Attn: Car Audio Enthusiasts...I need some advice

[Gizmology]

Right well I am going to go to a local HiFi store tommorow and see what kind of price they can give me on a little setup for my little vehicle ('86 BMW 325e). I want to get a good CD player and upgrade the speakers that are currently in it. Ideally, I would do the installation myself...but I know enough to be dangerous and thats about it. So, any suggestions as far as brand names for speakers and cd units. I just want a good sounding system. My price range is $500-600 total (CD player, (2) 4 in. speakers for rear, (2) dunno what size speakers for front).

Thanks in advance..

-Giz

 

[John]

Alpine head unit

CDT, Focal, or Rainbow components

 

[BassDominator]

Pioneer CD Player (160W of Mosfet Power)
Cerwin Vega Speakers (These puppies crank)

You will not be disappointed! Just keep your eyes on those pot-smoking install retards.... and have a tire iron handy in case they F*** S*** up.

 

[John]

hey basshead, he was asking for mids...not subs. Strokers are for the weak anyhow, so go stroke it.

 

[Dunbar]

Well if this $600 includes installation you gotta budget $150 for the wiring and install costs. It would really help to install yourself but it isn't for the timid. So with $450 for hardware I'd skip the rear speakers, they really aren't necessary and most people get them only because the car came with 'em. So I'd do $150 each for the headunit, speakers and amp. I like the DEI 3065's, they run about $175 online. For the amp I'd look at a 2-channel amp in the 75x2 watt range (US Amps are good.) E-mail me and I can help you find some good used stuff. With an amp, sub and 6.5 components you'll be rocking!

BTW,I have an 8" RF Punch woofer I want to unload bad. I can build you a custom box (to your dimensions) for $60 (w/ woofer) plus shipping (not upholstered though.)

meads1@theramp.net

 

[Gizmology]

Thanks for the bits'o'info. My rear speakers tend to crackle/distort @ higher volumes right now. But perhaps that is a wiring problem (but I am guessing it is the speakers). Oh, my friend has some MB Quart speakers which sound really crisp. So I'll probably look into getting a pair of those for the rear. Ignore my $600 price point; thats just roughly what I want to spend but keep in mind I'm not trying to win any Bass contests or the likes...

-Giz

 

[jacobnero6918]

Strokers are ok...but for car audio you can do better. Most people prefer sealed boxes for car audio and strokers were really made for big vented boxes if I remember rightly.

Anywhoo...I like the Infinity line, they sound good but can cost a pretty penny. Sony and pioneer are good for head units. Most people waste to much money on the head unit. Put most of your money into the speakers and amps that drive them. Most of todays source components are clean (playing cd's that is).

 

[John]

shop at www.thezeb.com

 

[Dunbar]

FYI, this guy has some of those DEI 3065's for $140 shipped. He also has the 5.5" version (3055.) I have no affiliation to him but I can say he seems reliable. Great speakers for the money, search deja for comments on them.

ceed19@audioflux.com

The ad

 

[Viperoni]

Trust me, you will want rear speakers
But skip the tweeters in the back, just put the midwoofers.
You don't high sounds from the back because it'll mess up the soundstage that the front speakers create.

 

[Emulex]

you may want to consider if your system is already wired with bose..
if it is, you'll have amps on every bmw speaker, and a common ground wiring system. Mine did. Have to gut all the speakers, amps, head unit, and re-string wire completely. That's not cheap.

 

[BassDominator]

Hey John, Cerwin Vega actually makes speakers in just about every size. They're 4" mids sound a lot better than most speakers twice their size.

 

[SpongeBob]

Go with an alpine head unit if possible, I swear by 'em! The pioneer that I have right now is suck, not that all are, but ones I have dealt with are. I'm going back to alpine as soon an I can scrape the dough together.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Strokers. God. We got a bunch of flea market shoppers here or something?

