Mainster

I am a noob when it comes to audio. I have no idea what to get. I did buy a new H/U, an Alpine 9813. Should I upgrade speakers first? or something else? I am not looking for an expensive system. Something middle of the road, that will sound good and upgrade my factory system. BTW I have a 2K Maxima SE.
Also if you can recommend speakers, amp I would appreciate it.

Bill

Conrad283

iTrader: (2)

You should do everything at once.

There are so many different kinds of speakers out there that it's hard to decide. One person might be partial to one brand while another to another brand.

OpTi

the best thing to do is listen to different speakers then decide which one you want.

suprropmp

tsunami speakers are awsome.... check them out

nismos14

iTrader: (56)

any info on tsunami's online?

5 spd

iTrader: (2)

how much do you want to spend and what do you want to upgrade? you got the head unit, which is a good first step. if you want to go to the next step, you could get new speakers all around. I would suggest components up front to replace the existing ones, and coaxials in the rear.

if you want to go even further, you can get an amp to power those door speakers.

the next step after that would be a subwoofer and an additional amplifier.

with these said, you could swap the order of these. instead of upgrading your door speakers, you could do the sub/amp combo first. you may like this sound, and be content with it.

there is no right or wrong way of doing this. just remember you need an amplifier to power your subwoofer, at least 200 watts.

smoon629

iTrader: (1)

I'm in a similar boat as Mainster, except he's a step ahead. i do not have a head unit. i just decided that i wanted a system. i don't have much money to spend. how much approx will everything cost me?

if possible, can you break it down by price and part. for example, head unit = ~$250, amp = etc.....

i have no idea what brands are good and bad. just want a basic system, nothing that you can hear down the block. just something better than stock. thanks

Nismo

iTrader: (18)

if your just looking for something better than stock then you can just head down to any audio shop and listen to what sounds good to you, then look at what fits your budget. pretty much anything will sound better than stock paper cones.

SleepyMaxxx68

Well it all depends on what type of product you want. I'm learning as I go. I don't know much about car audio, but I've been trying to do a lil research on my own.



On HU's go with Alpine, Eclipse, the Pioneer PREMIERE series HU's. They all range in price...I'm going with the Alpine 9830 for around $330.

Go with components instead of coaxials for better clarity. You'll have to amp them to get really great sound out of them. For components there are a lot of options, most people go with the Boston Acouctic, Infintty Kappas, maybe even Focal. All range in price of course. I'm going with JL XR Series ($235) in the Front and VR Series ($185) in the rear deck amped by the JL 300/4 amp ($360 ?).

You could go with a subwoofer if you want some bass. Now here is where your tatse in music will come out. You could go with Sound Quality or SPL. On subs you could go with Alpine, Eclipse, Kicker or JL. I'm going with the JL 10W6v2 for around $300.

Of course you will need an amp to run the sub. I'm still deciding what kinda amp to run the W6.

You also have the option for sound deadning. I'm going with the Dynamat Doorkit and I'm also going to dynamat the rear deack.

So as you can tell everyone goes with different set ups depending on what thy want and what fits their budget. I'm putting my system together very slowly, I only get paid once a month hence I'll only buy one thing a month that way I don't start prostituting myself for extra cash But really this will work out for me in the long run. Slowly but Surely. Good luck bro, just search online with different brands. TRy to stay with companies that specialize in car audio like Alpine stay away from Sony.


-Ryan

suprropmp

honestly I'm not sure where you guys are shopping for this stuff but when youre ready to buy I really suggest eBay... all car audio stuff is so much cheaper than the stores on ebay

Nismo

iTrader: (18)

some places on ebay advertise New in box but it sometimes is remanufactured no warantee ect.

Golden Ice

Ok, I'll include my opinion here as well..I'll list everything in favorite-least favorite but still good for each category:

Head units:
Kenwood (just as good but cheaper than alpine)
Pioneer (bomb proof, good sound)
Alpine (great sound, WAY overpriced)

Speakers..I like most of these equally:
Kenwood, both component and co/tri axial
Alpine (again, overpriced)
Pioneer (good entry level, tough, slightly lower SQ than kenwood and alpine)
JL audio I'm not REALLY experienced with their midrange, but what I've heard i liked

Subs:
I like my pioneer ts-w255c 10" subs, but i haven't heard a lot of other pioneer subs
JL audio subs are great, some of the best and most indestructable that i've heard
Audiobahn subs are great for SPL
Kenwood tornados are good, but they dont play as low as i like
Infinity kappa perfect series subs i've heard good things about, but never really listened to them

Amps:
Kenwood, Pioneer, Alpine, JL, Rockford for speakers or subs, all of them are equal imo, Kicker for subs only, Legacy amps are cheap but not durable, and are OK for 4 ohm sub use as long as you dont really crank them all the time.

Theres probably some stuff I'm missing here, but as skatterbrained as I am tonight its all I can think of..
I would suggest paying more and getting most of your stuff off of retailers like crutchfield..Crutchfield is great about backing up their customer support and include all harnesses, brackets, and install kits you might need for your particular vehicle for free with headunit/speaker purchases..they also include good instructions for your vehicle..you pay more to buy from crutchfield, but if you're inexperienced, its worth it if you can possibly pay the extra price..