about a year ago tweeter installled a pioneer avic d1 in my 99 qx4 but the audio quality was never as good as the factory deck. when the volume goes past 50 instead of bass i get distortion. tweeter put in a soundgate xr4 adaptor but i think this may be the problem. I replaced it with the same model not any better. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks, greg

gpreynolds wrote:about a year ago tweeter installled a pioneer avic d1 in my 99 qx4 but the audio quality was never as good as the factory deck. when the volume goes past 50 instead of bass i get distortion. tweeter put in a soundgate xr4 adaptor but i think this may be the problem. I replaced it with the same model not any better. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks, greg

Are you using stock Bose speakers? If so - that is your problem. They are amplified by a Bose amp which is in your cargo area behind the drivers side plastic panel. Even with an adapter - this was not meant to be "mixed and matched". Keep bose with bose. I guarantee if you bypass the Bose amp and replace the speakers, it will make a world of difference, even if the new speakers are run solely off the Pioneer head unit. What your adapter is doing is lowering the output signal just so the Bose can amplify it again, thats where most of your quality loss is at, the rest is at your speakers. Also, audiophiles over on CarAudio.com have tested Pionner head units for distortion and the results showed that Pionner decks start distorting at anything above volume level 49. They checked with a distortion meter. I have a Pioneer deck in my QX4 with JBL components all around and a 1000w amp for them, and volume 49 is almost unbearable - enough to set car alarms off and get pulled over and searched for disturbing the peace PS the AVIC series is real nice, I like the looks of them a lot. How do you like the navigation on it? Is there any way to take the face plate off for security?

Also - when you're done, you can sell the Bose stuff on ebay. Bose head unit $100. Speakers $10 each. Bose amp $20-$40. Thats $180 you can make back easily, You won't use the stuff again anyways.

yes that is what my friend at tweeter told me but my other friend had a different pioneer deck in his 2000 maxima se with bose and it sounded fine i just wonder if it is a cheap adaptor and thats why the quality is so crappy. i dont need it to be perfect I jus need the highs to complement my subs thanks again for all your help oh btw i love the navi on the d1 wouldnt trade it i have the xm navtraffic the only downside is that the ipod adaptor sucks but other than that i love it oh almost forgot the face doesnt come off it flips down for the nav disc and cd player

So there's no theft prevention on it at all?? That wouldn't fly in my neighborhood. I can get a cheaper indash screen for about 450 but it also has no security features, meaning it would be gone within a week where I live. Anyways - i don't know about the maxima... is he running stock speakers? Is his Bose amp bypassed or not? There are a number of factors that can go into this... ALWAYS use the "LOUD" feature on Pioneer decks. I get best results with LOUD medium. What EQ settings are you running? Whats your HPF set at? Subwoofer LPF? Whats the bass setting at? I see from your last post that you have 2 subs. I can't imagine 2 subs working along with Bose speakers - the Bose definitely is not up to the task. If I were you, I would ditch the harness, ditch the bose speakers, bypass the Bose amp, and hook up some good aftermarket speakers. I put components up front and even have JBL tweeters in the OEM location and the highs have never sounded better. 0 distortion. this is also the expensive way out, so maybe adjusting your HPF could solve this? Mines at 100mhz.

I know someone who had the same problem but they had a custom cover to match the wood grain so it looks like there isnt a a radio. i have a viper 791 xv alarm. plus it fits so well it looks like a stock navi so less people want to mess with it.

i always put it on loud and the hpf on 125 and usually i set the EQ on normal because there isnt too much bass i understand that there will always be some degree of distortion but its obnoxious because i have to turn it up to like 52 for it to be a reasonable volume theres just too many variables i dont know enough about car audio to know where to begin

I dont have a bose subwoofer although my friends maxima did. i have a 1000 watt alpine amp and a rockford 12

yeah the rockford 12 will probably over-power the sound of your speakers. The sound pressure levels from the sub might be causing your distortion from the speakers as well.

oh no i have the amp and the sub in my car but its not hooked up yet i was waiting until i get the whole distortion thing worked out