hi guys, i have a problem. i know NOTHING about car stereo installation, speakers, amps, i.e., anything at all!! i need some of you to help me out. i dont want to walk into a store, buy a bunch of stuff, and later find out that it is all junk.



okay, so i plan on upgrading the stock bose system in my 2000 SE in 2 phases.

1st phase:

i want to get 2 amps and 2 10" subs and keep the stock hu. ive been reading around and nearly EVERYONE says the "bose" hu is actually clarion and it sucks *****. why does it suck ***** exactly? i do not know this. the only reason i want to keep the hu is because it looks nice with the rest of the console. there are some pretty cool aftermarket hu's out there, screens, etc., but i dont want to lose the clean look i gots right now.

also, im not all about setting off car alarms 2 miles away, but i DO want to have the ability to turn heads and get some encouraging nods my direction and show off a little bit when it is appropriate. what BRAND of amplifiers should i be looking at? subs? how powerful should they be? thats right, im asking you to hold my hand... pleaseeeeeee help! okay, so when i get this operational i'll enjoy the new-found bass for a while....

i plan to keep this for a while... i think this may satiate my desire for more "sound" and help me to conserve and save my money like how my girlfriend pleads for me to do. but, if im not happy enough with what i got, i will move on to phase 2.

2nd phase:

this phase will consist of upgrading all of the speakers in the cabin, tweeters included. i also want to get another pair of tweeters for the rear. ive been in cars before where the bass is so loud the rear passengers have a difficult time hearing mids/highs; i do not want this problem. then for the subs, hopefully 2 10"s will be cool, if its not enough i'll go 2 12"s or something. again, guys, i dont know what kind of speakers i should buy, size, etc. all of the above! please give me 5 minutes out of your life to write up some advice for me.



ive thought of something that would make it a little easier for me get a better grasp on things. how about all of you guys... or whoever decides to reply to this thread, write out your "dream system." it will assist me in gauging what the "good" components are vs the average, etc. and if you do choose to use jargon plz define! price is not a problem. i'll just find a similar component for cheaper, etc.

thanks in advance,
chris

 

Stock bose head unit sucks becuz it's noisly...In the simplest form...poor signal. What brand you want to get will depend on just how much you want to spend on the retail market or if you want to bargin hunt on ebay or somthing. Personally I like Zapco, P.G., Arc, eclipse etc...If you'd like I have 3 Zapco Z200's I'm selling I can send you the specs if you want I'm selling all three 2 channel amps for $650...They each reatailed for a total of $1800, So I think it's a steal. But anyway. The power you want depends on the speakers you get...go by the rms rating.

2nd phase...If you really want tweets in the back I suggest gettting some coax's for the rear doors and some seperates for the front...But do you really care if the passengers can hear stuff back there?>?? Are they paying for it? So why spend money on them, if it's for you?
Anyway give a few more pertics...mostly how much you wanna spend and we can take it from there...or if you'd like email me and we can talk back and forth.

 

awesome dood! yeah, i checked out your car a month ago and the system is sweet. also, i dont know if this is the way you have it but, do you have your headunit setup so the stock cover fits over it hiding the new one? if this is what you did i would like to make a similar setup! but yeah bro, i'll be in touch. my roommate is in the process of moving out so things are a bit hectic!

ttyl.

 

I agree with almost everything you have said, and I hope to plan to upgrade to Zapcos as well. Once I have the $$$. But on the rear speakers, I think that the seperates give the sound more rear fill not only for your passengers, but for yourself. I heard a big difference once I changed them in my car and mounted the tweeters in the rear pillar. I would think that if money is not THAT much of a problem, you could go with sepreats in the rear. I personally also like the sound of the Focals. I had Eclipse in the car, but they didn't provide the extra "umff" that the focals do.

 

Yes the stock head unit was ripped apart and made into a cover..Not so easily done but not an extremely tuff thing to do. It takes alot of time and alot of patiance(sp?) Keep in mind if you plan to put the stock head unit back into the car when you sell it you would have to buy a new one cuz the one you rip apart does not go back together at all...and the factory pos cost $1,000...Yeh thats right all for the factory one. Anyway let me know what I can do to help when you really want to get into it.

 

i have a question:

why do you need 3 amps?

i thought 2 was enough?

1 amp for the speakers and another amp for the subs = 2?

what is your 3rd amp doing?

i know... extreme newbie questions.

 

Well theres alot of ways to look at it. It's not the number of amps its the number of drivers (speakers) you have to look at and how you want it setup...Each one of my amps is a 2 channel so each channel drives a speaker..Execpt for the sub amp which is briged to the subs...You can do 2 amps you can do 1 amp you can do 30...it just depends on the setup...Most people choose a 4 channel amps and a 2 channel...Some just choose 2 2 channel amps...It really comes down to the x over network you use how much control you want over each speaker and stuff like that...In my case I want control over everything...I have the ability to adjust anything in my system.

