Questions about a system

[Car RamRod]

this is gonna be kinda long, but I need help, so bare with me.

Ok I just bough an 89 4cyl notch (5.0 conversion). The radio plugs are there, but no radio. I havent even checked on the speakers yet, but Im gonna buy new ones anyway.

What I want to do is get a new head unit, im leanin towards alpine or pioneer. What do you suggest for that? (on a budget, 150 tops)

So ideally what Im thinkin for speakers, is 4 higher range speakers for the dash and rear speakers, and then two deeper speakers for the bottoms of the doors. I dont really know the sizes that I need, and I dont know much about what to get and what not to get. So any suggestions would be good.

I'd like to buy all of this stuff on ebay If I could but I still have to see If ill even save money after shipping and all. Is it generally ok to by audio stuff off ebay?

Thanks alot.

btw Im gonna get a sub in time, so if this setup is not deep enough thats ok.

 

[Nitrous N20]

With most stereo stuff, I tend to think you get what you pay for.

With a head unit. Get the one with the best stats your budget can afford. Look for one with 3 seatts of preouts for you speakers and subs. The higher the voltage the better. Also, the higher the signal to noise ratio the better. Power is not a concern if you are amping your mids and highs.

For your mids and highs: You will have trouble finding a good component set in your budget for the front I think. A 2 way component set is what you want though. Dont mount the tweets in the dash it sounds like crap. Surface mount them by the mids in the door. Get a 2 way coax set if you cant afford a component set. Size in the front doors is 6.5"

For the rears, you should get a 5x7" 2 way coax set. If you get all of that, and run a decent amp, it will sould great... Check my garage to see what I did...

 

[Car RamRod]

With a head unit. Get the one with the best stats your budget can afford. Look for one with 3 seatts of preouts for you speakers and subs. The higher the voltage the better. Also, the higher the signal to noise ratio the better. Power is not a concern if you are amping your mids and highs.

Ok thats good because I found a nice alpine in my range that head 3 sets of preouts, was higher voltage and had a high signal to noise ratio than all the others. It just didnt have a remote but w/e.

For your mids and highs: You will have trouble finding a good component set in your budget for the front I think. A 2 way component set is what you want though. Dont mount the tweets in the dash it sounds like crap. Surface mount them by the mids in the door. Get a 2 way coax set if you cant afford a component set. Size in the front doors is 6.5"

For the rears, you should get a 5x7" 2 way coax set. If you get all of that, and run a decent amp, it will sould great... Check my garage to see what I did...

what do you mean by surface mount tweeters? Im an amatuer with audio so I dont know about all this stuff.

So from what your saying is I need set of 5x7s for the back, and a set of 6.5s in the front? Would I be better off putting nothing in the dash?

And one more.... is it bad to have diff brand front speakers than rears?

thanks for all the help.

 

[Car RamRod]

how do these look? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18799&item=5767127018&rd=1

thyere pretty cheap and shippin aint much.

edit: and these for the rear
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18800&item=5766629699&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
I understand that you get what you pay for, but im on a budget and not sure if these are so cheap because they are on ebay or bc they are crap.

 

[DMDyne]

Those Fosgates should saffice for the fronts although I would recomend Infinity components. Stay away from Blahphkutkshyfghthres speakers, they suck. The only thing that they make that is even remotly decent is CD Changers. I would not suggest Infinity for the rear because they tend to dry rot with excessive sunlight. MTX and Polk Audio have some of the better speakers for rear decks.

Also what model Alpine are you looking at? Alpine is probably one of the best sounding decks on the market today. Pioneer is the most durable and longest lasting decks. I only run Pioneer but a lot of people have a problem with "engine noise" on Pioneer decks, I'm a professional installer so I know how to get rid of all of the Pioneer problems. lol Honestly though, stick with an Alpine deck, their a lot easier to deal with for beginners.

What he means by "surface mounted tweeters" is that you will have the little 2" tweeter and just use a screw or two and screw it right into the door, keep them off of the dash, they do sound like crap.

 

[Nitrous N20]

What I was suggesting was not to put the tweeters for a component set into the dash locations. It tends to make them sound too bright. Your better off using the little mounting cups that come with the set and mounting them on the plastic speaker grill that is part of the door panel. It will sound much better there. If you get a coax set, you wont have to worry about that, becase the tweeter is mounted in the center of the woofer.
Coax = woofer with tweeter in center.
Component= Seperate woofer and tweeter, usually with a crossover included.
(Crossover just improves quality by filtering the signals that get sent to the woofer and tweeter).

Infinitys are great. I have the Kappa Perfect 6.5 in my truck and they freaking rock!. I little on the pricey side for you though perhaps...

 

[Car RamRod]

ok im just gonna go with coaxial speakers so I dont have to screw with the tweeters. Ill look for those brand of speakers tomorow when I have time. What size speakers go in the dash?

thanks alot

 

[DMDyne]

Don't wory about the dash, just put them in the doors and in the rear deck.

