Progressing with the vehicle stereo system upgrade (Inquiry Project)
I have chosen to upgrade my stereo system in my car.
It is a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta MK4 1.9L Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) with a station-wagon body. It’s an older vehicle with all stock speakers and head unit.
I have taken a chance on GenAI to assist me in my upgrading endeavours. With the simple prompt of:
“Please find an amp, new speakers, tweeters, single head din digital media receiver, and subwoofer for a VW 2006 mk4 Jetta for under $1000”
Hanne Deener
I presented ChatGPT and Copilot with the same information and received these responses:
| Product | ChatGPT | Copilot |
| Digital Media Receiver | Model: Pioneer DEH-S6220BS Price: ~$130 Features: Bluetooth, USB, and AUX inputs, compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. | DS18 SDX-P200: This single DIN receiver offers 240 Watts RMS (4 x 60W), Bluetooth, USB, AUX, and a built-in DSP. It’s priced at around $299.951. |
| Amplifier | Model: Pioneer GM-D1004 Price: ~$150 Features: 4-channel amp that delivers 100 watts RMS, compact size, suitable for driving your speakers and tweeters. | Pioneer GM-D8701: A mono amplifier that provides 800W RMS at 1 ohm, suitable for powering your subwoofer. It’s available for approximately $179.992. |
| Speakers | Model: JBL Club 6520 Price: ~$70 (pair) Features: 6.5″ 2-way speakers with a good balance of performance and price. | JBL GTO609C: A component speaker system with 6.5-inch woofers and separate tweeters. These are priced around $99.952. |
| Tweeters | Model: Rockford Fosgate R1T-S Price: ~$50 (pair) Features: 1″ tweeters with a solid frequency response and great sound clarity. | Rockford Fosgate Prime R1T-S: These 1-inch tweeters come with crossovers and are priced at about $49.992. |
| Sub-woofer | Model: Bbox E10SV Price: ~$100 Features: A sealed enclosure designed for the P3D4-10, maximizing sound quality. | Rockford Fosgate P3D4-12: A 12-inch subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coils, priced around $149.992. |
| Additional Accessories | Wiring Kit: ~$50 Speaker Wire: ~$20 Installation Kit: ~$30 | |
| Totals: | ~$800 | ~$779.87 |
While the interface of ChatGPT seems more user-friendly with easy eye-catching details such as the use of bullet points and headers with numbers listing the items, Copilot offered links for direct research and purchasing power, which is very accessible to the user. ChatGPT did include the necessary additional accessories for installation while Copilot did not.
The next steps for me will be to gauge where the the subwoofer and amplifier would fit into my vehicle, research what kind of intricacy we’re working with for the installation process, and how much it would be to have a shop fix anything I install incorrectly.