Need help for car audio system

[CorollaTRD99]

i have a 12' alpine sub, stock radio and stock speakers (corollas have THEE best stock speakers out here!! =))
I am looking for a nice amp for my subwoofer, a nice fold-out radio, and if there are, any good speakers for my doors and the back and also some tweeters. Basically i just want a full system. any ideas? oh and ps. i checked out this really cool place for all that radio stuff. very cheap. should i take the bait? http://onlinecarstereo.com

[AJW6]

I need to know your budget first of all. Then we can go from there.

I wouldn't order from that website. If you want to get your stuff online, go to crutchfield.com

They have the best customer service (better than Nordstrom if you ask me). They will give you detailed instructions for your car that you can't find anywhere. They include all the parts you need, and they guarantee everything. if you order from that company, you'll probably end up with dammaged speakers that they deny selling to you. Trust me, the extra money you pay will be worth it a thousand times over.


First lets talk about your sub and amp.
You want to get an amp that overpowers your sub a little bit. How many watts is your sub? (look at the RMS rating, not the peak). For example, if your sub is rated at 500watts RMS, you need an amp capable of producing at LEAST 500 watts RMS, more like 600. You'll want this amp to be a class D monoblock amp. These are the most efficient and catered to subwoofers.

Now, about your head unit (stereo).
You'll need an aftermarket deck. I don't really know the best models out right now, but I know what brands to stay away from. Sony and dual are the first that come to mind to stay away from. Some trusted brands are alpine, kenwood, and clarion. There are more if you look around. Again, when looking at stereos, look at the RMS rating, not the peak. Get something with at least 18x4 watt RMS rating. Also, make sure it has a preamp output (red and white cable).

Speakers.
You want component speakers. They have a midrange speaker (6.5" for our cars I think) and a tweeter built in front of it. I have the infinity referance S series in my front doors. They sound awesome. Look at the customer reviews to find one that fits your needs.

If you want to amp your speakers (which I did), get a 2 or 4 channel amp (depending on if you want to amp your back speakers or not). For this you'll need an A or B class amp.


Also, don't skimp on wiring. Get good stuff. It really does make a difference.

I'd check out www.caraudioforum.com for tons of info. Car audio is addicting and once you have your first setup done, you'll want to upgrade. Just beware.

[Bhavesh]

AJ got all the major points, but if I had to make single suggestions:

for radio, I recommend any new unit made by Eclipse

for the speakers/amp/subwoofer/wiring/sound dampening, in the best blend of simplicity/quality/price, I actually recommend you get all those items from elemental designs: www.edesignaudio.com

Just make sure you call in your order after you've put together a system and ask for the "forum discount".

good luck!

[iskate631]

hmm amp wise, kickers are pretty nice for mono, although ive seen some have some overheating issues, the air vents are on the bottom of the amp so if you mount it dont be surprised if you bass just turns off randomly during the summer when that things running to the point it burns to the touch. did that 1 before lol. i used to have a Hifonics Brutus BXI1210D, that thing was beast. took one heck of a beating, never once overheated when mounted flat. my old system consisted of.. a p5100 pioneer deck, 2 pioneer premier 1200watt subs, a hifonics 1200watt amp, stock front speakers and 2 sony 120watt speakers in the back. it was a gnarly system(although shook the living crap out of my corolla trunk) until i blew a sub with a bad ground and shorted out my amp pulling the fuse with it running.

in my experience i have only used pioneer decks, but alpine is great also. only thing to beware of the flip screens- motorized flips with die from bass, and the connectors will eventually wear out, as in you push on the deck and the screen goes black. had that happen too. pioneer makes some good subs but i know they arent the best, and the kenwood subs i owned were complete garbage. kicker, hifonics, rockford fosgate, kenwood, alpine. all good amps. speaker-wise, sony and jl audio are all i have used and they are amazing.

good luck shopping, and yes bare in mind, some reallllly cheap sites can be hit or miss, i got some good subs before and some garbage subs before from spending too little money. take your time to research what you want, and as ajw6 mentioned, crutchfield has an amazing customer service. if you find out a whole plan of what you want to buy, give them a call and talk to a technician. theyll sit with you and explain what would be the best for what you want, how to wire it, and so on. when i ordered my amp with my 2 subs, i accidentally ordered a mono amp and a guy called me up and was like are you positive this is what you want? cause its not going to work and changed the order for me lol

Awesome

Double Awesome

Awesome

Crap

[SilverNitrate]

First of all, you need to power match your sub/amp. Don't be fooled by people telling you my amp produces 10000000W peak cuz that value is useless. It's a marketing gimmick. Loook at the RMS value. Otherwise you're gonna end up over/under powering your subs which can end up blowing your subs or destroying the amp.

Alpine is a good start. Are they Type-R? S? E? Dual/single voice coil? 4/2/1 ohm stable? What are the specs? Those matter when you want to pick the right amp.

As far as brands, I would go with Alpine, Rockford Fosgate, Kicker, MBQuart (if you can still find them)
Safe brands are Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, Blaupunkt

CD player decks will depend on your budget. If you are looking at expanding later, make sure the deck you choose are capable (i.e aux inputs, bluetooth connectivity, ipod cable ready, etc...)

Speakers, are you planning on going component? If you are, you better have an amp or they won't sound good. 4 channel is your choice if you are doing front and back component. with Subs, you might as well go 5 channel or 2 separate amps, one being dedicated to subs.

If you are not planning on putting an amp, but still want component.. Go with infinity reference components. They are designed to make the best out of your deck power.

[AJW6]

Heres what I have right now.


Alpine CDE-9870 up front. Not the greatest deck, but I got it before I was into car audio. I ran the ipod cable from behind the head unit under the gearbox into the bottom of the center console

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1086022...eference&ssi=0
In the doors I have infinity reference 6022si components (shallow mount, I don't think the full sized ones fit in the door). They handle up to 50 watts which is plenty for me

The trunk holds my Profile AP700M mono amp which feeds 350rms watts to the JL audio 10w3 and a 50x4 alpine amp (forget the model) which powers the front speakers.

Oh, I'm running 4 gauge wire to a distribution block in the back which feeds 8 gauge to both amps. I'm probably forgetting some details but thats basically what I got. It's not deafeningly loud, but it sounds great and it shakes my headrest.

I'd like to get some 6x9s in the back but I want to keep it looking as stock as possible. Any ideas on how to get some bass coming from within the interior of the car? I'd like to ditch the sub if possible.

[Althaus68]

I have 2 Apline Type R subs, Sounds awesome even with the bad amp i have (Sony 1200 watt). <-- Don't want to hear comments on that, i know already. ha. but for the door speakers, i use alpine Type S. (a bit cheaper than the R's and still are real nice). roughly 114$. Trying to sell 2 kenwoods 12 with box for 200 but noone around ohio here is looking for subs that i can find. haha