Piecing together a system

[dramad1]

I'd like to upgrade my stereo and sound system but have never really been up on game on what I need or what to buy. I know a Lil about rms etc but am completely in the dark as to what I need. My budget would be 1500-2000 to start maybe more. I plan on buying one item at a time until I have everything I need. Then I'll have it installed

I'd like either a very good single din I can keep and upgrade other components over time if I wish or a double din with the navigation and Bluetooth not necessary but able to put out the power for some quality bumps, and a DVD player would be sick. Help!
Door speakers, I've been looking on taco tunes at the image dynamic speakers/tweeters but am unsure if I have options for better quality and sound. I want good sound but not beginner sound. Lol. I don't need to shake the whole block up but I'd like to have something me and my passengers can say wow nice system. Help please.
Amp, unsure! Something I can grow into. Jl 500:1 maybe?? help?
Sub, I love jl but the one I want is 1500$ 13w7. Lol. 1500rms wow. Open to options on subs. Looking for quality sound, crisp, kleen sound. Stealth jl box maybe? Maybe just one 10. Don't know????help. Lol
Wiring kit and fuses???? Help.
Any and all help and advise would be appreciated. I'll be trying to buy all this Lil at a time and hopefully end result will be a bumping clean ars system. Also I'd like to buy everything new as I'm sketched out buying used and missing parts or weird issues with used items.
Please help a brotha out!! Thx fellas

 

[justin13703]

Heres my opinions because Ive heard all of these components and have most in my truck so I can honestly tell you they sound amazing.

Radio: If you want a single din go with Alpine, for a double din with nav go with Pioneer.

Door Speakers: Infinity Kappa 3 ways. I have these in my truck now and they sound amazing.

Amps: Infinity 4 channel for the door speakers and an Infinity 2 channel or mono for the sub.

Sub: The new alpine type R subs will sound great. It is rated at 1000 watts rms and sells for around 220 dollars. If you can get ahold of a box like the subbin ones then that would be good, or make a custom one.

Wiring: Kicker wiring is good quality stuff. I would get a 4 gauge kit and a distribution block. Its pricey but wiring is where you dont wanna cheap out.

 

[dramad1]

Heres my opinions because Ive heard all of these components and have most in my truck so I can honestly tell you they sound amazing.

Radio: If you want a single din go with Alpine, for a double din with nav go with Pioneer.

Door Speakers: Infinity Kappa 3 ways. I have these in my truck now and they sound amazing.

Amps: Infinity 4 channel for the door speakers and an Infinity 2 channel or mono for the sub.

Sub: The new alpine type R subs will sound great. It is rated at 1000 watts rms and sells for around 220 dollars. If you can get ahold of a box like the subbin ones then that would be good, or make a custom one.

Wiring: Kicker wiring is good quality stuff. I would get a 4 gauge kit and a distribution block. Its pricey but wiring is where you dont wanna cheap out.

On the infinity kappas do I need to get the door block spacers speaker mounts from taco tunes or do they fit right in stock speakers place?
As far as a radio I am definitely leaning more towards a pioneer unit but I want one that will be able to handle the power output.
I have heard many sets of infintys and they sound pretty solid. I may look into some of these.
How are they compared to the image dynamics?
Anyone else want to help a fella in the right direction?

 

[revobreaker]

Ill say that The alpine subs are nice. I have kicker battery terminals and they are nice. I also like the stuff from knukonceptz (have used wire, distro blocks, connectors etc.)

Personal preference: find an amp for the sub that has a remote adjustable gain knob.

Power output on the HU doesnt matter if you plan on amping the speakers.

I made my own adapters for the front doors, if i were to do it again id probably get the tacotunes ones because im lazy. (my rear doors are different so I cant comment.)

Are you trying to keep the back seats? If not look up nhxrunners setup with two alpine type R, it was very nice

 

[rich017]

Double Din's. Alpine or Pioneer.

