car stereo strut (NRR)

mordecai · December 2005

whats up all.at work but not feelin like workin', so I'm thinking about what to do to my new (used) car.

2000 Saturn SL1fairly lame 4 door, but I'd like to at least put a nice stereo in there...so plaese provide some recommendations.I'm not any good at installing this sort of thing myself, so I think I'm going to have a friend do it or at a car stereo store.-Where should I buy the speakers & head unit & such? ...at the store I'm getting it installed? online? Crutchfield? Best Buy?-What kind of head unit should I get? I'd like one with an AUX input for my ipod. I'm thinking Clarion or Alpine.-in the trunk I'm probably going to go with 1 10" sub. I'd like some thump but not TOO much...its kind of a small car.-amps. I don't know shit about 'em. What should I look for? best brands? Would 2 be best? 1 for the inside speakers and 1 for the sub?-The only cosmetic thing I'm probably going to do is a tint. But rims would be sweet, but I live in the city and the potholes are a fuggin bitch. Are there any rims that are durable enough for city driving? oxymoron?thanks for any help/recommendations.

Zeus · December 2005

I'm a fan of Alpine amps and head units. With a nice, non-factory head unit, you should have ok power for your 4 speakers inside the ride. I'd look for a simple mono sub for the amp. A nice 150W - 200W amp ought to be good for your single 10".

Okay - a few details. When choosing any amp, more power is better (duh). Ignore what is in big bold letters on the box and read the fine print to determine the amps RMS power rating. Often the peak power is boldly displayed in order to make you think the amp can always produce results that actually happen very infrequently.

Last piece of advice. Save $ and do the install yourself or with a knowledgeable friend's help. If you buy stuff from Crutchfield, they will send you some detailed instructions that will help a bunch.

I'll leave the stereo speaker and sub brand debate for someone else to weigh in on.

mordecai · December 2005

Thank you Zeus, that is very helpful. Anyone else, please add to the

spectaculous · December 2005

I'm a fan of Alpine amps and head units. With a nice, non-factory head unit, you should have ok power for your 4 speakers inside the ride. I'd look for a simple mono sub for the amp. A nice 150W - 200W amp ought to be good for your single 10".

Okay - a few details. When choosing any amp, more power is better (duh). Ignore what is in big bold letters on the box and read the fine print to determine the amps RMS power rating. Often the peak power is boldly displayed in order to make you think the amp can always produce results that actually happen very infrequently.

Last piece of advice. Save $ and do the install yourself or with a knowledgeable friend's help. If you buy stuff from Crutchfield, they will send you some detailed instructions that will help a bunch.

I'll leave the stereo speaker and sub brand debate for someone else to weigh in on.

yeah, what this dude said.

alpines are always a safe-bet.

as far as amps go, i'd either get two separate ones (e.g. one 4x35W amp for the 4 speakers and one 1x150W amp for the sub) or get a combo amplifier that basically has both of those two combined into one unit. get an amp with a crossover built-in. more power isn't necessarily better though. you want something that matches closely to whatever drivers you choose.

if you aren't scared to do the install yourself, go for it. not too hard to figure out.

Big_Chan · December 2005

Good car stereo can run a lot of ca$h. I would build a box for 2 10" subs instead of one. Two 10"s is what I have in the trunk and it is hittin'. You will need at least two amps. One amp just for the subs that take a lot of power and a four channel amp for your front and rear speakers in the cabin of the car. McIntosh amps are great, but very spendy. As stated earlier, the more power the better! You will get a cleaner less distorted sound this way. If you bought high end amps and speakers along with a good head unit, you could easily spend $3,000 - $4,000 retail. Check eBay for pre-owned amps. A good amp can last years with no problems. I've had a couple of amps in one of our cars for 6 years with no problems. Professional installation is nice if you can afford it. Sometimes places will have specials that if you buy a head unit, speakers, amps, etc. from them they will install it for free. Professional installation will look cleaner and if there are any problems you can take it back to the shop and they should fix it for free.

