Sound system suggestions?, <1000 budget Options

[ModdedST]

Alright my 94 ST coupe is all stock. It sucks.

I probabl have around 700-800 to spend a headunit and speakers (subs later).
Suggestions? I'll probably buy off crutchfield or something.

Ive also heard great things about Eclispe head units, but i dont know their prices, and i doubt they are in my range.

Thanks

[shid]

For your budget, forget eclipse. You need aftermarket amps for that- otherwise you only get around 13-18W RMS; they're made for preouts; not power outs

Just get alpine all around; and make sure you cut out the stock amp (if you have one)

[Exile04]

get the 8in memphis m-class mid range speakers the are so cool

[shid]

He doens't have enough money for memphis + the amps he'd need to drive them (memphis 8 inch Mclass RMS at 80 Watts)

[Consynx]

buy my subs

listed to Shid, he is the master at this

[mikew04]

What i did, and suggest, is to just buy one pair of nice splits for the front and buy an amp to power those. Just dont wire up the rear speakers. I think you would be much happier with a nice set up front with power, rather than speakers all the way around running off your HU. MB Quarts sound amazing BTW.

[ModdedST]

give me some links to the alpine products u suggest i buy (crutchfield.com links)
for the head unit, speakers.. I really dont know audio for crap

[Pali_playa]

i concur with shid

[shid]

What do you need head unit wise? Mp3 player? or just CD?

[importceli]

it looks like if you went with the lowest grade alpine (exactly the same as the eclipse but with detachable face) head unit that played mp3's im pritty sure it runs at about 18watts and then with the alpine v240 (4 way amp) you could run some speakers prob about 4 of em but thats no sub. Sounds like what you want tho that might run you about 300 for head unit 250 for amp and however much u got left for the speakers, i dunno what ur gonna do for install but thats a pritty good setup for the price.

[Exile04]

the cool thing is if u have the 8inch setup in your car like i do the memphis fit right into the whole its so cool. You can get 2 m-class for about 360 and plus a amp for like 150 or so..Do it you wont even need a sub

[Shodog1054]

I personally like Kenwood Head units and pioneer speakers. Good sound, Good looks, Good prices! Its sounds liek your like, a student with little cash. I have a Kenwood head unit and mid-priced Pioneer speaker all the way around. True theyd sound better with an amp but i dont have the money for that right now. Mine sounds great though.

[importceli]

yeah that kenwood does sound nice....untill i roll up with my alpine head unit and alpine amp n blow u away haha

[rocky2006]

dont buy off crutchfield. theyre way more than other sites. a good website that car audio maniacs post on is www.caraudioforum.com. i go there for advice.

[Scarrell]

with that much money you can get a good HU with some nice components and a good amp to power them.....look into Clarion, Pioneer Premier, Alpine and Eclipse HU's. for components look into CDT, Focal, Rainbow, MB Quart, and Infinity, for amps JL, Kicker, Zapco, JBL(probably your best bet if you want to save money), Arc Audio, Xtant, US Amps. stay away from Kenwood.

[Ricky]

ALWAYS, ALWAY ALWAYS . get a good head unit !!!

then build around it.

ALPINE is over-rated.

with that budget ($800) you can get

a set of separates : Pioneer $150

a set of subs : Cerwin Vega $100 each

Pioneer EQ 6500 with subwoofer control - $175 (ebay) VERY IMPORTANT !

Amp: It would be best to have 2 amps... one for the separates and one for the subs. Earthquake has an unexpensive line that is very good.

Try to find an used amp to save some cash but test it to make sure it works. And use the rest of the money on cables and installation.

[ModdedST]

I dont want subs

[Pali_playa]

[Scarrell]

ok so you want him to go with a Wal Mart system? i guess that is your idea of an awesome system.....Alpine makes some of the best HU's out there. just like every brand, their lower model products will not top their higher end models. the only thing worth buying from Cerwin Vega is there Vega series and Stroker subs. as Pali_Playa said, do not speak again, learn something about car audio before you talk about it. for $800 he can get a Clarion, Eclipse or Alpine cd player, some CDT, MB Quart, Focal component sets, some 6 1/2" or 8" midbass drivers and a 4 channel amp to power them all. again amps and midbass drivers too look at are MB Quart, Focal, CDT, Adire Audio, Kicker. 4 channel amps to look at JBL(awesome quality at awesome prices, www.sounddomain.com awesome deals right now), Kicker, JL, Memphis, Xtant, Zapco, US amps. (just to name a few in each area)

[shid]

At least he said to always get a good head unit?

