Car Audio Sound System?

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aim

aim

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So I live out in the suburbs now, so I spend a lot of time in the car on the freeways and what not. I'm going to upgrade the sound system in my car. Here's what I'm looking for:

Bluetooth connectivity for my phone (so I can talk hands free or whatever)
XM or Sirius Radio: (I don't know whats better)
High quality audio: don't have to here my coming from a block away, I'm more interested in high quality than bass that rattles other cars.

I don't know if this still means I need an amp + sub speakers, or whatever. I have absolutely no clue about any of this.

I'd like to spend around $1500 or so, perhaps more if it's necessary.

Any suggestions??
 


I would say spend about $350-450 on a good head unit that meets all your requirements. Alpine is the best brand when it comes to sound quality (in my opinion). Since you're looking for sound quality, you're going to need at least 1 4 channel amplifier and replacement speakers for each of your stock speakers in the car. This doesn't solve the bass situation, but you will have a ton of sound quality at this point.

Then you can buy a 1-channel subwoofer amp and probably 1 10" JL Audio sub. This should provide ample bass while still keeping your sound quality up to par.

Another option is a 5-channel amplifier. You could buy 1 good 5 channel amplifier and use it to power all of the replacement speakers and the subwoofer. You can get some pretty good Xtant amplifiers off of eBay. I find Xtant to have some of the best 5-channel amps on the market.

If you can install it yourself, then go for it. If not, expect to spend $300-400 having all of that installed.

If you have any more specific questions, hit me up.

In case you're wondering, I've had tons of stereo systems in the past, and am currently working on a project for my Chrysler 300. I'm installing 2 JL Audio 13w7 subs, 2 JL Audio 1000/1 subwoofer amps (1 for each sub), 1 JL Audio 450/4 4 way amplifier, and 2 sets of MB Quart 6.5" components (4 6.5" midranges, 4 1" tweeters, 4 Crossovers). I'm kind of into this kinda stuff :)
 
Thanks for the advice. Paying for installation is much better than f-cking something up myself. Is it worth it to buy something off ebay or is it worth the extra money to buy new from a retailer (ultimate electronics is what I was thinking)
 
sirius, having a buffer is cool if you can get that with your unit. this should be easy to do for the price you have.
 
BigWill said:
I always buy my stuff off ebay and take it to be installed. You tend to save alot of money
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Same here. The only x-factor with that is using ebay and not getting burned. As long as you're competent with eBay (which i'm sure you are) you tend to save tons doing it this way. Retailers will rob you big time on cost of parts. For instance I paid about $550 each for 2 amps that the retailer wanted $999 for each. Install is typicall $50-$100 per amp. They don't hook you up on installation because you buy parts from them.
 
I agree with the alpine deck. I've had a few and alpine always impresses. Worth the $$.

Get a deck without an internal amp. Using a more powerful external amp will make even shitty speakers sound loads better.

If you are serious about sound quality, consider getting an active crossover and speakers that are built to handle specific frequencies. Avoid full range speakers.

Most of this comes into play more the louder you listen. If you don't listen to music too loud, you can scale back on the quality of your stuff and save some money. But still go with the nice deck.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I know absolutely nothing about any of this, so it's a big help. It sounds like I need to look for an Alpine deck, Xtand 5 channel sub, replace all stock speakers with upgrades (brand suggestions? infinity?) and add a 10" JBL subwoofer. The subwoofer may be a problem for me

One question that you may or may not have the answer to, I have a 08 Ford explorer, which has a HUGE drunk space but unfortunately it's wide open to view into. I want a sub but I don't necessarily want it visible. I've asked aroud and it looks like my only option is to get the subwoofer enclosed in a very narrow box and try to fit it under the backseat. Am I going to compromise a lot of sound quality here?
 
They make custom sub enclosures for most vehicles (qforms, bassforms, thunderforms, etc) that come with subs in them. I did a quick check and didn't see anything for the 08 Explorer, but I didn't look too long, so it might be worth seeing if you can find anything.

Different subs require different amounts of space to function optimally. This is different depending on the type of box you go with (sealed, ported, bandpass), so just read through the specs and make sure there is enough room for a big enough box.

I'd get a JL sub over a JBL sub. Infinity components are pretty badass. The last set I had were the Kappas, but that was a while ago. Good stuff.
 
aim said:
Thanks for the advice. Paying for installation is much better than f-cking something up myself. Is it worth it to buy something off ebay or is it worth the extra money to buy new from a retailer (ultimate electronics is what I was thinking)
Click to expand...

Totally agree - as easy as it is, find an installer who knows what they're doing (plenty don't) and will do a nice, clean install.

I'd pick at least the deck up off of Crutchfield, they've got decent prices, a good return policy incase you're not happy (much easier than re-ebaying some deck that you don't end up liking), and you can trust them.
 
i just got a jvc exad cus my old deck kept messin up. its a dvd player that also has an ipod hookup and xm built in, with great preamps (its illegal to not attach the dvd player to the parking break, at least in my state) So i tipped the installer guy a little so he just capped it off, so i can play dvd's while driving. It's a great deck, i definitely recommend it and it was only $450, which is incredible for a dvd deck (and jvc's are my favorite brand of decks). Beyond that just swapping out your stock speakers will make all the difference in the world. Before you buy check the wattage of the speakers and your deck to make sure you won't need an amp for them. A sub+amp is an almost essential addition, you just got to figure out where to put it. I can't stand those people who put too big of a subsystem in their shitty trunks and they go down the road rattling like a change can.

I'm not hugely into any single brand for everything, infact most matched brand systems suck ass. So the best you can do is to mix it up a little. Here's my personal favorites:
Decks: JVC
AMPs: Rockford, some alpines, and believe it or not the newer panasonics.
Subs: Polk hands down. Although for 10" subs alpines rock (for an economical juggernaut check out the Type-S).

You also got to consider what type of subs and speakers to get, more isn't always better. Ifyou listen to rap and heavy beat type music larger subs are usually best like 12". They react slow but give a bigger sound. If you're more into rock and metal 10" give a faster response rate and cleaner sound with some boom. Same with speaker systems. 6x9's tend to give more bass but due to their shape have worse clarity and range. Sometimes just mounting two stand alone tweaters on the top of your dash will give you a way better high freq. sound than getting 4 power guzzling 3-way speaker systems with the tweaters built in. Like I said sometimes less is more but thats no excuse to go out and buy stand alone woofers with some expectation of all around sound(infact just don't even consider it). talk to the person whos' going to do the install before buying. On the internet you'll get a million different opinions but in the end the professional installing it is the one who'll give you the best sound for the money.
 
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