaker Sizes:
Front - Twiddler: 3.5"
Subwoofer: 8"
Rear - Coupe: 6.5"
FRC/Z06/Convertible: 5.25"
Give this a try, and then reassess to determine how far you want to go down this road :
Get 3.5" 2-way coaxial speakers to replace the doors' twiddlers and 3-way (or at least 2-way) coaxials for the rear. Don't touch the OEM subwoofers.
Just as a follow up to my previous post..... The tweeters I installed in my doors were Pioneer TS-A878s, and the mid-woofers were Kenwood KFC-1786Cs. I know the Kenwoods have been long since discontinued, but you could use them as a size reference. The issue in C-5 coupes, is the passenger side speaker pod is pretty deep, so most any speaker will fit. However, on the drivers side, the fuel filler pipe is adjacent to the speaker pod, so the pod isn't all that deep. You need a somewhat "shallow" speaker in there.
I know that I would need an AMP to drive the SUBS.
My question is: How do I use the OEM HEAD UNIT and drive that SUB AMP???
ADAPTOR???
Bill
Yep...
I did a very similar upgrade (speakers, sub, amp w/OEM HU) a couple of years ago as part of my Grand Sport project. Check out post #48 for some additional detail...
05-27-2016, 12:41 PM
C5 stock stereo and speakers....any good?
Dennis will fix you up....
:
