Car audio is so expensive!

[TechBoyJK]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
What parts are you installing (brand/model of speakers is my biggest question)?

I would love to do a Focal K2P front comp set, and a Focal K2P sub (they have a 9, 11, 13 inch IIRC). Would cost ~$1000-1400 depending on the sub.

Head Unit: Kenwood DNX8120 (7" Touchscreen w/ Nav and Bluetooth)
Dash Speakers: JL Audio Evolution 3.5" Coaxial (Really the only 3.5" I could find!)
Front/Rear Doors: Diamond Audio 6.5" D6
Sub: Kicker Comp VR DVC 10"
LCDs: Alpine PKG-M780 - Dual 7" LCD w/ 2 wireless headphones and video switcher
Amps: Eclipse EA4100 (highs/mids) and XA1000
Cables/Wire: knukonceptz


It came down to Focal, Image Dynamics and Diamond Audio. Diamond just seemed to be the best for the price.

Next time around, check a company called Hertz. It is a high end spinoff of Audison. A local installer is a reseller of Audison and was sent some new Hertz products to demo. I ended up buying the Hertz HK165 3 way set, 1,3,6.5, with crossover. I put a 150x2rms amp on them.. They blow the Focal's I had out of the water, in both energy, clarity and responsiveness. Please dont believe me when I say I dont have subs in my car. (its a small z4 bmw).

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: jtvang125
When I bought my car I vowed to keep the stereo stock. It was decent but couldn't satisfy my car audio desire for long so I ended up ripping everything out for aftermarket. I went through numerous components through the years but finally settled on a kenwood dnx8120 indash nav for the headunit. An Elemental Designs 5 channel amp to power my front focal components, rear boston acoutics coaxials, and a 10" Image Dynamics IQ sub. JL audio RCAs carried the signals and streetwires power cables carried the juice.

Are you happy with the ID IQ Sub? I'm not totally sold on the Kicker Comp VR sub I picked.

How about the DNX8120? It looks awesome and I'll be glad to play with it more than just seeing it in a display.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: TechBoyJK

Next time around, check a company called Hertz. It is a high end spinoff of Audison. A local installer is a reseller of Audison and was sent some new Hertz products to demo. I ended up buying the Hertz HK165 3 way set, 1,3,6.5, with crossover. I put a 150x2rms amp on them.. They blow the Focal's I had out of the water, in both energy, clarity and responsiveness. Please dont believe me when I say I dont have subs in my car. (its a small z4 bmw).

I've seen the name once or twice in my speaker research. I really can't find much info about them and haven't seen anyone who has them locally. I just assumed they were higher end than Focus and not worth my time.

 

[venkman]

make sure to use monster cables!

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: venkman
make sure to use monster cables!

Got them. I spent more on the 12 gauge speaker wire than I did my entire system!!!

 

[CRXican]

I should have stayed out of this thread. I sold most of my audio stuff over a year ago.

I just logged back into the caraudio.com forums

oh noes!

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: CRXican
I should have stayed out of this thread. I sold most of my audio stuff over a year ago.

I just logged back into the caraudio.com forums

oh noes!

Your name is the car I built my system in, minus the ican part. I was even talking car audio with my buddy a couple months ago and his friend was there, when we talked about my car his friend was oh what year, I said 87 and he said oh those cars that sounded good cause of the design. I didnt even have kick panels my seperates were in the doors facing in and firing across the car, yet it still sounded like the speakers werw facing you on top of the dash.

 

[CRXican]

I got my CRX in high school and that's when my friends and I all got into car audio. We were JL audio fanboys and had excessive amounts of bass.

It was fun lol

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: CRXican
I got my CRX in high school and that's when my friends and I all got into car audio. We were JL audio fanboys and had excessive amounts of bass.

It was fun lol

I was never a bass head, but I buddy of mine did get a ticket playing my stereo too loud in Newport Beach lol. Hey Jerry go listen to my system, ok, excuse me sir can you turn that off and step out of the car please. :laugh:

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: CRXican
I got my CRX in high school and that's when my friends and I all got into car audio. We were JL audio fanboys and had excessive amounts of bass.

