500 dollars!?!?!?!
- Thread starter s383mmber1
- Start date
Well, i'm runnin a pretty cheap setup right now... but It's a little over the $500 budget you have...
Sony CDX-GT500 head unit - $200 w/ discount from buddy at FS
Sony XM-1252GTR 1/2 channel amp - $230
Sony 30wx2 cheapo old amp under passenger seat - ?
2x 4" speakers in the doors (unknown make.. probably sony's) - ?
2x 5.25" speakers in the rear.. cheapo RCA's - $20
JL W0-4ohm 12" subwoofer in a custom 2.5cu/ft ported enclosure $150+$100 materials for the enclosure
4 guage wire for 12v and ground & rca's and speakerwire - $80
Totaling around $800 w/ taxes and stuff... need to replace all my speakers tho... not soundin too great... that'll be another $400 at least for decent ones.
Edit: All prices are in canadian... so maybe it's a little bit closer to your budget...
Sony CDX-GT500 head unit - $200 w/ discount from buddy at FS
Sony XM-1252GTR 1/2 channel amp - $230
Sony 30wx2 cheapo old amp under passenger seat - ?
2x 4" speakers in the doors (unknown make.. probably sony's) - ?
2x 5.25" speakers in the rear.. cheapo RCA's - $20
JL W0-4ohm 12" subwoofer in a custom 2.5cu/ft ported enclosure $150+$100 materials for the enclosure
4 guage wire for 12v and ground & rca's and speakerwire - $80
Totaling around $800 w/ taxes and stuff... need to replace all my speakers tho... not soundin too great... that'll be another $400 at least for decent ones.
Edit: All prices are in canadian... so maybe it's a little bit closer to your budget...
Yeah, I decided it was worth typing twice...didn't like the idea of someone saying I don't know what I'm talking about and I want to help out the fellow members so you're not getting cheated out of your hard earned money. Take this example for instance...
Product A: They advertise an average power rating of 200W $100
Product B: They advertise an RMS power of 205W $110
You buy product B and your friend buys product A...you both compete in car audio competitions and your friend's system is louder and sounds better because it's actualy putting out more power than yours...wouldn't you be pissed? :biglaugh:
-Derek
Product A: They advertise an average power rating of 200W $100
Product B: They advertise an RMS power of 205W $110
You buy product B and your friend buys product A...you both compete in car audio competitions and your friend's system is louder and sounds better because it's actualy putting out more power than yours...wouldn't you be pissed? :biglaugh:
-Derek
DUAL $89.99
50-watts x 4 (18-watts RMS)
CD-R/CD-RW compatible—Plays all CDs including MP3/WMA encoded discs
iPlug interface cable plays any portable media with a headphone jack
link here
Pioneer 4" 110 watts max $50.00
link here
Pioneer 6.5" $80
link here
RF 12" sub $136 (build yer own box lol)
link here
Rockford Amp $150
link here
shit, came out to $506
oh well, lol
50-watts x 4 (18-watts RMS)
CD-R/CD-RW compatible—Plays all CDs including MP3/WMA encoded discs
iPlug interface cable plays any portable media with a headphone jack
link here
Pioneer 4" 110 watts max $50.00
link here
Pioneer 6.5" $80
link here
RF 12" sub $136 (build yer own box lol)
link here
Rockford Amp $150
link here
shit, came out to $506
oh well, lol
Dual? ick.
Nothing but Alpine or Eclipse HU's for me if I can help it.
also, I agree with Brad. Infinity speakers.
When choosing a HU, look at the manufacturer's background. What do they focus on?
Sony? TV's
Kenwood? Home Audio
Pioneer? Home Audio
Alpine? Car audio
Eclipse? Car audio.
My theory has yet to be proven wrong.
Oddly enough, I've had a Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, and Alpine.
The Sony was a complete piece of shit. Xplod? I wish it would have...
Pioneer had some strange quirks. Buttons wouldn't work sometimes, then everything would be fine for weeks without problems...
Kenwood? You have to push on the face at a certain point for any of the buttons to work, or use the remote.
Alpine (9825 i think) I did have a problem, would not accept CD's when cold, and one day it would make the sound like it was trying to accept it, but just wouldn't. Opened it up and found out that one of the plastic slider pieces in the ejector mechanism snapped in half. BFD though, the thing was $100 out of box and came with a warrantee. Turns out that I was still in warrantee when it broke, and just didn't know it. Called it in 3 days after my cutoff and Circuit City "couldn't" do anything about it.
