Sound Systems

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Richie

Richie

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Hi everybody:

I was wondering have any of you put good sound systems in your car? Car sound systems..something I know nothing in this world about but I am a huge brain-dead 60s rock fan. I imagine the best way is to take it to Andres or some place like that but that's probably at least 1000 2000 bucks?
 
Receivers today are a LOT more powerful than they were 20 or 30 years ago...and cheaper for what you get.

I'm running a Pioneer with USB and 1/8" input with 40 watts per channel.
It was $80 at Wal-Mart!

In my Dakota, I have Pyle 6x9s in the factory 5x7 locations in the rear.

I liked it so much that I bought one just like it for my 73 Satellite, but it's a little under powered for the 2-10" cabinet I built. It's OK, but would be louder and cleaner with an amp.
 
Im using all pioneer components in my car. Receiver, and speakers. 5.5" in the doors, 6x9's in the rear and 3.5" in the dash. Damn loud stero and overpowers the sound of the car. I didnt want to spend a lot on my stuff so I picked up everything off of ebay from one vendor that had free shipping. Sorry I know nothing about $2-3K systems. Just my El-Cheapo system.
 
Some of the aftermarket stereos are nearly impossible to operate, especially while driving. I've put a Kenwood in my dash and have a love hate relationship with it.
Good luck
 
Same situation, right now. Have a healthy old Pioneer CD player ,and some old school TS series 6" by 9"'s. For the look I want,should work. Would love a USB port....
 
Depends on what you want ?
Without adding an amp and good speakers it never sounds like a good home stereo sounds kinda thin .
If you add amps and speakers it always sounds fuller but your wallet is thinner ?
Go to a good shop they can help !!
Or decide what you want how much you want to spend and do it all yourself !!
 
As much as i hate sony stuff their decks are the easiest to use and sound great. For $130 it will link up to your phone yadda yadda or around 80 you can usb/3.5mm jack for ipod.

Pioneer's 6x9's 3 ways are good, they dont hit highs real well and do not hit well. Compared to any stock speaker and most aftermarket they are a solid buy, under 100 bucks as i remember.

Step your game up and get the Polk audio 6x9 3 ways, about 300 new but wow, heads above the pioneers. Highs will crack glass and lows are solid, and they get loud. I have just a pr in my swinger and they are solid. Im thinking about some 6.5's in the kickpanels or doors.

all depends on your budget
 
I agree about operation.

Navigating a "soft" menu through six to ten button clicks and knob turns is ridiculous when all I want to do is go down one increment in the bass, and then all over again to turn it back up for the next song.
 
i read that too, so i got a sony for my duster. $139 has bluetooth phone pairing that actually works well, has usb for iphone to play music, can do XM like my new dart if i get the little antenna thingy (plugs right to the unit). not sure if i'll do the XM thing you dont get a discount for extra vehicles.

somewhere people said the sony was better to use for pairing than the other brands.

if you dont care to use your phone while driving then any brand will do. they are all around $100 bucks now.

if you want to run more than 4 speakers you need a small amp also. the radios have 4 outputs. so you put 2 to the front speakers, then 2 to the amplifier. then the amplifier has 4 outputs so you can run the other 4 speakers for a total of 6.

up under the dash i'm changing the 4x10 speaker for a couple of 4" speakers, fabbing up a little mounting frame.
 
My system was under $1k. I found RE Audio mono amp on clearance, pioneer 3500 deck, and pioneer 6x9 2ways. I had NiB RE 12 ' s and Pioneer 3.5". Built my own box, built a mount for 3.5" in the dash, hid the deck in the glove box. Sounds ok. Has USB that will control an Ipod but I'm not real impressed with the Interface.
 
+1 on the Sonys.

Just put a Sony in the Jetta. Chose it because it was easy to use while driving. Bluetooth pairing is bombproof. It was $200 but that was for the double DIN version. Single DIN is cheaper.
 
I prefer the Pioneer head units myself and tend to stick with one that has tons of audio options as opposed to animated screens and color changing lights. Although my next one WILL have HD radio. Speakers: pioneer and sony ( see my setup :) )
Having lots of tune-ability from the head unit can make even crappy speakers sound good. Add good speakers and you've got a nice system that sounds great.
Sound quality is more important than sound volume.

For a neat exercise, go into walmart or best buy, pick the cheapest speaker you can find, THEN try to get the sound you like out of it with all of the different head units...the one that makes the crappy speaker sound good is a decent unit

My current setup is:
Pioneer p-3000ib ( older head unit ) $125 at crutchfield back in the day
5.25 Sony speakers in kick panels $45 online ( powered by the head unit )
6x9 Pioneer speakers in rear deck $50 online ( powered by the head unit )

2 P1 punch 12's in the rear quarters ( custom boxes that are flush with the trunk opening ) powered by an el cheapo Dual 400 watt amp.
Paid $50 for 12's and amp at a local pawn shop.

Add another $30-$50 for MDF and wiring etc.

So for $300-$400 you can have a system that will make your ears bleed.

I might end up changing it up a little because I've swapped in the fold down seat so the 6x9's in the rear deck are in the way. I've been thinking about putting some 6.5's in the rear "door" panels in the front part of the quarter panel and a couple of 4" speakers in the front dash grille. The sound should be a little more precise with more speakers and more fine tuning ability.

The main problem that I have is that because I've hidden everything I've got to drive the speakers pretty hard to overcome their lame mounting location and concealment.
 
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