[PaulRoncelli]

Hey I have been browsing this forum for several hours and noticed you have had good information for just about everyone. I am an audiophile myself and cannot stand having a compromised sound system. That said I was seriously disappointed when I got the Pioneer Premium 9 Speaker System in the Cruze because it does not sound premium to me at all. The main problem I have with it other then it not being very lous is the fact that the bass is always muffled and down right too much even if I turn it down. I also feel like the two 6X9's are compromising the overall sound quality. That being said my question is whether or not it would be worth it to throw a l.o.c in the trunk and swap the 6X9's in the back with some Tang Band 1042j's http://www.parts-express.com/tang-ba...oofer--264-837. I was going to get an amplifier to power those and was hoping that this swap would improve the sound quality a worthy amount. I am not looking to gut the whole system I do not have the time and the money besides it is a lease. Do you think that this upgrade would improve the sound enough to be worthwhile? I also heard the rear door speakers are linked in with the rear deck speakers if that is the case this may compromise my whole project. I know this is a long message but if you could provide me with some information I would appreciate it

- - - I realize this message was directed to a particular member of the forum but to save myself from having to rewrite all this in another context I am posting it as is in case their is anyone else that can help me. Thank You!

 

[brian v]

I would like some answers too .. ya got any ?
1 did you turn the radio on and listen to the sound system before you signed that lease?
2 you are asking if you swapped out yer 6by 9's would you get a quality sounding audio system ? .........No......
3 any more ????

 

[PaulRoncelli]

Maybe the wording of the the thread came off as demanding and rude and but I did not become a member of this forum to demand answers. I apologize if thats the way I came across. The snarky remarks however are not necessary and frankly are not called for. Of course I listened to the system before I signed on, and of course I knew what I was getting myself into. Their is a **** of a lot that goes into the purchase of a car and although I am not ecstatic about the sound system I am still satisfied with my purchase. I do not purchase cars strictly based on the sound system. I also would like to mention that I mentioned swapping out the 6X9's because they seem to be the weak point of the system. Maybe it would not help to improve the sound in which case I will deal with what I have, but that is why I decided to post on the forum and see if anyone else has any advice.

 

[brian v]

Your biggest problem is that it is a lease !
Swapping those 6 by 9 's is iffy at best . drop the 6 by 9 's altogether , work on your front stage first , and a decent sub to get some improvement .

 

[PaulRoncelli]

Thanks for the input. Its hard to tell if the speakers are just mid-grade or if they are simply under powered. I read their is a 7 channel amp which I have never heard of before. Is their any way to tell if the current speakers are at their full potential? Maybe I just need to power what is currently in their with a better amplifer?

 

[brian v]

Bad speakers to begin with . we would want to think that given the name pioneer would mean that these are of good quality , but we would be wrong .
You need to rebuild the front stage speakers all together .

 

[Blue Angel]

Hey I have been browsing this forum for several hours and noticed you have had good information for just about everyone. I am an audiophile myself and cannot stand having a compromised sound system. That said I was seriously disappointed when I got the Pioneer Premium 9 Speaker System in the Cruze because it does not sound premium to me at all. The main problem I have with it other then it not being very lous is the fact that the bass is always muffled and down right too much even if I turn it down. I also feel like the two 6X9's are compromising the overall sound quality.

First off, welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll find it a great place to spend time and discuss all things Cruze... most of the time anyway.

To address your questions, there are a couple of great threads put together by XtremeRevolution where he dissects the factory audio system and discusses in great detail how to improve it. One of them is here:

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-audio-electronics/11204-sq-car-audio-thread-v2.html

To address your concerns directly, I'm not 100% sure how to proceed in your case given the budget constraints and the fact it's a lease.

The first thing I would try is to disconnect the rear 6x9 speakers and listen to see if that offers any improvement. If they are the source of your bass woes that would be a good test. My car only has the standard sound system (without the 6x9s) and I would never call the bass overpowering, though it's still decent if not great sounding. If doing that doesn't cut enough of the boom you could certainly try putting capacitors (high pass filter) in line with the factory speakers to further cut their bass output, and then you could add a small sub to balance things back out if you want.

The best way I would describe the Cruze's audio system is "adequate". I think you'll quickly find that if you want better sound you may be looking at upgrading the speakers as an absolute minimum.

Once again, welcome and enjoy your stay.

