Car Audio

[Epical]

Looking to put a sound system into my car (as well as a new deck). I know NOTHING about car audio (major players, good sizes, components, decks, anything). Budget around ~$2000, can move a little should the bang:buck call for it. Music is mainly metal-y harder stuff, no rap, some electronica. Looking to play all music off my iPhone, whether that be actually docked or just through the auxiliary jack, but despite this, I'd like a CD player as well.

Sorry if I missed any information. If I need to provide anything, just ask. (<3)

[Omnipotent]

With a budget of 2000, you can get almost anything you want.

Key things to remember:
When buying a CD player, get one with an auxiliary for your ipod. If your into the flip out touchscreen etc, then go for it, just go to your local car audio store and ask around, see what they say and google prices. If you don't care just want something that will get your CD's played and does its job, you will be spending no more than 150, Kenwood has some nice brands.

For an AMP, RMS/Watts = Bigger the better. Get a 4 channel amp, and look for an amp with a GREAT cooling system if you live in hot weather. An amp will be around 2-300.

Subwoofer: My personal preference would have to be Infiniti, I have owned 3 infiniti subs in my time and they sound great for rock, and especially rap. A box will set you back a shiny penny, but finding a good/decent sub will set you back 300 bucks at most.

Speakers: I don't really know to much about speakers, as far as I know, around 150 for a pair will get you good quality speakers.

Installation: DO NOT take it to faggot bestbuy or circuit city. People who work there are morons and will kill your car. Find a friend whos audiofriendly or take it to a strictly car audio place. Unless you find a friend, expect to pay a good 200 bucks for full installation of everything. Make sure your friend installs a fuse so that if you decide to rape your speakers, your car won't get destroyed.

P.S all this is coming from a little above average car audio guy, this is a "im in college save money for things" ideas. Don't know everything, but know enough to get you a decent system.

[Tyche]

It's been awhile since I've delved into car audio, but I've spent a LOT of money on it back in the day. With the music prefrences, you'll want some small fast subs. A couple of 10" subs will suffice. The only subs I've had were Diamond Audio and Eclipse. I liked them both equally. I can't reccommend a deck, as I know nothing about ipod docking. Spend the bulk of your money on mids, highs, and an amp. You should be able to get a couple of 10" subs for a relatively decent price. Your vehicle and space may limit you as well. I'd go to an audio specialist and talk to them. Ask around, some can be rather shady.

[Ryany]

I'd say the most efficient way to go is to get a good amplifier with subwoofers. Then, use a high pass filter (usually set via the deck) on the normal speakers and a low pass filter on the subwoofers. (usually on both the amplifier and the deck) This allows each type to play the frequencies they were better designed to handle. (normal speakers higher frequencies / subwoofers lower frequences) Everything else ends up being a lot of money for a minor upgrade.

I haven't really made any changes since the early 2000s, but I still love my Rockford Fosgate 800a2 amplifier and the 2 JL Audio 12W3s in a custom box, which are all still going strong.

My experience with car audio is that all the shitty brands BS their power ratings by rating in "Peak Power", which gives a much higher number than what it really would give in RMS power. (which is the standard most good companies use)

In addition to the shitty companies BSing, all the good companies BS on the low side I believe for competition purposes. I know my amplifier is supposed to be an 800 RMS watt amplifier, but the birth sheet thing on mine came out at around 1000 RMS watts at 14.4 volts.

Definitely avoid Best Buy. It's full of people that look like Peter Griffin that do nothing but talk out of their ass. (not to mention they charge 3x more than what you usually can find the same stuff off of ebay for)

Make sure your alternator can put out enough current to support your amplifier(s). I got lucky with my Jeep having something like a 125 or 135A alternator, where as I've heard some vehicles have a lot weaker alternators. If you end up drawing more than what your alternator can put out, you can drain your battery. You can usually use whatever the fuse is for your amplifier as to what the max will be it will draw. If all your fuses on your sound stuff plus whatever your vehicle's electrical system draws ends up adding up to less than what your alternator puts out, you should have nothing to worry about.

One of the best pages for car audio I found was on the forums at http://blog.sounddomain.com/ I haven't been there in quite a few years though, so if they went downhill, don't blame me.

[archibaldcrane]

Wherever you go, even if it's Circuit City or something - if you're buying everything at one location, negotiate. They'll tell you the price of the package with installation - if they say $1800, tell them that you love the setup, and that it's what you want and would be up for signing right there, but you'd feel better if it was $1400. Then don't let them say "well, we could replace this with..." - make them counter offer. Tell them "but this is the setup I want, I just can't do $1800". When I got my deck/speakers/amp/sub when I was like 19 I knicked about $330 off the setup by negotiating.

