Ok, so I dont know that much about car audio, and I dont want to pay 2k for a system to be put in - so this is where I stand:

I listen to rock music, and I like a lot of bass, but nothing that will rattle my car - my car already feels like its rattling with the factory speakers in it, because I have the bass turned all the way up, but my speakers are perfectly fine

I'm not sure what wattage or anything like that to get, because I want something loud, but nothing that will really mess up my hearing - nothing to show off, just something louder than what I have, and of course more bass - right now when I'm probably 300 ft away from my house my parents can hear my bass, so the factory speakers arent bad at all - I think I have 4 ways and 2 tweeters

PLEASE dont troll this thread, I just need a little advice, because the shop in my hometown suggested two 12s and a $600 amp and theres no way that I think I need anything like that - I have an 04 2-dr dodge stratus sxt if that says anything to anyone who knows what comes factory in that car (dont say anything about the car, ive heard it all before)

[Edited on March 2, 2007 at 8:57 PM. Reason : ]

3/2/2007 8:54:23 PM

do you have the infinity gold system??

i work at circuit city and we've got a quite a few open box deals . i'm sure i could piece something together but to replace everything in your car with decent stuff it's not going to be cheap. be prepared to pay close to 1k esp if you don't plan on installing it yourself.

3/5/2007 9:48:18 AM

Buy a new 12" sub in the ~$100 range

Buy a quality amp off ebay

Have someone from here install it. Thats about your cheapest option.

3/5/2007 10:27:19 AM

Im not sure whats in my car, I was just told it was premium audio and I had some built in amp - Im afraid to get another cd changer because the one thats in there is a 4 disc and I didnt want anything fancy other - I was looking around 1k or so for a good system, I just didn't know what kind of products to use

3/5/2007 12:49:07 PM

if your parents can hear you from 300 feet away, your aready damaging your hearing.

3/5/2007 1:25:41 PM

^ yeah I know -thats the bad part, I feel like Im going deaf already, but nothing sounds loud enough

3/5/2007 4:03:21 PM

most big name brand compaines make decent stuff alpine, mtx, kicker, rockford etc.
if u enjoy what's in there now just put some simple bass blockers on the speakers and add a sub or two like state said.

3/5/2007 4:07:30 PM

^^ stop listenign to it so loud and your ears will get used to not having it cranked. I used to run aroudn with my system set at 20 (which is meaningless) but it causes the hole car to shake, i put it at 10 for like 2 weeks, now 15 sounds loud.

Loud != Good sounding, i know alot of cars that are louder than mine but they dont sound nearly as clean or good.

Booming bass isnt alsy good bass, mine is pretty clean and tight, and better reflects the music rather than some ragged out clipped POS.

A sub will give you lower bass than your stock speakers. If i was you i woudl go with a 10, possilby a 12 in a sealed box about 200w rms you can i like infinity subs, imho they are pretty clean.

Again do you want your shit to sound obnoxious loud, or sound good with a higher volume? Your headunit might have preouts, and honestly you can probalby run just a sub from line level converters and put bass limiters on the speakers like above.

3/6/2007 9:54:37 AM

I want them to sound louder but clean - I have my car usually on 20 and I think the max is 33 - past 25 and it sounds horrible - thats why I wanted something that would make it louder but clearer - I found a friend of mine who has a 10" 1000 watt (500 rms) sub and I was thinking of getting it - its definetly not name brand though - I THINK its called Digital Audio - so I didnt know if it is a waste of time

3/6/2007 12:49:32 PM

Dont look for just plain crazy wattage,

You dont need a 500watt rms sub

Get like a JL W0 thats a good simple sub, and itll wurn off about 200-250 watts FINE
I like the Infinity Kappa Subs, which will also work off about 250-300 watts

Dont look at max wattage EVER, it dosnt matter worth crap.

Brands
JL
Audiobahn
RF
Infinity
MB Quart
Alpine

Dont go crazy power, its not important, just get somethign simple

The reason why it sounds like crap is you have probably 6*9 and 5.25 speakers trying to play bass at volume at 50hz, or your clipping the fuck out of your source, it wont work, you need to filter out the bass to your stock speakers, use line lever inputs on an amp (Same brands as above matched in power), and youll notice a drastic improvement. Honestly dont damage your hearing, you wont get it back, and you look like an idiot to people when you go hu and wha, all the time especially when your young...Just my advice.

No name crap can be okay, but if you do want something that sounds good, i would stay away, if your just looking for boom, get the cheapest crap you can find.

Look at the fuses, fuses will show you the max wattage an amp can produce if it was 100% efficinet

so if you got a 1000watt amp
and a 20 amp fuse

Power=Voltage*current

so you got 14volts * 20 amps =280watts i mean technically with caps you might get output higher than that, but you will never got more than 280watts RMS

and most amps are only going to be like 50-70% efficient at the top end. So you can half that. Shitty brands lie about their proformance.

[Edited on March 6, 2007 at 4:24 PM. Reason : dd]

3/6/2007 4:23:23 PM

Quote :

"so you got 14volts * 20 amps =280watts i mean technically with caps you might get output higher than that, but you will never got more than 280watts RMS"

Eh?

3/6/2007 4:49:54 PM

I sent you a PM.

3/6/2007 6:33:50 PM

For everyone else:
You want a 4 channel amp.
You will use line out convertors since you don't want to change the factory HU.

