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Focus: Audio Upgrade Wagon

But why go with entry level Infinity over Morel, Focal, Hertz or JL Audio? I used to have Infinity Kappa on my 2007 Honda Accord (I had 4 other cars since then), they were just OK, although they are much better than their Reference line. Tweeter difference is huge from Reference to Kappa to Morel Hybrid/Virtus. I haven't yet heard better tweeters than Morel. They turn recorded music into live music.
 
I had infinity stuff before, for me it was much too bright. Just my opinion. I will say though, the kappa perfect 12" sub I had was sweet. That was a fantastic sub if you pimped enough watts into it
 
But why go with entry level Infinity over Morel, Focal, Hertz or JL Audio? I used to have Infinity Kappa on my 2007 Honda Accord (I had 4 other cars since then), they were just OK, although they are much better than their Reference line. Tweeter difference is huge from Reference to Kappa to Morel Hybrid/Virtus. I haven't yet heard better tweeters than Morel. They turn recorded music into live music.
I recommend them for those not upgrading amps... they are low ohms(closely matched to OEM), excellent sensitivity ~93dB, and excellent range and well matched RMS power for OEM amp, as well.

There are amazing and expensive speakers out there ...but they require high quality amps to achieve their true potential and the majority of the members on this site aren’t interested in this level of investment and modification for their Regal. ...IMO
 
Awesome. I am happy to watch this progress.

I would like to make the most of the original Bose system to start with, then evaluate if I am going to do any component swaps. While I like good quality audio, I am simply not willing to take on the time, expense, and scope of ripping it out and starting over. I also don't want to permanently alter the interior panels or take away usable cargo space.
I had Noico installed in all 4 doors behind speakers, inside doors and around/inside door panel edges. Amazing difference! Highly recommended. Bose audio now sounds the way it should: clean, punchy, loud, deep. Tweeters also sound better, don't know how, but they are crisp and clear. It feels like my amp gained extra 100W RMS of power.

Outside sounds are now almost gone, tire road noise is less intrusive. I can actually hear my engine revving, previously it was barely audible since other sounds had more presence. Plastic rattles are also gone. I would recommend throwing a little Dynaliner foam or similar stuff inside around door panel edges. Mine were rattling even after Noico was installed.

I am very happy I decided to try Noico before I pulled the trigger on messing with aftermarket speakers. I am now very happy with my Bose going forward.
 
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I had Noico installed in all 4 doors behind speakers, inside doors and around/inside door panel edges. Amazing difference! Highly recommended. Bose audio now sounds the way it should: clean, punchy, loud, deep. Tweeters also sound better, don't know how, but they are crisp and clear. It feels like my amp gained extra 100W RMS of power.

Outside sounds are now almost gone, tire road noise is less intrusive. I can actually hear my engine revving, previously it was barely audible since other sounds had more presence. Plastic rattles are also gone. I would recommend throwing a little Dynaliner foam or similar stuff inside around door panel edges. Mine were rattling even after Noico was installed.

I am very happy I decided to try Noico before I pulled the trigger on messing with aftermarket speakers. I am now very happy with my Bose going forward.
I’ve been looking at different sound proofing materials after realizing there are more than just two or three popular brands. I had intended on using B-Quiet, which is comparable to Dynamat, because I used it on my last vehicle. I only used the butyl rubber liner with the aluminum skin last time and it was only 1.5mm (59 mil) thick. This time I plan to use a similar liner combined with a foam decoupler.

I am looking at the following products:
B-Quiet
Noico
KILMAT
Siless
Second Skin

B-Quiet publishes their performance specs in plain sight on their website, but I can’t find any specs for the other products. The only thing I can find is the temperature rating, which should at least give us a general idea of how effective each product is. The temperature ratings are as follows:

B-Quiet (63 mil) = -76F to +293F
36 sqft = $99.99

Noico (80 mil) = -49F to +212F
36 sqft = $65.99

KILMAT (80 mil) = -49F to +212F
36 sqft = $56.99

Siless (80 mil) = -50F to +395F
36 sqft = $49.99

Second Skin (80 mil) = -70F to +450F
30sqft = $209

So, just going by temperature range alone, Noico and KILMAT are equally as bad, with KILMAT being the most affordable. In 3rd place is Siless, but it’s low price makes it attractive. In 2nd place is B-Quiet because it performs better with a 63 mil thickness than others do with 80 mil.

