Your ideal sound system

[Acid X]

I was just checking out sound systems and was thinking about making this topic..

Question is, what is your IDEAL sound system? EX: Something you would absolutely love to get your hands on and put in that prime vehicle of yours to get the tunes really bumpin'!

Incase you havent thought about it, go ahead and find something you would like on www.AmericanCarAudio.com, and if you wouldnt mind, please include a link.

Heres what i would (eventually) like to put into my 85 camaro, once i get it running;

Pyramid 600 watt 6x9 inch 4 way speakers (2) - Link

Price: $35.57/ea. (Total for 2: $71.14)

Pyramid AM-FM - MPX CD Player Deck - Link

Price: $85.58

Pyramid 600 Watt Mosfet 2 Channel Amp - Link

Price: $78.24

Sub-Total: $234.96
Link to shopping car

Pretty damn good price for 2 600 watt speakers, a deck, AND an amp..

 

[Joey D]

Well I want two MTX Thunder 8000 12" subs, two MTX Audio RFL152 subs,Blaupunkt Skyline Los Angeles Head Unit, MTX Audio Thunder895 amps and that would be as many amps as needed, 2 Blaupunkt TSc660 7" tweeters, finally 2 Kicker 6x9's. That is my ideal system.

Not to mention custom enclousers, neons bumpin to bass, and a ton of Dynomatting.

Also for sounds systems check out www.sounddomain.com

 

[Josh]

After going through several expensive "systems" I'm going to have to stick with stock. An aftermarket deck with some Cerwin Vega 6x9's at most.

 

[Acid X]

Sweet. Im not going for all that.. I only listen to metal, so i wouldnt need all the bass... The camaro can only hold 2 6x9" speakers, so i put the best ones for the best price. You cant beat 600 watts for 35$.

 

[Joey D]

nope you can't, I can fit pretty much whatever I want in the Blazer. But by far my favorite subs have to be the MTX Audio RFL152. 15 inches of pure sub goodness.

I would want a lot of bass since I like rap and electronica. I want to bump.

 

[advanR]

Im about to buy some parts to add to my car soon. You can help if you want. The 88 bmw I just bought has a very ****ty tape deck. I picked up one of those cassetter to portable audio device adapters to hook up a cd player. It sounds pretty bad.

I dont want to do anything massive now. Maybe a head unit and 2 sets of 5 1/4 " component sets. That is what came stock so I wouldnt have to go through the hassle of finding a way to mount them. Do you think a head unit putting out 25 watts RMS x 4 would be enough? I hope for now it would be. Later I would want to add two amps and a 10" sub probably.

I like the look of Blaupunkt and Alpine decks, especially for my car. I have also heard they are pretty decent. I would probably get close to the most expensive deck they make, short of those stupid ones with lcd screens. Im guessing $400-500. I like the Blaupunkt los angeles I think it is, because it can read mp3s off of cdrs and will display the ID3 tags. Im not sure if there are any alpine units like this.

I know there are some people that know about all of this stuff. What do you think of these head units? What are some excellent component sets that come in 5 1/4" ?

 

[Joey D]

Well I don't know a helluva lot but I can tell you that Blaupunkt is really really really nice. A bit pricey but its worth it. My friends got some Blaupunkt stuff in his F-250 and damn it sounds so nice.

 

[advanR]

what unit? I was looking on epinions and they only have reviews for the really old ****. I think the LA is the model that I like. With the mp3 ID3 function. I like the blaupunkts because they have good specs, but Im not sure if that translates into a better cd player. 108 signal/noise ratio, and those 4v pre-amp outputs.

 

[-Fred-]

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I don't need no stinkin', weighty sound system!

 

[advanR]

haha

Thats kinda why im not oging to put in all of those subs and amps and ****. I dont listen to much rap, if any. I figure the tape deck ad speakers in it now weigh less than 20lbs. If I replace the deck with a decent cd player, and the speakers with some nicer ones, I dont htink it will add much weight, if any.

I am watching the weight of the car. I will eventually start shedding off some of it, with lightweight parts, tearing **** out.

 

[Joey D]

My friend has the San Francisco in his truck. He says its quite the head unit. I'm sure he paid a ton for it though.

 

[Acid X]

Call me stupid, but whats a "head unit"?

 

[-Fred-]

Originally posted by Acid X
Call me stupid, but whats a "head unit"?

The thing in the dash, where you usually put the CD, or the tape, or the 8 track, if you still live in the 70s...

 

[Acid X]

Oh. The deck. Blech.

 

[Hooligan]

Lexicon MC-12 with Genelec 1031A front, side, & rear, and 7060A and 7071A subs; with...um...oh. You meant car audio system. Hmm.

