Hey guys, after recently not getting a SE-R (i was so pissed) I had to settle for a damn toyota corolla..=o(. Well as you know those bad boys rnt that fast and dont have an sr20de big nasty engine. So I wanna do system in it, but I have never read about it. And i can't seem to get much help. Can some1 plz gimme like a quick 1 sentence line of everything I would need, a quick descritpion of stuff like amps, subs, yadda yadda. I got about 1k but the cash is flowing in. Also are those sony xplode cd players good?
Sony sucks, plain and simple. For 1K, your not gonna get much, unless you buy cheap junk. Your basic quality headunit is about $250-$300. Front and rear speakers are another $200-$500. Add in a small 8ga. amp wiring kit is about $50. Now that's assuming your running one amp. For two amps, for $75 you can get a 4ga. wiring kit, which is better to have anyway. Now your one to a set of good cheap subs in a box, lets say your basic Kicker Comp 12's @ $100 a pop, and about $100-$200 for a good box. Next is distrabution blocks, which are about $30 a piece. Now your left with two amps, a good 4 channel and a 1 channel mono subwoofer amp. $250 for 4 channel, $300-$1000 on subwoofer amp. Getting kinda expensive, huh?? MY best friend's banging sytem cost him $3500, and that was bought from his good friend used, and $400 for me to do the install (which was 1/3 of stores/shops around here) I would get a Pioneer DEH-6400 headunit (Best bang for your buck) and get good front and rear speakers. I'd say drop $250 for a great component set, like Infiniti Kappa, and Polk Audio (about $125) for the rear speakers. Right there is only about $650. Go buy a 4ga amp wiring kit. Your left with about $275. Now buy a good 4 channel amp like a MTX or Alpine. Get a good set of RCA cables (About $50) and you'll have a great start. Good luck!!!
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1996 Cutlass Supreme SL (not stock) 1 of 2 CS's w/ Grand Prix HUD and Dash!!
Mods - Custom Catback w/ Dual Flowmasters, Custom 3" FWI, 17" ADR Rims, SilverStar Conversion, Grand Prix HUD Swap, Grand Prix Dash, GMPP Trailing Arms, Carputer w/ Lilliput 7" Touchscreen, Kicker ZX200.4 Amp, HP Tuners MPVI Tuned http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...wserwerwer.jpg
stay away from Sony, you can get much better for the price
As far as what you need it all depends on your needs/preferences and budget. Describing what you need will take way way more than a sentance. For a whole new stereo system you will need a new receiver (cd player), and new speakers, everything else is optional. You can go with only front speakers if you wish, and completely remove the rear speakers. This traditionally will sound clearer and "better" but you will lose some of your midbass as you have less cone area to push the air. Depending on how much power you want, and the clearity you want, you might want to get an amp to power your mids/highs (normal cabin speakers). The size/power of the amp depends completely on the speakers you get. You also might want a sub, if you get 1, or 2, or 18, you will need an amp to push it. Again the size of the amp depends completely on the sub(s) you decide on.
Some brand recommendations...
receiver:
Alpine
Pioneer
Eclipse
interior speakers:
Boston Acoustics
CDT
Diamond
Infinity
JL Audio
Alpine
The things I've listed here are pretty much the best of the best, if you don't want to spend so much you can always downgrade a little here or a little there, but a grand will get you pretty far. It is going to take you weeks of researching to find what you really want, my recommendation is to not jump into ANYTHING until you are absolutely sure that is what you want. There are way too many choices to just pick the first one and hope that it sounds good.
As a comparison, I spent about $1400 on my system. I have a Pioneer Premier DEH-P750MP headunit, Infinity Kappa front and rear speakers, a US Acoustics 85x4 amp, Elemental Designs 12A, and an Avionixx 800x1 amp. I love the way my system sounds, the only thing I would change would be the US Acoustics amp...the 4085 (my model) has some static problems and it gets annoying, I might switch to a JBL to replace it but I'm not sure yet.
Well I disagree that you would get cheap junk for 1K...I will show you my set-up and u can judge it for yourself.
---Sony CDX-C8050X Mobile ES Head Unit. BF – 200.00.
---Alpine SPR-176A Type R Component 2 Way Speakers. (Front) – BF – 179.99.
---Pioneer TS-1680R 4 Way Speakers. (Rear) - BF – 79.99.
