SugarRay

iTrader: (1)

Hey,

Ok, need some help from the knowledgeable people on here. First off some information for you to give you a better feel for my situation.


- I am on a rather limited budget. I will list prices accordingling to the specific item. ***I do not intend to go over that limit by more then $30.00. No exceptions.
- I want sound quality. Quality over features.
- I do not want to wake neighbors up. Just enough sound for me and passengers to enjoy. But still if I'm cruising for some people to take notice.
- I do not know jack about the audio in cars. So bare with me.

First off the Head Unit.

Budget : $250 - $300.00 (Would like to stay under $300.00). I heard Alphine and Clarion are the best bang for your buck at this level. Any recommendations. Also people have referred Elicpse.

Front 6 1/2 Speakers.

Budget : $200.00 The New Kenwood eXelon seem pretty good. $149.99 at Crutchfield.

Subwoofers.

Budget : $500.00. I would prefer 2 10s. Recommendations. I am completely lost in this department.

I want tight sounding bass, nothing boomy, nothing distorted at relatively high levels.

BTW, I would like to have it custom enclosed, an estimate from an autoshop gave me $150.00 for all installation and the custom job for the subs and amps.

Amps.

Again, I'm lost. Also with the budget part, but I would prefer to just have the Amp for the subs for now and adding a 2 channel amp for the front later. Recommendations.

Off note here,

I was at good guys and made an inquiry about the Panasonic 7inch LCD monitor (open box) at $900.00., obviously I would need a digital signal processor and DVD player (PS2), but anything else would I need if I was to get the monitor?

Anyway, please help.

Thanks
Ray

2k2civicballer

iTrader: (1)

well headunit ...... i would suggest a new pioneer . the 7400, or a P6300. roughly 289-320$

amp...alpine or rockford fosgate.....id suggest 300w max


subs..... 2 12" cerwin vega HED ..... 95$ a piece.


hope that helps, oh and i built my own enclosure....search for a thread with "DIY" and "custom sub trunk" and youll find it

2k2civicballer

iTrader: (1)

linkafied

mohawkboom

iTrader: (1)

OKAY...

Here;s what I came up with for you.. I lowered your budgett for your subs and added some more for your speakers....

Here I go.

HU: Clarion 715Z, 24 bit, D?A COnverters, VERY clean sound $229

Front Components : TextDiamond Audio M561 COmponents Great sound $219

Subs: Diamond Audio M5's Great tight sound. $179 each. Will hit pretty good. they are 12's but will play tighter than most 10's and play lower [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

AMps..You didn't list a budget, but I'll give ya the best bang for the buck amps I can find for ya.

Sub amp:

MTX 6500D$309 750 Wrms [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

Amp for components: MTX 6152 $189.. 90Wrms x2.

All these prices include shipping from onlinecarstereo.com.

Grand total system cost..$1304 for one very clean sounding system that will bump mighty hard... All these Items right now are on sale r something.. the subs and the components are Dirt cheap compared to what shops charge,

Cheers
Mohawk

WhiteRabbit

I have my own brand alegances to hold on to! sorry mo, ill never get any of those brands [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

deck pioneer - whatever one you want, I reccommend a 4 series and up, so you get the rotary **** (doesnt bug me, but it bugs my buddy) costs range from $100 to over $500, on ebay. Pioneer has, withought doubt, the best bang for your buck. you get the most USABLE features, the units come with everything you need, are quite simple to use, and look very nice. The RCA outs are stable (unlike kenwood) and put out rated voltage (unlike kenwood) the CD player will NEVER skip EVER (unlike sony) also comes with better features which are easier to use than sony. I just dont like clarion or Blau, just not as much build quality as pioneer.

