Car Audio *UPDATE*

[Impact55]

I'm going to buy a cd player/receiver very soon, and was curious what the RCA Preouts are? Im guessing that's where you plug in the speakers etc, but why do the ads say "RCA Preouts" for some (the s lets me think their is more than one preout) And the more expensive decks have "Dual RCA Preouts". All I want to plug into the receiver is the 2 speakers that come with it, 2 old speakers that are in the front of the car, and a box with a 10" Rockford Fosgate (sp?) sub. I found a deal that I get a 10" Rockford sub and a box for 99.95.

 

[geno]

What are your plans for amps? Are your amping the 4 speakers along with the Sub?

 

[Impact55]

Oh yeah duh!! I only need an amplifier for the box and the sub right? also Should I get 2 sub's or will 1 be sufficient?

 

[geno]

Well, there's a bunch of different Sub/Amp configs. The way I'm setting my car up is to have one amp powering my 4 speakers (front/rear) and I'm going to get a big amp to power 2 subs. I'd stick with 1 sub for now, and if you don't think it's sufficient - get another one. But for now, just get an amp for that one sub if you'd like. I'd highly reccomend you get a seperate amp for the rest of your system as well as well but that's up to you.

 

[xero]

impact, the RCA preouts are to connect external amplifiers to....when you see rca preouts and then dual rca preouts, it means the same thing...some decks have a couple sets of preouts, and some have three or four sets of preouts.....you dont HAVE to amplify your speakers, as the decks can power them (usually around 15-20watts RMS)...you WILL need an external amp for you subwoofer though....i would definitely stay away from the RF crap though...its just overpriced poop!

depending on what amount of subs would be sufficiant, that depends on the kinda car you got....a smaller sub in a bigger car wont be as loud as a smaller sub in a smaller car.....a big sub in a smaller car will be louder then a big sub in a bigger car as well....just catch me on ICQ and you can ask me questions there man

 

[xero]

genocide, i think he should stay away from an ext. amp for his four speakers...if i read correctly, then he's using the stock speakers that came w/ the car...if that's true, then amplifying them would definitely blow them out in a short amount of time!

currently i have four memphis audio speakers, a stock reciever, a panasonic 8-disc cd changer, two 12" mtx 5000 subs, and a 600w MTX amplifier running the subs.......right now the speakers are powered off the stock deck, but soon i want to get a small amplifier to amp the two rear speakers (50w/speaker)......

 

[geno]

It depends on what kind of stock speakers they are - if they're of decent quality, you'll be able to amp them without too much trouble, but if they're the cheezy paper-cone type, I'd leave them connected to the receiver itself and just amp the rears depending on how much power they can handle since he said he got the rears with the head unit.

 

[dude]

Well, you can use a seperate amp for your stock speakers. It will definately make the paper-cone speakers sound alot better than the factory amp in the player ever will be.

 

[Brill]

Well it's apparent you are a newbie to the car audio world So first of all be careful who you listen to as there alot of people who act like they know alot and are just completly full of Sh;t. As far as xero saying "you dont HAVE to amplify your speakers" How do you know that xero?? Not all Source units have built in amplifiers, as a matter of fact for the most part only low end Head Units have have built in amplifiers. As far as sub size/car size again you have no clue. Different subs react differently in different vehicles not just based soley on the size of both. and finnaly my 3 overpriced poop Rockford Fosgate amplifiers are some of the highest quality mobile amplifiers made, and I would be glad to let impact do a side by side listening test with mine veh and yours anytime. I am not cutting down your system but it's obvious you don't have much experience or knowledge the way u let your mouth run..Sorry if this sounds like a flame but I hate when people start throwing stones toward brands they don't own..RF amplifiers have been around since the begining and they are far from poop my friend

 

[xero]

brill, you have three amps compared to my one....which do you think will sound better?

for the price range impact is looking at, all the head units WILL have built in amps....i can guarantee you that....for $150-200 they WILL have built in amps...i've looked at a lot of head units myself man...i dont ramble on if i dont know what im talking about...

different subs do react differently in different vehicles...but you ask almost anyone, and they'll tell you that smaller cars are louder w/ subs simply becuase they have less airspace to compress...you take a car like mine (1990 Chevy Caprice) where the subs are in the trunk in a box, and then take a car like a honda CRX hatchback where the subs are in the same box w/ the same power, the CRX WILL be louder simply because there's less airspace....

as for RF, i could give a fsck less how long they've been around, they're simply too expensive for the quality you get out of them...you can get a Cadence, Autotek, Crossfire and other amps that have more power than RF amp and sound just as clean for a whole lot cheaper!!!

 

[Impact55]

On Weds. I'm getting a SONY XPLOD head unit (50w x4) and 2 Rockford fosgate or pioneer speakers ( 6 1/2) (3 way speakers) and 2 jensen speakers that are free, ( might replace them) I will get a REAL nice amp and subwoofer box at Christmas or at the latest during the summer.

 

[Mucman]

Impact55, I suggest you go to some good car audio sites like:

http://www.termpro.com
http://www.sounddomain.com
http://www.carstereos.org

It is much easier I find to form your own opinions on certain than have tons of people give you tons of different opinions. Personally I like RF, but I prefer my MB Quart comps. I will be buying an amp soon and I am thinking of going with the RF punch line. I have a Clarion HU, and I really love it. I have experience with Alpine, Blaus, Pioneer and Sony. I liked Sony the least. I am not saying they make bad decks, I am just saying that I think you can get something better for the price.

