Need help with aftermarket stereo build

what factory system do you have in there now? Mach or cheapey?

Here is a link of some pics of mine. http://www.geocities.com/snaglpus00/

Mine is a lot more then what you are looking for - check my sig, but might give you an idea on how to put your sub in the tirewell. There are other write ups on how to do this. Its the best sounding in my opinion but you lose your spare.

Next is how much are you willing to spend on it? 1K, 2K, 5K?
Do you want Loudness or Sound Quality?
Are you willing to add some extra weight (box, sub, dynomat) If so how much?
Want a GPS/Sat Radio setup?
Ready to replace that stock battery with a Optima?
Do you want to run 2 amps (sub and highs) or a 5 channel single amp?

If you are really a newbie and don't understand / know much about stereos I suggest finding a friend that knows about it or getting some stuff professionally done. I ran all the wires and did more the speaker installs and let a shop do the rest like building the custom box.

What ever you do, scrap the WHOLE system and build a new one. Remove the amps along with the front and rear speakers. The stock speakers are made to run on a 2ohm load and after market amps are normally 4ohm. (ohm is resistance, the higher the number the more resistance but its best to match them all up unless you know what you are doing - won't get into trying to teach bridging and all here)

Stick with High Quality Products, even cables should be of good quality.

List of what you might need for a good install.

Quality HU (Apline, Clarion, etc - Try to find one with 4v Pre-Amp outputs)
Quality speakers (Polk, Kicker, Inifinity, etc)
GOOD SUB - JL need I say more!
CUSTOM BOX!!! for the sub you buy! Box should be built to the sub's specs.
Amps (I am a old school Rockford fan, but just get a good amp not a cheapo, bad amps lead to problems like blown speakers and over heating)
New GOOD battery - Optima preferred.
0-4Ga Power Wire
ANL fuse or Circuit breaker for power wire
Fused Distribution block.
More wire to go from the distribution block to the amps.
RCA cables
Sound Deadening (put some behind all the speakers doors and rear and the sub)

The price can really add up, but its better to do it right once then be fixing problems and replacing parts for the years to come. Trust me I blew my Rockford HX2 sub twice before buying a JLW6 so I paid for 3 Subs instead of just 1 to start with. Not to mention I bought a cheap fuse distribution box that melted on me with the first sound off. In Car Audio you get what you pay for!

~K

so i did a kick ass install in my girlfriends car....to bad she goes to school out of town. so i dont have pictures of it, but i used 2 component sets 1 in the front 1 in the rear. she did not have the factory mach460 system in already.

she gets back into town next week so i will take pictures of her system asap. equipment used:

Pioneer Premier DEH-980BT
JL Audio 300/4
Front Components: Diamond Audio Hex S600S
Rear Components: Alpine SPR-17S
Monster Cable 4AWG wiring kit
Monster Cable 4 Channel amp wiring kit
Monster Cable speaker wire


the system is LOUD and crystal clear, i mean crank up the stereo and drive 90mph down the expressway with the windows down and not hear the wind and hear every note and beat clear.


i was able to easily mount the tweeters in the front door sail panels by just cutting a hole in it. and same with the rear speakers. i put a woofer into the stock 6x8 hole with an adapter. and put a hole in the back panel to mount the tweeters. and the amp was mounted to the back side of the rear seat. the end result was an install that sounded great and looked factory!

i just did a simple amp/sub/box combo.

10" Rockford Fosgate P2 DVC
400w Kicker Mono Class-D amp
Q-Logic Type1 Box

all that was like $400 shipped from Crutchfield. I already have a awesome alpine deck, 200w PrecisionPower 4ch amp powering some Kicker components all around, but the guy before installed bass-blockers so the car had zero bass when he removed his sub/amp and sold it. i am pretty satisfied with the system, sounds great for my needs, doesnt add much weight, the amp is attached to the box and can be removed by taking out two screws.