Alpine and eclipse make good decks too, but the dollar to feature rate goes down, I dont really think its worth it. Im never going to buy a deck that is not pioneer. ever.

front speakers: infinity reference or Kappa, $100 to $150 on ebay. component speakers, I have never heard one person unsatisfied with these speakers for a stage. Every audio forum I have been to reccommends infinity as an entry level compoennt speaker. If you want MUCH higher quality, your gonna have to shop around. JL's TOP of teh line component speaekrs go for I think $199 online, Im not sure, but I know SQ competitors who bought them on a whim, and absolutely love them. the midbass is insane from these speakers, but with a retail price of over 5 bills, your gonna have to resort online to find a decent price.

amp for stage. Im gonna sit this one out for now, I have my brand loyaly, but prefer not to mention what I have because there is still controvery over the quality of the amp (debate goes on, I personally love my amp, 500 watts for the stage with a less than $200 investment)

rear speakers, rear amp. dont need em, dont want em. but it seems that you already know that [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

a sub only sounds as good as the box you build for it. I CANT BELIEVE anyone likes 10's better than 12's, but for some reason EVERY CIVIC FORUM is filled with 12 haters, they get louder, go lower, sound better, in every case, when spending similar amounts of money. period. I had a pair of midlevel 10's that I had spent $150 on, with that 500 watt amp. sounded jsut as loud as my firend's POS 12's on a 600 watt PEAK pos amp. never again.

if you are looking for sound quality, there is an internet company that makes home stereos. recently (last couplea years) they have begun marketing subwoofers for car stereo, as well as caraudio specific subs. They are called Adire, and they compete with another maufacturer, audiomobile. audiomobile produces subs that sound great, get super loud at high power levels, look good, and can be beat up to death in a small box. all for a $300 price tag. screw that.

Adire makes a 12" sub called a shiva. it can do all the audiomobile does, exept its ugly as hell, its made of paper, and it gets loud as hell at low levels of power as well as high. you cant beat that for a $125 price tag. I'm gonna do a shiva install later this month, and I personally run the 15" version, known as a tempest. great sub. check it out, www.adireaudio.com

amp, cant go wrong with JBL workhorse amps., come with every feature you need, none that you dont. 600 watt model sells for $225, the 1200 sells for $275, shipped, from scala1 on ebay. with over 15000 pos feedback, you know your getting a reputable dealer, ive bought from her several time, she is great.

this leaves a boatload of money for box, wires, install small costs, etc.

WhiteRabbit

and if you want to spend $150 and get a tempest, you can have my old box for free. only a small bump in the frequency response, it gets LOUD AS HELL and is guaranteed to fit in a civic. (tho if you are HARDCORE gonna go for SQ i reccommend sticking with a pair of shivas on a JBL 1200.1)

if you want, I can build a box for you too, real cheap, (i dont charge for labor [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]) but it will takae time cause I got stuff to do that isnt caraudio related [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

single tempest, 600 watts in an SQ setup (im ported to about 23 Hz) hits in the 130's, i dunno where, but I can spike junky meters easily (too expensive here to get professionally metered, i gotta go somewhere far to do that)

single tempest with 500 watts for SPL have hit 152.x, that guy is now sponsored by adire [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

shivas should be able to do comparable numbers, especially a pair of 12's with double the wattage.

mohawkboom

iTrader: (1)

White Rabbit.. Your reccomendations are decent.. but the Diamond M5's are not an entry level component set.. they are much less that JL's and sound oh my.. yes.. better [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].. Brand allegiances are a waste of time.. Unless they sponsor you..[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].. I Always go witht he best I can get for my $$$...

Pioneer as of the last 3 years has become slightly overextended and their build quality has suffered a little. They can and will skip..but not easily.. Same as Clarions Alpines and upper end Eclipse HU's..Sony's and Blau's are a different story [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]..

The Adire Audio Subs are without a doubt good. But they require fairly large enclosures and are reccomended to use passive radiators..The Diamond M5's subs like itty bitty enclosures..which is most likely why he want's a pir of 12's.. I reccomended 12's...10's are pointless, Most 12's will play as tight.. Louder..cover better low end, yadda yadda.. I'm a die ard 12 fan..

I Personally Run Audiomobile EVO-R subs well now just 1 that I blew one of them lol..Audiomobile makes about as good a product as can be made in their price range..the Adire Shiva (12'er) SOunds great and plays hard.. but it's visual appeal is sorely lacking and it requires a fair bit of airspace...(for some reason the Brahma's like little boxes though (Most likely my next subs)....

