I'm looking to replace my stock radio with a new cd player/faceplate (whatever you wanna call it). I'm looking for something around $300 (or do I even need to spend that much to get a niiice looking/performing one), preferably iPod ready (but certainly not nessesary). What companies make the best stuff for car audio. I don't know much about audio and stuff like that, so someone please enlighten me.

CD player: i'l go with ALPINE CDA-9853 brand or KENWOOD DDX7015 In Dash Double DIN Monitor it would fit perfect in your car.

Speaker: Ill go with MB QUARTZ.Those speakers got clearest sound then the others does.If you would get those,better get 6 peaces,2 in front, tweeters in front and 2 in the back,the sound would be nice and clean

Subs: pair of 10 inches JL Audio's the best you can get. size 10" is the best 4 uor cars,you can hear a very deep,loud and clear "wooofff" sound inside the car,for those who want that the neighbors or other peoples can hear the sound,you can go with 12 ang higher.

whatever you decide, buy from ebay. I purchase almost all my stuff from that site. Bought a $350 pioneer deck brand new for $150. Four pioneer 3-way 6-1/2" speakers for $100. and lastly, a 400watt, 10" pionner sub for $15.

If you are thinking of getting any high end type component speaker, be looking for a nice 4 channel amp also, because most headunits are only rated at 10-20 watts per channel RMS.

I run 6.5" alpine type r component speakers all the way around. With the biggest 4 channel alpine makes (mrv-f540 i believe). Great sound!

Check out onlinecarstereo.com the have close to if not below dealer cost on alot of great stuff. Great sound!

Hah, well LTUDSM, if I had over a grand to spend I might go for that Kenwood. , and I checked out that Alpine you posted and just saw nothing but negative reviews for it.

Also, I'm thinking I'm just gonna buy the headunit in the near future.. I'm not HUGE into blasting the roof of my car and makin' it a spyder. (It's a joke, laugh! !) I personally think that the stock/whatever is in my car now sounds good enough for now. So I'm not really planning on buy new speakers/subs JUST yet. So I'm just looking into the headunit now so I can finally ditch the damn radio.

Has anyone had any experiences with Sony Xplod? More specifically the CDX-M8810?


Also, if you guys could just post general do's and don't's about CD headunits. Casue believe me I am in the dark when it comes to audio. Thanks.

When i had my 1991 eclipse n/t it was like 3 years ago,i had two sony Xplod head units and it was pease of crap man believe it i think sony xplods are the worstest car audio brand in the usa if u want to spend 300$ try KENWOOD EXCELON KDC-X979 CD MP3 WMA Player, PIONEER DEH-P860MP PREMIER CD/MP3/WMA/WAV. Rockford Fosgate RFX9420 Car Stereo CD MP3 CD-RW Player, Those are about 300$ on Ebay

I just did this:


Dual XDM6820
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5U12x8F50qz/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?g=62700&I=070XDM6820

for $89. iPod input, MP3/WMA reader, works just swell. Crutchfield and BestBuy (where it was on sale) said it wouldn't fit, but there were no issues at all. Same depth as the stock head units, and ½-DIN. I filled the bottom half with a Galant cubby with a nice door on the front. Straight bolt-in. I used an adapter from the radio's harness to the car's (soldered, not crimped), and factory radio mounts instead of the DIN slide-in box. No mods to the speakers, the rears are some sort of Kenwoods from the previous owner.

Only issue I had is that the lighting is bright as all hell, and doesn't piggyback off the dash lighting to dim at night. So I used a layer of Liquid Paper to dim-down the LEDs on the circuit board.

When buying radio gear off eBay, be sure to note the shipping charges first. These were on eBay for $29, but shipping was $59 I'd better get a lot more than a trip to the mailbox for that kind of money.

I really liked all the features of this kenwood....it has a built in g-tech. i also added sirius satellite to it.......I will never need to listen to regular radio again or ever bring my cd catalog with me ...I love it. Plus how would i have listened to Howard Stern after jan??

Why do you think Sony named the line "X-plod"

Well in my opinion Sony should stay out of car audio all together cause they can't do it anywhere near right. I am running a Panasonic 8300 in my car, has the cool dot matrix display. I would personally check out some Panasonic, Alpine, or Kenwood head units. I have had all and loved each other at different price ranges. Dual's stuff looks pretty good but it isn't always the best quality. Also most CD players say 40+ watts per channel but like someone previously stated they only put out 15-20 or so. When upgrading the speakers an amp would be a good idea down the road. Best thing I would say to do is find one in your price range that you like the looks of and read reviews or ask around. Good luck getting one you like.

How about Pioneer, are they a pretty solid car audio company? I've been looking into and email the owner of this one..from the DSM Classifieds -- http://www.dsmtuners.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=24587&sort=1&cat=12&page=1
Any comments on that?

Also, as I've mentioned before I am a def. rookie when it comes to audio..what should I be looking for in a unit..like what's all this '40+ watts' jumbo I keep hearing about.


Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate it.

I work at circuit city, roadshop car audio department.
Our entire crew (sales and installers) have either pioneer or alpine decks. I have an alpine and my brother has a pioneer from 2 years back. great stuff. Be sure to buy the correct wiring harness (metra makes some good ones, the MET 807001 plus the MET AL1680). That makes installation a snap - no cutting wires, just snap in and go.