stereo & speaker audio quality question

Total car newbie here

I have the OEM stereo (still in good/great condition) and speakers. I bought a cassette tape that is attached with a bluetooth adaptor and turn it on manually to connect with my phone to play music. Mostly listen to EDM music but there is this "white noise" like sound when you turn up the volume, I'm assuming it's from the low quality OEM speakers. If I want clearer audio sound without the white noise, can I just replace the speakers with higher brand quality or do I need to replace the stereo as well (I don't care much for the new technology gadget stuff). I'd be open to hear thoughts on why I should consider a stereo upgrade as well.

Any ideas on price range to have it installed?

If you feel inclined, leave some brand suggestions I prefer high quality over quantity kind of guy and budget is open.

 

Go to Crutchfield Stereo, They are your friend, and will have many options for you to choose from. I replaced my factory stereo with a Kenwood receiver with Matching Kenwood speakers. Sounds so much better.

 

Cassette tape adapter is going to be noisy, that’s the nature of the beast. You’d be better off with a stereo that has integrated Bluetooth, and then upgrade speakers later.

 

Umm…cassette tape? Haven’t used one of those since the 80’s

 

I agree, it's most likely the device you're using to connect the tape deck (haven't written that in awhile) to the stereo.

 

I second this that is where your white noise background is coming from.

It also depends how finicky you are the factory unit and speakers are fine for my downgraded hearing .

A$1000.00 system and a $100.00 system will sound the same to me.

 

^^^
This. I found that even my cheap under $100 JVC head unit gave new life to the stock speakers and modern features like USB input, Bluetooth and backup camera input. Installation took me a single afternoon including the camera. Worth every bit of effort.

 

I also think your cassette adapter is the most likely culprit to the white noise. If you enjoy listening to music in your truck you'll appreciate a new head unit and speakers. Don't have to spend a ton, even a cheap Bluetooth head unit will be an improvement over the factory one. That said, if you ever have the door panels off, I would suggest temporarily changing the stereo balance to the front and unplugging the main door speakers to listen to your tweeters in isolation. Mine were producing a terrible high pitched sound, just unplugging them would have improved the sound in the cab. A small square of butyl rubber on the outer door shell behind the main speakers also helps quite a bit.

 

Then you said

The OEM sound system should have a CD player and cassette, yours does not?

Doubtful the white noise is from the speakers, I still run OEM sound all around and crank it on occasion. :-D

White noise generally means a free circuit somewhere is passing interference to the amplifier/preamplifier. The components in modern circuits are extremely sensitive, you can sometimes affect a circuit function by simply placing your hand next to it, they are that sensitive. Capacitors within the circuit usually filter out interference, but if you're adding a new component to the existing OEM stereo that's likely the culprit.

First thing to check is to ensure all the grounds are properly grounded and there are no "free wires"" hanging. When you add a component like an external player, it may "work" because it's getting it's ground from the frame of the component, but if the ground wire for the unit is not properly grounded, this could cause some noise.

Disclaimer: not suggesting you do this unless you know what you're doing. One of the things that can be done is to experiment with capacitors across the absolute power inputs and/or audio outputs. That is, jump the red and black wires with capacitors. It won't short circuit, that's not how capacitors work, but they are often used to filter/reduce stray electrons from affecting the circuit.

If it were me that's where I'd start; try some capacitors on the unit's audio out jacks and the power jacks. Generally audio wires are black and white or colors with a common ground.

As I recall there are even inline filters you can get to just plug in, but it's been a long time since I needed one.

It sounds like you are just using the cassette for the BT, correct? Is the cassette player new or used? Have you tried a cassette tape in it, same effect? You can pick up a standalone BT device for like $5-6 on Fleabay, Wal-Mart even has them.

 

Like others have said the white noise is most likely coming from your cassette Bluetooth dongle. For $100 at Walmart I found a head unit with bluetooth and 2 speakers as a package. Another trick would be to buy some sound deading and put it behind the speakers and in the doors. Speakers create audio waves in both directions. What doesn't get absorbed from behind the speaker can refract outwards and muddy up your audio. For $100 its an easy way to get some better sound without new speakers. I found the sound was alot clearer and the mid to low bass was alot louder.

 

The cassette adaptor is the source of the white noise.

Head to crutchfield and get yourself a new head unit, Din adaptor, and whatever harness adaptor you need to wire it up. Stick to the main brands, Alpine, etc, and you can't go wrong.

That being said- if EDM and bass is your jam, two things.

1) Audio source and transmission matter. If you're pulling songs from Spotify/Apple Music, they can send the audio in different qualities. Blue Tooth can transmit lossless audio now-a-days, but if Spotify or whatever other source is streaming non-lossless your efforts are lost. Using the phone as the music source and storing the audio files on there in a lossless format makes a difference albeit at less convenience. Bass in particular is seems the most filtered in streaming services.

2) The stock speakers aren't anything to write home about. Eventually you'll want better door speakers and probably a sub.

Set your expectations accordingly. Despite having medium quality speakers and sub in my truck, streaming over Spotify is notably lower quality.

 

So I've tested the cassette (found a cassette haha) and radio station same white noise effect at higher volumes but not as prevalent as the bluetooth adaptor. Wasn't able to insert a CD so I think it's jammed with a disc or two in there but I'd imagine similar results.

Thanks for all the input, I've decided I'm going to upgrade both when the time comes. Any idea what audio shops do to the old stereo and speaker? Any worth or trade-in value kind of deal to them, they're all still in really good condition lol.

 

The CD's would have a significantly better quality than the cassette or the cassette/BT adaptor. You could try selling the OEM head unit here in the BST (buy, sell, trade) sub forum, but a head unit with a jammed cd is not in "really good condition", so set your expectations accordingly.

 

No it can't. BT5.0 is capped at 500 kbps. FLAC is 1441 kbps. Bluetooth will always have to use a codec to compress. Although it's way better then it was it will never be truly lossless.

 

My mistake. I found the article I had read awhile back, and while it's titled "Bluetooth Lossless Audio is Finally Here", they burry the details mentioning by lossless means "CD-quality"...

 

I have this set up and spent a bit less since i have a buddy that gets audio products discounted through his job. The issue with this set up is the subwoofer. Which doesnt quiet fit nicely under the seat and i had to object for seat jackers.

In total i spent $655 not including the seat jackers mentioned ($176)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10-WJr1_VOhTYC-BCiwoCTmA0E0GkyMfsgPClsXeBdjE/edit?usp=sharing