It was fun lol

That's when I did the majority of my audio. Back in the day I had a mustang that had (4) Solo-Baric 12" powered by a Phoenix Gold Amp that output 2250watts! I was also running an Orion HCCA amp to MB Quart's for my highs and mids. We used to roll through downtown bumping....but our bumping was blaring Pantera, White Zombie or whoever at insane levels and having everyone turn their heads and wondering "WTF". It was hilarious when you have all these people crusing to Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg and we're blaring Vulgar Display of Power

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
What parts are you installing (brand/model of speakers is my biggest question)?

I would love to do a Focal K2P front comp set, and a Focal K2P sub (they have a 9, 11, 13 inch IIRC). Would cost ~$1000-1400 depending on the sub.

Focal makes nice stuff but its way too pricey IMHO, for fronts look into Diamond Audio, I ran the Hex series in my days and man they were truely a sick set of seperates.

I had some Focals put into my 87 Mercedes, which was kinda funny since it was such a shite car. I paid more for the system than for the car itself. My only regret was not being able to get larger speakers. The front two were 3.5's and while they sounded great, I felt like for how much I paid there wasn't as much raw power as finesse.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Let there be BASS. Yes I still have this CD.


http://www.emusic.com/album/10598/10598401.html

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Let there be BASS. Yes I still have this CD.


http://www.emusic.com/album/10598/10598401.html

Wow, remember CD's like that in the early/mid 90s. I never bought one..but I had friends who had them for their systems..lol

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Let there be BASS. Yes I still have this CD.


http://www.emusic.com/album/10598/10598401.html

Wow, remember CD's like that in the early/mid 90s. I never bought one..but I had friends who had them for their systems..lol

I played it with my surround sound system at home just to bring back some memories. My Dynamo sure doesnt do the same SPL as my car did, but it wont since its a bigger area with a smaller sub and less power. Either way its one of those fun CD's that never gets old IMHO.

 

[jtvang125]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: jtvang125
When I bought my car I vowed to keep the stereo stock. It was decent but couldn't satisfy my car audio desire for long so I ended up ripping everything out for aftermarket. I went through numerous components through the years but finally settled on a kenwood dnx8120 indash nav for the headunit. An Elemental Designs 5 channel amp to power my front focal components, rear boston acoutics coaxials, and a 10" Image Dynamics IQ sub. JL audio RCAs carried the signals and streetwires power cables carried the juice.

Are you happy with the ID IQ Sub? I'm not totally sold on the Kicker Comp VR sub I picked.

How about the DNX8120? It looks awesome and I'll be glad to play with it more than just seeing it in a display.

Kicker and ID are on totally opposite ends of subwoofers. If you want the boom and you want it loud then kicker would be your choice. ID subs are more SQ oriented but still can deliver a good punch. It is NOT a SPL sub. I'm more than happy with the sub. Only thing that would make it better would be to get another.

The DNX is awesome. IMO it's probably the best indash nav unit out there right now. Attractive UI, builtin bluetooth, high voltage preouts, usb port, and tons of sound settings. It has full crossovers with adjustable slope and frequency cutoff for front, rear and sub. Seperate EQ for front and rear, time aligment, DSP and SRS WOW sound processing. You can pretty much tinker the sound to perfection just from the headunit.

 

[LS21]

what sucks even more is almost all cars have such an integrated dash that you lose certain functionality when you replace the stock entertainment system AND/OR it'll look ugly and out of place.

 

[jtvang125]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Let there be BASS. Yes I still have this CD.


http://www.emusic.com/album/10598/10598401.html

Don't forget Techmaster PEB. Computer love is still my favorite bass track.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: jtvang125

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: jtvang125
When I bought my car I vowed to keep the stereo stock. It was decent but couldn't satisfy my car audio desire for long so I ended up ripping everything out for aftermarket. I went through numerous components through the years but finally settled on a kenwood dnx8120 indash nav for the headunit. An Elemental Designs 5 channel amp to power my front focal components, rear boston acoutics coaxials, and a 10" Image Dynamics IQ sub. JL audio RCAs carried the signals and streetwires power cables carried the juice.

Are you happy with the ID IQ Sub? I'm not totally sold on the Kicker Comp VR sub I picked.

How about the DNX8120? It looks awesome and I'll be glad to play with it more than just seeing it in a display.

