Audio System Upgrade

[D_Eclipse9916]

sorry not to get off subject, I've just been reading that you praise alpine in a couple of your posts... from what I was told by a couple of friends who are installers at reputable shops, alpine head units aren't anywhere near the quality of Eclipse/clarion... Eclipse/clarion make nice decks, but as far as alpine... the pre outs arent 5 or 8v... and overall quality has depreciated as years have progressed with the alpine brand name cd decks... I am nowhere near an audio expert... My old setup was with an alpine deck and worked fine... as far as decks with 5v/6v/8v preouts such as Kenwood/Panasonic/Clarion/Eclipse and Premier (pioneer...junk (which their preouts are rated peak).... pretty much anything best buy sells is garbage... to the keen ear, but not everyone is a car audio guru and people buy it because it gets the job done...

I personally am in the market as well for a set-up... I like diamond audio, eclipse, mtx(xtant), clarion... not really sure what im gonna do....

I praise alpine speakers more than alpine decks, and personally I dont run an alpine deck as I dont prefer them. I run eclipse, yes Alpine does not have high-volt pre-outs, typically they are 4-volts. Some with only 3-volts. Most of what retail stores are garbage but therre are exceptions. Alpine high-end speakers at best-buy, Eclipse products are now at circuit city, which btw I dont like their speakers but I do like their decks and subs.

PS- Its all in listening them for yourself. Some people consider alpine components of having a little "high-pitched tinny sound". Its ll in what your ears will hear, but there are basic guidlines to go by.

Edit: oh and sony even though alpine is starting to go down the drain, is still WAY below it in quality...

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

sorry not to get off subject, I've just been reading that you praise alpine in a couple of your posts... from what I was told by a couple of friends who are installers at reputable shops, alpine head units aren't anywhere near the quality of Eclipse/clarion... Eclipse/clarion make nice decks, but as far as alpine... the pre outs arent 5 or 8v... and overall quality has depreciated as years have progressed with the alpine brand name cd decks... I am nowhere near an audio expert... My old setup was with an alpine deck and worked fine... as far as decks with 5v/6v/8v preouts such as Kenwood/Panasonic/Clarion/Eclipse and Premier (pioneer...junk (which their preouts are rated peak).... pretty much anything best buy sells is garbage... to the keen ear, but not everyone is a car audio guru and people buy it because it gets the job done...

I personally am in the market as well for a set-up... I like diamond audio, eclipse, mtx(xtant), clarion... not really sure what im gonna do....

I praise alpine speakers more than alpine decks, and personally I dont run an alpine deck as I dont prefer them. I run eclipse, yes Alpine does not have high-volt pre-outs, typically they are 4-volts. Some with only 3-volts. Most of what retail stores are garbage but therre are exceptions. Alpine high-end speakers at best-buy, Eclipse products are now at circuit city, which btw I dont like their speakers but I do like their decks and subs. Alpine decks do have a time-feature that can make one particular area of the car the "center" of the car, a lot of my friends love this feature.

PS- Its all in listening them for yourself. Some people consider alpine components of having a little "high-pitched tinny sound". Its ll in what your ears will hear, but there are basic guidlines to go by.

 

[snyper1982]

sorry not to get off subject, I've just been reading that you praise alpine in a couple of your posts... from what I was told by a couple of friends who are installers at reputable shops, alpine head units aren't anywhere near the quality of Eclipse/clarion... Eclipse/clarion make nice decks, but as far as alpine... the pre outs arent 5 or 8v... and overall quality has depreciated as years have progressed with the alpine brand name cd decks... I am nowhere near an audio expert... My old setup was with an alpine deck and worked fine... as far as decks with 5v/6v/8v preouts such as Kenwood/Panasonic/Clarion/Eclipse and Premier (pioneer...junk (which their preouts are rated peak).... pretty much anything best buy sells is garbage... to the keen ear, but not everyone is a car audio guru and people buy it because it gets the job done...

I personally am in the market as well for a set-up... I like diamond audio, eclipse, mtx(xtant), clarion... not really sure what im gonna do....

How much are you looking to spend? That should be the number one deciding factor in picking out your components. Closely following that is what are you going to be using it for.. Just personal use, gonna get into competitions etc... A decent system can be had for under 1k, then there are people who spend that much on a single amp... just depends on the person. Here is another point, I think even D_Eclipse9916 will agree with me here, you can get the best components, spend tons of money, but it will still sound like crap if the install is crap. You can have W-7's but if they are not installed in a correctly sized box, they will sound like crap.

