Need advice from some car audiophiles

[Fingers]

I need a stereo for my little commuter car. I don't give a damn about any screen savers, GPS capabilities, DVD playback, or anything other than quality sound. I'll be running my satellite radio through an external input most of the time.

I'm a little overwhelmed with the pure crap that's out there with little substance. I speak electronics (dB, frequency response, quantizing noise, etc) but there's so much fluff you really seem to need to dig to get to the guts of what the damn things sound like. It would take me forever to dig through all that garbage.

I can't afford an expensive deck so I want the bulk of my money to go to sound quality rather than Hollywood glamor. I have about $100 - $150 to spend for the deck.

So does anyone have any advice for me? I don't need loud, but I do need quality sound. It's going into a little Suzuki Swift and I'll be upgrading the speakers in time as well.

 

[Poindexter]

Line level input. I find that any old CD player is fine, as long as it has RCA outs. Then you can run (shielded) RCA to RCA from the head unit to your amps and then I tend to drop a few bones on decent quality speaker wire.

Cars are, electrically, pretty darn noisy and ignition whine freaking sucks the fuzzballs.

Class A amps are pretty inexpensive in the 50-100W per channel x2 range, one of those running a pair of subs from 35or 40 Hz up to 120 in a vented box and the other handling mid bass, mid range and tweets should be more than adequate.

Put your biggest dollars in the speakers. They ought to be > half the cost of the entire system, frequently >70%.

 

[Rick500]

Agree with Poindexter. Spend money on the speakers. I still haven't replaced the factory deck in my Explorer, but I put in Polk Audio speakers all around and it made a ton of difference.

Now I can hear how truly crappy my Ford deck is...gotta replace that soon.

I had two JBL 12" subs in my last truck, with a Kenwood deck and ...eh, I forget what amp. But the Kenwood deck was very nice and sounded great, and wasn't too expensive.

A good place to start is Crutchfield.com. You'll be able to see which decks will fit your vehicle.

 

[Fingers]

Line level input. I find that any old CD player is fine, as long as it has RCA outs. Then you can run (shielded) RCA to RCA from the head unit to your amps and then I tend to drop a few bones on decent quality speaker wire.

I think pre-outs are pretty much the norm now.

Cars are, electrically, pretty darn noisy and ignition whine freaking sucks the fuzzballs.

A simple line choke will take care of that. Actually, I find alternator whine is not really that bad in modern cars running a half decent quality deck.

Class A amps are pretty inexpensive in the 50-100W per channel x2 range, one of those running a pair of subs from 35or 40 Hz up to 120 in a vented box and the other handling mid bass, mid range and tweets should be more than adequate.

As I said, high power really isn't an issue so class A with its low distortion is fine. That being said, I find that higher powered class B or C amps are usually designed to minimize the distortion at the zero point and as a result are more carefully tuned for a good dynamic range. Generally speaking, a more powerful amp will deliver better sound at low volumes.

Put your biggest dollars in the speakers. They ought to be > half the cost of the entire system, frequently >70%.

Oh, I hear you there. A good quality deck is useless if it's driving poor speakers. I do have to start somewhere so that's why I'm looking for advice as to which manufacturers to avoid and which to consider. I just don't have time to do my homework from the ground up. I'm hoping someone will give me a starting point.

 

[Fingers]

Agree with Poindexter. Spend money on the speakers. I still haven't replaced the factory deck in my Explorer, but I put in Polk Audio speakers all around and it made a ton of difference.

Now I can hear how truly crappy my Ford deck is...gotta replace that soon.

I had two JBL 12" subs in my last truck, with a Kenwood deck and ...eh, I forget what amp. But the Kenwood deck was very nice and sounded great, and wasn't too expensive.

A good place to start is Crutchfield.com. You'll be able to see which decks will fit your vehicle.

Maybe that's what I should do. Start with the speakers and buy a deck later.

I haven't measured my speakers in the car yet, but from a glance they look like about 5" in the back and maybe 4" in the front. I'll have to buy some really good speakers to be able to get any bass out of that size. I hear Alpine makes a nice sounding speaker and Pioneer makes garbage.

Comments?

 

[944play]

I just use a straight power amp (with my iPod). Zero chrome makes sense with a soft-top.

Cars are not just electrically noisy, they are NOISY. You need power to get over that noise floor. NO WAY is there any need to spend money on anything fancier than zip cord for speaker wire, and IMHO a class-A amp is totally wasted in a typical car stereo, especially one with (highly compressed digital) satellite radio as the primary source.

 

[jmendez29]

I like to use Crutchfield for reference, but I rarely buy anything from them. If you are willing to do some digging online you can easily find cheaper prices. I bought some pretty high quality stuff from lightav.com for VERY reasonable prices, but that was awhile ago and I had to call the guy a couple times to make sure that everything was on its way. Just depends on how much hassle you want to get your stuff. Ebay is always a good start too.

 

[babalu87]

I need a stereo for my little commuter car. I don't give a damn about any screen savers, GPS capabilities, DVD playback, or anything other than quality sound. I'll be running my satellite radio through an external input most of the time.

I'm a little overwhelmed with the pure crap that's out there with little substance. I speak electronics (dB, frequency response, quantizing noise, etc) but there's so much fluff you really seem to need to dig to get to the guts of what the damn things sound like. It would take me forever to dig through all that garbage.

Walmart.com: VR3 AM/FM Car Receiver & CD/MP3/WMA Player, VRCD400SDU: Auto Electronics

I installed one in my camper, its a great unit

Plays MP3 off SD cards too :rockin:

 

[Fingers]

Well, I decided that speakers were the way to go initially, so I picked up a set of these on eBay:
Alpine Electronics of America, Inc. - SPS-600C

I'll put the woofers in the doors and the tweeters up on the dash, I think. I figure this will give me some bass at my feet and some high range close by. I hate the fact that the Swift only has forward speakers in the door. These Alpines seem like a good solution for that.

Thanks for all the tips.

 

[Rick500]

I put separate tweeters in my last truck. I liked that arrangement a lot.

 

[Fingers]

Well, I'm officially taking it too damn far again. I think it was the same mentality I fell victim to when I had to make beer that would make angels cry. Be that as it may, here's the latest saga:

I put those dual Alpine component speakers in the front but I haven't mounted the external tweeters yet. They get so much high end that I'm afraid to mount them anywhere close to my head for fear they might loosen the screws in my glasses. I paired them up with a pair of 4 x 6 Alpine coaxial speakers in the tray at the back of the car.

To give me a little bottom end, I bought a JL Audio 8" subwoofer that will be driven off a little Pioneer amp dedicated just for that speaker. I've only bought one of them, according to the original plan, but I'm already thinking another might be a good idea. I have to manufacture a new parcel tray out of 5/8" plywood that can accomodate the weight of the magnet. It's just a little pressed plastic tray there now.

I picked up a JVC deck to drive it all. It's not top of the line but it's bound to be a hell of a lot better than the stock piece of crap that's in it. The usual detachable facepiece and all, but not a smoking powerful system. It was new and I got a clearance deal on it, but I had to buy a molded deck kit to mount it in. I want it to look pretty. Hope it gets here this week.

It's starting to sound a lot better.