Big_Chan · December 2005

as far as amps go, i'd either get two separate ones (e.g. one 4x35W amp for the 4 speakers and one 1x150W amp for the sub) or get a combo amplifier that basically has both of those two combined into one unit. get an amp with a crossover built-in. more power isn't necessarily better though. you want something that matches closely to whatever drivers you choose.

4 X 35W amp? I don't think that is enough power hommie. Get nice high watt rated speakers and get a 4 x 100W amp for the speakers in the cabin and a 400W amp for the subs. Good speakers will come with separate cross overs as well.

spectaculous · December 2005

as far as amps go, i'd either get two separate ones (e.g. one 4x35W amp for the 4 speakers and one 1x150W amp for the sub) or get a combo amplifier that basically has both of those two combined into one unit. get an amp with a crossover built-in. more power isn't necessarily better though. you want something that matches closely to whatever drivers you choose.

4 X 35W amp? I don't think that is enough power hommie. Get nice high watt rated speakers and get a 4 x 100W amp for the speakers in the cabin and a 400W amp for the subs. Good speakers will come with separate cross overs as well.

that was just an example. and honestly, that would work perfectly for a car that size. 35 clean watts from an amp will sound clearer and louder alot of the time than the 50 watts that come from a head unit. also, you'd be hard to find fronts or rears that can actually do 100 watts. that shit is unnecessary. 100 watts rms will push a ten nice. 35-45 watts will push the rest just fine. trust me. there is no need in going overboard. i don't give a fuck about trunks rattling or a whole neighborhood hearing my shit as i drive by, b/c then it will most likely sound like shit inside my ride.

z_illa · December 2005

Good car stereo can run a lot of ca$h.

McIntosh amps are great, but very spendy.

Good car stereo can run a lot of ca$h.

McIntosh amps are great, but very spendy.

My advice would be to take it to a car audio store. Tell them what you can afford/want and have them build/install the system for you. There is so much false advertising and misrepresentation of the numbers when it comes to car audio equipment if you haven't done some serious homework you won't be able to get to the next level. Do not trust best buy and crutchfield's opinion on what sounds good. Watts are highly misrepresnted in this market, very raerly does more watt's = cleaner sound. Take a few trips to the local shop, shoot the shit with the guys there, they are almost as lonely and pathetic as record collectors and are always interested in talking about recordings. Deals can be had at these shops, and in the end wouldn't you rather have a professional tune your car then some high schooler at best buy? Spend the money.

Big_Chan · December 2005

Good car stereo can run a lot of ca$h.

McIntosh amps are great, but very spendy.

Good car stereo can run a lot of ca$h.

McIntosh amps are great, but very spendy.

My advice would be to take it to a car audio store. Tell them what you can afford/want and have them build/install the system for you. There is so much false advertising and misrepresentation of the numbers when it comes to car audio equipment if you haven't done some serious homework you won't be able to get to the next level. Do not trust best buy and crutchfield's opinion on what sounds good. Watts are highly misrepresnted in this market, very raerly does more watt's = cleaner sound. Take a few trips to the local shop, shoot the shit with the guys there, they are almost as lonely and pathetic as record collectors and are always interested in talking about recordings. Deals can be had at these shops, and in the end wouldn't you rather have a professional tune your car then some high schooler at best buy? Spend the money.

Very good advice!

Big_Chan · December 2005

Mordecai,

Keep an eye on these eBay auctions. These are NICE 4 channel amps to run the speakers in the cabin of your car:

http://cgi.ebay.com/McIntosh-MC420-Car-Audio-Amplifier-AMP_W0QQitemZ5845485545QQcategoryZ4950QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/car-amplifier-McIntosh-MC420-High-Performance-AMP_W0QQitemZ5844561420QQcategoryZ4950QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

mordecai · December 2005

thanks for all the advice fellas! I guess McIntosh is sorta like Rane in that they don't care too much about looks, but about the sound and quality? I don't think I've heard much about McIntosh but I'm interested.

I still think with my car's size, one 10" sub should do fine. I used to like Infinity Kappa's (my friend had some 6x9's I think) but have they been replaced with Infinity Perfects?