 

[Nitrous N20]

Lastly
You might consider not doing the rears at all. You could invest the money you would otherwise spend on a good set of compnents for the front. I dont get much sound out of my rears anyways. Plus a stang is so small that you wont notice much difference. A good set of front components will sound great if you amp them. Coaxes will be good too if you choose that route...

I have the Kappa perfects in my truck with 75 watts a piece and thy scream. No rears at all...

 

[Car RamRod]

what should I do with the stockers in the dash then? should I just disconnect them? Ill prob have the dash off to paint, so I might as well put a set in, what size is good?

WIth regard to putting in rears, speakers are pretty cheap, so I just assume putt them in. The stockers are still back there, would it be ok to leave them as is? (the backseat wont be used....while driving)

 

[DMDyne]

The Alpine decks you are looking at can only support 4 speakers. 6 speakers would place too low of a load on the deck, frying it.

Dash speakers would probably be 4", door speakers are probably 5-1/4" or 6-1/2" but you may not have factory door speakers, rears are more then likely 5"x7" or 6"x8" witch are usually the same speakers with different mounting holes to accomodate both sizes. If there is any speakers that are stock that you are not using, disconnect them and it would be wise to take them out.

 

[eedwards]

Speakers are pretty cheap if you buy cheap speakers. Everything has to mesh together to have the optimum result, which depends entirely on personal preference: upgrade the system for YOU, since, I assume, you're the one listening to it. (If you're out to entertain the masses by loudness, different rules apply). And you have to live with the car: don't leave holes all over the place because somebody thinks it sounds better with the components they might suggest but just don't fit (myself included). My goal is to get my own "holy grail" of systems installed but leave no evidence! For example, I'm leaving the door subs in, but disconnected for looks. I know what's really in the trunk!

 

[Car RamRod]

Ok ill specify. Im not into blasting the radio so loud, just a little louder than a stock system can go. Im fine with goin with only 4 speakers if thats all an alpine will support, but if somethin as good and about the same price can go 6, ill do that if the 2 extra speakers will help.
Im also gonna be putting in an amp and sub somewhere down the line, so I want it to be setup correctly for when I do that.

 

[Car RamRod]

ok I decided Im just gonna buy and have the stuff installed at circuit city. Even though stuff is cheaper on ebay, after shipping and installing it, I think the CC route it easier.

Heres what Im lookin at:
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/87380/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Alpi.../sem/rpsm/oid/71104/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Alpi.../sem/rpsm/oid/86198/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

first off, how does this setup match up?
and how hard would it be to add an amp and sub later on?
thanks.

 

[VPStang]

i have the pioneers...they're not bad--could be a little better on the low end --but not bad...5x7 will probably be pretty damn good....and the deck you chose is pretty damn good...

all in all--should be a pretty decent set up....go for it...


Dyme is the new resident Circuit City product expert....so you might wanna see what he says--he has probably installed all three of them at some point...

 

[4.6litrebeater]

id pass on the pioneers for the front they are pretty much bottom of the line speakers, id go with alpines to match the front. also the city should be carrying kicker and mtx speakers now also.

 

[nhra427]

Look for a deck with a sub out. that way when you go to a sub you will have control from the head unit. if you go with seperates you should consider a amp for them also. seperates in the doors with a amp will sound 100 times better then 4 coax running off the deck. if you look around you can find some good buys.

 

[Car RamRod]

Look for a deck with a sub out. that way when you go to a sub you will have control from the head unit. if you go with seperates you should consider a amp for them also. seperates in the doors with a amp will sound 100 times better then 4 coax running off the deck. if you look around you can find some good buys.

run that by me again. what separates? the door speakers?

 

[eedwards]

I think he means component speakers in the doors: separate mids and tweeters, a nice setup if you have enough power.

 

[DMDyne]

It looks like a great set up, but 1 major flaw in it...we don't carry Alpine anymore. lol I don't know why, but we ditched Alpine and Best Buy picked them up. Today was the official launch for all of Circuit City's new products - Kicker amps/subs, Jensen head units, and our expanded line of indash video products. Personally, I think Jensen is complete junk and we should have never let Alpine go.

I would suggest to get the entire price of speakers/installation from Best Buy then get a price from Circuit City on just the installation of the speakers/deck and see who does the installation cheaper. Stick with the Alpine product but see who is cheaper on Installation. Best Buy and Circuit City installers are usually friends as we buy parts from eachother all the time but since we don't want to be seen in the other store, we help eachother out. The deck installation will more then likely be free after you buy parts so there's 1 benefit of getting it installed where you buy it.

I'm not going to shove Circuit City down your throat because I work there, I'm more interested in a quality product. After all, if I run a product in my car that we don't carry but like it, why would I tell you not to get it?