BassDominator is right about CV. They do make every size. A lot of people miss that. Free air subs are CV's forte, though. Kicker is the same way. People think they only make subs. Used to have a GTi decked out with 6 Kickers. 2 8s for subs and 2 5.25s and 2 4" for mid. Kickers are the best for small sealed enclosures for when you are "pressed for space". Had RF 3.5s in the dash. They were "ok". For 3.5s I've moved over to Infinity Kappas, though. I've found for small speakers Infinitys really sound the best (good range). Anything from 3.5 to 5". For head units I'd say go Alpine, Kenwood or even Pioneer. Stay away from Sony like the plague. I've had three of their heads die on me. I'm a sucker for a good deal and kept coming back to Sony only to have soething fail on them. The Sony amps are decent though. Have had three of those and no failures.

 

[Emulex]

btw, the new pioneer line for this year has some kick ass features, and theres MAJOR price cuts across the board on their head units and amps.. we're talking a very nice pioneer, unit for like $269 retail.

check them out, they also have some pretty whack cool features, like digital satellite radio reception for those who like to drive thru mississippi..

 

[Doodoo]

Umm...for speakers...check out kappas...but u might want a separate amp on them. For headunits...if you like flash...clarion and pioneer...if u want plain...get a nak...but those things are plain ugly...but clean.

 

[Soybomb]

Infinity Kappa's are awesome, but I'd probably recommend running an amp with them as well. If you're not going to run an amp consider the Infinity Reference series. Like Jonny said stay away from sony headunits heh.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Soy! You'd consider running WITHOUT an amp? Bah! Never!

 

[jacobnero6918]

Just help a friend install 4 Infinity perfect 12's in his car powered by a JBL BP 1200.1. That's over 1200 watts into the 4 12's and he has a small car so it is loud. The rest of the speakers were kappa's. Overall the sound was good to great depending on your view. The headunit was a Sony.

 

[BigPoppa]

Ah man some of you guys are funny!! Strokers suck?? People have won at Sound Quality competitions with them. Anyone ever hear the saying "its all in the intstall?" Most strokers you hear will sound bad because they are in very large boxes that are tuned to around 55-60hz meant for SPL applications. For good sound subs need to be tuned at least 35hz if not lower, taking into account the FS of the woofer.

Getting back to your question. I have a JVC kds-950 HU, and i love it. It can be found for around $180 shipped on the net. Never skips, has 3 4volt preouts on it, and plays any burned cd i have. If you want some good speakers for a lower price, go with the Infinity Reference coax's, as they're easier to install for beginners than seperates. John, i love the rec. of the Rainbows, but they can get pricey, $7000 for their top of the line set. And i think that Us Amps is a tit bit out of his price range. Ceed19 is a great guy to deal with, he can be found on the Termpro Forums.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah. I've gotta bunch of Pyramid amps that sound great because of where I installed them.

J/K. I saw an opportunity and took it.

BTW: I love the way they call you BigPoppa.

 

[mpg]

hehe I have about the same price range as Gizmology. I checked out one of my friends system, he has a weird ass subwoofer in his trunk (one that was square like a HT one) I thought that was odd. He said he can get me a kick ass $1,000 system. I wasn't impressed with his though. I don't know anything about car audio systems.

 

[Deicide]

Cadence speakers beat out most other speakers (blaupunkt, infinity, eclipse, etc). They're build quality is much better than the other brands. At least check those out if you get a chance to.

 

[Viperoni]

The square sub was probably the new Kicker one...forgot the model name.
Pretty decent stuff, heard it sounds pretty good.

Make sure your front and rear speakers come from the same manufacturer (preferably the same model line), so the soundstage doesn't get messed up.
Once you've heard a car with a great soundstage, you'll never be able to listen to anybody else's system

 

[mpg]

yep i believe it said kicker on it (it was in red letters). It just seemed weird I thought they are supposed to be a box type. Alpine or Pioneer head unit (models)? I think the first thing I will do is get head unit because my civic doesn't even have a tape player hehe.