i used a metra 70-5519 wiring harness (taps into Mach 460 Amps)
Pioneer 5900IB AM/FM/CD/MP3 Player
Alpine MRP-M850 Class D Monochannel Amp
2 12" Kicker 07CVR122 DVC 2 ohm subs
Custom Homemade Sub Enclosure
Stinger Amplifier Wiring Kit
Ultra Linear 7 band Graphic Equalizer
Metra 70-5026 Dash Kit
Ipod Interface Cable
Pioneer Compatible Sirius Satellite Tuner

got all this for $1,034. and it thumps like crazy...i can feel the air pressure building up in my ears when the subs thump, bass is nice and clean, and it hits really hard.

i bought all my stuff on ebay brand new

a few more pics

ok so i figured out something for ya. this comes out to be 1138.20 after shipping for 2 sets of speakers, no sub.1308.96 with sub, to your town in texas. keep in mind i think i got everything. and some of this may require some creative installing (ie: making holes where there wetre not previously holes) so here goes.

Alpine CDA-9887
Eclipse XA5000 5ch Amp
Alpine SPR-17S Type-R Components (you'll need 2 sets and yes i factored that into the price)
Infinitry Kappa 122.7w Subwoofer
now comes the installation stuff
Sub Box
Amplifier Power wiring kit
4ch RCA cables for internal speaker signal transfer from HU to Amp
2ch RCA cables for subwoofer signal transfer from HU to amp
speaker wire 50ft i actually factored in 2 of these for a total of 100 ft. believe me you'll be glad



thats what i think you will need for a very good and clean sounding system. bass will be ok, not to loud but the added kick will be there. and i am still waiting on my G/F to get back to take pictures of her install, hopefully monday night i can have those up

deftsound said:

Hey everyone i want to say thanks for all the help! Im looking to spend a maximum of 1500$ on this. Im looking for sound quality here not having a gang banger bass machine.

Thanks again guys!

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I did a nice system for under $800 in my stang earlier this year.
Clarion DZX775USB for a head unit, love it! I like alpine but the style is the same since I had my first in 1996.
JBL 6x8 components.
Rockford 10 inch sub.
Alpine 350w mono for the sub.
Crossfire 400w 4 chan for the components (actually really nice).
Monster cable for wiring, rca's and speakers.

I rewired every last bit that is connected to my audio except for the antenna. I still want to build a better setup in my trunk, and I wish I had gone with a 12 inch sub. The components are very nice. I didn't go for super high quality because my exhaust is loud as all hell!

Ebay and forum classifieds are your friend. I got my amps used but I wouldn't trust used speakers myself.

I went with this setup shown below:

Kicker 4 channel amp (power the 4 inside speakers, convertible)
Pioneer 800 mono amp (for the subwoofer)
Rockford Fosgate Capacitor (used fuse box to connect capacitor to BOTH amplifiers)
Optima Yellow Top Battery (deep cycle battery to handle excessive power drain)

Case made of wood, covered in suede, and plexi glass for display
(blue lights under the case for excessive bling)

You might want to take a look at JBL over Infinity. They are made by the same company 'Harman kardon'. I think they start out with the same baskets but then the two divisions build the rest differently. I personally think the JBL's sound more full. By using eBay I saved over $100 on each pair, the infinity prices were similar but usually slightly lower. Go check them out some place first though.

And that is a clean looking system Saraphitia!

XtorT'r said:

You might want to take a look at JBL over Infinity. They are made by the same company 'Harman kardon'. I think they start out with the same baskets but then the two divisions build the rest differently. I personally think the JBL's sound more full. By using eBay I saved over $100 on each pair, the infinity prices were similar but usually slightly lower. Go check them out some place first though.

And that is a clean looking system Saraphitia!

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thanks where can you buy JBL products? I've never seen them at stores like Best Buy or Circuit City. Or perhaps they're exclusive to high premium stereo shops?

Seraphitia102 said:

thanks where can you buy JBL products? I've never seen them at stores like Best Buy or Circuit City. Or perhaps they're exclusive to high premium stereo shops?

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I could swear they have them in the Best Buy's where I live, but I don't see it on their site. I know I listened to them in the big stores before I got them, thought it was best buy actually.
I just did a search on their site and it shows they are not at any big retail stores right now. Might be changing their line up.

i apologize if it looks like im pimping this site, i have just bought stuff from there before and they are really good and their prices are very good too.

JBL Speakers of all sizes


and if you were going to go with jbl components all around i would recommend these