Recommndations for Audio

[Marccus]

I know absolutely nothing about car audio. (I can tell you almost everything about high-end home audio).

I just remember the days when Blaupunkt and Alpine were tops and everything was adjusted with knobs!

I have an '89 MTX with the stock JBL system with an aftermarket Sony head unit with cassette!!

I do have an amp (I think it is an amp!) bolted to the panel in the trunk.

I really don't care if the unit provides good radio reception, but want very good quality in the CD player.

I'm not sure if I want to do a lot of re-wiring and harness changes, because the car is so old.

Also, the door panels have gaps in them between the rubber molding so rain water leaks in.

So maybe it's only worth putting in a new head unit.

With all that said:

What would you recommend I replace?

Just the head unit?
Head unit and door speakers?
Head unit, door, rear speakers?
Head unit and just rear?

Essentially, what should I replace and not replace or is not worth replacing?

Lastly, I hate metal dome tweeters, I believe Dynaudio makes fabric dome tweeters, but they are probably way outside my budget.

On a scale shown below where I would like be at "Excellent" or "Very Good to Excellent" system, what brands are recommended for head unit, front door speakers, dash speakers, and rear speakers and amp.

How much would I have to spend?

Where would be the breakpoint where you would have to spend a whole lot more to get to the next level?

Could I keep the existing amp?

Scale:

O.K. ===> Good ===> Very Good ===> Excellent ====> Awesome ===> The Best

Thanks.

 

[SASHO91]

Replace the Headunit (your choice really... read through some articles on ones that catch your eye).
Replace the rear component speakers with, agian your choice. I'd suggest a 2-way speaker.
The fronts, I leave mine alone. Always have with JBL equip'd SHO's. They work great for High's.
Find a nice 10''-12'' Sub, powered by a 300-800watt amp. Depending on how much of the boom you want.

My system, which consists of a Kenwood KDC-319 Headunit(yeah, alittle old but it works the way I want it to), 3-way Alpine 5x7's in the rear deck, and a 10'' Alpine sub powered by a 300watt(peak) Visonik(off brand- but good) amp..... Sounds great with literally any type of music. Nothing overpowers anything, it just flat out sounds great. It's not like some of these kids with the huge subs and monsterous amplifiers that are trying to clear their kidneys of stones... I'm not saying that my system is the end-all of systems... in fact, my setup is fairly out-dated. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying my music without having any distortion or excess noise.

When it comes down to it, you need to figure out what your buget is and see what you like and don't like that's available.

 

[Toul]

I recommend searching around for a head unit you like, really up to you on that one.

I also recommend upgrading your front before you replace the rears, you sit in the front of the car not the back, why would you put better stuff back there?


If you plan to run just off of your headunits internal amp it will only be putting out maybe 20 watts, so make it a point to find higher efficiency speakers.

Probably the best use of money though is going to be upgrading those front door speakers, and then doing your best to seal off all of the holes in the door with a decent deadener. The less of a path soundwaves from the rear of the speaker have to the cabin, the more output and more bass you will get out of them.



Theres a lot of different ways you can go with this, it all depends on how much you want to spend. Id say it falls into 3 ranges:

200-300$
300-700$
700+

Figure out what you're going to be comfortable with, then I can advise of the best route to take to stay within that and have the best that you can pay for.

 

[SASHO91]

I'm sorry, IMO the front components (JBL- even Premium Sound) put out very good sound. Sure they are only good for high's but that's easily taken care of. Plus it'll save him some cash, possibly upgrading to a better HU then what he was originally looking at.

That is, if his speakers are in good condition.

Also, look at the rear speaker location, and where the sound hits.... Upgrading these helps the sound MUCH more than upgrading the fronts. Let alone the ease of installation.

 

[Phoenix]

In audio you basicly get what you pay for. Wattage aint too much regulated these days. Ex: A 1200 watts Pyramid amp will be crushed by a 200 watts Memphis amp.

Try to match the quality of the sub/amp , because a High end sub will require a high end amp , even the low end (Pyramid) 300 trillion watts wont cut it.

If you really want to know more about brands , maybe stop by a mag stand an buy a couple of car stereo magazines and have some reading , you may find a brand that fits your needs/budget.

 

[ManySHOs]

FWIW, I ditched the rear deck speakers years ago and haven't missed them. I'm running MB Quart components (which are too bright but I have them adjusted to my tastes), an Alpine HU and an Infinity 12" sub.

If I were going to do it again, I'd probably use a cheaper HU with an internal amp (still stick with Alpine though), good front speakers and no sub or a smaller sub. While I'm still interested in sound quality, I'm also interested in weight savings, gas mileage, performance and trunk space. All of those categories take a back seat once a sub box and amps come into play.

