Wanted:

A Better/more powerful stereo sound without an added external amp. I need all the space I have.
A better/more powerful head unit, and/or at least better side speakers....I have considered just trying Ricks side door speaker upgrade for 92 bucks and maybe this would be barely enough for me.

I want to maintain my remote controls on dash as they are.

What would 800-1000 bucks installed get me and who to trust to do a decent install in central Florida? (For this amount of money I would also like mp3 compatible.)


Thanks.

 

a more powerfull radio won't make a difference. Most radio power is the same, the only way to make it sound better is to get better speakers and add power. adding the JL sub also makes a big difference, I lost almost no room in my trunk, I kept the factory radio. my car sounds great. If you come to the friday meet you can hear it. Good luck

 

Thanks. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do and getting to a meet would help a lot. Unfortunately, I can't get to south Florida on Friday. Do you have your 8500 installed? Mine is still a corded remote and it is obviously in the way.

I eventually am going to need someone to tell me exactly what to buy, part number by part number and then advice in finding a good installer. I just want better door speakers in my 2002 and if the oem HU can't power them, then just a better/more powerful HU that easily installs as a plug and play with full dash controls still working. I have no experience and want it done right and dont mind paying to have it installed right.

Most of the installs I read about are great except for this or that or the need for an additional amp. I just want better sound than I have now. I have a 30 watt stock HU 2002. Anyone want to tell me what to do? (Lotsa people have already told me where to go!)

 

Yes the 8500 is now hard wired, and you're right, it was a pain in the *** before. I kept my factory head unit, added a 3 channel amp
2 channels for my fron speakers, and 1 channle for the sub, the enitr thing looks facotry, and i still get use of the factory controls. I must admit, my system was not cheap. I did the install myself. Let me know if you have anymore questions


Good Luck

Mitch

 

i can't tell you where to go in florida, but i just installed the lucid 5.25 kenwood rear speaker system, and swapped the head unit and door speakers for an alpine 7893 (7894 with mp3 is $50 more) and infinity 605cfs. i had the alpine and door speakers installed by car tunes but the whole system cost just under $1,000. if you mail order the alpine and infinities and do your own install you can save about $150.

btw, the system sounds very sweet. i'm sure a sub would be a nice addition, but the bass out of the infinities and kenwoods is pretty intense.

 

In my humble opion, rears speakers in the S2k are a waste of money. They will fire right into the back seat, spent that money on an amp, so you can hear the front speakers. and then add the sub when u can

 

imvho i would suggest that no more sound is lost from the rear speakers firing into the back of the seat than my drivers side door firing directly into my calf. after installing and listening myself i can attest to the fact that the additional sound is incredible. i made the kenwood upgrade first and followed with the alpine (30w additional powerx4) and the infinities. each improvement was significant.

i would expect that if you listened to two similar systems with one having kenwoods in the back and the other not, you would agree there is a very significant improvement with the rears.