[Shodog1054]

Why dont you guys give some prices here like Ricky did. Your just telling us a lot of brands to look at which can only go so far. Show us what you would buy if you had $1000 and be specific, not just an alpine hu. I'm interested to see what you guys can come up with.

[Scarrell]

for a $1000 i couldnt get my ideal system. but if i only had a $1000 id get a 12" Adire Audio Brahma ($379) powered by a JBL 600.1 ($159), my HU would be a Clarion DXZ945MP($350), my component speakers would be MB Quart Reference series 6 1/2"($150 or so) in the front, there will be no rear fill because front stage is what mostly matters(will i be in the back? no), my components would be powered by a JBL 80x4($159), and that is going as cheap as id go...and that would be a little over $1000(prices will vary depending on where you shop). heres a tip "no one ever said this was going to be cheap"

[Makaveddie]

Nice choices there...

Yes, alpine IS overrated. Their head units are the only things worth it.

Clarion head unit is nice... also, the new pioneer head units are great (you can get the deh-p860mp for around 300$ on ebay). Almost all newer HU's from Alpine, Pioneer Premier, Clarion, Eclipse are good.

As for speakers:

Look into components from CDT Audio, MB... DO NOT get alpine components.

Amp:

You can get some great hifonics amps for dirt cheap... they are good amps... The one you want will ultimately depend on your power needs, of course.

Ah yes, check out edesignaudio.com.

They have great speakers (components are the eDi series), amps (ninE.1 and ninE.2), and subs there (check out the new K series). High quality stuff for cheap, and you get a 3-year warranty. I could build you a CRAZY system for $1000 through that web site.

Of course, you must know that every one has a biased opinion. Everyone likes their own brand. Make sure u do research on forums like sounddomain.com, etc...

Ed.

[Ricky]

Guys, dont get upset because I said that Alpine is overrated. Just admit to it. Alpine IS overrated You can get the exact same features on any other brand and pay half the price.

try this, get an Alpine HU, connect the RCA's to a RTA (real time analyzer)and play a CD with pink noise. you will notice that it can play most of the frequencies in the spectrum at a very stable level... do the same with a Clarion Pro Audio and you will get the same or better response and pay much less money...

Just in case someone wants to know what the RTA is:

the RTA meter has two main functions the first is the SPL function this is used to test / measure the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) up to 180 DB in your vehicle. "The same meter used in car audio competitions when that place the mic in your car" The second function is the Real Time Analyzer (RTA) this is used to electronically set external equalizers to fine tune your system to its maximum potential by measuring the frequency response. I have one.

NO I dont want him or said to buy a Waltmart system.. I just worked with his budget and if you READ what I wrote I said get a GOOD HU and then work around it. that way when his budget gets better he can upgrade very easily.

As of my system:

Clarion Pro Audio HU
Phoenix Gold 230 EQ
MB Quarts competition components: 6" midbass, 4" midrange 1" tweeter
Presicion Power PPI X-Over with fiber optic cable from the remote unit
6 JL Audio 8W6 for subs
3 Audio Art 50HC amps: 1 for each component set
1 Audio Art 100HC amps: for the subs
3 - 1000 Farrad Caps
All wiring by Monster

Go get some homework done before you ask me not to speak again...

This post has been edited by Ricky: Nov 11, 2004 - 1:58 PM

[shid]

How'd you fit 6 subs in the vert? and all the amps?