 

[PaulRoncelli]

Bad speakers to begin with . we would want to think that given the name pioneer would mean that these are of good quality , but we would be wrong .
You need to rebuild the front stage speakers all together .

That is a bummer do u have any recommendations. I do understand it is a lease. So if I proceed I will do so knowing that I have to put everything back in. The thing is I leased a 39 month so I have quite a while to enjoy any improvements that may be worthwhile for me to make before I will have to put the stock hardware back in.

 

[BowtieGuy]

I have the Pioneer system, and I disagree about the speakers being "bad" or low quality to begin with. This topic has been discussed at length here on the forums. That being said, the Pioneer system does require some fine tuning to get it to sound good. I think it is worth the upgrade over the stock radio, IF you take the time to tune it. Note: I listen to classic rock/rock mainly, so slight adjustments to your Bass/Mid/Treble may be necessary depending on your music preference, but the fade should be the same. You could try this as a baseline and see what works best for you.
My settings are:
Bass: +3 clicks from the bottom
Mid: dead center (no adjustment)
Treble: +2 clicks from middle position
Fade: -6 clicks from middle position (towards rear)

 

[PaulRoncelli]

First off, welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll find it a great place to spend time and discuss all things Cruze... most of the time anyway.

To address your questions, there are a couple of great threads put together by XtremeRevolution where he dissects the factory audio system and discusses in great detail how to improve it. One of them is here:

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-audio-electronics/11204-sq-car-audio-thread-v2.html

To address your concerns directly, I'm not 100% sure how to proceed in your case given the budget constraints and the fact it's a lease.

The first thing I would try is to disconnect the rear 6x9 speakers and listen to see if that offers any improvement. If they are the source of your bass woes that would be a good test. My car only has the standard sound system (without the 6x9s) and I would never call the bass overpowering, though it's still decent if not great sounding. If doing that doesn't cut enough of the boom you could certainly try putting capacitors (high pass filter) in line with the factory speakers to further cut their bass output, and then you could add a small sub to balance things back out if you want.

The best way I would describe the Cruze's audio system is "adequate". I think you'll quickly find that if you want better sound you may be looking at upgrading the speakers as an absolute minimum.

Once again, welcome and enjoy your stay.

Thanks for the helpful info. I would have to agree with you that it is adequate but at times having just an adequate sound system sucks lol. in reference to the bass. i will take ur advice into consideration and try a few things. the bass is not necessarily over powering, the best way i can put it is that its trying to sing and it cant hit the notes so i ultimately just turn it rly far down because depending on the song it can be "adewuate" or pretty darn shitty lol

 

[brian v]

Swapp out those front door speakers with a better quality 6 1/2 speaker ..drop the 6 by 9's . wire in a decent sub off of the 6, by 9 wiring

 

[PaulRoncelli]

I have the Pioneer system, and I disagree about the speakers being "bad" or low quality to begin with. This topic has been discussed at length here on the forums. That being said, the Pioneer system does require some fine tuning to get it to sound good. I think it is worth the upgrade over the stock radio, IF you take the time to tune it. Note: I listen to classic rock/rock mainly, so slight adjustments to your Bass/Mid/Treble may be necessary depending on your music preference, but the fade should be the same. You could try this as a baseline and see what works best for you.
My settings are:
Bass: +3 clicks from the bottom
Mid: dead center (no adjustment)
Treble: +2 clicks from middle position
Fade: -6 clicks from middle position (towards rear)

that is interesting i never thought to mess with the fade cause i always feel as though quality sound should come from the front but i def look forward to trying that

 

[PaulRoncelli]

Swapp out those front door speakers with a better quality 6 1/2 speaker ..drop the 6 by 9's . wire in a decent sub off of the 6, by 9 wiring

Ill look into some 6.5 speakers and see what i can find. i thought about that with the sub but their is no specific info on what is in their right now to compare anything to idk the specific specs of any of the speakers or the 6X9s in the back so i thought about that but i dont even know if the current wiring back their could support any sub woofer i just feel like the two 6X9's are getting maybe like 25rms a piece. maybe they have a halfway decent 50 rms subwoofer out their ? ill look into it thats just so low power i doubt it.

 

[PaulRoncelli]

Another thing i was curious about is if simply unplugging the rear speakers would compensate some extra power to the doors? I know that was mentioned but idk if it would just cut out the deck speakers and give some extra juice to the doors or if it would just plain cut out the deck speakers