Horrible Sound after Avic D3 install

[wasah]

Hey all,

I got a Pioneer Avic D3 installed on my 2004 Infiniti G35 which already had a bose system through an installer. All six speakers and the stock sub are attached to the stock amp. My sound is HORRRIBLLEEEE...its not loud at all, i've been calling my installer for the past week but he just wont give me a time: i think he's trying to avoid me but has mentioned that the sound quality should be awesome.

 

Before he gives me a time, I am wondering if there are any settings that I need to change from the screen itself.

In the initial setup, I have the Rear SP on Full and Sub W on Full as well.

Loudness is turned on.

Staggering on Dynamic theatre gives a louder but a nasty sound.

 

I have not been able to enjoy the screen mainly because of my sound and on many posts ppl have mentioned that the screen is giving them beautiful sound on Bose systems.

 

Thx everyone

[HiFiSi]

Sounds to me like it was installed incorrectly to work with the bose amp.

[wasah]

Thanks for the quick reply...so when i go to the installer, what should i ask him in specific in terms of installation

[04ctd]

from the old BOSE systems in camaros,

 

the OEM deck can put out speaker level signals,

or the OEM deck can put out Line Level (RCA jack) signals.

 

and the speaker level deck is for cars with out Bose,

the OEM deck does the amplifying.

 

for cars with Bose, the Deck puts out an RCA level signal to each speaker, and an independent amplifier on each speaker does the amplification.

 

if this is still true in your car, you can only surmise that he hooked up to your speaker level outputs (he went from your wiring harness wire-to-wire to the adapter harness)

 

when he should have went from your RCA's to the speaker wires on the adapter harness.

 

in other words, the RCA jacks should be supplying line level inputs to the Bose amps on each speaker.

 

 

that may be old data, or may be good. someone else will chime in.

 

one the guys on here is a current Circuit City tech, and he's usually dead on with his advice, and he will know about your car.

[HiFiSi]

Sounds about right to me. He basically used speaker level outputs instead of the RCA (preamp) outputs he should have used. (or possibly the other way around)

[04ctd]

FWIW, i would print this page out, and take it into your shop.

 

maybe let a manager look it over first. he got to be a manager by knowing little nuggets of info like this.

 

be polite. it goes along ways. and builds a good relationship if you need other stuff installed.

 

but it's much easier for them to read it than for you to explain it.

[HarmsWay]

If Wasah says "its not loud at all" then that would suggest that the line outputs were used instead of the speaker outputs. Most Bose amps take a high level balanced input instead of line levels. The Bose amps also do a lot of sound processing so it's best to start with the D3 EQ settings as flat as possible and loudness off. If it's like my Bose system, the amp takes full range front and rear signals and generates a sub channel and whatever else it needs.

[lightsout]

I had my AVIC D3 connected to a factory Pioneer system that has a 228 watt AMP and 6 speakers plus a 10" sub. One installer told me that you can not connect any other deck to the factory Pioneer system, then another did, connecting the D3 straight to the AMP. The sound actually improved as I have more power, and better EQ ability now.

 

Take it back to your installer and have him check it out again.

[wasah]

I spoke to him today and he gave me a time for Tuesday. I will print out this page and give him these suggestions in the nicest way possible and will get back to you guys hopefully with good news.

 

Thanks a lot all

[das]

Did you by any chance have the stock speakers replaced as well when you had the D3 installed.. Because if you did there is a very good chance that 4ohm speakers were used and the your bose system uses 2ohm. This would cause the volume to be half as loud than it originally was.

 

As far as the Bose system being connected to the D3 speaker output(high level), that would work fine. That wouldn't be the problem, if its connected that way you would get full volume from your stereo system having the D3 only at half volume. The speaker level output signal is alot bigger than the RCA low level signal. So that would automatically dismiss that being problem if the Bose system was connected to the D3's speaker output.

 

Also make sure your installer didn't use some sort of amp integrator module in between your D3 and Bose system, if he did the gains may have been set incorrectly.

[cntrylvr79]

Odds are the installer used something like a 70-7551 to integrate the factory blose system. If that's the case then you'll need a set of line drivers since the d3's preout voltage is only 2 volts. Whereas the stock deck's output is closer to 4. The other option would be to hook a pair of lineout converters to the speaker outputs of the d3. Then connect the 70-7551's rcas to the locs. then adjust the loc's for proper volume. Integrating the factory blose systems in nissans can sometimes be hit or miss just using the preouts of an aftermarket radio.

[HiFiSi]

Odds are the installer used something like a 70-7551 to integrate the factory blose system. If that's the case then you'll need a set of line drivers since the d3's preout voltage is only 2 volts. Whereas the stock deck's output is closer to 4. The other option would be to hook a pair of lineout converters to the speaker outputs of the d3. Then connect the 70-7551's rcas to the locs. then adjust the loc's for proper volume. Integrating the factory blose systems in nissans can sometimes be hit or miss just using the preouts of an aftermarket radio.

Actually, most normal aftermarket stereos' preouts are closer to 4 or 5 volts... the D3's pre-outs are weak as hell. When I took out my old Pioneer head unit which had 6 volt preouts and installed the D3, I had to turn the gain on my amps up a LOT higher to keep the same volume level I had with the old head unit.

[cntrylvr79]

Actually, most normal aftermarket stereos' preouts are closer to 4 or 5 volts... the D3's pre-outs are weak as hell. When I took out my old Pioneer head unit which had 6 volt preouts and installed the D3, I had to turn the gain on my amps up a LOT higher to keep the same volume level I had with the old head unit.

 

I speak of the base model radios that I was accustom to dealing with having worked for bb and cc. Where the majority of the decks had 2 volt or lower preouts.

[HiFiSi]

lol... Oh, you meant those $100 POS's.

[HarmsWay]

From what I've seen, 2 volts is more common. The line outputs are also singled-ended whereas the Bose wants a 4 volt balanced line (mine anyway). I tried driving my Bose with line outputs before someone here (superjet) recommended speaker outputs and there was no question which was the better. The maximum volume was very low and the noise floor with the line outputs was bad. I think the noise floor issue was because the Bose input harness uses unshielded twisted pair wiring which is good but only if the signal is a balanced (differential) pair otherwise is should be shielded.

 

The only issue with using the speaker outputs is that you can't crank the D3 volume up to 40. Maximum volume for mine is achieved at around 22 instead. Using a line output converter to attenuate the signal would fix that but it's not worth it - adds cost, complexity, another source for noise plus it's another box to find space for.