TheQuietThings

im looking to upgrade the sound system in my car, nothing too crazy, i just want something a lot clearer and louder than the stock system. distortion is really a pet peve of mine. anyways, is it possible i can have a decent sysem on an $1100-$1400 budget?
i was looking to buy a head unit for 200, 2 10inch subs for 260, a box for them for 90, an amp just for the subs for 200, and 4 new speakers for 400.

the head unit, amp, and speakers are all made by alpine.

i just want to know if you guys think its a good idea, or even possible to do on such a low budget, i dont want to be wasting money and would rather spend nothing and have no change then spend a grand and have very little change.

thanks for the input.

chadfo

Check out http://www.edesignaudio.com/us.php. You can get a very good quality full system not including the head unit for less than $1K. That'll leave you plenty of budget for most good head units.

sciontc_mich

yeah there was a system that alpine had in one of the car shows.. it's at crutchfield.com and it actually was in a tC and took first place for sound quality i think it was like $1000 for everything.. some have said that the sub could've been better but that is easily changed.. here's a link.. and yes the speakers WILL fit a tC, it's funny that crutchfield says no, even though they were in a tC already.. lol

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-ZDhl8tf...0&I=700ALP1000

Smoses799

ed system
1100=
nine1 and 1 16 O.v2
nine4 or nine2 and 6500s in the front
no rear fill
120' of sound deading

1200= same as the above but 2 13 O.v2

TheQuietThings

that is very awesome, and quite possibly the system i will be getting. for 1G that setup sounds awesome, thanks for all the help and lack of flaming!

it's going to be louder and clearer than the stock system, right? sorry if thats a dumb question i am a real noob at car audio

Smoses799

not to push ed, but this would be a superior package for less $$. better sound quality and more power. The alpine package has one entry lvl sub with a small amp and runs a component set and rear fill off the hu power. This following setup will give you a amp dedicated to two sets of components and a amp for your sub.

1 13.k sub
1 nine.2 to power the sub
2 sets of 6000s components
1 nine.4 to power those components

$701,25

this leaves you $400-700 for your head unit/install/or any other things you would like to do.



ps- if you do go with the alpine package, dont buy from crutchfield.. very overpriced.

chadfo

Before you rush out to buy this system because it received a first place ranking lets examine some facts about the information.

1. They were rated #1 by Car Sound & Performance Magazine. I don't trust magazines. They follow the money. If the system was that great, they would have been rated by more than just one magazine.

2. The car was at the 2005 CES so it was either Alpine's car or a sponsored car and was setup professionally with that system. It wasn't a drop in installation. Drop ins pretty much never win quality awards because the car environment is tricky to work in.

I still suggest going with the Elemental Designs setup. It WILL sound better and be louder than the Alpine if it's installed correctly.

If you are still stuck on the Alpine system, take Smoses799's advice and DON'T get it from Crutchfield, or Circuit City, or Best Buy. Find a local Alpine dealer and your much more likely to get a better price and install.

Harmonic_tC

if you have a little extra money left over i would HIGHLY reccomend a 4 channel amp for your interior speakers. That way you will eliminate alot of distortion. The alpine hu only deleivers 18 watts rms. those speakers are prolly about 50 watts rms. That way youll get good, clear, loud sound.

mandos

Amazing how many times people have mentioned eD and I haven't even touched this thread yet ;)

Dead set on 2 10's?

2 11Kv.2's = $230

Box that'll fit nice in a tC(right up against rear seats in non reclined position) = $85ish + shipping

Amp for the subs: Nine.2 = $215(or $175 using the SL discount but then it isn't a part of the package)

Dead set on four speakers as well? You could get the eDi 6000s for the front(mid + tweet) then a pair of the Eu-600s for the rear = $125 + $110 for the extra pair of mids.

Of course, I'd suggest going all out and doing the eDi 6500s up front w/ no rear fill = $350.

And finally an amp for the speakers, I'd go w/ another Nine.2, even if you have rear fill I'd just power it off the HU. Again $215 or $175 but not a part of the package.

So, going all package on the 4 speaker set up would run you $860ish depending on the exact box.

Going with the 6500s would be around $960.

With either of those setups you could get a much better head unit than originally planned and still be well within your budget.

TheQuietThings

does that include an amp for the 4 speakers as well as the 2 subs?

mandos

Well, the rear fill speakers I'd suggest just using your HU. You don't listen to music in the back, so why spend money amping the speakers? They'll normally be turned down so far that they're just kinda there anyway.

Of course, you could always get the Nine.4 for 4 speakers instead of the Nine.2 to power them, would add $17 to the total.

Deathwish238

Who makes the Nine.2, 13.k, 6000s?

QuietThing, before you buy speakers you want to hear them. There are many good speakers out there but there is no best. Best is relative to you.

mandos

Elemental Designs is the manufacturer of them.

And I couldn't agree more about what's "best"

audiobahntc

[quote="TheQuietThings"]im looking to upgrade the sound system in my car, nothing too crazy, i just want something a lot clearer and louder than the stock system. distortion is really a pet peve of mine. anyways, is it possible i can have a decent sysem on an $1100-$1400 budget?
i was looking to buy a head unit for 200, 2 10inch subs for 260, a box for them for 90, an amp just for the subs for 200, and 4 new speakers for 400.

the head unit, amp, and speakers are all made by alpine.


I'd say those estimates you've got are pretty good numbers, you should be able to get a nice system for that price. But keep in mind, Alpine, is pretty pricy $$$.

IMO two 10's is DEF the way to go, but I'm not sure you need to replace the front component drivers. They're pretty nice, I'd buy a nice set of 5.25 components for the rear and swap out the tweets in the front.

I just added a couple 10" AUdiobahn alum woofers with a nice beefy amp, still using the stock HU and speakers, and it sounds pretty good. Will eventually upgrade for highs though. GOod LUCk