Get a good aftermarket headunit. Just look at the features, and decide what one is best for you. If you just want some bump, subs, amp and a sealed box will do you just fine. If you want more, run a component set+amp for your front stage and subs+amp+ sealed box for your substage. And make sure you find someone that knows what they are doing when they tune it.
PMed…i got your back homie. ive been doing this shit professionaly for 5 years.
keep it simple, buy a basslink, see how you like it. If that isnt doing it for you, sell it and go all out.
I would hate to see you spend all kinds of money and make all kinds of work for yourself when a little more mid-low end bass would fill out the sound enough.
In that picture it doesn’t flow well because it looks like a shitty install.If you had someone with some skill install it, everything would look alot better and the head unit might actually be flush. I wish Speaker Shop still did cars. Their work was top notch. I’ve been out of the car stereo scene too long, I don’t even know where to tell people to go anymore. +1 for Eclipse speakers though. I always liked the sound and clarity that they had.
goto Rainbow…Derrick will make it look supurb…like Cutlass said a good Head Unit will make your stock stuff sounds WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better
all you need is focal 6 1/2’s, front and rear. theyll will produce tons of bass when amped up properly and are very clean sounding. there about 900 a pair though.
you CAN run a stock head unit, you need a “line-level converter” which takes speaker out from the head unit, taps the signal at a very low level (aka so it doesn’t distort when you turn it up because it’s not “driving” a hard load like, say, a speaker) and gives you RCAs aka line-level. They’re about $15-30 or you can really step up and buy a JL “Clean Sweep” but that’s a few hundred iirc and probably not worth it unless you need it’s other features (DSP / real-time EQ correction for cars that have built-in equalization that isn’t user defeatable aka new BMW etc).
That, a set of RCAs (typically included in an amp wiring kit), a 4 Gauge wiring kit, a 4GA to 2x 8GA FUSED distribution block, a decent 2ch amp like the Zapco 200.2 and a decent small sub amp like the 250/2 or 500/2 from JL, a set of components up front, I like Focal Polyglass for the price/performance level for most cars/people, or if you’re on a budget, JL um iirc XR series, the one with the Silk (soft-dome) tweeter, NOT aluminum, yech), and a decent subwoofer, I recommend a smaller / lighter 12" simply because of extension aka the bass will go lower, not so much louder, but simply so you can hear lower notes, the whole reason to bother with a sub in the first place. JL’s 12w3 (new one, version 4) is awesome for that, or if you can find it USED the OLD style 12w6v1 (the new v2 and up is much closer to a W7 and much more powerful but needs a LOT more amp and bigger box).
Good luck, if you need a hand, drive to Roc, bring it to Stereo Shop in Henrietta, talk to Chuck Hoskins (mgr) or Dave Lane (owner) and tell 'em Dave Moffitt dragged your ass from Buffalo to Roc for them to hook you up (I’ve had friends come up from Wash DC for them, they’re good, and so are the prices).
donno where you’re shopping, even the poly kevlar w/ phase plug is only 799 MSRP. i used to work at a focal/audison/zapco/jl dealer (if you couldn’t tell from my recommendations, but i do love those products)…
thats an oxymoron if I have hever heard of.
If i were you I would get the Dynaudio three way components in the front, two way components in the rear, power them from a JL 450/4
A jl 10W7 powered by a JL 500/1
and I would get a double din nav unit, I would recommend a AVIC-Z1, or the Elcipse double din
and the JL audio speakers with the silk tweeters are the VR or the XR, though the XR’s are ment to compete with dynaudio
I have the VR series and wish i spent the money to upgrade to the XR instead, but thats just me
I personaly don’t like the look of 99% aftermarket head units in luxury vehicles. I’m not an audio buff though either so i won’t benefit for upgrading my H/U anyway. I just wanted something that would hit a bit harder on the bass and keep all my trunk space.
I can recommend what I’m running. JL 500/1 Amp w 10w6v2’s. I chose these for a couple reasons.
1.) Affordable quality
2.) Clean looking.
Though the speakers are a major part to your sound quality, so is the quality of your box, design, and install.
AddictedBoost (Jay) installed an inline converter in my truck… never had a single problem with distortion once… but all i have is a 300 watt amp and a 10" Kicker Comp VR
sure if u want just a Subwoofer u can run a line conveter to get RCAs for an amp…i mean do u want just a lil bass or overall more clarity in everything or do u think ur stock speakers do fine for u
do you want SQ or SPL, plain and simple
Even running a stock HU with a sub(s) isnt always the best option. Unless you have EQ settings on the stock HU, you wont have any control over the sub(s). Not to mention the preout voltage of stock HU’s are next to none.
… hence a line converter ,to get pre-outs via speaker level.
and you can EQ / x-over at the amp, if you can’t, you have a SHIT amp.
all hes looking to do i think is improve his sound
i.e. : no need for focal 3 ways and $2000 in amps
hes saying more along the lines of a 5 ch amp. replace the 2 way front component rear coaxials, and a simple 10" sub.
all of which can be done on stock HU or aftermarket, clearly will sound better from aftermarket
you can “improve” your sound by making it louder or clearer. But no matter what I would not do it with a stock hu