[Headspace]

Or you can work at such places and pay next to nothing

[Hemorabe]

These two sites I'd suggest as far as purchasing parts:
Car Audio, Car Stereos, Car Audio Amplifiers, Car Audio Subwoofers, Car Stereo Speakers, Car Audio Stereo Accessories
Onlinecarstereo.Com - Wholesale Car Audio/Stereo Deals At Bargain Prices
They both have some pretty good prices, however I'm not sure about their warranty deals. One of the biggest things you have to think about when dealing with car audio is that sometimes there is the possibility of blowing either the speakers, amp or sub(you'll never have a problem with a deck unless its manufacturer defect and then its covered no matter what).

That said I purchased my trucks package from BestBuy(lawl) for the only fact it is the only place in my area that will sell an item and offer a warranty on it without charging an arm and a leg. For instance I paid $228 for each Alpine Type-R 12" sub and $38 for each of their warranty. If I were to go to the local car audio place he wanted $520 for each Type-R... Lol.... And taboot offered no warranty where as I could blow the subs over and over(I've blown 4) and bring them back to BestBuy for a brand new one.

p.s. I have those Infinity Kappa with 2 12" Alpine Type-R everything powered off those two Amplifiers I showed and it is fucking LOUD not competition loud but pretty damned close. So much so I cant turn the volume above 45 where as the max setting on my deck is 62.

Regarding what type of system I would suggest you getting I would definitely go for this setup.

Rockford Fosgate Punch P400-4 Amp: Multi-channel
This Amplifier will be able to power your 4 speakers no problem.

As far as subs I would probably only go with either 1 12" or 2 10" it depends on where you want to go with this... As well as how much room you have to offer in your trunk.
Kicker 06S10L7-4 Subwoofers
This 10" will pack some serious thump it is putting out basically what a 12" is and you could purchase two put them in a ported box and turn the gain down low to be able to beat your techno and not put much stress on the subs or amp.

Rockford Fosgate Punch P1000-1bd Amp: Mono
This Amp would power 2 of those 10's or two lower class 12's no problem(Usually what you want to do is take the RMS power of the Amplifier and make it equal to the amount of the subs max RMS).

What type of car do you drive? Have to know to be able to find out what size speakers you can fit.

I would suggest these:
Infinity Kappa 63.9i Car Speakers
In the corresponding size of course.

[Epical]

Thanks for all the info so far, keep it coming. It's really helpful. I think what I'll end up doing is taking your advice to a car audio shop, relaying it to them, getting them to spec out something for me and relaying it back to you guys for cross-check of some sort to see if it's a good setup. If it is I'll do it.

Wherever you go, even if it's Circuit City or something - if you're buying everything at one location, negotiate. They'll tell you the price of the package with installation - if they say $1800, tell them that you love the setup, and that it's what you want and would be up for signing right there, but you'd feel better if it was $1400. Then don't let them say "well, we could replace this with..." - make them counter offer. Tell them "but this is the setup I want, I just can't do $1800". When I got my deck/speakers/amp/sub when I was like 19 I knicked about $330 off the setup by negotiating.

Hah, I actually work at a place like this, so I can get install labor costs super cheap, as well as the actual equipment itself. If we stock the good stuff, I'll buy it there, but there's no way I'm letting our install bay installers do it... I want to go to an actual car audio store (which I know of, they just charge a lot for the equipment itself) and get it done right.

What type of car do you drive? Have to know to be able to find out what size speakers you can fit.

2001 Lexus IS 300.

[Hemorabe]

Damn I'm good.. So says Find Car Audio/Video Gear that Fits Your Vehicle at Crutchfield! those speakers I posted will fit in your car.

[Epical]

Hmm, should I keep ahold of the info it gave me here:

Factory replacement info:

In-dash stereo
7-1/32" depth; Size code DD,E

Front speakers
Front Door: 6-1/2" factory speaker note

Rear speakers
Rear Deck: 6-1/2" factory speaker note

And bring that with me to the car audio place?

[ghostfaced]

you might wanna try to find a specialist place for car stereos, when i just got after market speakers put in by bestbuy they didnt notice that the car panel was touching the speakers and i didnt know either until they blew out but the car panel was touching the speakers and my glass for my window was touching the speakers. basically they fucked me outta some money, and they wont do more special stuff like customizing if they need to unless you wanna pay an arm and a leg for it. just my two cents since i had to get mine redone by my friend whos good with cars

[Ketna]

... well I had a full post written and then I somehow closed the window so here we go again...

Stay away from Best Buy or similar if possible, use them for price references but dont buy there.
Audioexpress(.com) is the shop in town that I had do my system.

My car is a '07 Mazdaspeed 3, and listen to a lot of 90's alternative, but also some electronica/rap/country/classical.

Kenwood eXcelon (KDCX492): 149.99 Deck has an AUX and USB on the front of deck, once my ipod was plugged in it was controllable from the deck/remote, very nice.