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

How much are you looking to spend? That should be the number one deciding factor in picking out your components. Closely following that is what are you going to be using it for.. Just personal use, gonna get into competitions etc... A decent system can be had for under 1k, then there are people who spend that much on a single amp... just depends on the person. Here is another point, I think even D_Eclipse9916 will agree with me here, you can get the best components, spend tons of money, but it will still sound like crap if the install is crap. You can have W-7's but if they are not installed in a correctly sized box, they will sound like crap.

Hahah dont take it as if I hate you synper, I am a very open-minded person, I just go by what my own experience tells me. He is right though, if you are getting subs, make sure that the sub you get is properly matched in cubic feet of air to the the box. This technically also applies to speakers, but it is much harder to match speakers. I will soon (ahahah never!! I never have time) be doing fiberglassed door panels and rear panels so that I can get properly matched air for my components. Also will be using Fatmat (for those that dont know, same as dynamat but cheaper) to get rid of the tons of rattles in my doors and rear panels.

 

[a_scobel]

Now now, kids kids...

 

[PSId_OFF TSI]

How much are you looking to spend? That should be the number one deciding factor in picking out your components. Closely following that is what are you going to be using it for.. Just personal use, gonna get into competitions etc... A decent system can be had for under 1k, then there are people who spend that much on a single amp... just depends on the person. Here is another point, I think even D_Eclipse9916 will agree with me here, you can get the best components, spend tons of money, but it will still sound like crap if the install is crap. You can have W-7's but if they are not installed in a correctly sized box, they will sound like crap.

I am really looking at trying to keep it under $1000 without install.... I can and have done before, Deck and component speaker installs along with installing your typical box and amp in the trunk... never has been a problem for me... its just everyone i have talked to told me that since I have the spyder, and the somewhat seperate trunk im not going to get the bass I want as I use to have in my hatchback conquest..... so im really not sure what size subs to go with or how many or even what kind of box to go with... I may even have a custom box done but it will cost me some extra money but then theres the fact that I dont want to have something permanent in my trunk like that so.... I was looking at 2 - MTX 5500 10" subwoofers with a Mono MTX amp with more then enough juice to power them so i can crank it up... either Diamond audio, mb quart components and clarion deck...

D_Eclipse9916 - if you have done any installs in drop tops, please let me know some good advice as to what to go with, i am willing to break my $1000 limit if its going to sound really good... thanks...

 

[snyper1982]

I am really looking at trying to keep it under $1000 without install.... I can and have done before, Deck and component speaker installs along with installing your typical box and amp in the trunk... never has been a problem for me... its just everyone i have talked to told me that since I have the spyder, and the somewhat seperate trunk im not going to get the bass I want as I use to have in my hatchback conquest..... so im really not sure what size subs to go with or how many or even what kind of box to go with... I may even have a custom box done but it will cost me some extra money but then theres the fact that I dont want to have something permanent in my trunk like that so.... I was looking at 2 - MTX 5500 10" subwoofers with a Mono MTX amp with more then enough juice to power them so i can crank it up... either Diamond audio, mb quart components and clarion deck...

D_Eclipse9916 - if you have done any installs in drop tops, please let me know some good advice as to what to go with, i am willing to break my $1000 limit if its going to sound really good... thanks...

Wellmy subs alone cost 750, and that was a deal for 2 w-7 10's 2 years ago. You can get good bass for a decent amount, look to Adire Audio, Or Image Dynamics. They bot make great subs, for cheap bass that sounds ok I know Eclipse gets the job done. This is all personal preference, so take it with a grain of salt, and try auditioning the subs for yourself.

 

[PSId_OFF TSI]

Wellmy subs alone cost 750, and that was a deal for 2 w-7 10's 2 years ago. You can get good bass for a decent amount, look to Adire Audio, Or Image Dynamics. They bot make great subs, for cheap bass that sounds ok I know Eclipse gets the job done. This is all personal preference, so take it with a grain of salt, and try auditioning the subs for yourself.