[Pali_playa]

[Ricky]

Here is the setup;

One side panel, Phoenix Gold 230EQ
other side 3 Amps.. Audio Art HC50 one for each component separate pair

in the middle the Audio Art HC100 for the subs

under the HC100 amp the PPI -Xover DCX-1000 with the remote unit (RDM-1000) underneath the HU

The box was customized to the trunk and it was divided in 2 chambers each with 3 8" JL audio 8W6 subs into a single channel off the amp (bridged) - Mono subs you see only 4 in the picture because the other 2 are facing the sides and cannot be seen











This post has been edited by Ricky: Nov 11, 2004 - 3:09 PM

[importceli]

ok he might get 1 point for saying "get a good head unit" but other than that hes just stupid. Alpine's low end is still some of the best out there like i said eclipse makes a good headunit too but they dont have detachable face which youll find to be quite nice when u park in a bad neighborhood or something. Also if you dont want subs id recomend the mb quarts refrence about 300 for a pair front and then you can get something for the back the amp for the mb's will prob b about 300ish depends what you want ie resistence/performance but id def go either alpine/eclipse/or maybe even pioneer. (things that suck: sony headunits)

[Ricky]

[Scarrell]

well basically you have all our opinions.... cd players: Alpine, Clarion, Eclipse and Pioneer Premier... you dont want subs but we suggest midbass for the lows. so for components: Focal, MB Quart, Rainbow, CDT. for midbass look into the same brands. for amps look into Zapco, JL, Kicker, Xtant, Cadence, Orion, JBL, MTX, US Amps. a good set of components and midbass with atleast 75rms would sound damn good.... maybe the Euro's from CDT? in the end its up to you...

[FreddyTheOthaMea...]

Alpine does make some pretty good subwoofers ... The head units and components are way over priced for the quality though.

But, if your on a budget you could do an all kenwood system and still get some pretty decent sound out of it.

The question is, why wouldn't you want any subwoofers?

[shid]

All kenwood is NOT a decent sound system. I gave up on this thread; too much misinformation from people who don't have a clue.

But if I hear that kenwood makes quality parts one more ****ing time..

[importceli]

i guess were just all set in our ways o well

[Scarrell]

if he went with an All Kenwood system, id say it wouldnt last till next year. this guy really needs to do some hard research and listen to the stuff. because we are giving him way too many brands. if i was on a budget and had to do a Whole setup of the same brand.. it would be Eclipse.

[Shodog1054]

Like I said earlier you guys aren't helping anyone any by just throwing around names. Sure some brands are better than others, but every brand has its good products if you go high enough. You also have to realize that many of us are on a very strict budget. To fit into these budgets you normally have to sacrifice a little quality. For most people the diffrence in the sound between a top of the line system and a cheaper system isn't that much. Half the people will never use it to its full potential. Thats just something to keep in mind when your suggesting this stuff.

[Ricky]

[quote=shid,Nov 14, 2004 - 6:59 PM]
All kenwood is NOT a decent sound system. I gave up on this thread; too much misinformation from people who don't have a clue.

I feel your pain Shid. But dont give up. I had a short argument with a guy at an Audio Competition.. he insisted that Pyramid was one of the best brands out there... the argument lasted 5 sec after he said that.


[quote=importceli,Nov 14, 2004 - 7:39 PM]
i guess were just all set in our ways o well
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Importceli... I'll take that as an apology for calling me stupid.

Dont get me wrong, Alpine makes some really good stuff but is overpriced just because is Alpine, that is why I think that is over-rated.

This post has been edited by Ricky: Nov 15, 2004 - 9:41 AM

[Scarrell]

not every brand has its good stuff. look at Sony, Legacy, Boss, Pyramid, Pyle, Volfenhag...etc.. we need to hear from ModdedST to see what he has to say and if he has made any decisions. obviously he will go with the more respected guys that have been here longer than i have, but i have given the same brands and a little more they agree with, so either way he should be fine, as long as he stays away from cheap crap.

[Shodog1054]

I never said to get the cheap stuff. I said that most people need to work into a budget and that they won't notice the diffrence between a $2500 system and a $1000 system.

Sure some people have been here longer but that doesn't mean their right. I saw someone say to go to Circuit City in another topic. I don't know it all but I know better than to buy from there.

[Scarrell]

id know the difference between a $1000 and a $2500 system. anyway this guy needs to give us something to work with....he doesnt want subs, so i am suggesting the next best thing that will still give him some lows so it isnt all highs and a little midbass....its up to him but he really needs to read our posts and post himself.

[Ricky]

Give him some time.. he will realize that he needs subs if he wants his system to sound decent. It does not make any sence to have the mids and hi frequencies and not the lows..

By the way.. the difference between a 2500 system and a 1000 system is $1500... there is a difference.

This post has been edited by Ricky: Nov 16, 2004 - 3:16 PM