Originally posted by: kd2777
OK, if you are looking to buy this soon, you may want to just get some specific products instead of trying to build a knowledge base in a week. I have been tinkering with audio gadgets since I was 14, damn near 15 years now and still don't know all about it.
First thing first, if you want to know the biggest rule of thumb......you get what you pay for.
Second what is your budget? Stereos are not like computers in the fact that a 750 computer is about 85% as fast as a 1500 computer. If you buy audio equipment that is half of what the name brand stuff is, it could majorly suck ass!
So what is the budget? You mentioned Infinity. I have Infinity components in my truck and love them. They are pricy though if you are not an enthusiast. I have a set of the Infinity perfects and they ran me right at 400 bucks. However a good set of co-axles will do just fine. I have owned the Alpines and really liked them for the money. They make a couple different models, the ones I had ran about a 100 bucks a set, which should be a good price point for a good speaker.
Next you mentioned amping the system. What do you want to gain by amping the system? Lots of bass, cleaner sound, louder sound...etc. I use a Rockford Fosgate amp to create a cleaner sound; my brother-in-law uses an 800 watt Rockford amp to run a single 15 inch kicker L7 solo baric sub. It will shake the neighbors, but he hasn?t amped anything else in his car (and still has factory speakers) and to me it sucks a-hole, but he loves it. Also you need to decide are you going to run multiple amps or a single multi channel amp? I like the multi deal for simplicities sake. I love the 5 channel Alpine MRV-F450. It runs about 500, but it has 50*4 and 200*1 for the mains and the sub. Plenty of clean power and it also will "thump" if called upon.
As for the deck, you don't have to use a lot of money here since you would be amping the system. All you need to look for is high voltage output (ie 4volt or higher). And then just pick the features on the deck that you like. I do recommend getting the MP3 player option because it lets you put 100+ songs on a single disk and they still sound great. Also I have had the best luck with Alpine in the deck market. I have owned Pioneer (Premier line), Kenwood, Sony, Clarion, AWIA, and a couple others, but have always liked the Alpine the best.
You mentioned the sub. Best thing to do there is go to the shop and listen. I like the sound of the JL Audios, some people like the "in your face" bass of the Kickers, others like Fosgates. It is all about taste. That?s true with the main speakers as well. You may not like the Alpines that I liked, or the 400 Infinities in my truck. Case and point, Focal is considered by many to be the best component speaker made. Several years ago I worked all summer and saved all my money to buy a set of these. At this time I think they where a little over a grand per set. With money in hand I drove to the nearest dealer that carried them. I had never actually heard them, just read about them in countless magazines, anyway, long story short, when I got there I listened to them and did not like the sound of then what so ever. Ended up buying a set of $300 Alpines. So you need to buy according to you taste.
kd