 

jayson, i dont need the ability to control everything so i think 3 amps wouldnt be a good idea for me. it'd be dope, but not possible right now. however, i would like the ability to adjust the volume of the speakers and subs separately. i know building the box into the spare tire well is quite costly, so for now i wont be able to do it. so... since the box will be taking up a lot of my trunk space, i think in order to save some extra space i'd like to keep the # of amps to a minimum of 2.

also, will my stock speakers blow if i pump some more power into them? i want to get phase¹ started pretty soon. now, i dont know jack about channels, ohms, and all that stuff so im pretty lost in knowing what speakers i need to buy. all i know is a friend of mine had a JL audio sub in his integra and i loved how it made the hair on my head stand on end when he turned it up.

youre into car audio competition so im thinking if i go with your advice i cant go wrong... haha. do you think i should buy 2 of your amps to control my stock speakers and the new sub? also, which subwoofer speaker do you recommend?

 

Well, unfortunately asking someone what speakers you should go with is like asking someone what radio station should you listen to. It's all a matter of taste. What we can do though is offer you suggestions on speakers that we like and you need to take the ball from there. Different speakers sound differently, that is just plain and simple. I would of course suggest JL's because that is what I run and I love em! Some others to take a look at would be Image Dynamics, Eclipse and Rockford Fosgate. These are all subs that different audiophiles use in their systems.

For amps, again that subject is very open. I would suggest the older style Kicker amps, like I run. Alpine very cost effective amps. JL Audio new but very noteworthy. These are just a couple. I plan on running a similiar system to max'n out. 3 amps, components up front, coaxials in the rear and of course subs, an eq and some kind of active crossover.

 

When I say control every thing I mean not only do I have the amps that have seperate left and right gain control but i also have other (many) devices that help me control them...In fact these amps don't have many features other than great sound and the symbilink features. Now, How many channels you need goes somthing like this...How many speakers do you want? Lets say you want to replace all the stock ones, I would suggest seperates (mid, Tweet on each side) for the front and coax's for the rear ( but you could do seperates back there)...So, your saying you want to adjust each speaker so you will need a channel per speaker so in the front your talking 4 and in the rear (for coax) your talking 2...Then for the subs your talking about gettinga 2 channel amp and briding it or just getting a class D amp (1 channel)...It's up to you...Another config would be say a 4 channel amps running all the mids/highs, say like the front two channels could run to a passive x over network and run the front four and the rear 2 channels could run the back.

As for space, you say your gonna go with a normal box setup and want to conserve space...I fully understand, but say a normal box is about 24-30 inches long depending on the shape, if you take and mount any kind of amp to the back of the box(pretty standard) that helps conserve room and most likely you can do that with mine they are not that big, I know three sound like alot but their acually pretty little...But enough selling .

As for putting some power to the stock speakers...I would not do it. Ohms is just resistance...and for most situations you only need to worry about it when you pick subs and decide how to wire them, because for the most part most mids/highs are 4 ohms. Speakers are one of those things like dude said that alot varys on and what you want out of them...As for my amps powering your stockers, I woun't recomend any amp for the stockers. As for subs it agains depend what you want out of it and what you want to spend.

Here is my suggest ( and yes it's my stuff )

Get my 3 amps $650
Get my 2 12" $130 ( I think thats what I was asking)
Check ebay for some new mids/highs...Check things like eclipse, quart, diamond, alpine, kicker...Prob can find good ones ranging from $100-$500.
You will need the symbilink converter for my amps Reatail is $110 ( I think)...thats really the only downside...but worth the little extra doe.
So right there your talking about $1200 probely...Really not bad for all of that stuff...I know money is always a concern so If you can't do it all right now, I suggest priortizing what you want first...Say you would want to take my amps and subs, do that hook up the subs and then later get the mid/highs then hook up those amps...Or if you want to get someone or some stores amps and subs and go that route first do that...Or if you want to replace the stockers and get the subs later go that way...it really just comes down to what you want to do and where you want to spend doe first.

 

Hey I am looking for something similiar I really want the sound to be sharp and I want bass but I don't want it set off alarms either.
I was looking to spend around 500 dollars.

I need to get speakers so it will sound sharp
I was thinking maybe 2 10's for subwoofers
and an Amp but I'm not sure of how much watts it will be
can you tell me what will be the best for this kind of setup
I really don't know anything about car systems

 

What you are looking at creating you probaly already have. Two 10 will always set off alarms so if you don't want boom you might want to look at a bass tube or leave it alone.

As for creating a system you have to replace the head unit

 

I have already a kenwood face I just want something that'll fix it from sounding all fuzzy and crappy when I turn it loud
what's the problem there just the speakers?

in my 95 I don't have the bose

 

It all comes down to the setup you run...Two tens will not always set off alarms, if your not a dumbass you can tune a car pretty easy to sound good. Wattage you want depends on the sub you pick and the ohm load you want to run. To make everything sound better you gotta replace the mids/highs ( the door speakers)...500 bucks for the sub/amp setup your looking at ebay. Keep saving and then you can get more and continue to add on.

