from mediocre to high sound quality

I have been "working" on my car audio for about 2 months now.  I've been thinking about it on and off for about 2 years, but have only actually put ideas to paper and product in my vehicle since November.  I have installed a DSP, switched to a bi-amp system, swapped OEM for aftermarket speakers and added a single, small sub.  This has created a "real", audible difference.  After tweaking the DSP for a couple weeks, I noticed for the first time today that I can hear subdtleties that I never thought about:  the intake of breath before the singer delivers her lyric, the slide of the bassist's fingers along the strings, and the click of the pick on the mandolin's or guitar's pick-guard, etc.  The subwoofer now allows me to experience the kick drum in my gut. 

However, I feel as though I still have a "mediocre" set-up.  1) I can hear the hiss inherent in my crappy amps.  I know how to fix that problem.  2) In swapping the OEM system (which had 6 1/2" coaxials in the doors and 3/4" tweeters in the dash) for aftermarket 6 1/2" coaxials in the doors only, I have created a noticably lower sound stage.  I now image somewhere around chest level.  I have toyed with the idea of going three-way up front with woofers in the doors and mids/tweets in a custom enclosure on the dash.  3) I can tell a big difference above and below 80Hz (the crossover frequency from coaxials to subwoofer) in how powerful a bass note "hits".  I think I can fix that by having woofers with better bass response up front (or even installing another, even smaller sub up front that will "bridge the gap").  4) I am still missing the warmth and deep ambience that I experienced at the car audio shop when I fell in love with Focal speakers.  I want to reproduce that in my car - that has always been my goal. 

This question is for any professional competitors and/or installers.  How would you proceed to get from where I am to where I want to be?  I drive a mid-size hatchback (a Suzuki Aerio SX, similar to a Toyota Matrix or Pontiac Vibe).  I have no interest in competition, so fancy lighting and fiberglass, linear-actuated amp racks, and seventeen-coat paint jobs are not the issue.  I want pure, high-fidelity, transparent music reproduction (with enough bells and whistles to adequately enter my "subjective" preferences).  What are your thoughts? 

What's your head unit?  You can never achieve better sound quality than what your source can provide.  And if you are driving Focal speakers with "crappy" amps, you are doing the speakers a disservice.  As far as your relative SPL levels between sub and mains, the key is to balance the sub output levels with the mains.  Do you have an SPL meter? 

Your system is only as good as the weakest link...

I would normally add my .02 but since I am totally shat faced right now, I will leave this to my humble sober friends here on the forum to handle on my behald, ah dak it I can't find the f. I will however come back and post something legible later on today and give some pertinent information. Until then, say no to fat chicks and keep your stick on the ice.

Oh yeah, definitely consider a good source unit, the balance of the system is only as good as the source. Without reading the above posts but seeing the names of the people who posted, I know that there was at least one shameless plug for Eclipse in there somewhere.

I've considered the Eclipse CD7000 or CD5000 head units.  I've also read really good things about the Nakamichi CD700ii and the McIntosh head units (though not sure there's actually $1500 worth of sound quality in those).  I'm currently using the factory head unit, which everyone says is Clarion but which has Mitsubishi Electric stamped on the back of the chassis.  To its credit, it is 6-disc in-dash and recognizes mp3 and WMA discs.  I'm feeding high-level input to a Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.1 DSP.  That's what's allowed me to tweak so far.  I like it pretty well.  I'm wondering, however, that if I run a nice head unit through the 3Sixty, I'll be wasting money somewhere.  To that point, I've heard that the above-mentioned Eclipse head units have as much signal processing as my 3Sixty and even have time delay, so maybe I'll get one of those and recoup some money selling the 3Sixty...

I'm not yet using Focal - I'm using Polk db650 coaxials in the four corners.  I don't know yet whether I'll stick with the Focal idea.  I loved the sound, but am open to the fact that there are other speakers out there I haven't heard and that may equal or surpass the Focals to me.  The problem with that is my location.  I'm not in southern California... I'm in western North Carolina.  I trust my local audio shop to some extent.  The owner, Joey Cloninger, used to hold the SPL world record in a sub-500Watt division (155.8 dB) so he knows power and big sound.  He seems to talk smart about SQ, but I'm wary.  The closest big installer is Tweeter, which has 4 locations within 75 miles.  That's where I heard the Focals.  Other than that, 99% are CRAP.  I'm not too far from the Florida area that Matt Roberts is from (the guy who scored 305 SQ at this year's IASCA Worlds in his Chevy truck) - I'd love to meet that guy and see just what he did in his ride. 