I Cannot stress the irrelevence of brand Loyalties.. what have those companies personally done for you?..What's the point...Listen with your ears and only with your ears.. Not with your wallet or with your Hype sensors dude [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

Cheers
Mohawk

WhiteRabbit

actually most of what i said WAS teh best for the money..... my deck is 4 years old, so i have not heard of any problems with pioneer build quality going down. NEVER skipps, even tho its mounted vertically....

your component set, $219, mine, $199. JL makes a fantastic component set, the midbass is extremely low, very well defined, a smooth tweet, you cant do better untill the retail price of your component set goes aboutve $1000...... this I agree with, tho i did not say, and if anyone ever gets the chance to demo these I highly reccommend it.

i dont think your component set can hold a candle to the JL.....

as to infinity, ive never heard your set, but i wouldnt be surprised if it sounds better than infinity, but sometimes when people are lookign for the best deal they can sometimes they dont care howmuch better one set will sound than another when to them both sound really good. I dont know how much
sugarray is really willing to drop, or how much he is willing to compromisr quality for budget, but the POST 2001 infinity component line really kicks major butt, especially for the $116 price tag for the references. or the $160 tag on the kappas. I wouldnt doubt you if you said your TextDiamond Audio M561 COmponents sounded better than infinity reference or kappa, but Ill be dammed if a $219 set sounds better than teh JL XR set, considered to be one of the best sets to be had. had I not found a great hookup for HCCA components, I would be running JL XR myself.


as far as teh subs, ya, they are fugly as hell, but form follows function, sometimes you just have to live with such details as large box. actually I think its an advantage.

I will be running a pair of tempest off of a 1200.1 later this year, that requires a box minimum 8 cubes! but this can be achieved by glassing teh trunk shut and using teh whole darn thing as a box! hows that for cutting down the weight of MDF! (fiberglass is a diferent story tho.... [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG])

and with 12 cubes, that will provide for bass clean and clear stright down to 20 Hz!

ive heard only good things about evo, id love ot hear one someday........

but you are right, teh money you SAVE with adire goes right back into the price you pay in weight for the box..... of course it DOES allow for interesting installs, especially with fiberglass....

as far as brand allegiance, I will listen to anything, but my brand allegiances to all teh brands that DO NOT suck. i will NEVER run sony or kenwood in nmy car again, they have let me down more than once, never again. My allegiances are not exclusive to what I run, only to what I dont run.

Im sure there you have the same taboo's (ill bet youll never run pioneer speakers in your car.... wonder why? )

mohawkboom

iTrader: (1)

I'd never run Pioneer speakers in ym car because my ears beg me not to [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].. I've heard the JL's very very good midbass. Very balanced, but the midrange detail is too flat, cone's a bit heavy... it doesn't do wonders for female vocals especially..

As for glassing and such oh what fun [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]....Infinty speakers are quite good.. The ne w kappa perfects are insane in the midbass department while still holding it's clarity the references and Kappa's are great value...As for your $1000 and up quote. for great components.. Rainbow Pro's can be had for under $500.. Oz Audio Matrix, are under $1k Focal Utopia 2-ways are under a $1k...

As for your HCCA's those are 2ohm A/D/S's [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].. great set.. only problem is the increased distortion and low damping rates on amps at 2ohm loads..

for subs I don't run EVO's [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].. I use EVO-R's he he.. Little bit of a difference...[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].

As Far as Head units go.. Pioneers are quite good.. but you never see them in serious SQ installs anymore.. (well except in the past with P1r's and now with P9's) wheres quite a few pro 601+ competitors I know are having good success with Clarion 715z's [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]...For myself I run an eclipse 8051.. haven't had the chance to compete yet because I was 2 hours too late to register at Audiothunder and there's no events within 500 miles of me untill may..

What's your setup Rabbit?.. you compete and such?..

SQCivic

iTrader: (4)

I never ever considered using Pioneer equipment until I found the Premier DEX-P9/DEQ-P9 combo. Wow!