 

In this case an amplifier will due unless you have already blown them with distortion. Just get you a nice 4 channel amp and you will hear things you have never heard before

 

YOu put an amp on your factory speakers and watch the fun begin...Take a video cam, I think people will enjoy it as a "what not to do " film.

 

This is True

 

So just replace the door speakers

 

For a start that would be good. But if you have the cheese it would be best all at once because when you blast your aftermarkets your oem will go bad. but you still need a amp

 

Get 3- way speakers for your fronts 2- way back

 

SO I should get an Amp and replace the factory speakers
DO you know any speakers that are good that you would use
how many watts for the speakers and how many watts for the amp?

 

It all depends on your budget. From my experience I would go with Memphis for speakers and with your amp I run an MTX 4122 2-Channel but 4-Channel would be better.

 

alright but the speakers aren't that expensive right?
and so forget about the subwoofers for now?

 

MTX THUNDER 6304 4/3/2 CHANNEL AMP AMPLIFIER

is this amp good enough? for the speakers and do I have to get a seperate one for the subs later on?

 

Some of this advise is just plain odd...First you need to go listen to some different stuff, and plain out a budget. Speakers range from 50 bucks to 7000 dollers. Amps range from 50 bucks to god knows what. Probley what your looking at is to replace all the stock speakers, which means 6.5 in the door, tweeter, and a coax for the rear. If you want to keep the rear at all. An amp for most but not all can be added later. Good front stage speakers should run you no less than about 200 bucks retail, a good amp teh same thing...A whole system with install probley 2 grand on a retail level, of course this is all very flexable but I hope it gives you an overall idea.

 

Well, you said that you want to keep your budget at around $500. You can build a good system for that price, but you will have to make sacrafices. If you don't mind buying online, you will be much happier with your setup. The disadvantage is that you will not hear your stuff first and in many cases you will not get a warranty. The obvious advantage is price; you can save more than 50% in most cases. You said that you wanted 2 10s, but if you want to keep your system on a budget, I'd recommend a single 12. For speakers I suggest that you go to your local audio shops and see what you like. I myself have Polk Momos, but I'll be upgrading soon to some Focals. Ymight want to look into Infinity or Polk. For amps I use JBL and if you're on a budget there is no better brand. FOr subs you want to decide whether you want it to be louder or sound better and you can go from there. With car audio, there are a lot of good brands out there so everyone is going to have a different opinion. All my advice comes from personal experience and research. A final suggestion would be to be patient and get as much info as you can whether it be here, from friends, or from audio shops and then make your decision.

 

Alright Thanks man
I think I am going to replace the stok speakers
get the 4 channel amp for those

then eventually get the 1 12" sub
and do I need another amp for that?

 

yep but all that won't cost you 2,000

 

Nore474,

since the time i posted this thread... ive only added an infinity basslink-x to my car. it's a self-amplified 10" sub. the bass is too much for me at times... so i am perfectly satisfied with it... my next step is to get some *REAL* tweeters since the 1/2" tweeters on the 5th gen's are subpar. after the addition of the tweeters, i will be satisfied (im going to start looking for a bodykit, ftsb, rsb, and sfc's).

id like to have a really good system in my car but neither have the time nor the resources to make it happen at this time. nor is it even cost efficient! granted, i'm in my car everyday, it's not worth my money to invest a few thousand dollars into it now. the infinity basslink cost me $230 bucks off ebay (something like that) and i paid circuit city $35 to install it. it works fine and sounds great.

good luck with your system!

 

thanks man
really its to much bass for you?
I better reconsider about the single 12"


will it sound wierd if I just get the speakers with no Sub?

 

it's only TOO much bass on certain tracks. you know how it is, some CDs have way more bass than others, etc. your taste may be different than mine so i dont know what you want in a system. im not trying to rattle nuts off bolts or anything with mine. i simply want crisp bass and thats what i got with the basslink. i very well may get a BOX in the future... and sell the basslink, but im in college and i need a lot of trunkroom. the basslink is tiny yet most people love it. try doing a search for basslink on the .org! you might be suprised. a more affordable alternative that works...

and btw, you NEED a sub. that's what the biggest "problem" is at least with the bose system... it lacks the *thump* at higher volume.

i'd suggest you get the basslink and put in new mids in the front doors and get a pair of tweeters too. then youre rockin'.

of course, max'n'out knows wtf he's talking about. so it all depends on what you want. he's got good advice to give... listen to him.

 

Yeah, it might be a good idea to just replace the speakers and get an amp for them if you don't have the $ to do everything now. If you do that, obviously you won't have as much bass, but it will definately sound a lot better than your stock setup. If you get a single 12", you're definately going to want to get a second amp. For the 4 channel amp you should look into the JBL 80.4. You can get it for around $150 online and it'll power whatever speakers you have really well. I just upgraded from an Alpine to this amp for my interior speakers.