 

[Ornery]

I think I read that one guy has this thing pre ordered for about $250.00:

AIWA's most innovative new model is the CDC-MP3 Due Sept 2000
http://hardware.mp3.com/hardware/individual/car/2738.html

Maybe it's a POS, I don't know. Just thought it was nice that it could handle CDRW discs and of course the MP3s...

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Ornery - the CDC-MP3 has been out since March of this year. AIWA is a POS though. (I HAD THIS HEAD UNIT for 1 day before I returned it to Crutchfield after a 3 month wait on their waiting list)

 

[Mucman]

I have no experience with Aiwa, but I have always wanted to hear this player. I can't seem to find any stores that carry it so I can't give it a listen. I am sure this would be a great player for cars with modest systems in it. I bet if you get into the high-end car audio you will hear the difference between a mp3 and a CD.

Ornery, I love how you always get involved in the car audio threads even though you despise the people with the boom boxes out there

 

[Ornery]

Even us old fogies have to have tunes! I've been using this D-Link MP3 player that OfficeMax was kind enough to sell me for $20 after rebate. I bought 4 of them as a matter of fact. One guy that I thought would want one said he was going to buy a unit soon that could hold hundreds of MP3s rather than the 10 that the D-Link can hold. When I saw that CDC-MP3 I sent him the link. I think he'll be going for it.

I plug the D-Link into the tape input of my wife's auto CD player. She loves it. Yep, we actually play real music on it. None of that bumpin' BS!

So you're saying I can take that $250 and buy something better right now? I'm all ears!

 

[Angrymarshmello]

AIWA has a serious problem with the lasers starting to fail after a year or two. That and you need to rename all the MP3's in order to play it in the player. It might look kick ass but trust me - it sucks. (The faceplate was the cheasiest, flimsiest POS I've ever seen)

Also, the reason its not available in stores is because what Ornery said - its not due out till Sept. Crutchfield and a few other online stores snagged it from AIWA early on.

 

[Ornery]

Trust you! Sounds like you're full of sh!t bitch!

• "Re: Aiwa CDC-MP3 (Score: 1, Average)
  by OXi61 (oxido@crosswinds.net) on Aug 26, 2000 at 07:55:21
  OK!!
  i guess we have a new board running here..
  better so we don't get that many duplicates..
  i've got my cdc-mp3 too but it's still on the box..
  i'll report later
  Reply
  Aiwa CDC-MP3 GREAT!` (Score: 1, Average)
  by Anonymous on Aug 30, 2000 at 17:41:55
  I just got my Aiwa CDC-MP3. Waited a long time for it, and I almost cancelled the order and went for the more expensive Kenwood Z919. I'm glad I stuck with this one.
  
  Looks: Color scheme is OK, buttons are sturdy, not as sleek looking as pictures of the Kenwoods that I've seen, but the layout makes sense and is easy to use. I rate it 3 out of 4.
  
  Sounds: Built in 45X4 amps were again average. I felt like I lost some quality of sound compared the the factory unit in my Pathfinder. I however have external amps that bypass it's amps. With my external amps (Sony) the sound is very rich, the unit seperates treble and bass very well, the pre-out sound is rich and powerful.
  
  MP3 Playback: I think this is where this unit excels over the Kenwood. Most accounts I've read of the Kenwood states that it only displays the 32 character filename and you cannot fast forward/scan within a song. The Aiwa supports 32 Characters filename and ID3 Support. You can also fastforward and rewind within a song. You can also have multiple directories (although I haven't used this yet. MP3 sound is slightly inferior the CD quality sound and is a little noticable on certain songs.
  
  18 station FM/12 station AM/CD player.
  
  What else can I say? For $250, I think it definately worth it, and especially compared to the more expensive Kenwood.
  
  ********
  Update - after using the unit now for a couple of days, I really enjoy having the ID3 name scroll across the front of the unit. It supports almost all characters in the filename, including ()[]_-,. I don't know where the rumor started that it does not read spaces well.
  I like to organize my CD with folders for each album, however doing this precludes performing a random play amongst all songs on the cd, (you can only randomly listen to songs in a single folder.)
  The only technical difficulty I have is that my power antenna is turns on every time I turn the unit on (even if I'm listening to the CD). Any ideas?"
  
  http://bboard1.mp3.com/hardware/liststory/?position=0&month=200008&topic_id=48

They obviously aren't using the same hardware as they did a couple years ago if it's able to read CDRWs. And yet you are privy to the fact that it's laser will puke within the next two years! And yet you ordered one! You could redeem yourself if can tell me how that $250 would be better spent, though.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

I ordered one before I was informed about AIWA's quality and long term durability. And if you'd like to throw away your money on it, go ahead. I'll take my Pioneer 6200r anyday over it. (Bought the 6200 with the refund I got back and had $$ left over to spare) May not play MP3s but then again, its nothing a 10x burner burning MP3s to CDA won't take care of.

 

[Spoooon]

I'm getting a Nakamichi CD-45z in a few weeks. Heard those things are really good.

 

[Passions]

impact where are u getting ur 10 RF sub and box for $99????

 

[Ornery]

"So if you need MP3's in your car now, the Aiwa CDC-MP3 is the obvious choice. And the fact of the matter is, if you want MP3's in your car that badly, the faults we found with the CDC-MP3 are not going to bother you too much, if at all." Mike Andrawes, September 25th, 2000

 

[Spoooon]

I just bought a new receiver recently. I wanted one with MP3 playback. The Aiwa was definitly in my price range, but it was just not cool looking. It has an ugly face. I ended up going with a Pioneer DEH-P5200. Way better looking, higher quality deck. Even if it doesn't have MP3 support.

edit: Opted out of getting a Nak. The rest of my system would have just held it back.