ChinaMan

iTrader: (4)

I don't think it's a good idea to discredit all of Clarion's gear:

Clarion U.S.A. | DRZ9255

Sure Hyundai's come factory with Clarion HU and they're not all that great, but it was a deck geared for masses coming from the factory. Many factory radios were made by Pioneer, Clarion, Fujitsu Ten (Eclipse), Alpine... etc... doesn't mean all those brands are now junk because they supply to automotive manufacturers.

JohnVroom

..umm profit? name recognition (sell your name for money (i.e. Honeywell, Mark Levinson, Infinity, and so on)).. remember not to long ago Mercedes was extolling the new quality of their Chrysler products thanks to MB content (ironic on many levels since MB is currently selling crap)

Not quite so clear cut! Things do change though, and quality can be up and down over a 3 month period or over several years. In the 70's you could tell who had Pioneer cassette players by the trail of unraveled magnetic tape and cassettes thrown out the windows... in the 90's Pioneer decks operations were unfathomable... now they are made in China (I think) and they are a product I would own up until a year ago but their features are now worthless (IMO) but their quality is still decent.
I think you could have a similar paragraph on quality control and Alpine, Eclipse, Clarion, Soundstream and others.

Clarion is pretty good sounding stuff but like everyone else they outsource a lot of production and certain countries are noted for unwanted product substitution (i.e. melamine in milk).

Denonite

iTrader: (1)

too broad of a generalization. All these companies have different levels of equipment to match consumer demand. Believe it or not, not everyone gives a rat's *** about imaging, sound stage, and perceived tonality that's "just like live music". Most just want clear sound that's better than the typical oem gear. To say that Clarion, Pioneer, or others all make crap is incorrect. Clarion's top of the line equipment is very good, as is Pioneer's, Alpine's, and many others. I can guarantee you that many of these company's top of the line stuff would sound better, play louder, and last longer than many so called high end brand's low end equipment. I've owned Focal and Morel low end, and they were no more impressive than mid range lines of pop brands. infinity Perfect, JBL GTI, Alpine X series, Pioneer PRS, and Clarion's DRZ decks have always been considered high end units, and rightly so.

Just out of curiosity, which car did you replace the speakers in. It's very possible that you replaced a speaker in a vehicle that has very specific impedance, and may be highly equalized. In addition, the 6022i is basically Infinity's bottom of the line coaxial offering, which I've used with a lot of success when properly installed and amplified in a new system...not added to an oem set up. I can tell you that i've not heard any "normal" oem speaker that can handle the power, or sound as clean as that speaker, so i believe you just didn't have it set up properly or just added it to an already poor system.

Stephane

iTrader: (1)

I installed the speakers in a 2007 Santa Fe, changed the four door speakers.
I started out with all original. Sounded like absolute crap. No kidding!
I then had the choice of starting with changing the speakers or the head unit. Cheapest and easiest was the speakers. And unfortunately, Future Shop are the only ones in my are that have a listening board.

Knowing that it was virtually useless to spend time in their "listening room" with their amp, their HU, their wiring and their cubic space I took the gamble and the Infinity sounded the "least worst" for the money.

However, once installed, if the originals sounded 1 out of 10, the Infinity sounded no better than 2 out of 10.

So to plan #2 we go.
I hooked-up with Rob (MR2NR) who managed to convince me into spending a whole whack more than I was planning on, but I should endup with a perty nice setup with an Eclipse NAV6220, Pioneer's Premium sub and MB amp.

So far, I'll say that at least the shopping experience is very pleasant. He keeps adding on without charging for it. What more could I ask ?? You know when do business and you just got that feeling of being at ease and trust the salesman ? That's how I feel right now.

Anyway, back to the audio, with a good head unit, I will be in a better position to evaluate my Infinity's. I plan on taking a few pics and sharing the install with the group, since I didn't find anything similar on the web concerning a Santa Fe.

So phase 1 was the front stage;
Phase 2 will be the Head Unit;
phase 3 = subwoofer (same time as the HU);
phase 4, if I decide do go further, will be to change again the front door speakers.

wish me luck !

Denonite

iTrader: (1)

good luck...I'm sure the Infinitys will sound much better now. Ofcourse, there are much better speakers available, but at that price point...not many.

Stephane

iTrader: (1)

Costly gamble but if the Infinity's don't do the work, I could always put them in mom's car and pretend they are the best and become her favourite's son :-)


(She doesn't know the first thing about sound and only have 1 son. Win-win situation hey !?!)

johnw

iTrader: (4)

You should have started with the head unit, if your source is SH#T you will have nothing but SH#T sound, no mater how good your speakers are, period.!!

Stephane

iTrader: (1)

True enough, and that was also my own mindset, but I was counselled otherwise.
Bah, the end result should be pretty good good anyhow !

kevmurray

I think you should always start with the weakest link. Electrically speaking the factory electronics are pretty good. They sometimes lack features we like but for the most part the noise and distortion levels are better than acceptable. Speakers account for the vast majority of distortion and so in most cars that would be the place to start. In many cases it affords splitting the frequency spectrum to multiple drivers better equiped to handle each portion of it.

Stephane

iTrader: (1)

In my case I think it just highlighted how miserable the head unit was. :-(