Installation for deck: $1

Alpine 10" Type R sub: 159.99 500w RMS(1500w max). very loud sub! when the installers were done they had my deck at +5/15 on the sub, I put it down to 0/15, and even -5/15 was enough for some songs if you wanted bass but didnt want it to over power anything else.

Sub installation @ half price, on special: $15.00

Sony Xplod Slim XM1S Car Amplifier: $130.00 500w RMS(900w max) very small amp mounted perfectly on part of my fold down seat.

Amp installation @ half price special: $30.00

Mazda wiring harness: $19.99

8 gauge wiring kit/RCA's: $70.00

Shop supplies: $26.36

10" slotted sub box: 99.99

Mazda dash kit: $36.00 (part was only like 15, but I paid for 2-day air so I could have it by Friday so I could install it today) This part the shop didnt have and they told me it would take anywhere from 1-3 weeks to come in, hence why I just bought it online.

Tax: $47.41

2 hours to install everything and a total of: $785.73

I havent had a system for about 6 years and from what I remember this puts out a TON more sound.

I though about upgrading my door and rear speakers, but from what I have read the stock speakers are fine to do at a later time and only if you are willing to spend about another 400. I would definitely have the shop guys show you a comparison on the different subs, you may feel the set up i have or similar is was too much bass, and you can save money if you are only looking to fill out the sound by choosing a smaller sub/ different brand/ different grade of sub.

If you have any questions send me a PM.
sorry if WALLOFTEXT, tl:dr and all that.

[Feielle]

The BestBuy thing is a generalization. True, there are some morons out there, but I worked at BestBuy for 4 years and I know a fuckton more than anyone else in here about mobile electronics, I'll bet on that. Any shop has morons. First and foremost, talk to the people there. If you don't think they're competent, move on. BEST THING to do: ask to see their own car. I've never known an installer that didn't put a system in their own car. If it looks like ghetto shit, walk away.

Personal recommendations: Pioneer is one of the cleanest head units you can buy. After that, I'd go with an Alpine. in my opinion Alpine costs about 25% more than they should just because of the name, but they're still good units. Kenwoods have always sounded "pingy" to me... to metallic, I don't like the quality of the sound from their decks.

Don't buy anything Sony Xplod brand. Speakers, amps, decks... all crap.

For door speakers, Infiniti really can't be beat for quality. Polk is a close runner-up, but you'll shell out $260-300 for a decent pair of 6" separates. Splurge on the fronts, save cash in the rears - they're only really there to flesh out the soundstage anyways.

Get a capacitor - at least 1 farad if you're running 2 amps, .5 farad if you're running just a sub amp. Especially on something like an IS300, you don't want to starve anything of power. Modern cars are built very specifically, and there's not a lot of leeway in the charging system for an additional 20-30 amps of draw under heavy load.

A 10" sub will be fine for most heavy rock/metal. Look for a dual voice coil; they can articulate the motor mechanism of the speaker more rapidly than a single voice coil can and will be able to keep up with faster basslines more accurately.

There's a ton more i could ramble on about... but maybe you should come back with a few more specific questions once you've gotten some research done.

[Furtwangler]

I just got a $2000 ish (idk i didnt pay retail) stereo system put in my car, I work at a radioshack that also is a music store and we do car audio. We were an alpine dealer but we dont move enough product to keep them so we switched over to soundstream products, so that's what the majority of my setup is, and I'm very pleased.
So heres what I have, 2000 grand am GT
Alpine CDA-9884 Alpine Electronics of America, Inc. - CDA-9884 Has Ipod control and i just plug it in and use the deck to control it. I went out of my way to get an alpine deck just because I know I'm getting a good one for the price even if it is a tad bit more.
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/9079/cda9884cb6.jpg

pair of soundstream reference series door set, i have them and my rear speakers (which I haven't put new ones in cus they sounded ok atm and im out of cash) ran off my deck instead of another amp because I don't need to go any louder or I'd blow off my ears. Soundstream | Products » Components » Picasso Series

Soundstream Tarantula Mono block sub amp, 1000 watts, with my two subs wired down on a 1ohm load into the amp. Soundstream | Products » Amplifiers » Tarantula Series
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2...rantulaeq7.jpg

2 Soundstream Reference series 12" 600 watt subs, dual voice coils. I have the 2 voice coils parrelled instead of series'd and then bridged down to 1 wire into the amp bringing it to 1ohm as I said before, which is pretty much a dead short but the amp is stable with it. Soundstream | Products » Subwoofers » Picasso Series
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/7...erence1av8.jpg

8 Farad Power capacitor-
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/951/sc8ca3lgvd9.jpg Soundstream | Products » Capacitors » SC-1 Reason for this as I understand it is the cap draws juice from the battery at a more constant rate, and supplies it to the amp as needed, and as much as it needs so that when the subs hit out, they have enough juice to pull back in, making a more complete sound from the subs instead of rattling or half ass bass hits, also helps your alternator and battery from getting more strain on them.