1st place easily goes to Second Skin, but the price will drive most people away. The cost to apply just the 80 mil liner would be nearly $800 and I can see that price doubling when adding the foam mat.

Siless seems to have the most cost effective solution at about $150 to apply the liner throughout the vehicle. Add the foam mat and the entire package will cost around $300 for the whole car.

Thoughts? Comments?
 
I hate to be a killjoy with all these audio enthusiasts giving great advice, but to my 55 year old ears, the TourX audio system sounds great to me. Plus my wife gets migraines all the time, so it is very rare when I even get to play music in the car. today I had about 5 minutes between when she jumped out of the car to get some lab blood work and when she returned. I got 1 song on Pandora (Lady Gaga) then had to hit pause for the remainder of the shopping trip.

the TourX was primarily for her to help her aching back with the lumbar support. When I’m alone, I’m rolling in a 2013 Chevy Volt (also with Bose speakers). So no audio upgrades for me. But when I was in college I had a Toyota Supra with Bazooka bass tubes and a 200w amp. run DMC sounded awesome in that setup.
 
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I hate to be a killjoy with all these audio enthusiasts giving great advice, but to my 55 year old ears, the TourX audio system sounds great to me. Plus my wife gets migraines all the time, so it is very rare when I even get to play music in the car. today I had about 5 minutes between when she jumped out of the car to get some lab blood work and when she returned. I got 1 song on Pandora (Lady Gaga) then had to hit pause for the remainder of the shopping trip.

the TourX was primarily for her to help her aching back with the lumbar support. When I’m alone, I’m rolling in a 2013 Chevy Volt (also with Bose speakers). So no audio upgrades for me. But when I was in college I had a Toyota Supra with Bazooka bass tubes and a 200w amp. run DMC sounded awesome in that setup.
You’re not being a killjoy. Some people are satisfied with the factory sound system while others prefer something more elaborate. I’m single with no kids, so I can play music as loud as I want. That being said, I’ll agree the Bose system sounds great, especially compared to the standard non-Bose system.

Car stereo is a hobby for me and I’ve upgraded the sound in every vehicle I’ve owned since age 15. I only recently discovered the benefits of sound proofing and how much it enhances the sound system. I won’t own a car without it and I recommend it to everyone, whether they care about better sound or not. It improves the ride, makes heating and cooling more efficient, eliminates squeaks and rattles, and it improves the quality of phone calls and conversation.

For most people the Bose system is more than enough, but for us old school Bass Heads, we like to make the trunk sing!

I used to have a couple of 6.5” Bazooka tubes behind the seat of a Chevy S-10. They were the real Bazookas, which were manufactured by SAS right here in Baton Rouge. Those 6.5’s wouldn’t beat the block up or anything, but they sounded damn good inside the truck.
 
Hushmat? I had it installed in my previous car and it worked great. I cannot compare since my previous car had no active noise cancellation and it was a 6-speed manual, but hushmat made it very quiet. Not sure how audio quality changed since I also had aftermarket speakers installed at the same time.
 
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Hushmat? I had it installed in my previous car and it worked great. I cannot compare since my previous car had no active noise cancellation and it was a 6-speed manual, but hushmat made it very quiet. Not sure how audio quality changed since I also had aftermarket speakers installed at the same time.
Our cars have active noise cancellation?
 
Our cars have active noise cancellation?
Yes it is an option for some trim levels and standard on others. I just found out today that I do not have ANC when I thought for sure that I did. I have a 2018 Sportback Essence with Sights and Sounds. There’s a couple of ways you can tell if you have it. Visually inspect your headliner and see if there are additional microphones or check your RPO codes for “NKC”

Here’s a link to the RPO code list for a 2019 Regal Sportback:

https://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-con...ortback-order-guide-revised-April-20-2018.pdf
 
I've used b quiet multiple times with good results, never had it do anything wired over time, and it's definitely in budget. Also don't forget, you don't need 100% coverage. I can't stand when people do that. I used to do it then actually realized what the material is really doing, then did research to validate my thoughts. 70% coverage is more than adequate to do what the product is supposed to do, stop a panel from resonating.
 