That was 5 months ago though, I'm still using it. I just removed the CD mechanism. Works flawlessly with XM.
I have no first or second hand experiences with Eclipse, but I've heard much good.
Nothing but Alpine or Eclipse HU's for me if I can help it.
also, I agree with Brad. Infinity speakers.
When choosing a HU, look at the manufacturer's background. What do they focus on?
Sony? TV's
Kenwood? Home Audio
Pioneer? Home Audio
Alpine? Car audio
Eclipse? Car audio.
My theory has yet to be proven wrong.
Oddly enough, I've had a Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, and Alpine.
The Sony was a complete piece of shit. Xplod? I wish it would have...
Pioneer had some strange quirks. Buttons wouldn't work sometimes, then everything would be fine for weeks without problems...
Kenwood? You have to push on the face at a certain point for any of the buttons to work, or use the remote.
Alpine (9825 i think) I did have a problem, would not accept CD's when cold, and one day it would make the sound like it was trying to accept it, but just wouldn't. Opened it up and found out that one of the plastic slider pieces in the ejector mechanism snapped in half. BFD though, the thing was $100 out of box and came with a warrantee. Turns out that I was still in warrantee when it broke, and just didn't know it. Called it in 3 days after my cutoff and Circuit City "couldn't" do anything about it.
That was 5 months ago though, I'm still using it. I just removed the CD mechanism. Works flawlessly with XM.
I have no first or second hand experiences with Eclipse, but I've heard much good.
supra90turbo said:
sony's arent all bad... it will probably break within the next year or two... but w/e decent deck for my crap setup.
I've had my Dual HU for almost 2 years, with NO issues whatsoever.
The only reason I chose the products I did, is because I have experience with them. I won't hesitate to get another Dual HU, which I will when I get my Celica.
I also have Alphasonik 10"subs and amp, which are another "no name" brand I guess, but they've served me well for 3 years
Stay away from JVC head units. I've had nothing but bad luck with them, at least 3 bad uits in 3 weeks, all different models too.
My system:
Dual HU $100
Boss 4" $40
Pioneer 5.25" $60
Alphasonik subs/amp $200 (including 2 yr warranty)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/TanyasMkII/engine parts/HPIM0652.jpg
Here's a small clip:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v237/TanyasMkII/engine parts/?action=view¤t=HPIM0653.flv
note* apparently my camera doesn't like uber bass, lol. some sound distortion
The only reason I chose the products I did, is because I have experience with them. I won't hesitate to get another Dual HU, which I will when I get my Celica.
I also have Alphasonik 10"subs and amp, which are another "no name" brand I guess, but they've served me well for 3 years
Stay away from JVC head units. I've had nothing but bad luck with them, at least 3 bad uits in 3 weeks, all different models too.
My system:
Dual HU $100
Boss 4" $40
Pioneer 5.25" $60
Alphasonik subs/amp $200 (including 2 yr warranty)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/TanyasMkII/engine parts/HPIM0652.jpg
Here's a small clip:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v237/TanyasMkII/engine parts/?action=view¤t=HPIM0653.flv
note* apparently my camera doesn't like uber bass, lol. some sound distortion
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SupraDerk said:
i didn't mean to suggest that you dont know what youre talking about.. just that you were making some pretty aggressive claims without backing it up.
you're saying exactly what im saying if you refer to my last post.. i just don't feel the need to qualify the difference to people that don't care that RMS power and true average power aren't the same..
blame the audio industry for the misconception... but it doesn't change the usefulness of the rating and it certainly doesn't make it a bs rating. it may not be completely accurate to engineers, but its still representative of the speaker's power handling ability. that's the only claim i was making about what you said. :icon_razz
besides i could be wrong but very few if any mainstream audio manufacturers actually supply a true average power rating
Well, my setup was had for less than £200 - which is under your $500 budget.
