Vudoo

I can listen to my Grados 80s for hours. I like the way they sound and the level of detail. I can listen to Van Halen, put on Miles Davis and then move to Paul Oakenfold and still like the sound. Sure the Sennheiser HD600 are awesome but you can't beat the price to performance of the Grados. So here is my question:

Where can I capture that elusive price point of price and sound for the 2001 Maxima? I need a starting point to start searching, there are a ton of audio equipment out there. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Head Unit:
Speakers:
Amp:


Don't go too crazy, not willing to drop $2000, or even $1000. How about $800 or less? Please don't laugh me out of town.

Whitemax

$800 is going to be tough to be able to come close to the sound of the Grados. I have the Grado 80s and love them too. In order to get that type of sound you're going to have to drop some coins to buy stuff new, but used you can find some deals, as well as closeouts. HU's that will be of good sound quality will be around $300, Clarions Pro Audio line are great, as are Nakamichi and Eclipse. Amps that are nice and clean and airy are also needed, I find that I get a nice open sound from my wifes Soundstream P203 I got from www.soundcity.com for $90. 35 wattsx2 plus 70x1 for the sub, and it has a built in x-over. For a sub, I got her the JL10W0 for $90, and built her a box for it. Lastly, I had a pair of 6.5" MB Quart coaxs for free, so total for me was under $800. Good open airy clean sound. Just cant get very high sound levels. WWW.zalytron.com has Focal speakers on closeout for $129 that would be a good investment. You should get a nice system for under $1k but understand, that its going to take some searching and great finds to get the price under $800...

Vudoo

Thanks this is just the sort of help that I needed. Do you have a trusted source of information, like a link or something that you go to when you want to learn something from an article or FAQ? Forums like these are great because of responses like yours, but I also like to read articles and such.

Thanks again!

Vudoo

Whitemax

www.elitecaraudio.com is a great site. forums and lots of other great FAQ pages. www.teamamp is another great source.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

As whitemax said, zalytonhas some excellent prices on focal stuff in general.. their 2000 model car audio stuff is about 1/2 retail price.. I just bought a trunkful of 12s for $800.

Asfor getting an EXECELLENT sounding system for under $800, you're going to have to be VERY careful with your selection. I would suggest buying a good head unit and a good quality, used amp to run your front speakers.. buy some cheapo rears and run them off deck power- in mono if possible.

that will probably run you close to $800 by now (2-300 for a good head, 200-500 for good speakers, 150+ for a decent amp).

if you want more bass, you can run all your mids and highs off the head unit's amp, and buy a small amp and sub.. Used amps are okay, but I don't recommend buying a used sub- just too much crap to deal with.

As for brand recommendations on the head unit, I'd say go with Alpine, Eclipse, Pioneer, Blaupunkt, JVC, Sony- in that order or preference.

speakers, you'll just have to shop for. check reviews on stuff at many of the car stereo mag websites: carsound.com has some VERY good reviews...
carstereoreview.com, autosound2000.com.. lots of others.

Vudoo

Nakamichi CD-45Z, I have heard that they are great Headunits and they sound like they would power the back or the fronts pretty good.
The one negative that I read is that they are very particular about the media that they read but also that AM or Fm , or maybe both frequencies are poorly received by the unit. How does this apply to the 2001 maxima where the antannae is molded to the rear window?
And what is this that I hear in the 5th gen forum that you can't use a particular tint as that would make the reception worst than poor?

Thanks for the links Matt93SE, and the suggestions!

Vudoo