Help me piece together a reasonable sound system for my POS car.

[legoman666]

Right. About a year ago, my stereo and speakers were stolen out of my car as it sat in front of my apartment. There is now a big gaping hole in my dashboard and my drives have been music-less since.

So I know pretty much nothing about car audio. I'm looking to spend less than.... $300. I believe I require a stereo head unit, speakers (2 for the back, not worried about the front), an amp, and a sub. I would like the stereo to have a front side input for my mp3 player. The quality of the system doesn't have to blow my socks off, but just be reasonable.

I can wire the stuff and am pretty handy with a soldering iron, but don't know anything about the different brands and such. Any help? Ideally, I'd be looking for links to all required products on a single website. Cheers!

 

[brblx]

with a tight budget, i probably wouldn't buy everything from the same place, i'd be looking for deals.

why no front speakers? those are the most important part of your stereo. you don't go to concerts and stand with your back to the stage, do you? rear speakers should be fill at most, personally i don't even run them.

i would take a look at the lower end pioneer, alpine, kenwood, or jvc headunits. someone's bound to have a front aux-in for under a $100.

 

[legoman666]

I can spend more if necessary. I just said $300 so someone didn't go recommending a $500 sub.

 

[thomsbrain]

You could go down to the flea market and buy someone else's stolen stereo. 😉

 

[legoman666]

nothing?

 

[xanis]

Have you checked out Crutchfield yet? They're probably your best bet for a one-stop shop.

 

[bruceb]

Since your stereo was stolen, you should consider a unit with a Removable Face Plate ... Crutchfield has them. Also, if you don't already have an alarm you should get one. And get a Truck Club. You position it with the key slot facing the instruements, so it is impossible for a crook to pick the lock. Set it on the wheel so that the long end covers as much of the stereo face as you can. Mind you, they can still cut the wheel. But no thief wants to sit around getting your stereo while an alarm is going off. Also a lot of newer radios have what is known as a security code (user programmable) .. Without that code, once the unit is removed from 12V live power, you need to reenter it for the radio to work again.

 

[legoman666]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Since your stereo was stolen, you should consider a unit with a Removable Face Plate ... Crutchfield has them. Also, if you don't already have an alarm you should get one. And get a Truck Club. You position it with the key slot facing the instruements, so it is impossible for a crook to pick the lock. Set it on the wheel so that the long end covers as much of the stereo face as you can. Mind you, they can still cut the wheel. But no thief wants to sit around getting your stereo while an alarm is going off. Also a lot of newer radios have what is known as a security code (user programmable) .. Without that code, once the unit is removed from 12V live power, you need to reenter it for the radio to work again.

The funny thing is that my stolen stereo had a removable faceplate. It happened like this: I was living 2 blocks off of my college campus. Someone busted out my rear right window and stole the faceplate off the stereo but not the stereo itself. So my dad and I replaced the window. Two weeks go by and someone busted out my rear right window again and stole the rest of the damn stereo. While I am glad that the dude was able to get the entire stereo instead of just the face plate, I wish they had done it all at once so I wouldn't have had to replace the window twice.

And a few months later I was mugged while walking to my apartment from my class at 11 god damned AM in broad daylight. I decided I had had enough and moved home a week later. (45 minutes driving from campus).

Anyway, thanks for the advice with the alarm and such, I'll give them a look see. Can you recommend any particular stereo unit or characteristics to look for such that it would be ideal for the configuration I've imagined?

 

[Soccerman06]

Originally posted by: legoman666

Originally posted by: bruceb
Since your stereo was stolen, you should consider a unit with a Removable Face Plate ... Crutchfield has them. Also, if you don't already have an alarm you should get one. And get a Truck Club. You position it with the key slot facing the instruements, so it is impossible for a crook to pick the lock. Set it on the wheel so that the long end covers as much of the stereo face as you can. Mind you, they can still cut the wheel. But no thief wants to sit around getting your stereo while an alarm is going off. Also a lot of newer radios have what is known as a security code (user programmable) .. Without that code, once the unit is removed from 12V live power, you need to reenter it for the radio to work again.

The funny thing is that my stolen stereo had a removable faceplate. It happened like this: I was living 2 blocks off of my college campus. Someone busted out my rear right window and stole the faceplate off the stereo but not the stereo itself. So my dad and I replaced the window. Two weeks go by and someone busted out my rear right window again and stole the rest of the damn stereo. While I am glad that the dude was able to get the entire stereo instead of just the face plate, I wish they had done it all at once so I wouldn't have had to replace the window twice.

And a few months later I was mugged while walking to my apartment from my class at 11 god damned AM in broad daylight. I decided I had had enough and moved home a week later. (45 minutes driving from campus).

Anyway, thanks for the advice with the alarm and such, I'll give them a look see. Can you recommend any particular unit or characteristics to look for such that it would be ideal for the configuration I've imagined?

Ones that go WEEEHWAAAH WEEEWAAAH when something happens

 

[legoman666]

Originally posted by: Soccerman06

Originally posted by: legoman666

Originally posted by: bruceb
Since your stereo was stolen, you should consider a unit with a Removable Face Plate ... Crutchfield has them. Also, if you don't already have an alarm you should get one. And get a Truck Club. You position it with the key slot facing the instruements, so it is impossible for a crook to pick the lock. Set it on the wheel so that the long end covers as much of the stereo face as you can. Mind you, they can still cut the wheel. But no thief wants to sit around getting your stereo while an alarm is going off. Also a lot of newer radios have what is known as a security code (user programmable) .. Without that code, once the unit is removed from 12V live power, you need to reenter it for the radio to work again.

The funny thing is that my stolen stereo had a removable faceplate. It happened like this: I was living 2 blocks off of my college campus. Someone busted out my rear right window and stole the faceplate off the stereo but not the stereo itself. So my dad and I replaced the window. Two weeks go by and someone busted out my rear right window again and stole the rest of the damn stereo. While I am glad that the dude was able to get the entire stereo instead of just the face plate, I wish they had done it all at once so I wouldn't have had to replace the window twice.

And a few months later I was mugged while walking to my apartment from my class at 11 god damned AM in broad daylight. I decided I had had enough and moved home a week later. (45 minutes driving from campus).

Anyway, thanks for the advice with the alarm and such, I'll give them a look see. Can you recommend any particular unit or characteristics to look for such that it would be ideal for the configuration I've imagined?

Ones that go WEEEHWAAAH WEEEWAAAH when something happens

I was referring to the stereo, not the alarm. Post edited for clarity.

edit: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDS100/JVC-KD-S100.html how's this one? I got a $20 off coupon code to boot.

 

[Arkaign]

Holy crap OP, I'd put that $300 into a .45, not a stereo.

 

[Synomenon]

^
That.

If you must buy a new stereo and speakers, don't go to Crutchfield since they're expensive. Try SonicElectronix or even Newegg.