So... a new head unit.  Definitely a must.  Would finding a unit that has low/mid/high pre-outs instead of front/rear/sub make a difference?  How do I understand the ratings for fm sensitivity - is a higher number or a lower one better?  Is there an audible difference in a "regular" D/A converter and, say, a Burr-Brown 96/24?  What about balanced interconnect signals - are they worth it?  I've got three completely different ideas about speaker placement up front.  What is everyone's favorite set-up?  How much bass is "too much" bass for SQ (this may make some people scratch their heads, but the fact is - a plucked string bass in a live setting WILL NOT shake the glass)?  Can you over-damp a car?  So many questions... sorry!

So, here I am some scant hours later after being c**k blocked by my employee and neighbour (thanks Windmill.....seems the girls were a little too noisy....right when the "best" in best freinds was coming into play as well).

Definitely do a cd player and bypass the 360. I would look at the CD5000 as it is the more powerful unit for it's abilities in your system. Right now that is your weak link and is the very first thing that you should address. Just by changing that head unit, it is going to open up avenues for you that you do not have available to you with the factory head unit.

After that, consider of course the Focal speakers and Morel. You cannot miss with either of these lines.

I have an appointment today to get my front doors sound-damped.  That should help a bit...  Then I'm heading to Charlotte to "re-audition" the Focals.  You like Morel, forbidden?  I've not had any experience with that company, but the review on the new Dotechs was solid in this month's Car Audio magazine (rated a 77 out of 100, I think.  I wonder what their reference speakers are and what they score...).

Again, I'm faced with a limited retail base.  Sonic Electronix has the CD5000 for only $269.  Considering what it would cost at Circuit City, that's a HUGE savings.  Is it worth it get a much-reduced warranty?  No Morel dealers in this area, either - or DynAudio, or Rainbow, or CDT, or Zapco, or Arc, or Genesis, etc... Sigh.  Not much to work with.

I earlier mentioned the "hiss" inherent in my Blaupunkt amps.  I'm going to try playing with the gains tomorrow and see where that takes me.  Who knows?  Maybe I'm doing it all wrong and will improve the SQ greatly just by playing and learning.

I wondered about how you guys would feel about internet purchases (unauthorized)... I'm wary of that unless it's Crutchfield.  I am 100% confident in them.  I agree with supporting the local guys who are there to support me.  It's just hard to stomach paying $600 for something I can conceivably get for $270.  Oh well... you get what you pay for. 

Yesterday, I had my front doors sound-damped (both outer wall and inner).  The road noise reduction is amazing.  I can also turn the music up a bit louder without getting front distortion - a result of a more solid support for the speakers, I suppose.  I am extremely eager to get the rest of the car done now.  I had originally thought that I would do all four doors, the rear pillars, the "trunk" and the hatch.  I didn't want to have the whole interior yanked to do the floor because of the airbags in the sides of the front seats.  Now, I think I will turn my car over to the guys and let them do my entire interior, front to back (maybe even the headliner).  This will allow them to do a much better job of laying wire than I did, which could possibly make an even bigger impact on noise reduction.  With as much difference as the front doors made, I am drooling at what difference so much more damping will do.  Do you folks agree, or is this overkill?

What are some suggestions for high sound-quality amps?  I have considered Memphis (only because my local shop carries the line), Alpine (again, only because it's easily obtained), ARC Audio (though I don't like it when manufacturers "sell out" - Foose?  come on...), Zapco (considering that a large percentage of show winners use this brand, so I've heard), Genesis (because it's an English company ), and xtant (though they're damn-near impossible to find).  Any other suggestions (anyone mentioning Rockford Fosgate, MTX, Kicker or Sony will be summarily executed..)?  Regardless of expense, I want top-notch sound quality.

In the midst of all these lines of discussion in this post, I've not mentioned (nor have I heard) anything about redoing the wiring in my car.  Is The Big Three a feasible project to improve performance and sound quality in my car?  Would installing a "better quality" alternator make a difference?  Just another in the looooooong list of my questions... lol.