Is the horrid lack of any midrange (and low range of course) due to the speakers??? or the Head Unit??

My Head unit is the Nav Unit (I don't have the door subs, or trunk subs, I have the basic 4 speaker system)

I have bass all the way up, and i still get literally no midrange sound at all. I don't expect the mirrors to shake or anything, but seriously, I get a headache listening to it,, sounds like I'm listening to my stereo thru my laptop built in speakers.

So.. Question: will replacing the factory speakers be enough to get a decent midrange sound? Or will I need to buy an external amp and some aftermarket speakers?

Last question.. Hypothetically, If I did something as cheesy as adding a 8" bazooka tube(internal amp). with the optional bass volume control wired to the front somewhere, would that small amount of bass make up for the lack of midrange you think?

 

there is alot of sound to gain through new speakers but not sure I would hook them up to a factory deck.

 

Factory Nav is definitely staying. so I guess your vote would be for adding an amplifier. and replacing the speakers.

I'm leaning towards a 5 channel amp. 4 replacement speakers, and 1 10inch sub. with a wired bass control **** descretely installed somewhere reachable by me in the driver's seat. Just looking for a good deal (I will probably lurk forums, and ebay, until I find something for a steal)

 

The only downside is I believe the factory deck performs equalization in both the Shaker and Non-Shaker setups. If this is correct, you may find that simply adding amplifiers via a line output converter and aftermarket speakers doesn't sound quite right due to the fact that the equalization was designed to make the craptastic stock speakers sound good.

If I am right about equalization being performed in the stock head unit, you may want to consider a better processing unit like the Audison Bit One, JBL MS-8, JL Audio Cleansweep, Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty, etc. in lieu of LOCs to retain your factory NAV.

Then again, you could always try the LOC option first and see if that sound suits you, knowing that you could always upgrade to better processing in the future.

 

Yeah, if anyone has specifics on how the Factory Nav "equalizes the sound, I would be interested in knowing.

It is silly they would make the factory unit (especially Nav, which is typically something that is considered an upgrade) that is so limited to even minor expansion.

Another option (but don't want to shell out the cash for it right now)-- is adding aftermarket in dash nav, bluetooh, satellite all in one unit)-- But the higher end ones runs 2K. I assume that would do better with aftermarket subs and speakers, and amps. etc..

But I am seriously getting way too deep in this.. I just want "alittle more bass"

I have found that if I fade the sound to the rear (2 notches past mid point) and turning Treble down to only 1 or 2 notches above mid point. That it is more tolerable.

 

I would suggest the JL stock by-pass filter or whatever it is called.. My mom has it in her 05 Trailblazer and it sounds great!