Stereo Upgrade (after Jbl Upgrade)

[idlerobbo]

I have got the RD4 Blaupunkt stereo in my C4 (which is standard I believe) with the JBL pack upgrade. To be honest though the bass isnt fantastic and I often find that my front speakers muffle with the sound - which concerns me because I always feel like im damaging the speakers.

 

Has anyone upgraded the head unit on their C4 and still got the steering controls to work? I think I would sorely miss the volume button on the steering wheel...

 

Also does anyone have any full recommendations for upgrades? I dont know where to start, tweeters, woofers, argh its all gobbledegook to me!

[Rich_Eason]

Wozza has experience in this field I believe he's the man with the know.

 

You sure this isnt your door cards rattling as this is quite a common problem IIRC. I know for one thing mine rattles on and off and resontates/rattles in time with music.

[wozza]

Do you have a budget in mind?

 

Tweeters etc are easy enough to install and door cards are simple to get off. There 17cm for the front or 6.5". Depending on budget i can recommend speakers and headunit for you and anything else you might want if you want to add an amplifier and add a bigger subwoofer etc.

 

Citroen actually sell the cable needed to install an aftermarket headunit. But if you have parking sensors your going to be out of luck. As they wont sound when you put an aftermarket unit in.

[idlerobbo]

I do have parking sensors...

 

So I guess a headunit is out of the question?

 

So your saying there is a cable that I can get that will support an aftermarket headunit? will i lose any functions? how would I get access to the middle computer above the stereo? Or I guess all the stuff I need is accessible from the steering column stalk?

 

As you can tell ive not done much reading!

 

I think the JBL woofer in the boot (thats a woofer right???) looks pretty meaty - and its just my interios speakers that arent up to scratch - would that be a good assumption? Im right in thinking that the JBL upgrade doesnt even touch the in car speakers??

 

Sorry for all the questions - pointing me to some links would be good for what you would recomment - i have no idea on price but surprise me!

 

thanks in advance Wozza!

 

Mark

[wozza]

Well try dropping in some better speakers first and see what you think. And yes Citroen already have a cable for after market head units to be fitted just ask at the parts department its only cheap as well. About £5 - £10 i think.

 

For sub £100 these below are some of the best. The rainbows are supposed to be one of the best sounding speakers around.

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/dls-b6a-p-5115.html

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/rainbow-slx265-p-3853.html

 

Then obviously more you spend better they get.

 

Just generally avoid the more well known brand names like Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer etc.

 

And also consider putting some sound proofing in the doors will give you a bit of a nicer sound and stop any rattles you might get.

 

And yes the JBL sub in the boot is an 8" one I think.

[idlerobbo]

ok - so looks like the new speakers are going to be easy to pick...

 

What about a head unit - any recommendations? like I say price doesnt particularly matter - something midranged i guess?

 

What things am i likely to lose functionality wise? does the citroen cable work with all makes of stereo?

[wozza]

Works with them all and you will lose.

 

Parking sensors

volume, cd player controls on steering wheel.

 

Everything else will still work fine.

 

What kind of headunit you wanting and maximum your willing to pay? Do you want any specific features ipod support, bluetooth etc? Do you mind how it looks be it flashy or would you prefer a more OE style look to it?

[idlerobbo]

id rather it looked flashy - but hang on what am I saving witht he citroen cable? I kinda wanted to keep the volume :-( :-( nothing I can do for that?

 

ipod support would be nice ( I currently have AUX for my RD4), how does bluetooth operate with a stereo? god im sounding simple now - im actually an IT consultant - you'd never know!!

[wozza]

If ya want to be really flashy

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-av...omo-p-4922.html

 

Only £1300

 

then you have the more realistic ones.

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-de...0bt-p-5261.html

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-dehp75bt-p-5150.html

 

They have a bluetooth mic you just position elsewhere and then they interface with your phone when you get in so you can make calls etc through the headunit.

 

Audio controls your out of luck currently people are making them just not out as of yet. As i said you will lose the parking sensors. And audio controls. Everything else you can use as normal so you can still keep the fuel display and time and date etc and move through it as normal. Can see this on my picture below.

 

If you have an ipod this will unit below will control it completely so can stick the ipod in the glovebox out of sight. I have the older version of this in my car and love it.

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-dva...eed-p-5140.html

 

What the older one looks like in my car.

http://www.mybigspoon.com/wozza/dash.JPG

[idlerobbo]

If ya want to be really flashy

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-av...omo-p-4922.html

 

Only £1300

 

then you have the more realistic ones.

