Cooper_Tired wrote: Anyone have luck, good or bad with Pioneer? I just ordered one last week for my NB as I had previously had good luck with their head units. Crutchfield also rates them pretty well.
Solid units but they have the weakest built-in amps of all the brands. Something like 12W RMS versus Kenwood/JVC which put out 22W.
Looking at 4x Infinity Reference 8602cfx 6x8 paired with an Alpine CDE-W265BT double-DIN.
However, also considering the Kicker 43CSC684 6x8 speakers based on online reviews.
Javelin wrote:Kreb wrote: I need to replace the steereo in my Element. I haven't bought a car stereo in over 20 years. Was kind of shocked how inexpensive they are. What's the best place to go to see what's good and what's not?Crutchfield is the best, period. I do all my research, and most of my buying, there.
Well I ordered a setup from Crutchfield. Very inadequate instructions, but I gave it a go. When I finally gave up, I called their support number where a pleasant voice informed me that they will take calls starting at 9 AM Eastern on Monday. That's OK. I don't expect service at 8 PM on a Sunday, but it would be kind of nice if they'd give their full hours - opening/closing - what days? That should be a customer support no-brainer.
This thread really makes me want to do a car audio build. Maybe get an '01-04 Mustang, strip all the factory audio out, generic-Dynamat the snot out of it, and install my own amplified 10-speaker system.
if needed headunit (features) then amp , sub, front speakers, rear speakers
this is my basic answer to anyone who has a "simple car stereo question. ALPINE head unit or other 4 vole output preamp had unit. I have had them all, and I would rather buy 4 year old alpine than most.
cheap 4 channel amp on the bay. again i love alpine because their 20 year old amps just plain work. think 35x4. i also love are older sony. these can be bought for 100 bucks all day long and just work.
a single 12 inch sub in a small sealed box. if you can fit a 10 or an 8 in the trunk a 12 will fit as well and be twice as efficient, so channels 3,4 bridged will be plenty loud.
do not replace rear speakers unless they are actually torn and then replace them with cheap stuff. run these off of the head unit and keep them quiet.
buy the best front speakers you can afford at this time. you saved on the rears. run these off of ch 1,2 on the 4 channel amp.
you may able to keep the front speakers too, in my passat they sound so much better wit the mp i haven't gotten around to installing the focals.
got into cars via audio. i have had old school all active 1kw systems sony, kenwood, clarion,boston accoustics, rockford, audiocontrol, pioneer, alpine, ads,yamaha, soundstream, quart, focal, polk.....
today my car has a kenwood ipod only full color screen headunit. simle alpine 35x4 running front stock passat spereates and a polk 12 in the trunk. rear speakers hooked up to the head unit.
i bought the amp used 12 years ago and it has been in 3 cars.
I just listen to the NPR
. Wish I could have better reception from the stupid stub antenna on the roof of my wagon.
In reply to scooterfrog:
This was generally my plan, as well: upgrade the front speakers and leave the rears alone. However, some vehicles have tiny front speakers, so you just can't get any decent mids out of them. Only solution is to put some decent speakers in the rear, too, and try to play with the fade & balance.
I really want to do an audio build now.
In reply to Tony Sestito:
Tony ... can you confirm one way or the other ... with that Kenwood, can I Bluetooth stream audio from an iPhone in to it? Also, where were you able to find that guy at the ~ $50 price point? Looking around last night, best I'm seeing these days is ~ $80.
thanks in advance!
All I know is that among the fleet I drive, the Fox Body has an Alpine, the Excursion has a Kenwood Excelon, and the RAV4 has a Pioneer. If you guys are really hearing noticeable differences between the brands that aren't attributable to speakers or vehicle acoustics then you have highly trained ears.
But back on subject, I would also like to build a nice system one of these days, not far off of what has already been discussed. I know lots of new cars have 10 or 11 speakers, I really don't think it is necessary in a custom build. A system with really high-quality 6.5's or components up front and a sub in the back all running off a 4-channel bridgeable amp is plenty for most people.
I wouldn't bother with full-range speakers in the back, and I also wouldn't power ANY speakers off the head unit. If you have to have speakers in the back, run them off the same 4 channel amp as the front speakers, and run the sub off its own dedicated amp.
The Cobra has Infinity speakers in it already from when it was an audio build, and I'm ripping out the can't-figure-it-out Pioneer head unit for a 5yo Alpine I bought used, hopefully soon.
The Mazda's stock speakers are garbage, seriously among the worst I've ever heard. They distort everything, have no clarity, and are weak everywhere. I've actually read that replacing just the speakers on most Mazdas will do very nicely, my problem is my head unit is dying as well. Still going to do the Alpine/Infinity setup, just don't have the splash cash for it right now since I had to buy it struts.
In reply to Javelin:
I noticed that with my Mazda too when I first used the stereo. They sounded like drumsticks on DVD cases.
I should really order a new set of speakers but I don't listen to it that often.
I pulled the stereos out of the last two cars I owned. The one in the Civic was a terrible thing that put on a freaking light show for two minutes before you could even get it to do anything. That went in the trash the first day it was home. I have no plans to replace it.
Just a little follow-up: Crutchfield's diagrams may have sucked, but their phone tech-support was excellent. Much better stereo for a very reasonable price.
What system do you recommend for my canoe? Can I get a remote that attaches to the paddle? Who makes the best head unit that plays 33's AND 45's?
In reply to Sky_Render :
or soemthink like a dsp like the rockford fostgate dsr1. i have one in my mini and I LOVE it
My opinion is slightly different but I've had very good experience with the Kenwood Excelon line of products. I've probably put 10 of them in cars over the last couple of years and have grown fond of the layout so I just keep on using them. They also have marine (boat, not crayon eater) versions that work really well in convertibles (Jeep for me) as the screen is much easier to read regardless of the sun. The only problem with the marine versions is that they are a silver color which doesn't look great in many vehicles. In all of them I have used, I've never had a failure.
Javelin said:I used to be Alpine only, but man they got expensive! I need to upgrade the stereo in the Mazda5 before it dies completely, and a deal on a head unit, install face, wiring, and speakers is looking good through Crutchfield. I don't see why the Kenwood Excelen (DPX592BT) on matching 6x8's (x4) are worth $40 more ($279.90 vrs $239.90)than the JVC double-DIN (KW-R920BTS) with matching speakers.
Any advice?
I used to be all-Pioneer all-thetime.
My Golf came with an Alpine CD/MP3 player. When I sold the car, I kept it, and transferred it to my next car.
My S60R came with an Alpine CD/MP3/USB player. (No Bluetooth sadly)
If Alpine is expensive, it's because it's WORTH IT.
When I bought the Volvo, I brought my MP3 collection since it'd been three years since I'd had a car that could play MP3-burned discs. Black Sabbath was the first album. Second track was Fairies Wear Boots. The hairs on my neck stood up.
(Fairies Wear Boots' beginning has some really tricky side to side echoing thing going on with the guitar, and Paranoid-album stuff is generally very stereophonic and almost requires wearing good headphones to appreciate. Most car audio mangles it into near-monaural mush.)
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