With the arrival of my 05 S2000 immanent, I was wondering what YOU suggest for a stereo upgrade.

It is my intent to keep the stock HU. I've been through the threads. Several say go with the Lucid Kenwood rears and that's plenty. Others say to change the doors, do the rears, and then there's those who add an amp and sub in the trunk. Many seem to insist on changing the headunit while others disagree with them.

I'm not looking to win awards nor be heard a mile away. My goal is to have more power / sound, keep it clean, and add some more bass. Not to mention keep the project KISS (keep it simple stupid).

Your input is most appreciated! Thanks!

 

No one here will argue a headunit. People who do, dont know what they are talking about.

Get a new headunit, and if it is still not enough, then go from there.

 

You will not hear the stock radio at 70mp with the top down, even with the lucid rears or spods.

The stock HU doesn't have enough power - I prefer Alpine.
Then you will want an interface to the dash controls - I prefer Qube.
Then you will want to replace the front speakers - Focal Utopia 165ws, Boston Acoustic ProComps, MB Quarts.
Then you will want an amp.

Then decide if you need rear speakers and a sub etc.

 

i beg to differ - i still have my stock HU and it sounds great however i did add a few things to help..

upgraded my speakers - Diamond Hexs and diamond m3s in the rear spods

12 inch jl in a custom box

a few amps in the spare tire area

but the system sounds as good as any out there

 

you've got to upgrade the HU if you want to be able to have any level of control over your music (equalizers, LPF/HPF, etc) - the stock treble/bass controls just don't cut it.

stock HU is too underpowered - unless you run all of your power from an external amp(s) -- depends on what you want.

do you want overall more volume, or volume + clarity???

 

For my MY02, I only upgraded the HU and it made a huge difference. I later added a 12" sub since I had purchased it at the same time. Regardless, I wouldn't spend too much--no matter how much you spend you still have to contend with the speed dependent noise that interferes with different frequency bands depending on your speed. I bought a simple Alpine HU (9820XM) and have enjoyed it a lot. I also bought some component front speakers but have been too lazy to install them. The HU is ~$350. The Modifry DCI was $100. More than I wanted to spend, but I enjoy it. In the end that's what matters when it comes to an S.

Cheers

 

It all depends on your budget and what your level of satisfaction will be.

Even if the stock head unit had more power or was connected to an amp using high to low level converters, the stock speakers won't be able to handle it. If you want to do it right, at minimum you should change the head unit and speakers AND add an amplifier. But if you go cheap on any of these 3 components, it won't be worth it. The system will only sound as good as the weakest component. If you want more, add a sub.

 

I agree with Cayenne; the cheapest route is probably to just add a Bazooka tube in the trunk and call it a day.

Personally I would start with the head unit. My favoriate is the Nakamichi CD400 as it can be had via Ebay for under 300 bucks, looks close to stock, has POT for volume and excellent sound.

Headunit, speakers, sub/amp is the order *I* would change things.

I would probably never add the rear speakers as some do. Think about it, do you listen to your stereo at home in 1970's "quadraphonic" mode? I like a solid front soundstage; that is all.

 

This is were you "should" start, then move though your system from there if its not quite enough for you listening pleasure.

 

With the top down going 70, the stock HU is useless because the signal is too distorted for any speaker to handle at volume. It's only a 12 Watt max unit to begin with so at 3/4 volume, 7-8ish watts, its not putting enough volume out.

The run of the mill Alpines put out 25 wattsRMS, so your clean power goes up to 17-19 watts or almost 2-2.5X more that stock. Now you will drive your stock speakers to their limit cleanly and will discover that they are worthless at volume.
So then the magical circle of upgrades begin.

The modifry DCI is much easier to install than the DJcube (gotta drop the steering wheel and get behind the dash) AND offers the speed dependent volume adjustment. THIS is a GREAT feature.

The order I went about my upgrade was

1. S-pods (Dual triaxial /I am going to go Focal component here soon) fills in the music depth adjustably
2. Alpine 9815 HU... mp3 player 100+ songs @192 bit sampling/cd, separate sub output) with modifry dci
3. JL component in door, Focal tn51 tweeters mounted facing you by doorlocks
4. bose sparetire sub (future just going to use the enclosure with JL 6W0 and and separate amp) to not lose any trunk space.

Have fun getting your car "right"