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-de...0bt-p-5261.html

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-dehp75bt-p-5150.html

 

They have a bluetooth mic you just position elsewhere and then they interface with your phone when you get in so you can make calls etc through the headunit.

 

Audio controls your out of luck currently people are making them just not out as of yet. As i said you will lose the parking sensors. And audio controls. Everything else you can use as normal so you can still keep the fuel display and time and date etc and move through it as normal. Can see this on my picture below.

 

If you have an ipod this will unit below will control it completely so can stick the ipod in the glovebox out of sight. I have the older version of this in my car and love it.

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-dva...eed-p-5140.html

 

What the older one looks like in my car.

http://www.mybigspoon.com/wozza/dash.JPG

 

thanks for the tips - what about my cd change I have that came with the JBL?

[wozza]

forgot about that...its either gonna end up being useless or you can switch to a new blaupunkt headunit and try get a working cable to sort it.

[idlerobbo]

gonna be risky knowing if it will work though right? do you think the best thing would be to take it in somewhere that deals with stereos etc?

[wozza]

To be honest chances are its gonna be useless depending on the headunit you pick. If you dont get a blaupunkt one theres no chance it will work. But you can probably sell it on and get a new changer for not much money.

 

You can pick up 6cd mp3 changers for £140 new.

[dave&trace]

just one thing we had JBL in our C4 it wasn`t swicthed on it had to be turned on by the dealer on the diag machine after that the sound was fantastic loads of crisp base would be worth checking first before upgrade.

[Welshguy]

Just my 2 cents :

 

I've noticed this line -

 

ok - so looks like the new speakers are going to be easy to pick...

 

Are you particularly unhappy with the standard speakers? I've found mine to be of a really

good quality - I have installed an Alpine unit, and with a little bit of setting up the sound

from the front speakers is very very good. Just send no bass to them, and let the Subwoofer

do the bass.

[Jimbob76]

Hi! I've got the JBL upgrade, and had my drivers door card off yesterday trying to sort the infernal rattle! To my suprise the door speakers are branded JBL as well so it seems you do get uprated speakers as well as the sub in the JBL package. I'm more than happy with the sound from the system, if the rest of the car didn't sound like it was shaking to bits with the bass it would be perfect!

 

I know this won't help if you're convinced on upgrading, but might make fellow jbl owners feel they got more for their money!

[idlerobbo]

just one thing we had JBL in our C4 it wasn`t swicthed on it had to be turned on by the dealer on the diag machine after that the sound was fantastic loads of crisp base would be worth checking first before upgrade.

 

Hrmmm this might be worth me checking first then...

 

Welsh guy - can you advise me of the exact settings you use? does anything sent to the rear just get put through the suib or are there settings in the menu specifically for the sub? if so it cant be turned on!

[wozza]

No sub menu in the rd4 unit as far as i am aware. And you dont really get much choice on high and low pass filters etc like we do with after market headunit. Also think the sub is powered form a speaker input although not entirely positive about that bit.

 

If you can find the amplifier in the car might have some adjustments on it that you can change to give you a little more oomph.

[skaramanga]

Well the amp is under the driver's seat, isn't it?

Has anyone taken a proper look at it yet? Wonder does it say jbl on it?

[wozza]

Someone get some pictures of the amp up.

[lee_marshuk]

Weird - with the NaviDrive RT3 you get full bass controls etc - when you crank that up you can feel the bass through the ground just standing next to the car - very pleased with my sound quality!

[CoolCarbon]

I'll see if I can get the camera under the Seat tomorrow..... :D

[wozza]

You can up bass and treble right on a -5 to +5 thing right? Can do that on thr RD4 but doesn't give you the ability to control the sub individually as far as i am aware.

 

Didn't mean that on mine i have full adjustment of frequencies, amount of drop off, graphic eq's parametric eq's etc also have a separate section just for the sub woofer if i want more bass in a song i have a 0 - 15+ scale i can use like the normal bass thing in the C4. The options are never ending on the head unit i have it took me weeks of fine tuning to get it all sorted.

[idlerobbo]

Yeah I have the normal controls. I put it to -1 intot he back and put the bass to +2 it sounds a bit beefier and less crackling, infact with a CD it sounded great for once. Maybe thats all I do need...

 

Would be interested to hear about this amp though!

[wozza]

Have a look see if you can find it if you do and theres some adjustments on it like gain, phase etc let us know and post some pictures of it up so I can have a look. Might be able to set it to get a bit more out of it.

 

And having it faded towards the front is a good idea anyway I dont have my rear speakers on unless someone is in the back. Its more than loud enough to be heard without the rear speakers.