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I've used b quiet multiple times with good results, never had it do anything wired over time, and it's definitely in budget. Also don't forget, you don't need 100% coverage. I can't stand when people do that. I used to do it then actually realized what the material is really doing, then did research to validate my thoughts. 70% coverage is more than adequate to do what the product is supposed to do, stop a panel from resonating.
Yeah I’ve been reading a lot and I see where 100% coverage is not necessary. Most people think the butyl liners are for sound deadening, but they are designed to reduce vibration on large flat sections. For true sound proofing you need a closed cell foam pad on top of the butyl liner.

I only did the butyl liner last time. This time I plan to use both AND keep most of the factory sound proofing.
 
Yes it is an option for some trim levels and standard on others. I just found out today that I do not have ANC when I thought for sure that I did. I have a 2018 Sportback Essence with Sights and Sounds. There’s a couple of ways you can tell if you have it. Visually inspect your headliner and see if there are additional microphones or check your RPO codes for “NKC”

Here’s a link to the RPO code list for a 2019 Regal Sportback:

https://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-con...ortback-order-guide-revised-April-20-2018.pdf
Thanks. I have a TourX, not a sport back, but looking around the headliner I found4 little round mic holes, two behind the driver and passenger grab handles and two above the rear C pillars. So I guess I do have ANC
 
Thanks. I have a TourX, not a sport back, but looking around the headliner I found4 little round mic holes, two behind the driver and passenger grab handles and two above the rear C pillars. So I guess I do have ANC
Yes, you have the hardware, but that doesn’t necessarily mean ANC is enabled. Let me look around and find out how to determine if it’s active. If it is enabled and you would like to disable it, I believe it can be software disabled by your dealer or you can by a custom, third-party harness to bypass ANC at the amplifier.
 
Yes, you have the hardware, but that doesn’t necessarily mean ANC is enabled. Let me look around and find out how to determine if it’s active. If it is enabled and you would like to disable it, I believe it can be software disabled by your dealer or you can by a custom, third-party harness to bypass ANC at the amplifier.
I don’t want to bypass it, but would like to know if my TourX Essence with convenience package 1 has it
 
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YAY… though it’s really hard to know whether it’s actually working. If there were a button where I could turn it off and back on to test it out…but alas it is what it is
 
On my wife's Honda fit, which is notorious for being noisy inside, a 60% coverage, then a layer of b-quiet ensolite on the main floor pan, which is a foam sheet really, a decouplers, and a layer of 1/8 MLV, mass loaded vynal. Then sealed the holes in the doors with sheet metal, also did a sheet of butal the doors. Dude, the difference was night and day.
 
On my wife's Honda fit, which is notorious for being noisy inside, a 60% coverage, then a layer of b-quiet ensolite on the main floor pan, which is a foam sheet really, a decouplers, and a layer of 1/8 MLV, mass loaded vynal. Then sealed the holes in the doors with sheet metal, also did a sheet of butal the doors. Dude, the difference was night and day.
I did basically the same thing in my 05 Silverado HD with the Duramax engine. Dynamat Extreme everywhere. I did the floor, rear wall, all 4 doors inner and outer skins with the holes sealed, and the roof. Followed that with 1/4" closed cell foam over the Dynamat everywhere. Also 2# per square foot MLV on the floor. I did some Dynamat and foam on the inside of the door panels and the underside of the dash panel just to quell any plastic vibration. From inside the truck most people don't release it's a diesel truck it's so quite. And after 16 years the interior is still dead quite with no rattles despite being shaken all the time by a powerful stereo I installed right after I purchased it.

I will be doing pretty close to the same in our TourX, just not as big of a stereo.
 
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