New Stero system, give your opinions please!

JimBowy said:

I've never built a stero system before but I did a lot of research before I choose these. My hatch has a 6-speaker setup....

Dash:
3-1/2" 2-way Speakers = SONY XS-W3521 (2-25W RMS) Link
Doors:
6-1/2" 3-way Speakers = PIONEER TS-A1670R (2-35W RMS) Link
Rear Seat:
6x8" 2-way Speakers = PIONEER TS-G6840R (2-30W RMS) Link
Amplifier:
4 channel = ALPINE MRP-F240 (40Wx4) has preamp out Link

Well, thats my plan as of now... it comes out to $426.94 shipped at www.crutchfield.com (with some $50.00 in wiring).

What do you think? And is there another good place to price-out car audio?

Click to expand...

Ok, a couple of points need to be made

Before you ask what "we think," it would help if you let us know what your end goal is. What i mean is, if you just want to replace stock worn out stuff with something new, that situation has very different requirements than wanting a system that's bump and thump cleanly over the sound of your catless wide-open exhaust on your supercharged 351 at 80 mph with the windows down in a thunderstorm... get the drift?

That being said, I have the following comments:

1) Contrary to popular belief, Crutchfield is a FINE place to do business with, especially for those that aren't audio experts. Their return policies and customer support are second to none - of course, unless you buy heavily discounted (i.e. discontinued) products from them, you're most likely going to pay for that service - *as it should be*

2) Personally, if you care what things sound like, I would never buy a pair of speakers without having auditioned many sets, in person, with YOUR CD collection - not theirs.

3) Be honest with yourself when setting requirements - i.e. save for and design the system you *really* want the first time. It costs a lot of time and money to put stuff in, and then take out, sell it and replace it because you weren't happy with it.

4) When wiring, *always* wire with room for expansion. If you're running amp(s), even low powered ones, run 4 gauge power to the rear of the vehicle. Just do it! You'll be glad you did.

Maybe I am missing something here, but you have 3 sets of speakers listed, thats 6 speakers by my count, and you are getting a 4 channel amp? Are you planning on letting the head unit power the dash speakers? If so, there are a few things you should know. If you are just looking for volume, then you can probably wire the dash speakers to the head unit, and the 4 channel to the other 4 speakers, but if you want it to sound nice, you shouldnt do that. In my experience, I have found that when you hook 1 set of speakers to the head unit, and the other set to an amp, you have a tendency to get a little bit of an echo because they are not all making the same noise at the same time. It may not even be that noticeable, but then again depending on the quality of the wiring to the amp, it could be very noticeable.

If I were you, I would change things up a bit with your system... I always recommend Infinity speakers, not only are they REALLY loud, but the sound quality at all volume is the best. They are the only speakers I mess with...Now they have two "series" The Reference series, and the Kappa series, the Kappa series, which is more expensive ...

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=inf6525i&store=&catid=358

And the reference series...

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=inf6802cf&store=&catid=359

NOTE: I DONT APPROVE OF SHOPPING AT ETRONICS!!!! The only reason I gave you those links is so you can see how cheap they are there. Now you can get the speakers for 5% cheaper than that! Go to sounddomain.com and fill out one of their 105% price match things, with both sets of speakers. Then you will be getting both sets of those speakers for only ...
$60.00+$90.00=$150 (then take 5% off) Total= $142.50 Those are REALLY nice speakers (even if one set is reference series) they will be much nicer than Sony and Pioneer sets.

Honestly, I would skip the dash speakers, worry about them later, just pull the current ones, and have 2 sets total. That way, you can keep the same amp you wanted the Alpine one, but check etronics and sounddomain for the price of your amp first because they will probably have it $20-$50 cheaper.

I have nothing against crutchfield, they are GREAT, great customer service, free shipping, fast shipping, and great return policy. I have bought so much from crutchfield (over $2000) in the last 2 years, they signed me up for a free subscription to Mobile Entertainment Magazine for 3 years!!! They are awesome, HOWEVER, if you are pinching pennies, and need the most bang for your buck, do what I mentioned above with the 105% pricematch. Let me know if you need any more help...

components are nice ,but more expensive. ide at least recommend gettin all your speakers from the same company, will sound better.

Components are nicer, but the nice thing about the infinity kappa series is that they have a tweeter that swivels so you can point it towards your head, getting the same effect as components without the cost.

Another thing about the components is that you can't mount the tweeter just where-ever you like, the tweeter should be mounted no further away than 6" from the woofer for optimal timing. Meaning the tweeter and woofer won't be in sync with each other if too far apart. There's more to it than that but for now that's all I needed to say.

I would strongly suggest staying away from sony speakers like that. Plastic cones and all sound like crap. You should try to stick with speakers that are made by an accomplished speaker maker like infinity or polk. The extra money you spend there will be wort it iin the long run. Also contrary to what anyone else thinks, pre amping your mids and highs will make a HUGE difference in both sound quality and volume. You should really make sure and do that.