Components. Image Dynamics, Polk MM6501's, Morel, Dynaudio, and Hertz sounds amazing.

Amps and Subs. Stick with Sundown. You will be surprised. I have had everything from base infinity and Alpine stuff to hi end like focal, morel and diamond so I know what is good and is the best value. Sundown audio hands down makes some of the best amps and subs out there right now and they are priced very well since it's a smaller company.

 

[dramad1]

I'll be looking around at everything. I looked into sundown and they look pretty top notch. Where to start? So many options I'm a bit overwhelmed. Thxs for helping fellas.

 

[BSP06XRU]

If you're new to all the Audio stuff, just get a decent sub/amp and set it up to work with your stock HU and speakers. If set-up right, they actually don't sound that bad. Nothing like a good component system, but not too bad either.

You could always change the HU and add components (with multichannel amp) later. :top:

 

[ATLonX]

You need to decide whether your gonna amplify the door speakers or not. If not, the head unit choice is more critical to properly power the speakers. But since it looks like you are looking to amp, look for component speakers. The stock door speakers are 6x9 and pretty shallow, so a decent component will be 6.5" and you will need some sort of adapter to fill in the hole and provide some more depth for mounting.

Also look into some sound deadening for your doors. Always helps with the wow factor.

Alpine for single din or pioneer for double is also my head unit of choice.

A complete system needs to work as a system so plan well ahead of time what your overall goal is. Im sure if you posted your preliminary setup on here guys would be able to help narrow it down even further and make you more confident in your purchases.

 

[justin13703]

You will need to get the tacotunes adapters for the door speakers. They're a huge pain in the ass without those adapters.

If you're doing a 4 channel amp, which hopefully you are, ^ they said not to worry about the power output from the radio. That's kinda true and not true. If you're doing a 4 channel, pay attention to the voltage of the RCA outputs on the radio you're getting. The higher the voltage, the better your sound quality will be. A 5volt RCA signal will sound great, while some of the cheaper radios have down to 2 volts or less, I've heard them, and even hooked to a good 4 channel amp they sound like complete garbage.

So long story short, if you're going 4 channel, pay attention to your radio's RCA voltage. The higher the better. No 4 channel, and you want to pay attention to the rms wattage the radio's built in amp puts out.

 

[dramad1]

I've been wanting to swap my Hu out for an after market hu with amp and sub as well as swapping the door speakers out. I'm guessing amps to power it all. I have to look around at my choices and make a list of my thoughts on what I want like you have said. I think it will help me narrow down my choices with everyone's help. I don't want to buy stuff I don't need nor do I want to buy junk or things that won't work.
Only thing I really have looked at we're the image dynamic set ups on taco tunes. I've looked at some dd hu but am kinda lost. I want a nice hu but don't really need the navigation or blue tooth. Watching DVD's is a plus. I've looked into the avh models and some clarions. ?? Subs I've looked only at jl and just checked out some from sundown. Amps not sure on what I'd need. I only want a 10" but I want that 10 to sound like two 12's if you know what I mean. I figured I can do the doors as some mids and upgrade the tweeters as well. So not sure if I need two amps or if I can get one to power all the speakers. Cross over?? Lol. Sorry fellas it's a bit over my head but I am serious and wanting to learn more. Please bear with me.

 

[justin13703]

Here's a nice double din for a good price with no nav or Bluetooth. I know best buy has it for 299:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/DVD-Receivers/AVH-P1400DVD

If you want one amp, you'd have to get a 5 channel to do everything. I'd recommend to get 2 seperate amps because 5 channels don't usually have the kinda power to drive a really powerful sub like you want. So if I were you I'd get two amps, one dedicated to the door speakers and one for the sub.

You said something about crossovers. If you get a good component set of speakers, they will come with the crossovers. All a crossover really does is seperate the sound frequencies so the tweeter only gets the highs, and the woofer only gets the lows.

