stock (non bose) radio
 

just wondering if anyone else has a really crappy sounding radio? CD's sound good and i have no issue with the way it sounds but FM is just terrible. it sounds like everything is very distorted and almost impossible to listen to. i bought the car used and it is tinted, could the tint be messing with the signal and causing every station to sound like garbage? i just thought it was the crappy head unit but like i said, CD's sound perfect.

the tint may cause it, the lead in the film could mess with the antenna that is in the glass.

anyone experiance this with a before and after tint install?

FM radio is only around 8kbps? and very compressed normal store bought cd's are around 1024kbps even mp3's are around 128kbps. That could be what you are hearing. Unless you are hearing this after tint install.

or the antenna booster is dead?

it was tinted when i bought the car. i just cant believe how terrible the radio sounds. if it sounded as good as the cd's do then i wouldnt even think about changing it out. im not really big into audio but would like a halfway decent sounding radio ya know. where is the antenna booster?

I have the base stereo and UV tint, sounds surprisingly good though, both CD and FM. The Aux in is fine as well. Maybe the tinter effed up your antenna?

hmm, anyway to tell? i just want to be able to turn it up a little without it sounding like all the speakers are blown and it only sounds like this on FM wtf. i did get some talk show and the people talking sounded just fine. there was base when one guy talked and it came in loud and clear. maybe i need a new stock crappy head unit

I've got one if you want it.
I know mine sounded pretty crappy, but I didn't really listen to it enough to judge if it was like you described. I swapped it for an aftermarket within a few months.

FM would never sound as good as CD.

My old HU was ok, not crappy.

Yes the stock HU is crap. Nothing will sound good until you upgrade the system........ Others will disagree but a good set of component speakers will
make a major difference....

Thanks for the offer but if i spend any time doing something with the radio i may as well just put a better one in and then see if the speakers need to be changed. i changed only the speakers in my base 350z and it sounded a lot better but not quite what i wanted.

I think your answer lies somewhere in between a new head unit and new speakers. Do the head unit first and see what that gives you than go for speakers. Just keep in mind radio always is going to sound more FLAT than cd's or mp3's.

My stock radio sounded fine, when I got it new w/o tint. It sucks now with a new HU. I only listen to my ipod now.

my stock non-touring head unit also gets terrrrrrible FM reception. no tint on the z.

as a test, i plugged my ipod nano into aux and used its FM tuner function just to compare quality.

the ipod nano's FM reception (basically using only the patch cable as an antenna) is FAR superior to the head unit's FM reception.

so sad. aftermarket head units plug into the car's existing antenna, right? i wonder if the poor FM reception issue is a function of the antenna or the stock head unit.

it would be a shame to replace the head unit only to have the same terrible FM reception.