How the 12' Stock Radio Sounds Inside and Out

[stoopid]

I don't know about other packages but with the LT the premium sound comes standard. Connectivity + cruise is something like $375 with stick and $595 with automatic cause you get remote start. I had assumed the premium sound included tweeters and a cd player. From the way people are talking its actually the rear speakers and not tweeters that are added?

I think the 4 front speakers (2 in door, 2 tweeters) are standard and rear speakers are added with the premium. The key is that the rear speakers are not what makes it premium, it's the other stuff IN ADDITION to the rear speakers. That's why I stepped in here, people were getting way overboard about what they expected versus what they got. All perspective was lost, but now (hopefully) found. It's not entirely the fault of the buyer though, manufacturers have for a long time intentionally made the packages and upgrades confusing. They can't simply give you a straight line toward your needs, they have you doing advanced math just to figure out what's with the LT vs LS, what the upgrades cost versus money saved between styles, etc. All a big game for them, big suck for us. I never consider the base model and usually fall in the premium model window with my needs. It's those whose needs fall inbetween the styles/models who get screwed IMO. As was likely the case here.

 

[Leverus]

Well, whether the system is "premium" or not, I'm just glad the dealer I went to had the foresight to equip their LS models with it. Seriously, and FM radio without CD player? That might have fit in 30 years ago...

 

[ChrisJ]

Well, whether the system is "premium" or not, I'm just glad the dealer I went to had the foresight to equip their LS models with it. Seriously, and FM radio without CD player? That might have fit in 30 years ago...

Eh it does have an AUX in jack so you can use an ipod. I don't even know if the cd player in my Sonic works as I always use an ipod or thumbdrive.

CD player? Thats so 1980s.

 

[Leverus]

I didn't know it had an AUX input. I either tend to forget my MP3 player or forget to charge it, so having a collection of burnt CDs in my car is essential. Mine doesn't have the USB or second input otherwise I'd just stick a cheap drive in there and forget about it.

 

[Leverus]

I didn't think of making MP3 disks. My old car didn't read them and it didn't occur to me to see if the Sonic did. Then again, I've pretty much kept the same CD going for the past two years.

... Yeah, I'm weird.

 

[Bree]

I like the last song choice

 

[stoopid]

funny thing is my sonic wont read regular CD's.

Sounds like the player is broken. I only play CDs on mine, and use a MP3 player the rest of the time.

I've done the MP3 disc thing too. Now that memory cards are 32GB and cheap, it's nice having half my music collection available in the car in a matter of seconds. I also keep higher quality FLAC which would be limited with only 700MB of space on a compact disc.

 

[stoopid]

You must have a ton of MP3 discs if 32GB isn't close to 'enough'. [32GB is roughly equal to 40 compact discs] I just don't like shuffling physical discs while driving, almost as distracting as trying to squint to see the playlist on my small MP3 player.

Fwiw, sometimes the laser just gets dirty and a CD laser lens cleaning disc resolves the issue. Music CDs and Data/MP3 discs have different read/write strategies, and I've seen it where one type of disc played but not the other.

 

[ChrisJ]

I just make MP3 Disc's that can hold 100+ Songs on it. Then i dont have to change out CD's all the time and dont have a seperate unit to mess with either. everything is controled through the radio controls or the steering controls (if equipped). I Like all the connections given with this system, i just want more out of the speakers. So with that said, i plan on upgrading them as soon as i can, More powerful components up front, and a subwoofer in the trunk all via a line-in converter unit off the stock headunit. Im having it all installed by a local audio store that is willing to do it for under $500! Then i can fully enjoy my music again.

I often have my 160GB Ipod plugged into the USB jack and the radio controls it. To me this makes a lot more sense then mp3s on a single cd. Afterall, it holds something like 13,000 320K songs and all accessed via the radio controls.

 

[ChrisJ]

You must have a ton of MP3 discs if 32GB isn't close to 'enough'. [32GB is roughly equal to 40 compact discs] I just don't like shuffling physical discs while driving, almost as distracting as trying to squint to see the playlist on my small MP3 player.

Fwiw, sometimes the laser just gets dirty and a CD laser lens cleaning disc resolves the issue. Music CDs and Data/MP3 discs have different read/write strategies, and I've seen it where one type of disc played but not the other.

I've got right around 100GB of mp3s last time I looked. I've been collecting since the Napster so I've had some time.

 

[Bree]

Gucci Mane - Lemonade. Its a good song. I like it mainly because it has a very nice bass line to it. To which the sonic cant really handel or produce as there is no subwoofer involved. It hits hard when played on a subwoofer. Loved playing it on my previous cars stereo system i had built.

By the way bree, i saw your photos you took of your LTZ, Very nice photos. way better than anything ive taken thus far of mine. Hopefully this summer i can get my sonic all cleaned up and shined up and take some nice quality shots of it. Finding a nice spot to take pictures is the hard part in my area. not much to work with here.

Lemonade never gets old! lol I've known that song for so long and I don't think I've ever gotten tired of it haha! It sounds pretty decent in the sonic. But yeah I agree def could be better. I'd love a sub in my car. I don't need anything that blows the neighborhood away just something that hits well and sounds good. But I've never done it before and I don't know much about car audio.

And thanks about the pictures. Yeah finding spots is the hardest. I've spent a lot of time finding spots and right now I can count all the spots in my area on one hand haha. Hopefully this summer I can also get the sonic all cleaned up and find some new spots!

 

[pepler]

EDIT: After another month or so I have to revise my earlier statement and say, yeah....the OEM spkrs do kind of suck. They are simply incapable of supplying the fidelity I'm used to, apparently.