Iownalw200

Hello,

My OEM CD player just went out and I replaced it with a Pioneer Premier DEH-P690UB
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...834008,00.html

With the original CD player, sound output was really really good. Could get my music really loud without distortion. It was very satisfying to me.
Now, sound is awful. Cannot get sound really high. I can hear the distortion and I got pain in my ears.

I want to have the same output I had before. I don't need more.
Do I need to change the speakers or add an amplifier ?

I found that maybe my old CD player had a built-in amplifier inside. Is that true ? Maybe I can remove it and put with my new player ?

I can't find the specs of this audio system anywhere (spent many hours here and on google). Does someone knows the power of the speakers ?

I have the standard CD player with 6 speakers (2 tweaters in front doors + 4 subs, 1 in each door)

Thanks a lot.

SouthPole1989

the reason why it more then likely sounds bad is because the factory speakers might be high ohm speakers. generally most aftermarket cd players and speakers run in 4 ohmsand some might go into 2 ohm. now your stock cd player was made for those speakers so it sounded good. but for most aftermarket cd's the increase in ohms means less power is getting to the speakers. basicly you probelly need new speakers.

Iownalw200

Thanks SouthPole1989,
Is there a way to verify this ? Is it normally written on the speakers ? I can easily remove one. I already dismantled one door once so I know how to get there.

Someone can confirm this please ?

What is my best choice:
- Buy an amplifier to boost signal enough for those OEM speakers ?
- Change speakers ?
It's nearly the same price.

Thanks again.

By the way, lets forget about that built-in amplifier. I checked that and there is nothing more inside that old CD player.

SouthPole1989

right now i would just change the speakers.

Satyllac

SouthPole is right, the factory speakers are most likely 6 or 8 Ohm, whereas most aftermarket speakers are 4 Ohms.

Before you buy an amplifier or new speakers, consider this...

Are you planning on eventually adding new speakers regardless? If so, I'd recommend you get a good amplifier first, then when you get the money to upgrade the speakers, you already have the harder part done.

Or are you just wanting something basic and don't plan on upgrading the stereo any further? In that case, I'd recommend putting in some new 4 Ohm coaxial speakers and calling it good.

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madbrad

Your rear speakers are in the rear doors? Really? Not in the parcel shelf?
Anyway, the impedance difference you encounter doesn't seem to me to be able to cause this problem. I mean I could be wrong but I haven't ever seen it happen. It would make the music less loud, and you'd have to turn it up, but that much distortion I have't had happen from this.
Does this L200 of yours happen to have a factory amp? Ask the Saturn dealer about the radio, whether it was an option, what it was called, and they should know if there's an external amp. The did have something called advanced audio system that had extra features, and I'm thinking that if you have the separate tweeters maybe that means you have some optional upgraded system that might include an external amp. If so, the factory Head Unit was probably feeding it with pre-amp level signal, and your new H.U. is feeding speaker level signal into it. if this is the case, It would definitely cause a lot of distortion. If your new H.U. has preamp level outputs, use that to feed the amp. They'll be a pair of RCA plugs. Conversely you can bypass that amp and run new wires to carry speaker level signal to the speakers. I would in any case get 4 new speakers anyway. The impedance will match and they will have much better sound quality than the stock ones did. Abandon the front tweeters and get 4 two way speakers of the correct size.

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Iownalw200

Hello Satyllac,
I'm not planning on upgrading the audio system. What I had before was very satisfying to me. So the good choice should be new speakers.

Hello Madbrad,
In my thread title, I mentionned L"W"200, which means WAGON. That is why my rear speakers are in the doors. No shelf in there.
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1...rnlw200dx7.jpg

It's not that much distortion but at low sound level, sound is missing bass. I need to increase bass level in the equalizer to have something just fine. I also need to decrease the higher level not to have the tweeters making me want to commit suicide . If I increase sound level, then it becomes awful. I really don't think that there is a factory amp. I bought the Haynes manual for this car and the wiring does match the manual drawing without an amplifier. Replacing that CD player was as easy as simply disconnecting the old CD player's plug and inserting the new one with the new harness plug. I looked at the drawing with the amplifier and I could not find any matching wires in there. Anyway, it's a good advice to call my saturn dealer. I'll do it just in case. Also, the tweeters are connected in parallel with the front subs (according to the wiring drawing that I have). I still have to check that but I remember last year I needed to remove one of the front subs to repair a broken wire in it and I saw the CD player incoming wires going also up to the tweeters.
I don't really want to abandon those tweeters because they are located at the top of the door and provides a better sound quality to my opinion than having them at the bottom.

Here is a picture of my old CD player.
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/7...dplayerhh3.jpg

Thanks to both of you, and also to SouthPole1989. I'll check everything this weekend and I'll write back to you next week.

Iownalw200

Here are my new cd player's specs:

Maximum power output: 50W × 4
50W × 2/4 ohms + 70W × 1/2 ohms (for subwoofer)

Continuous power output: 22W × 4
(50 Hz to 15000 Hz, 5%THD, 4 ohms load, both channels driven)
Load impedance:
4 ohms to 8 ohms × 4
4 ohms to 8 ohms × 2 + 2ohms × 1

I would have loved to find the specs of the original CD player. Maybe someone knows that....

madbrad

Ah, I missed that W. Still I don't expect them to use different door panels just because it's a wagon, so I guess the sedan has the speakers in the doors too. Anybody know where the rear speakers are in an L sedan? If the sedan has them in the parcel shelf, and if they don't do different door panels(and I've never seen any car do that) the speakers could go in a lot of places. The SW has them in the liftgate. Escort wagons have them on top of the wheel well, as does the hatchback. Some wagons fit them in the C pillars.

Your problem seems like there's something amiss. I would take the car to a competent car audio specialist and let them sort it out, or at least they can give you the correct answer. If everything else is right, maybe the factory speakers can't handle the power that the new HU puts out.

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Iownalw200

Hi,

I'm back.

I have checked every inch of my car and there is no amplifier in there. Since I have the standard audio system, there is no amplifier. Since the orange wires for the amplifier, which should be connected to the audio unit plug are net there, there is no amplifier. I've tried to feed with the RCA plugs but sound was very very low. So no amps in there. The 15A fuse for the Premium Amp is there though, but is goes nowhere. There is no wire coming out of it. I removed it first and there was no change in sound. Maybe if someone wants to upgrade, the fuse is there...

I tried to invert speakers + and - wires just to make sure. Not better nor worse.
I tried every possible setup in this unit: equalizer settings, bass boost, etc, etc, etc. Sound is still not good.
I will go to the audio specialist I bought the unit from and ask them. There are supposed to be good from what I've heard (one of the reasons I bought the unit from them).
I too now think that the speakers are the problem. I may need to upgrade to better quality speakers.
I'll keep you informed.
Thanks to all of you.