Well, I wouldn't want anything too heavy, or taking up too much trunk space. No elliptical drivers. All active crossovers, if possible, and no more than two-way speakers. JL drivers, I guess, with a reasonable Alpine head unit & amps. A single 10" sub trunk-mounted & firing into the rear seats should do it for me. Clean, simple; let the audio source do the talking, not the gear.

However, if you're interested in the, erm, Lex/Gen system, I'd be more than happy to set that up. And build the room that goes with it. From scratch. Starting at $75,000.

 

[Pupik]

Never spend what you can afford to lose in a car stereo system. I'm not tryng to curse you, but there's two avenues that some nutcase audiphiles follow.

1. It's never good enough; I must upgrade it and never be saatisfied (which is great if you can get free stuuf or you have lots of flow...)

2. You're stupid enough to blast your stereo everywhere, so everyone knows you have it.

I say, design it for great sound on the inside, and unimpressive for the outside. Despite the Neon having one of the world's easiest break-in procedures (any old jimmy stick or coat hanger could pop it open); nobody ever raided my car for it's steroe components.

What did it have? A 12" Bazooka tube ($40 for the empty, virtually unused) with a JBL sub tube ($60 new); one pair of Boston Acoustics separates for the front (tweets near the side mirrors), and standadrd fittings for the doors. Two BA 5"x7" combos in the rear deck. Passive crossovers for each (I'm not that picky). Total for the BA's: about $220. I bought a Pioneer head unit w/detachable face (scratch 'n' dent for $110) that fit the Chrysler/GM larger-than-DIN size space without skhaking. I bought a 250-watt Sherweood amp at a swap meet for $150 (not sure what I was thinking, but It lasted almost years!). Monster cables that were 8-guage (the myth that you need 2-guage for 250-watts is untrue). Bought a installation kit forom Crutchfield for $25. About $40 worth of Dynamat for the door panels, the trunk-meets-the-tube area, adab by the license plate, and the back of the rear-view mirror. One day of my time and by brother's...all good to go for under $1k.

I've never needed to make changes until I removed it all from my wrecked car in December. The steroe was loud enough for me and the passenger to hear at 85mph with the windows down, no amp clipping, no noticeable distortion. I never cranked the amp past 40% on any setting except when tweaking it for fun.

Nobody new I had a stereo (despite even my protesting) until they entered my car. Sweet! I can't imagine it added more than 40 pounds to my car when it was all said and done.

And please to yourself a favcor and don't add any stickers proclaiming your stereo components...you're asking for trouble that your insurance company isn't likely to cover!

 

[1988GMC]

Ok i don't really know a hole lot of system stuff but can i get these and will it work?

 

[1988GMC]

this is the amp

 

[KoKaiNe]

Yeh down here FUSION probably the best setups to buy..

Since this was mentioned.. Anyone here have a mazda 6?.. I'm wondering if I can remove there 10" sub that comes with the Bose- Sound system, and put two 12" pioneers and a 1000watt amp? And use the normal speakers and the deck ok? Can I do this without voiding my warranty?

 

[boombexus]

Originally posted by KoKaiNe
Can I do this without voiding my warranty?

Yep!


Kind of an older topic but yeah, I have my perfect car audio system. That is until I have enough flow again to make some more imporvments.

Head unit: Alpine CDA-7969 (last of the competition series before the F1 Status came out. I would love to get the F1 but it's $7,000)

Xtant 5 1/4" coaxial.
MTX 6 1/2" Mid bass.
Xtant amps: X604 and X1001
Enclosure for an Xtant 10" sub and an enclosure for 2 JL 12" subs.
Dynamate all through the enterior.

I kept the install pretty low profile. Nothing fancy and nothing visible from the exterior of the car.

 

[Concept]

I like my Rockford Fosgate subs. Came with the car when I bought it though, very nice. I don't have to have my amp turned up much for the speakers to be heard half a mile down the road.

 

[Boomer17]

The system i have now is the one i've always wanted. I have two mtx 8000 series subs wired in parallel to a mtx 1501d mono amplifier. Along with that, I have a pioneer p6500 head unit and infinity reference 6.5's up front and infinity reference 6x8 in the rear deck. I still need to get a 1 farad capacitor, and a big deep cycle battery.

 

[boombexus]

Why on earth would you need a cap and a deep cycle battery for that set up?
Unless your pushing 2500+ watts, you shouldn't waste your money on any of that stuff.

 

[T13R]

Thats not true Boom. For every 500 watts RMS of power you need a 1 Farad cap. If the lights are dimming when the bass drops hard, the battery or alternator might have to be replaced. A good battery for sound systems is an Optima Yellow Top. Stinger does alternators with higher amperage but those are pretty expensive.