---Sony Xplod XM-460GTX 600 Watt 4 Channel Amp (60X4@4Ohms RMS). (Front and rear speaker Amp.) – BF - 129.99.
---Kicker 800.2 800 Watt 2 Channel Amp for the subs. - BF - 330.00$
---(2)12" Kicker L5 Competition subwoofers in a ported box. 450.00
(Wiring + Installation for speakers/amps/subs – 275.00).
TOTAL about 1700$...Yea never mind I guess for a half decent set-up you would need around 2K...I bought my stuff on Ebay/Friends, I could use a better speaker amp and my subs are going to kill the highs...Im more of a bass guy so its not bad...But what you need 100% is a head unit, 4 speakers, 2 amps (One for speakers, prefferably a 4 way, one for subwoofers, probably a 2 channel), and a set of subwoofers in a box. The stuff I have brand new would cost 2500$ but my BEST advice to you...is think, rethink and triple think what ur getting twice, better spend the extra money for the quality rather then buy cheap and replace later...and never make spontaneous decisions!
medistar, search on ebay for almost everything. this will be your cheapest way. i have a xplod cd player and it worked great until it skipped on all cd's. sony replaced it and now the 3 button sticks. do not get one!! and i have a fairly good sytem at around 700. thanks to ebay though.
p.s. does an amp really help to mids and highs, whats it do for them.
.....$30......for a distro block........you got ripped.....
anyway, look around for a wiring kit with all this included. distrobution block/s, inline fuses, your basic wiring of course, like main power line, ground line, turnon lead etc....
do all your research for equipment on Crutchfield.com , and then go shopping somewhere else, cause they rip ya off good.
bestbuy has a deal going now for rockford fosgate subs, its like 2 punch HE2 12" 's and a sealed box for 349 er something, check it out.
the amp you'll need to power them (if you wanna stay same brand) is the 700s. you can either buy it at bestbuy for like 400 er something bux, or, find it online at ebay for a buy-it-now price of $250
for interior, i used Kenwood 6.5" all around from bestbuy, got em for like 120 a pair. the sound quality is ok, but they dont handle bass too well. though, thats what the subs are for
cd player, im not even gonna go into that, cause theres too many choises, preferences, and well, pic the one ya like lol.
and last but not least, Dynamat, Fatmat, or whatever matting you decide to use, cover everything in the trunk. the dynamat trunk kit is on ebay for $150 i think last i looked.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadWarrior - ocforums.com
Yes, SATA is faster however..... putting full spec formula one tires on a 1.6L stock honda civic will not make it capable of 200Mph......
Medistar, these are all good ideas but SuperSentra4203 and sr20dem0n said the correct and most important answer. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Second, define what level/quality of audio are you trying to generate. Is it crystal clear or average? Then determine what frequency range you need to reproduce this sound quality and go form there. Personally, I became tired of the High School systems and decided to spend more money. This decision is based the quality of frequency reproduction I thrived for. To make a long story short, after my system was defined I then turned to Ebay for the high dollar equipment. (DEH-P930=$810.00 - Ebay=$400.00) If you want to know the rest I can send it to you aside from this thread.
For $1,000-ish here's my brand recommendations for a pretty basic three-channel system:
HU: Eclipse CD3403 ($335)
Front soundstage: Focal 165A ($299)
Amplifier: JL 300/4 ($399)
Subwoofer: JL 10W0 ($99)
Add in an enclosure (you can easily build one yourself for pretty cheap, or buy one for about $100) and wiring, and you're at about $1300 for a SICK-sounding system.
Originally posted by samo For $1,000-ish here's my brand recommendations for a pretty basic three-channel system:
HU: Eclipse CD3403 ($335)
Front soundstage: Focal 165A ($299)
Amplifier: JL 300/4 ($399)
Subwoofer: JL 10W0 ($99)
Add in an enclosure (you can easily build one yourself for pretty cheap, or buy one for about $100) and wiring, and you're at about $1300 for a SICK-sounding system.
I agree with everything in this post except for the jl 10w0. I had 2 10w0's in my last car and they sounded like ass, completely ruined rock music for me. If you want to get a small sub I recommend an elemental designs 10k or 12k with about a 300rms amp to power it. It will sound MUCH better than the w0 and get much louder