Okay, I pretty much have no idea about car audio stuff. I have a 2k SE non-bose.

Anyone have any suggestions on which speakers to get? Is there a consencious on the best 6" and 6.5" to get?

Is it possible to get a subwoofer if your max doen't have one, aka
non bose? I would have to get an amp right? Should I get one anyway?

How about head units? Would getting new speakers and keeping the same HU be a significant upgrade?

Which is better, a local sound shop or Circuit City/Best Buy?

looking to spend less than $300 on the HU and around $400 for all the speakers.

Thanks, B

 

Try lookin around at Crutchfield Once you put in what your Max is, they'll give you all the speakers/headunits/subs or whatnot that'll go in the Max. Afterwards, look somewhere on Ebay or somewhere for a lower price.

 

Which shop is better? Thats like asking which would you rather have; crap or poo? Don't go to either. 6.5 is a 6. Which ones come down to what you want out of them, and how much you want to spend.

To put the sub in you need an amp yes.

head unit is an upgrade I always suggest. It makes a big diff. But if you set against doing it you can get away with it. But if you have the cash toss it.

Most likely on 700 bucks you looking to ebay, if you want a sub/box/amp. Start with new speakers and a head then get more dough and get a suby.

 

I would go to a local shop, listen and see what you like (don't mind the prices). Copy down the model numbers and whatever and see the prices on ebay. There will be a HUGE difference. There will most likely be at least $100-$200 difference for head units. jojo had a good suggestion about going to crutchfield, but don't base what you're going to buy on what looks good on a website. Listen to the stuff first.

I think the best 6.5'' component speakers out there are the Focal Utopias, but they're out of just about everyone's price range (at least $500 a pair... I don't even know the real price cause I just don't even look anymore). Other than that, there's no real clear cut "winner". Just gotta go around and see what sounds best with your music.

You need to replace BOTH the head unit and speakers. Upgrading just the HU would create an awesome signal for the speakers to screw up, or getting new speakers would be able to create great sounding crap from the stock HU Just replace both and you'll be happy.

For prices, are you looking to spend $700 on a whole new setup? or just $700 on an HU and speakers? You could get an amazing setup with $700 on the HU and speakers (Nakamichi cd-45z comes to mind and some Diamond components up front and some Diamond coaxs in the back). But if you're looking to include an amp and sub into the $700... well that's just no good. Amps are very expensive. You'll probably spend $250-$300 at least on a decent sub/amp setup (something that wouldn't make you want to vomit).

 

Retail on Focal utopias is no where near 500, its 1200.

 

There should be an asterik next to all of the prices I quote that says "price on ebay". Who the hell pays retail anyway??

 

Ebay is not the standard.

Such hostility calm down.

 

I've had good experience with these guys, so have a few of my friends. They are generally 30% or lower than crutchfield. You need to know exactly what you want though, they only list model numbers on the webpage.