As for a good sound system, I start with the head unit and amps. There is no point of buying an amp that says 1000 watts and is worth like 150$ cuz in reality u might be getting 250-300 watts RMS if ur lucky. Plus those speakers that are rated at 600 watts, thats PEAK. Dont ever think of giving those 600 watts unless you wanna blow them, but then again the amp that you showed me probably only delivers a maximum of 100 watts RMS anyways Acid X. Instead they should work at optimum when given about 35-40 watts each.

You ppl should stop looking at PEAK values for speakers/subs/amps. You should always look at what the nominal values are for the speaker/subs, and the RMS power given from an amplifier.

Edit: Ill continue this another time

 

[boombexus]

Originally posted by T13R
For every 500 watts RMS of power you need a 1 Farad cap.

Need, no. A rough guideline, yes.

As for a good sound system, I start with the head unit and amps. There is no point of buying an amp that says 1000 watts and is worth like 150$ cuz in reality u might be getting 250-300 watts RMS if ur lucky. Plus those speakers that are rated at 600 watts, thats PEAK. Dont ever think of giving those 600 watts unless you wanna blow them, but then again the amp that you showed me probably only delivers a maximum of 100 watts RMS anyways Acid X. Instead they should work at optimum when given about 35-40 watts each.

You ppl should stop looking at PEAK values for speakers/subs/amps. You should always look at what the nominal values are for the speaker/subs, and the RMS power given from an amplifier.

👍 Couldn't agree more with everything said. 👍

Also look for what test voltage the numbers were derived from. 14V is something that you will almost never see in a car. Testing results done under 12V is more truthful.

 

[aZn_sUmThAnG]

Does anyone thing the new pioneer disrupt speakers are good. I heard them at tweeter and they did not float my boat.

 

[T13R]

Originally posted by boombexus
Also look for what test voltage the numbers were derived from. 14V is something that you will almost never see in a car. Testing results done under 12V is more truthful.

Thats true, forgot to add that. Oh and also dont be fooled by Head Units giving 4x50 watts. Thats always peak, and at 14.4V. Once again if the head unit is of good quality, it might be 4x10 watts in reality. (Im not saying this for you Boom cuz u seem to know your stuff)

Right now Im running about 620 watts RMS at 12V in the car. I got a PPI amp pushing out 500 watts bridged on a 4 ohm load to a JL enclosure with two 12" w3v2's. The other amp is an Alpine V12 Series 4/3/2 channel which provides the other 120 watts for the 3-way Premier 6x9's in the rear( which will be replaced by some JL's as they seem to be dying on me ), Alpine midranges in the doors, and some Pioneer speakers in the dash. Head unit is an Alpine with mp3 capabilty, 3 RCA outputs and 4V pre-outs. I also got a rewound alternator giving 120 amps, Optima Yellow Top Deep-Cycle battery and a 1-Farad cap. Im pretty happy with this system, but the bass is way too powerfull at times. When I listen to high volumes I cant keep it up for more than 5 minutes. And Im glad the car seems to absorb most of the bass so that I dont seem too loud to everyone else around. Its sorta funny tho because most people listen to rap/hip hop in their cars for bass, and I am able to easily overpower their systems with my Rammstein music hehe.

Edit: I wonder how much 620 watts RMS would be at 14.4V and Peak. Im actually afraid to find out

 

[Boomer17]

First off i would like to thank you T13R for agreeing with me and for setting Boombexus straight. I'm also glad to hear that you like to overpower those that listen to rap with hard heavy music. I also love hard heavy music. I see that you have a optima yellow top battery. How is it, and is it worth the money?

 

[Boomer17]

First off i would like to thank you T13R for agreeing with me and for setting Boombexus straight. I'm also glad to hear that you like to overpower those that listen to rap with hard heavy music. I also love hard heavy music. I see that you have a optima yellow top battery. How is it, and is it worth the money?

 

[T13R]

Originally posted by Boomer17
First off i would like to thank you T13R for agreeing with me and for setting Boombexus straight. I'm also glad to hear that you like to overpower those that listen to rap with hard heavy music. I also love hard heavy music. I see that you have a optima yellow top battery. How is it, and is it worth the money?

Well I didnt set Boom straight... Actually he is right that its more of a rough guideline, but its worth putting one according to that guideline.It will also tighten up the bass which would otherwise sound much looser. This looser sound is probably somewhat of a better thing for rap/hiphop listeners. But Im in it for power and sound quality. And the cap does help sound quality while also helping your system keep up with the power demand. The cap is like a battery, but it charges/discharges many times quicker, hence the power you need is available much quicker. The Optima Yellow Top deep cycle battery did a world of a difference. Even with the added cap, and alternator rewound to 120 amps, the lights were still dimming pretty heavily with the normal battery. Since we picked the Optima up, the lights still dimm, but its barely noticeable. And we can play the music loud without the car being on for awhile, and it has no problems starting up afterwards.... I remember this one time the car didnt want to start after playing the sound system with the normal battery.. had to go boost the pos.