If anyone can vouch for MTXs newest stuff (subs) let me know... I know mtx is joined with Xtant recently and their amps use some of xtants same technology and perform really well... my old setup was 2 4500 MTX 10" subwoofers (2 for $89 - ) with a rockford fosgate 1000.2 power series amp ($1200) (before rockford was bought out and turned junk), pioneer premier components and alpine cd... ive given myself and a friend or a nosebleed in my car... i was really amazed by the bass the subs produced... but i ended up blowing them because of overpowering them... I just figured id go back to MTX... then i bought infinity subs... hated every minute of them...

I haven't heard Adire or ID subwoofers... I really like Diamond audio just dont want to have to shell out the money to power them...

thanks for the input and sorry for hijacking this thread

 

[Glliw]

What is the RMS rating of the stock amp? Not to rehijack my own thread again.

 

[snyper1982]

What is the RMS rating of the stock amp? Not to rehijack my own thread again.

Well you never answered wether or not you had an Infinity system or not. Sorry for Hi-Jacking your thread in the first place. Got some interesting info out there though for people who are willing to give it a shot.

 

[napkinthief]

Just wanted to add my personal experience.

1. My friend is running a cheapo bass system, some of those 20$ 10" subs and the 30$ amp off ebay. It sounds like crap. I hooked my amp to it, and it sounded much better. We then took his wiring, and changed it from 10 gauge to 2 gauge, and it feels like the subs aren't struggling anymore to bump. Hooked my amp back up to the new wiring, and the sound is just under my sound, but then both subs blew. They were rated 400 max power, and we were putting 380 rms into em.


2. I had a cheap wiring kit from autozone, and it almost started a fire in my car. I immediately pulled it out and got a nice 2ga kit from stinger, and it has not given me one single problem since I put it in. I dunno about you guys, but Id rather keep my car non-burnt.

 

[snyper1982]

Just wanted to add my personal experience.

1. My friend is running a cheapo bass system, some of those 20$ 10" subs and the 30$ amp off ebay. It sounds like crap. I hooked my amp to it, and it sounded much better. We then took his wiring, and changed it from 10 gauge to 2 gauge, and it feels like the subs aren't struggling anymore to bump. Hooked my amp back up to the new wiring, and the sound is just under my sound, but then both subs blew. They were rated 400 max power, and we were putting 380 rms into em.


2. I had a cheap wiring kit from autozone, and it almost started a fire in my car. I immediately pulled it out and got a nice 2ga kit from stinger, and it has not given me one single problem since I put it in. I dunno about you guys, but Id rather keep my car non-burnt.

I have no idea what those experiences were supposed to be conveying, but they don't mean much. You eleminated no variables. You hooked up your amp to it, and I suppsos you then level matched it to the power output of his amp right? It is easy to tell a difference in loudness, so in order for you to say that one amp sounds better, you have to eleminate all variables. 10 Gauge wire is to small for pretty much any power wire. I NEVER ever said not to use a correct gauge for your wiring. If the cheap autozone kit was the same size as your stinger one, and the same length, then it would be valid, and I would say you had something wrong, direct shor or bad ground, either one of those will cause the problem you had.
Listen, I never said not to buy expensive stuff, there are plenty of reasons to buy expensive equipment. Features, power ratings, build quality, asthetics etc. I just don't like things being falsely represented. I run a zapco amp at the moment, I bought it for the reasons I mentioned, not because it sounds better.

 

[DGajre777]

Check this out:

Interactive PowerWire Display
http://www.streetwires.com/Flash/powerwire.html

Interactive SpeakerWire Display
http://www.streetwires.com/Flash/speakerwire.html

I'm not sure if the numbers are off so they can sell their own product.

 

[black95tsi]

If anyone can vouch for MTXs newest stuff (subs) let me know... I know mtx is joined with Xtant recently


MTX and Xtant are both owned and run by Mitek, and have been for a few years. The newer MTX subs, in my opinion, are even better than the old ones, they have a much better heat threshold and are all around more durable.

 

[snyper1982]

Check this out:

Interactive PowerWire Display
http://www.streetwires.com/Flash/powerwire.html

Interactive SpeakerWire Display
http://www.streetwires.com/Flash/speakerwire.html

I'm not sure if the numbers are off so they can sell their own product.

I can't say for sure without meausring the actual resistance of the wires they sale compared to the wires of other manufaturers. I HIGHLY doubt it is as big of a mragin as they claim. As long as the wires you buy are made to the AWG standard, they will work ok.