The front two channels of the amp will power the front speakers. These will be components.
The back two channels of the amp will be bridged for the sub.
The rear speakers will continue to play from the HU, but will some bass blockers put in.

I am a fan of JL, but there are many many good companies, ie. Rockford Fosgate, Infinity, MB Quart, and Alpine.
Do not buy audiobahn, elemental designs, lightning audio, jensen
Do not buy a cap.

I would stongly recommend getting a new HU. The sound quality will be at least double what you have now.

I would do something like this.

Amp choices: all RMS listed
ALPINE MRV-F345 4-Channel Car Audio Amp Amplifier
50 X2 @4ohm + 300 x1 @4ohm
$225

Kicker ZX650.4 ZX 4 CHANNEL SPEAKER AMP
120x2@4 ohm + 325x1 @4ohm
$250

KENWOOD EXCELON KAC-X40 4 CHANNEL CAR AMPLIFIER
70Wx2 @4ohm + 200wx1 @4ohm
$180

Speaker choices:
DIAMOND AUDIO S600A 6-1/2" COMPONENT SPEAKERS 6.5" PAIR
$250

JL AUDIO VR650-CSi 6.5" COMPONENT SYSTEM
$170

ALPINE SPX-177R Car Component
$190

KICKER RS65.2 6.5" 2-Way Component Speakers
$170

Sub choices:
Infinity Kappa Perfect SUB 12D VQ 12
$150

KICKER S12L5 D2 12" SOLO BARIC L5 SUB
$130

Audio 12W3v2 D4 12" SUB WOOFER W3v2 SUB
$135

NEW ROCKFORD FOSGATE P2 12" D2, DVC 2 OHM
$80

Ported box at around 35hz.

3/6/2007 6:37:21 PM

has anyone had any experience with ford mach premium audio systems? I have one in my 2003 ford taurus and I am wondering if the speakers are good quality or not. It is a 6 speaker system (2 components in the front and 4 2-ways (i think). If not I would like to upgrade them.

Also I was told there is already an amp built into it, which must be true because it gets very loud with minimal volume change (turning the knob). Is it possible to swap in a new amp of higher quality?

And finally...the audio system is combined with a digital climate control system. Is it even possible to change the factory audio system?

3/6/2007 10:00:49 PM

I have had some experience. It is a tweeter/ full range woofer combo for the front, and just a full range speaker for the rear.

There is an amp built in. You can upgrade it, but it is not as easy as just popping in a new amp.
Basically you are installing an amp, and tying it in to all the speakers. The amp could use high level inputs, or line out convertors with RCA inputs.

Yes, anything is possible. Is it cheap, probably not.

3/6/2007 10:35:58 PM

^do you think it would be worth it to upgrade the speakers? In your opinion are the factory speakers good quality?

3/6/2007 11:07:45 PM

I always believe in upgrading. It really depends on you. If you think it sounds ok/good, then you don't need to upgrade.

3/7/2007 6:10:19 AM

Quote :
"so you got 14volts * 20 amps =280watts i mean technically with caps you might get output higher than that, but you will never got more than 280watts RMS"


Eh?

Im just saying that i could put out 300 watts of power for a short period of time given the capacitors in the amp, like if there was a large bass hit, but it could not sustain that level of output.

3/7/2007 8:30:35 AM

i agreee with evrything daryl said except

Quote :

" Do not buy audiobahn, elemental designs, lightning audio, jensen "

did you just put elemental designs in the same sentence as jensen and lighting audio? ed makes great amps and subs at great prices not tot mention many of their products shit on offerings from the good companies listed.


btw if anyone in the thread is lookin to hang with the big boys i'm selling my old amps since i just upgraded

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=465187 price is obo over $425



[Edited on March 8, 2007 at 3:43 AM. Reason : .]

3/8/2007 3:40:41 AM

I have only heard nuetral to negative things about elemental designs.
They are a great price, and a decent product, I just believe they are over rated.

3/8/2007 8:51:03 PM

You don't need a sub, or an amp to get "ok" bass.

Get a new head unit with descent RMS wattage and some new speakers. If thats not enough, then you can add a sub later (Make sure the head unit has preamp out for sub).

Easily under $1k for good stuff.

3/9/2007 12:21:03 PM

Quote :

"Get a new head unit with descent RMS wattage and some new speakers."

I have always found this to be enough for me, maybe not all people but that sure is a cheap good way to start if someone is not sure of what they want/need

3/9/2007 1:51:56 PM

high powered head units suck...
amp it externally even if its with a cheap amp
mine heats up the dash its pretty stupid and kinda scares me...
cds are ALWAYS hot as hell when they come out.

3/9/2007 3:09:50 PM

Just got finished doing some of this kinda thing this afternoon. Bought an Audiohahn 10" and Audobahn amp (not sure of the power) with a ported box from my brother for $150.



Installed in my wifes Tiburon and really wasnt expecting much. Came away very impressed though, sounds better and has more thump than the two RF 10's in my truck. Thought I needed an line output converter but got lucky and the factory HU has preamp outs.

(Did take about 4 hours of work on my vacation day to install though. Hyundai has to make everything so damn hard to get to, had to pull the front driver tire and wheel well trim just to run the power.)

3/9/2007 3:19:10 PM