Ian

 

[Marccus]

OK Thanks.

$300 to $500 sounds reasonable.

I don't have any plans to intall a "distortion system" - like those idiots who drive around in.

But I agree, I just like to listen to music, not the tweeters, not the woofers, not the midrange drivers, but music.

To listen to music (not your audio system) everything should be balanced so no frequency range is prominent.

I have sound deadened the interior front door panels and coated the interior with a rust preventative corrosion wax. (LPS, CRC, Eastwood, Wurth, etc. make them)

I highly recommend these products to be sprayed into all the cavitiies to prevent rust.

Lastly,

Any recommended places to buy

internet?
Circuit City?
Best Buy?
Pep Boys?


:thankyou:

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

First off, when you ever read anything on a box, advertisment, magazine etc... DO NOT read the peak wattage rating, it means sweet F*** all. always look at the RMS wattage. im sick of p[eople telling me they have an amp that has like 2500 watts when it really has like 600. Peak is often used for advertising to attract less experianced buyers. if you want to go make a move and buy somthing come armed with knowladge and reaserch. im running an Alpine CDA-9886 HU, SPS-600C front 6 1/4 component speakers and 5x7 type Rs on the rear deck with a PDX-4.150 amp and kicked off with 2 12" type R subs with a PDX-1.1000 monoblock and im very pleased. some may think alpine is overpriced but i like the quality. another great brand is JL audio. if i were you i would go to crutchfield.com and look around there. hope this helps

-Mitch

 

[ManySHOs]

Shop on Crutchfield and buy on eBay.

There are some good car audio forums out there. Find some hardware that you like on Crutchfield and use google to learn as much as you can about it. Then look for the cheapest price.

Ian

 

[Toul]

OK Thanks.

$300 to $500 sounds reasonable.

I don't have any plans to intall a "distortion system" - like those idiots who drive around in.

But I agree, I just like to listen to music, not the tweeters, not the woofers, not the midrange drivers, but music.

To listen to music (not your audio system) everything should be balanced so no frequency range is prominent.

I have sound deadened the interior front door panels and coated the interior with a rust preventative corrosion wax. (LPS, CRC, Eastwood, Wurth, etc. make them)

I highly recommend these products to be sprayed into all the cavitiies to prevent rust.

Lastly,

Any recommended places to buy

internet?
Circuit City?
Best Buy?
Pep Boys?


:thankyou:

I agree with the previous poster to an extent. Shop on crutch buy on ebay. But there are alot of brands that are extremely top notch that arent on crutchfield.
I'm pretty damn knowledgeable out car audio but its kind of hard to talk about it on here without people nay saying. If you have aim we could talk about it in depth and I'm sure I could get more questions answered quicker than back and forth on here. I'm Toulo1 on aim, hit me up on there if you have it.


Otherwise I will restate what I previously said, forget about rear speakers. You'd be better off spending 150 bucks on a decent front stage and 50 bucks for rear fill than not replacing the fronts and spending all sorts of money in the back.

I could put a damn impressive system in a car for 500 bucks. St Louis SHO can back me up on my audio knowledge to some extent, he sat in my car just a few days ago.

 

[SASHO91]

OK Thanks.

$300 to $500 sounds reasonable.

I don't have any plans to intall a "distortion system" - like those idiots who drive around in.

But I agree, I just like to listen to music, not the tweeters, not the woofers, not the midrange drivers, but music.

To listen to music (not your audio system) everything should be balanced so no frequency range is prominent.

I have sound deadened the interior front door panels and coated the interior with a rust preventative corrosion wax. (LPS, CRC, Eastwood, Wurth, etc. make them)

I highly recommend these products to be sprayed into all the cavitiies to prevent rust.

Lastly,

Any recommended places to buy

internet?
Circuit City?
Best Buy?
Pep Boys?


:thankyou:

I'm not going to argue in your thread about what speakers you should or shouldn't replace and money that you don't need to spend.
All i'm getting at is, my system (again, i'm in no way trying to brag) even though I have not upgraded everything and have not used the top of the line items, you would have no problems just upgrading what I have listed. Plus you wont spend $400 trying to do it.

Speakers are speakers no matter where you buy them from. They don't change from store to store(meaning the same model speakers). So if you happen to find a good deal at Best Buy, go for it. You'll probably have a better chance finding a HU that you like on Crutch... That's not to say that you can't find a very decent HU at Best Buy or the like.


Hope some of this helps.

Otherwise I will restate what I previously said, forget about rear speakers. You'd be better off spending 150 bucks on a decent front stage and 50 bucks for rear fill than not replacing the fronts and spending all sorts of money in the back.

The stock rears are cheaply made and nowhere near the same level of output the fronts have. FWIW, my rear Alpines were $100-ish. So I just saved $100 and my system probably sounds just the same(probably wont have as much mids), as the one you listed.

