Price check for those that upgraded their Audio

[cas951]

My Bose surround sound bit the dust on me. As posted before audio would fade in and out and this took place for awhile. A couple of weeks ago It would turn on and off whenever I hit a bump on the road. Now it won't turn on at all.

My car is 2008 Boxster S CDR 24 with Bose surround sound.
Question to those that upgraded.

I went to a couple local Audio dealer and received two quotes. Both for Pioneer AvicXXX and Alpine's latest. Can't remember the models but both with 4or 5 channel amp. Estimates from each dealer was ~2500-2600 or $3200 for the Alpine 8" system installed.

Does this price sound right? I'm in the Bay Area.

Is audio quality worth the price and happy with upgrade?

[thom4782]

Yes, you're in the ballpark. I paid $3K and am reasonably happy. I would like to upgrade my dash speaker enclosures. Love to hear what other Bay area folks recommend for a top end stereo shop. I had mine done in Roseville.

[ccstud17]

if you can do it yourself! it will save you about $1k! the harness is already on the amp, wires are already run, so it is not a hard job! Ive upgraded all my speakers and a new amp for under $600 sounds great! and i was quoted 1800 from a audio shop. ( it was a small town so 1800 is about 2.8k SF prices

[cas951]

Thanks for the feedback.

[AKnowles]

Oh, definitely do it yourself. Buy new speakers too. I put a DD Kenwood in mine with a 5 channel amp in the frunk. It's not difficult, but can be a bit time consuming and daunting if you decide to pull new wires (as I did) as it requires removing the dash.

[thom4782]

Several people in this and other forums suggest that audio performance improves by leaps and bounds if one replaces (a) the stock speaker enclosures in the doors with ones that provide a much better sound platform and (b) adds high quality speaker enclosures to the dash and rear speaker locations.

I believe there is some truth to what they say. My dash speakers are really high end aftermarket ones. They sound hollow, however, to my ear. I suspect this happens because they just sit in the dash mounting and as opposed being enclosed in an efficient speaker box.

What do others think about upgrading the speaker enclosures as part of an audio upgrade?

[cas951]

Originally Posted by AKnowles

Oh, definitely do it yourself. Buy new speakers too. I put a DD Kenwood in mine with a 5 channel amp in the frunk. It's not difficult, but can be a bit time consuming and daunting if you decide to pull new wires (as I did) as it requires removing the dash.

Yes a few years ago I would tackle this myself. Now time is more important to me so knowing it is the going rate I'm satisfied.

Based on what I've read here and other forum it is worthwhile to upgrade.

My surround sound sounded great when it was functioning properly.

[Nimbus117]

I changed my CDR23, amplifier and CD changer for a Pioneer 940BT satnav unit. I had the dash speakers and door subs factory fitted. I also added rear speakers and an Alpine two channel amp. I ran the front and rear speakers off the Pioneer head unit and the subs in the doors off the Alpine and sounds now amazing. The subwoofers in the door sound twice as punchy with a decent power amp. Functionality is greatly improved, just a nicer place to be. Total cost buying all the components, installing it myself and after selling the CDR23, amp and CD changer was less than $1000.
In fact it was $600 as I originally bought a used Pioneer D3 head unit first, then a Kenwood 5280 before settling on the Pioneer and made a healthy profit selling them both on fleabay. Up to you but you can do it yourself for not a lot with excellent results. I also fitted a reverse camera.

[batshapedheart]

Cas, as I posted on your last thread, I suspected it was only a loose cable that needed soldering. True enough, that what it was. I don't know who did the work on this sound system as I've only had mine for the last 9 months and it's had 3 owners but this is what I found.



I am also preparing myself to upgrade the whole sound system, I'm even considering doing the whole Ipad thing. But i really don't think I'll spend more than $1500

[cas951]

Which component is that? My system won't turn on at all now.