I don't know everything there is to know about car audio as I'm learning alot from another friend and fellow employee who knows alot more as I go but here's why I have this specific setup.
First off like I said earlier I don't need another amp for my speakers or a multi channel amp to run them all only because these get quite loud (I haven't even come close to their max) just on what the deck can feed(50Wx4), and that will depend on the deck you get.

Second for the amp and the subs, 10"s will get you more of a precise hit while 12"s and 15"s will lose a little bit of that and they will also hit lower frequencies, and be louder. The way I have mine wired it's in a way doubling what they push out, (easiest way to understand is the sub having dual voice coils means 2 points where they get hooked- if series'd they share the juice, when paralleled they each get their own and it doubles the draw of power) and I did that to almost emulate 10"s in preciseness while still being loud when I want them to be (this can all be changed via crossovers/settings built into my deck and amp + just the level you run them at)

[Epical]

The BestBuy thing is a generalization. True, there are some morons out there, but I worked at BestBuy for 4 years and I know a fuckton more than anyone else in here about mobile electronics, I'll bet on that. Any shop has morons. First and foremost, talk to the people there. If you don't think they're competent, move on. BEST THING to do: ask to see their own car. I've never known an installer that didn't put a system in their own car. If it looks like ghetto shit, walk away.

Personal recommendations: Pioneer is one of the cleanest head units you can buy. After that, I'd go with an Alpine. in my opinion Alpine costs about 25% more than they should just because of the name, but they're still good units. Kenwoods have always sounded "pingy" to me... to metallic, I don't like the quality of the sound from their decks.

Don't buy anything Sony Xplod brand. Speakers, amps, decks... all crap.

For door speakers, Infiniti really can't be beat for quality. Polk is a close runner-up, but you'll shell out $260-300 for a decent pair of 6" separates. Splurge on the fronts, save cash in the rears - they're only really there to flesh out the soundstage anyways.

Get a capacitor - at least 1 farad if you're running 2 amps, .5 farad if you're running just a sub amp. Especially on something like an IS300, you don't want to starve anything of power. Modern cars are built very specifically, and there's not a lot of leeway in the charging system for an additional 20-30 amps of draw under heavy load.

A 10" sub will be fine for most heavy rock/metal. Look for a dual voice coil; they can articulate the motor mechanism of the speaker more rapidly than a single voice coil can and will be able to keep up with faster basslines more accurately.

There's a ton more i could ramble on about... but maybe you should come back with a few more specific questions once you've gotten some research done.

Excellent post, thank you.

[Hemorabe]

@Furt jesus 8 Farad capacitor for 2 12's?
And @Epical, if they don't know how to look up or know off hand the size of door speakers for your car at the place you go to install, just walk out.

[Furtwangler]

@Furt jesus 8 Farad capacitor for 2 12's?
And @Epical, if they don't know how to look up or know off hand the size of door speakers for your car at the place you go to install, just walk out.

At the price I got it I might as well just get that haha

[Fhqwghads]

Find a friend whos audiofriendly

No, no no, fuck no. Cars have tons of incredibly sensitive computers, and unless you know what the fuck you're doing, tapping into the wrong wire is going to leave you with some seriously costly bills. Pay the money to have a professional do it, and do it at the shop, not as a side job. Shops have insurance to cover mistakes. Billy Bob out back with his wicked set of tools (screwdriver and an adjustable wrench) does not. I used to install high end car audio systems 15 years ago, so trust me when I say don't fuck around with people who are not employed as a car stereo installer.

Can't give any equipment recommendations though. I've been out of that business for way too long to know what's out there these days.

[Isiolia]

You have space for a double-din head unit, right? Could consider one that actually fills that, rather than a single din one as mentioned. Reason I say that is that there are some reasonably priced options with touchscreens and the like for that size. To me, that's nicer as an interface to an iPod or other MP3 playback. I got a Kenwood DDX512 for Christmas (brothers picked it out), which has that, also has the option to play MP3s off a CD or DVD, or (as I use it) from a memory key, plus iPod connectivity.
Has the potential to be used for DVD playback (has other video input as well), and can be expanded to have nav stuff too.

I don't know tons about car audio, so there may be other reasons not to go with that, but I've been pleased with mine so far. As you mentioned iPod connectivity n' the like, figured I'd put that out there.

[Bardicrune]

I went with the Pioneer DEH-P9800BT unit a while back. Supports bluetooth phones, can get an IPod interface for it, and has a nice looking interface/lcd screen.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pi..._Front_med.jpg