2007 OEM sound system upgrade
 

Guy's, although new to the S2K seen I though I would upgrade my head unit to Bluetooth and place some better speakers in the doors? Any suggestions on a mild improvement for my new GPW? Thanks!

I've ran the Alpine UTE series in my past 2 S2000's with Modifry controls and have been happy with them.

I've never been happy with any vehicle where I just replaced the headunit and speakers. You typically need an amplifier to really take advantage of the aftermarket speakers.

Couple of things. When you find a Head Unit you like, that fits, use Modifry contols and plug and play, as mentioned above, to make things easy. Modifry works great.

Try some sound mitigation in the doors. You can use some Bquiet inside the doors and add some other NVH (noise vibration harshness) material as you like.

My Sony with about 50 watts (no added amp even but has the ability) and the addition of the NVH in the doors made such a difference I decided against replacing the speakers. I could not believe how much better the sound was.

I hardly ever open the radio door as I stream from my phone to the HU via bluetooth. The dash controls work great too.


https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-ta...sults-1085903/

Mine ('03) has an underseat sub and I really like the added range. It was there when I bought it.
darcy

My Sony HU put out added power over the factory unit without any added amp and it seemed decent for my tastes. I also added two speakers behind the seats, which this car needs IMO, two speakers at the front are not enough. Lastly, the best part of the Modifry DCI is the speed variable volume option, this car definitely needs speed variable volume to help overcome road noise as speed increases. The Bluetooth with phone and USB options were more than ample for my needs with the Sony HU.

If you use a dynomat type damping material, there is no need for 100% coverage like you always see on tv car shows and such. 25% coverage is all that is needed for this layer, and will save significant weight and cost.

But all this material does is eliminate the oil drum type effect on flat-ish panels. You need another layer for comprehensive noise damping. Audiophiles trying to win sound system competitions will do a closed cell foam decoupling layer along with a heavy damping material.

But this is overkill for a car like this. A member here used some very costly, high performing lightweight 3M material for this layer with good effect. He got his stuff free. If you can afford it, this is a good solution. He has a very comprehensive thread covering it.

Another solution is foil backed bubblewrap stuff. A company called ezcool makes an automotive kit. It doesn't seem lile it should work, but most who have tried it report good results. Its cheap, its light. It certainly isn't as effective as the audiophile technique, but probably more appropriate for a car like this. Most here wouldn't want to fully damp noises, just take the edge off.

I bought this set with the Metra ASWC-1 and I am cruising top down with volume at 17-22 and sounds great, not complaints at all. However, if you have the money I would go with the Modifry contols, in my case, I was tight with money that's why I went with a cheaper option, still works for me though.

Hope it helps in any way.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...77c231aaeb.jpg

A good powered subwoofer and sound deadening material made the biggest difference in my experience. On all cars I've owned.

darcyw, what underseat sub do you have and is it under the passenger side? thanks

Why? :)

Can't hear the radio over the wind/exhaust/engine noise anyway so the OEM radio is fine. Put the fancy radio in your other car where you can appreciate it. I frankly forget there's even a radio in this car as just driving it is so much fun.

-- Chuck