 

[dramad1]

Looks like a pretty decent hu w/ upgrade availability. So if I went with 2 amps would I go with two four channel amps. Also with running two amps would I have to run a separate battery or power inverter? I appreciate all your help by the way. I'd be lost. Lol

 

[justin13703]

Looks like a pretty decent hu w/ upgrade availability. So if I went with 2 amps would I go with two four channel amps. Also with running two amps would I have to run a separate battery or power inverter? I appreciate all your help by the way. I'd be lost. Lol

No if you do two amps, you'll need one four channel for the speakers and one single or 2 channel for the sub. And no you won't need a separate battery or a power inverter or anything. If your battery is weak and you notice your lights dimming when the bass hits, then I'd replace it with a new one. I personally have an optima marine grade battery and that thing will run my system full blast all day without the truck running and not even start to drain it lol

 

[dpollard04]

Just dropping my 2 cents I've got kicker door speakers powered by a kenwood 600watt amp, a kicker solo baric l7 10 in a down fire box powered by a power acustik 2000 watt amp and my system is clean, clear, and will put down most 12s. I spent a total of $900 on equipment all brand new from sonicelectronix.com. They have really good prices and free shipping.

 

[revobreaker]

I forgot about the RCA's good thought justin.

I agree about no nav, as the price of garmins are so cheap it makes no sense to have one indash that is expensive and a pain to upgrade. But yo umay want to reconsider Bluetooth (unless you typically carry a headset) because with hands free laws going in place it could become useful.

Side note on that, I can bluetooth Pandora from my phone to my HU

 

[dramad1]

I forgot about the RCA's good thought justin.

I agree about no nav, as the price of garmins are so cheap it makes no sense to have one indash that is expensive and a pain to upgrade. But yo umay want to reconsider Bluetooth (unless you typically carry a headset) because with hands free laws going in place it could become useful.

Side note on that, I can bluetooth Pandora from my phone to my HU

Only reason I don't care for Bluetooth or navigation is because I already have the hands free parrot blue tooth installed and if I can get a hu with iPhone hook up I can use my navigation on that. Here is my parrot

 

[Outburst]

currently i have an alpine type R in my truck. before that a kicker cvr. to be honest, because of the small cab, 10 inches sound very good, and my 10" type R sounds similar to my friends dual 12".

currently i have components all the way around and a single sub. both are amped by a 4ch and a monoblock.

either way, any way you go, if you get a full system, itll sound much better than stock.

 

[dramad1]

currently i have an alpine type R in my truck. before that a kicker cvr. to be honest, because of the small cab, 10 inches sound very good, and my 10" type R sounds similar to my friends dual 12".

currently i have components all the way around and a single sub. both are amped by a 4ch and a monoblock.

either way, any way you go, if you get a full system, itll sound much better than stock.

By any chance are you still making boxes?

 

[justin13703]

By any chance are you still making boxes?

I believe he has the same sub box as I do, the subbin box made by J Strada when he was a vendor. Correct me if im wrong though outburst.

I also have a 10" type R in my truck, and a component system, with two seperate amps, and the damn thing screams. The stuff I have is in my mod list. The type R I have is last years model, 500 watts RMS and it pounds like no 10 ive ever heard. The new type R 10" is 1000 watts RMS. I would love to hear that thing in one of our boxes.

 

[dramad1]

I believe he has the same sub box as I do, the subbin box made by J Strada when he was a vendor. Correct me if im wrong though outburst.

I also have a 10" type R in my truck, and a component system, with two seperate amps, and the damn thing screams. The stuff I have is in my mod list. The type R I have is last years model, 500 watts RMS and it pounds like no 10 ive ever heard. The new type R 10" is 1000 watts RMS. I would love to hear that thing in one of our boxes.

I'll try to get a list made up tonight and post it up so I can get your opinion. I did see that new 10 at 1000 rms. tempted