 

[K-Dawg]

I'd replace the headunit, and at least the front speakers.

When I was shopping for a headunit about two years ago, Kenwood eXelon was high quality stuff for the money. Before that it was Alpine, but they had somewhat gone down hill. I'm not sure what is good now, but you probably won't be very disappointed with anything. Look at the different features available and decide what you want.

As for speakers, I would just replace the fronts and either leave the stock rears or toss them. I have a set of CDT components, but different people like different speakers. Listen to as many different things as you can, and go from there. Whatever you go with, deaden the door panels and much as possible, and seal up the front side of the door and seal the speaker to the door. This will make the biggest difference in sound quality. Here's what my doors looked like in my 95:



I agree with Toul, don't waste your money on rear speakers. Spend your money on the front speakers, and if you still want more, get some rear speakers for fill. You might also want to upgrade the speaker amps, and maybe a sub and an amp, but that stuff isn't as critical as the headunit and front speakers.

 

[Toul]

Sorry to thread hijack but what size speaker is that? I had to fab up a speaker ring to put my ID chameleons in, and then I also had to dremel a good bit of the inside of the door panel too. Deep speakers though so no biggy.

 

[K-Dawg]

It's a 6.5" speaker. Most 6.5" speaker baskets won't fit the stock bracket. I made a spacer ring out of 1/2" MDF. You can barely see it in the picture.

 

[Toul]

I dont think I could even get the majority of my magnet structure through the bracket. That was the biggest pain was the trial and error with limited woodworking tools to build an adapter.

 

[K-Dawg]

I thought about just building a whole new bracket, but I couldn't figure out a good design that I thought would hold up good over time.

 

[Vnuk1]

I can agree with alot that has been said above, but the HU is the most important thing out of your stereo it is the brain of your stereo. It can also be the determining factor in when and if you decide to replace any of your factory speakers. I personally like Pioneer Premiere IMHO they are the best bang for your buck these days. They allow you to choose and customize your own equalizer that range from your mids to highs and subwoofer and when you have your sound to where you want it your factory's just might be all you need.

As for the Subwoofer and Amplifier combo stay away from the junk. I use Rockford Fosgate and Kicker, now someone might flame me saying RF is junk but I have had ZERO problems and have been using them for years. RF makes great Amplifiers that are IMHO way under rated pushing more watts than actually listed as from the birth sheet. Example my RF 1000-1BD is pushing closer to 1300 watts and has pushed two RF P3's and a RF HE2 15" at the same time and had no problem in doing so. Check Ebay they have alot of sellers on there with great product for dirt cheap. And so what if it is a year or two old look at the customer reviews off of the internet to find out which ones are going to work better for you price range and quality.

Another thing if you want to lessen road noise is DynoMat it works wonders. And since your a SHO owner dismantling your SHO should be a strong point for you as you can tighten everything that is loose in the process. All of these guys have the right advice you just have to use it to your advantage. Just go from square one and work your way up, one being find the right HU first then make your initial decision on whether you "NEED" to upgrade your smaller components.

Here is a good list of Ebay sellers;
http://stores.ebay.com/AUDIOSAVINGS-ELECTRONICS-SUPERSTORE
http://stores.ebay.com/Autosounds4less-Public-Warehouse
http://stores.ebay.com/Stereo-2-go

 

[tommyturbo]

I'm sure I will be laughed right out of here, but i actually like the jbl systems. The one in my 95 has very good sound quality in my opinion for what it is. You said your not looking for a wild getto system....

My 89 also has a jbl system, and i swapped in a single cd ford deck, plug and play, and it works great. My only gripe is that the factory subs mounted underneath the rear package tray vibrate the plastic and that bugs me. The second gen box works much better I think.

I'm the exception here, but I never understood why people add so much weight to their cars with all the aftermarket systems...plus in all honesty I find the factory decks much easier to figure out...every aftermarket deck I come across I Have to read and memorize a huge manual to use.

 

[Vnuk1]

I'm sure I will be laughed right out of here, but i actually like the jbl systems. The one in my 95 has very good sound quality in my opinion for what it is. You said your not looking for a wild getto system....

My 89 also has a jbl system, and i swapped in a single cd ford deck, plug and play, and it works great. My only gripe is that the factory subs mounted underneath the rear package tray vibrate the plastic and that bugs me. The second gen box works much better I think.

I'm the exception here, but I never understood why people add so much weight to their cars with all the aftermarket systems...plus in all honesty I find the factory decks much easier to figure out...every aftermarket deck I come across I Have to read and memorize a huge manual to use.

I agree, aside from the tape stuck inside I really don't think I will replace anything except the HU in mine. It has good sound already, now my truck that is another story.