2012 GT base stereo sucks... What have you done to improve?

petersen302

Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
183
Location
Michigan
Gents,

I love everything about my 2012, except the stereo. It has the base 4 speaker stereo. The thing is terrible. Any little bit of bass just distorts right out. I have been doing audio installs in my cars for over 10 years, and this is by far the worst stock stereo I have encountered.

My question is, what have you guys done to improve the sound? I am debating throwing new speakers in and seeing what that does. I would like to know if anyone has crossed this road, and if I could learn from it.

And before someone says "Why listen to the radio? You have a 5.0!" I daily drive this. And we do long trips as well so a nice sounding stereo is welcomed.

Thanks!
 

Nuar

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
1,774
Location
Connecticut
A lot of people simply swap out speakers. Others add a sub in the trunk. Some do a full blown head unit with navigation using some of the available dash kits.

Stock speakers are 2ohm i believe so keep that in mind when shopping around. 6x8/5x7 is the speaker size for both the door and the rear deck.
You can get cheap adapters for your aftermarket speaker connection from Metra (ebay) so you dont have to slice up your factory wireing.
 

Jenkins

Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2012
Messages
462
Location
Palatka Florida
I had a full rockford fosgate system put in for 800 with 2 12s and a custom box.

Edit- Id rather listen to car but ladies love music!
 
Last edited:

alex12gt

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2012
Messages
2,429
Location
moline, il
I put infinity kappa components in the front and and left the rear stock....that was OK but then added a double din pioneer and a single 10in kicker in the trunk works perfect for me the back speakers are over powered by the front so they are more or less just filler noise that's why I left them and they a little more work to change then the front
 

petersen302

Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
183
Location
Michigan
That worked for me too... Didn't buy a Performance Car to listen to the stereo!

I can respect that. But when I am driving 3+ hrs to a car show in the UP, I enjoy my music. Different strokes for different folks I would suppose.

I put infinity kappa components in the front and and left the rear stock....that was OK but then added a double din pioneer and a single 10in kicker in the trunk works perfect for me the back speakers are over powered by the front so they are more or less just filler noise that's why I left them and they a little more work to change then the front

Any pics of your double din install? I am debating that but haven't heard many success stories.
 

five0three

big deal
Established Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Messages
829
Location
Minot ND
I can respect that. But when I am driving 3+ hrs to a car show in the UP, I enjoy my music. Different strokes for different folks I would suppose.



Any pics of your double din install? I am debating that but haven't heard many success stories.

Can i ask the reason(s) you want to do a double din setup? I ask because there are alternatives that are much more cost effective
 
Last edited:

burke985

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
1,581
Location
Slidell
All i did was replace the factory speakers with some kenwoods , sounds good enough
 

nordy racer

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2006
Messages
1,190
Location
MD
i hated the factory sound that came out of the system but i didnt want to change the factory head unit either so we came up with this..

did two amps both 1000 watts.. one was for the 2 subs alone and the other was for the 8 speakers inside the car..
picsphone2615_zps14010b73.jpg


tweets and mids (right below the tweets) in the door and also the factory sub/ mids in the lower part of the door. also replaced the speakers in the deck lid.
picsphone2621_zps1cf94e47.jpg


custom made box for the upper part of the trunk. this doesnt miss with access of the spare tire.
picsphone2620_zps91cc6721.jpg


and on a side note.. found this cool option on the factory radio screen when we were playing around with programing and wiring.
picsphone2624_zpsc2622e6f.jpg


it SOUNDS amazing :)
 
Last edited:

blackbeast12

Dr. Frankenstang
Established Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
3,929
Location
Delaware
I used to be big on sound but not anymore. the factory stereo ain't bad but it could be a lot better. Get a nice 4 channel amp and replace all 4 speakers get a nice 2 channel amp for 2 100 watt tweets, and throw a bazooka back there , it will rock, the key is dedicated speakers with dedicated amps for each of them.
 

blackcoyote13

Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Messages
269
Location
California
I have a 2013 base stereo and mine sounds fantastic now.

Two steps:

1. Dynamat the door cover mounting face and the inside of the car door sufficiently. This dramatically improves the sound of the stock speakers. Aftermarket speakers are good but ONLY if you change the factory headunit and/or add an aftermarket amp to power them. The factory head unit is fine on aftermarket speakers at about 25-35% volume but they dont have enough juice when you get to 50% or higher volume. I've tried Polk db571s, Pioneer lower end speakers, etc, all the same result.

2. Use an Audio Control LC2i off the rear speaker channels to send a nice clean signal to an amp in the rear, hooked up to a quality aftermarket sub. I have a JL 12W6v2 @ 480watts at 2ohms currently.

Sounds amazing with the stock speakers, dynamat and aftermarket sub tuned into correctly (75hz LPF), 10X better than stock with both mods done.
 
Last edited:

92hatchlx

Colorado Rocky Mountain High
Established Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
1,669
Location
Strasburg, CO
Kenwood 6x8s up front, powered by an audiocontrol lc2i and a boston acoustics amp. Couldn't be happier with the sound. Now I am in need of some subs!
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top