JVC KD-G111 Head Unit - £69.99
Toyota to ISO Plug - £13.99
Kenwood KFC-1050's - £18.99
Those little kenwoods fit in the doors perfectly and give pretty good sound. Obviously they're not going to blow people away, but its fine for what i listen to by myself - i dont need people to hear me two counties away
JVC KD-G111 Head Unit - £69.99
Toyota to ISO Plug - £13.99
Kenwood KFC-1050's - £18.99
Those little kenwoods fit in the doors perfectly and give pretty good sound. Obviously they're not going to blow people away, but its fine for what i listen to by myself - i dont need people to hear me two counties away
brad92t said:
Yeah I know, but you kind of called me out so I had to show why I thought the way I did. Anyway, I wasn't trying to convert anyone I was just letting them know not to just go by RMS power cause it's not an exact representation of the average power... just a loophole for the audio industry to make their product sound a little better. But you're right...it does give you an idea of where the real average power is about. Anyway, I'm done threadjacking! :evil2:
-Derek
Just to clear some things up guys. I dont want a subwoofer.
Headunit/speakers combo for 500 bucks!
No subs for me!
Headunit/speakers combo for 500 bucks!
No subs for me!
s383mmber1 said:
Boo, but you said you wanted one in your first post :icon_razz
Anyways, you should have no problems finding a HU speaker combo for way less than that. Check out some stuff at BestBuy, Circuit City, etc. They can have good package deals
My experience as an installer was that Pioneer made some of the best sounding and most reliable headunits for the money. Alpine was good 12 years ago but I would not recommend them anymore. Sony xplod headunits and amplifiers did exactly what their name suggested, they explode, but not with sound. Kenwood is good as long as it does not have a motorized face but if it does get the extended warranty. You can't loose with JL Audio, everything they make is good quality. Eclipse is not too bad either.
BTW, any amplifier that does not come with a bench test certificate that shows the rms output power into a specific load at a specific frequency is probably not going to make it's rated power. Any cheap amplifier is probably going to have a fairly high amount of distortion. Even if it can make it's rated power, who wants to hear it if it sounds like shit? Most of the wattage ratings on the equipment are marketing gimmicks anyway. They sometimes test subwoofer amplifier power output at 1khz. Who listens to 500 watts of sound at 1kz through a sub?!? How do you think they can say they get 50wpc out of a headunit? Because the actual output power is about 16w rms, if your lucky. They also sometimes rate the output power as an instantaneous peak into a load much lower then the amplifier is rated to run. And who ever decided that 200w speakers are better sounding then 100w speakers? Both 100w and 200w speakers will sound like shit when run on a 50wpc stereo driven till it starts clipping. You can run that good quality 100w speaker on a 200wrms amplifier and have it sound way better then the cheap 200w speaker running on a 100wrms amplifier. There is also a specific bandwidth in which the speaker will handle it's rated power. If you run 30hz at 200wrms to a 6.5" speaker it will surely smoke, but if you had a 100hz high pass crossover on the same speaker it might actually handle it's rated power. The wattage rating on speakers it the just thermal power handling of the voice coil before it fails, not a good description of the quality of sound.
You students may forget that sometimes you have to forget the math and just do some real world critical listening to tell which is the best.
BTW, any amplifier that does not come with a bench test certificate that shows the rms output power into a specific load at a specific frequency is probably not going to make it's rated power. Any cheap amplifier is probably going to have a fairly high amount of distortion. Even if it can make it's rated power, who wants to hear it if it sounds like shit? Most of the wattage ratings on the equipment are marketing gimmicks anyway. They sometimes test subwoofer amplifier power output at 1khz. Who listens to 500 watts of sound at 1kz through a sub?!? How do you think they can say they get 50wpc out of a headunit? Because the actual output power is about 16w rms, if your lucky. They also sometimes rate the output power as an instantaneous peak into a load much lower then the amplifier is rated to run. And who ever decided that 200w speakers are better sounding then 100w speakers? Both 100w and 200w speakers will sound like shit when run on a 50wpc stereo driven till it starts clipping. You can run that good quality 100w speaker on a 200wrms amplifier and have it sound way better then the cheap 200w speaker running on a 100wrms amplifier. There is also a specific bandwidth in which the speaker will handle it's rated power. If you run 30hz at 200wrms to a 6.5" speaker it will surely smoke, but if you had a 100hz high pass crossover on the same speaker it might actually handle it's rated power. The wattage rating on speakers it the just thermal power handling of the voice coil before it fails, not a good description of the quality of sound.
You students may forget that sometimes you have to forget the math and just do some real world critical listening to tell which is the best.
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how about just using a ipod as a head unit? think about it,all YOUR fav songs. not a radio stations. just use some output harness to to your input on your equalizer!
How a bout a set of Audiobahn class D amps?
How a bout a set of Audiobahn class D amps?