Inside, I'm thinking some Polk speakers will work nicely. Another friend had some of those in the past and they sounded great.

Taking it to a shop for their advice is a good idea. I know Crutchfield has a guide to see what speaker sizes are in the car already (I know they can often cut or adapt to fit other sizes), but I don't know where my catalog is.

I'm not out to win any awards or anything...just good sound, some nice bass...

spectaculous · December 2005

unless you can add enough sound deadening material to block out almost all of the road noise, audiophile-grade components like mcintosh are a complete waste of money for a car.

z_illa · December 2005

that's sorta like saying studio monitors are useless in a bedroom.

spectaculous · December 2005

that's sorta like saying studio monitors are useless in a bedroom.

no it isn't. that is a horrible analogy. if the bedroom was in a rv moving down the interstate, then it wouldn't be.

the biggest issue with mobile audio is road noise. why spend the bank on the expensive audiophile-grade components when the road noise coming from most rides will cancel out any benefits gained from said components?

street_muzik · December 2005

This is all I need. It's not much but it hurts my ears when I crank it up. Those four way speakers are bomb. My car is a Super Beetle, which has better sound proofing than the older Beetles, so at least I'm not competing with as much road noise.

Artifactor · December 2005

My advice would be to take it to a car audio store. Tell them what you can afford/want and have them build/install the system for you. There is so much false advertising and misrepresentation of the numbers when it comes to car audio equipment if you haven't done some serious homework you won't be able to get to the next level. Do not trust best buy and crutchfield's opinion on what sounds good. Watts are highly misrepresnted in this market, very raerly does more watt's = cleaner sound. Take a few trips to the local shop, shoot the shit with the guys there, they are almost as lonely and pathetic as record collectors and are always interested in talking about recordings. Deals can be had at these shops, and in the end wouldn't you rather have a professional tune your car then some high schooler at best buy? Spend the money.

This a good one. You can also go to (indoor) swap meets where they have audio people selling shit. You can bargain with them easily if you bring cash and buy everything at once.

My friend has got a nice system that he paid 1000-1200 tops. He has 2 JL Audio 10s and a Rockford Fosgate Punch amp and the inside speakers are all MB Quartz. He got a really good deal cuz the guy messed up somewhere and ended up giving him MBQ speakers instead of some Clarions I believe. Anyways a thousand is good to spend on a system but I really don't see why I would need to spend much more than that.

Also one 10 inch seems like a little, NO? I say go for one 12 or one 15 if you are just gonna get one speaker.

street_muzik · December 2005

Installing sound is not that hard and you can save a lot of money. If you can hook up DJ rigs, and other sound, then it's easy. The hard part is getting to it in newer cars. It took me two days to take apart the dash of my girlfriends Honda Civic. It was my first job and I pulled it off. I was worried for a minute.

mordecai · December 2005

thanks everyone for your help.
what are some good online stores for browsing and comparing besides Crutchfield?

Beats29 · December 2005

Alpine is cool. A safe bet. kinda like Sony TV's.
Kenwood or Pioneer are reasonable too, and a little cheaper..

Make sure you go with RMS Watts. 4x 35 or 4 x 50 will be fine for front speakers.
You could probably go with 2 way speakers at the front (mids and tweeters with a passive crossover) and save on amp / speaker money as You don't actually NEED rear shelf speakers!.

When you get a decent setup, it's the bass you will want to increase, so maybe go for 2x10's in a box. You get much more out of a box. You can even buy ready made boxes or tubes. Not quite as good as custom, but you can just stick it in and go.

The easiest and simplest option would be mids and tweeters in the front doors. 2x50 RMS ( or a little more if you can afford to) amp and maybe a 150W RMS x 1 subwoofer amp going into a ready made box with 2 10's.

Run that for a while and if you feel you need something in the back shelf, put it in later. A lot of competition systems don't run rear shelf speakers!.

I ran 2 way 8" speakers in front kickwell fibreglass builds and 2x 15" subs in the back.
2 x 75 WRMS Front amp. 2X200WRMS Subwoofer amp. Shit was like thunder.

Peace
Mo

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car stereo strut (NRR)

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