Kicker and ID are on totally opposite ends of subwoofers. If you want the boom and you want it loud then kicker would be your choice. ID subs are more SQ oriented but still can deliver a good punch. It is NOT a SPL sub. I'm more than happy with the sub. Only thing that would make it better would be to get another.

The DNX is awesome. IMO it's probably the best indash nav unit out there right now. Attractive UI, builtin bluetooth, high voltage preouts, usb port, and tons of sound settings. It has full crossovers with adjustable slope and frequency cutoff for front, rear and sub. Seperate EQ for front and rear, time aligment, DSP and SRS WOW sound processing. You can pretty much tinker the sound to perfection just from the headunit.

I sort of assumed that. I just know kicker back from my Solo-baric days (when they were still round). I think I will look into ID IQ subs.

She doesn't need boom, but she does need some good solid bass. I only want to use 1 sub in the rear.

Woot - UPS just delivered the cabling, amps and steering wheel control unit! Now I just need the speakers.

 

[jtvang125]

Originally posted by: LS21
what sucks even more is almost all cars have such an integrated dash that you lose certain functionality when you replace the stock entertainment system AND/OR it'll look ugly and out of place.

Lucky for me Toyota actually made a OEM double din dash kit for aftermarket stereos for my car. Perfect fit and matches the color of the dash console. here's a pic

http://www.clublexus.com/galle...5&cat=500&ppuser=33208

Pic of amp. it's a monster!
http://www.clublexus.com/galle...2&cat=500&ppuser=33208

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: LS21
what sucks even more is almost all cars have such an integrated dash that you lose certain functionality when you replace the stock entertainment system AND/OR it'll look ugly and out of place.

Yes, her SUV is going to be the same way. We'll lose the clock and the ability to display some information on the LED display. But, we gain so much more by using a touchscreen LCD. So it's not a huge deal.

 

[Viper0329]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: jtvang125

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: jtvang125
When I bought my car I vowed to keep the stereo stock. It was decent but couldn't satisfy my car audio desire for long so I ended up ripping everything out for aftermarket. I went through numerous components through the years but finally settled on a kenwood dnx8120 indash nav for the headunit. An Elemental Designs 5 channel amp to power my front focal components, rear boston acoutics coaxials, and a 10" Image Dynamics IQ sub. JL audio RCAs carried the signals and streetwires power cables carried the juice.

Are you happy with the ID IQ Sub? I'm not totally sold on the Kicker Comp VR sub I picked.

How about the DNX8120? It looks awesome and I'll be glad to play with it more than just seeing it in a display.

Kicker and ID are on totally opposite ends of subwoofers. If you want the boom and you want it loud then kicker would be your choice. ID subs are more SQ oriented but still can deliver a good punch. It is NOT a SPL sub. I'm more than happy with the sub. Only thing that would make it better would be to get another.

The DNX is awesome. IMO it's probably the best indash nav unit out there right now. Attractive UI, builtin bluetooth, high voltage preouts, usb port, and tons of sound settings. It has full crossovers with adjustable slope and frequency cutoff for front, rear and sub. Seperate EQ for front and rear, time aligment, DSP and SRS WOW sound processing. You can pretty much tinker the sound to perfection just from the headunit.

I sort of assumed that. I just know kicker back from my Solo-baric days (when they were still round). I think I will look into ID IQ subs.

She doesn't need boom, but she does need some good solid bass. I only want to use 1 sub in the rear.

Woot - UPS just delivered the cabling, amps and steering wheel control unit! Now I just need the speakers.

I used to own an ID IDQ v.2 10" in a ported box tuned to 29hz. It was plenty loud for me (getting about around 300rms) and sounded amazing. It brought a smile to my face each day.

I highly, highly recommend ID.

 

[scott916]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
I will take you guys into a whole new level of sound, these rock.


http://www.usdaudio.com/products/wg.php

These are the guys I did my business with, this car is VERY old and alot has changed but you get the picture.


http://www.usdaudio.com/sw/cars/buick/


This car was at the same show I went to, different class of course but I still got a better SQ score.

http://www.usdaudio.com/sw/cars/mb/

Pretty sure I remember that car. I used to be very heavy into car audio when I was younger. Remember the guy with the red BMW that had the B&W 15" subs molded into his footwells?

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Car Audio is definitely a slippery slope. I got involved a few years ago and it was a never ending process tweaking each and every aspect of the system.