WhiteRabbit

my system is still in teh works, ive only been in car audio for a couple years [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

trying to communicate with a friend from washingtom for auite awhile now, he has a set of HCCA and desperate for money, so i might be able to help him out with his money problems [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

http://www.calpoly.edu/~sciccare/my%20install/

As far as SQ, I really dont know much about the details of competing, most likely I would get rapped up and down the lanes. Ive read alot about how to se tup SQ sstems, and I love the response of my low end. very nice. gonna do some work, the low end starts to drop off at about 25 Hz, when I increase teh box volume to 6 cubes that should help out increase the response [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

SPL I know a little more about. I have very capable drivers, and a decent workhorse amp. Im considering a dual mode setup, tho noone I know has had the ***** to do such a thing, the concept has been well discussed. this would allow for the box to conform to all dbDrag regulations, and be a loud one not wonder for bass farts. box could then be converted to a daily driver, i dont think Id win too many SQ competitions (without a bit more research, an equilizer, and id like to attend an SQ comp before i have the ***** to sign up for one....) but I can flatten teh response at teh very least, but Im really not too sure how the response will be, as you know no matter how flat teh response it, there are other factors in how a woofer sounds!

there is no reason to make kicks for those POS speakers i have now. they suck to holy hell, I have no desire to waste my time and money putting those in kicks.....

as far as being able to clean my car up, I think I have shown that I a tleast have the POTENTIAL to build a car that COULD SQ compete, no matter what marks id get.

of course, for SPL, All I have to do is rebuild my box and get a second temest, i am FAIRLY confident that this will put my SPL at the first place level at all my local competitions, and if not first, then second, cause there was a 6 Db spread from 1st to 2nd [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

but my main goal is to have a fine daily driver, tho i must say teh temptation of competition is too much to pass up! I dont think I will be SQ competing anytime soon tho, i jus tdont have teh time and the resources to put together a fine system.

and when matching speakers with amps, ive argued this before, I cant believe people are so quick to talk about an amps THD, the human ear cant hear .01% any more than it can hear .01%, and as far as bass goes, how can you POSSIBLY hear the 5% distortion teh amp puts out when the sub is banging away at 10%?

WhiteRabbit

and i still dont believe that your diamonds play better than JL XR's [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

mohawkboom

iTrader: (1)

Pretty decent setup.. Although with your tempest you may be hard pressed to find they aren't the best SPL subs..a few folks I know use them and are ticked about their excursion limits...if you want a lound and clean setup then it's great sub.. as far as dropping off below 25hz..what's your port tuned to?.. Generally about 3-5hz below your port tuning you'll have a drastic roll-off and can over excurt your subs..

I DOn't run Diamonds.. but they are quite good..less midbass but much warmer sound than the JL's [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]..

I Run Focal 165k3's which is why I can;t fit the 6.5 in kicks..damn huge magnets..and for the enclosure you're talking about... that would put you in in Super Street 1-2 which I compete in..and I have an enclosure liek you described.. it's 3.2 cu.ft port tuned to 28hz.... At the bottom of the enclosure is a sliding panel that when removed opens up 3.5 cubes more from my glassed trunk basin...and opens my 60 sq.in of port tuned to 47hz for SPL..

with my 2 12's and 1400Wrms I've hit so far 151.8...Kicking local booty... but for SS 1-2 no wall if I made to audiothunder on time woulda put me like 6th out of 9 competitors lol..

And only been car audio for a years.. you probably have me beat by a few years in that department [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG].. I haven't quite been into it for 2 years yet.. but when I get into something it becomes my life..so I learn VERY quickly and get straight into the scientific aspects of everything..

Cheers
Mohawk

WhiteRabbit

hehe we should get together and [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG] sometime lol!

but yeah, I would be in SS 1-2 no wall, first place here is 152, second is 146!

if i were in SS 1-2, i would get killed everytime, first place here is 16X.X

as far as ACTUALLY competing, you can take ANYTHING and make it loud. a guy named pressurised on CAF took $89 dollar subs on a whim to see what they could do, and he hit 155

as far as ppl complaining about tempest, they know what it CAN do, 152 HAS been achieved with a single tempest with less power than im giving it, when i rebuild the box, ill measure power compression, see where that puts me on oteh efficiency scale [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

but yeah, in my SQ box, im mid 130's, so I have only scratched my potential [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] with a one note wonder box i estimate a great increase in SPL, and when i double the woofer number and power, well, that puts me right at your heels [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/IMG]

now all i need is time, money, and tools......... >.<