Best way to spend ~$200..which to choose..
 

I have an '02, and am looking at spending around $200 to improve the sound. Eventually I will most likely consider adding an amp, aftermarket HU, etc...but that isn't on the horizon for now. What I am looking for are experiences with this 1-step upgrade. From doing a search I seem to have pinned down that $230 or so will get me a good pair of components (MB's or something similar) that could also handle amp power down the road. On the other hand I could spend around the same $ and buy the rear speakers (5.25") from lucid. In an ideal situation I would just do both, but that is not going to happen right now -- so I can only choose one. I'm thinking I would see a relatively larger improvement from adding the rears...but I wanted to see if you guys had anything to share..

Thanks in advance.

get the polk bundle for $290. You get two fronts and rears and would give you much better sound. You could use them with Head Unit later on which will sound even better.

I did the rear panel set up only, and left everything else stock on my 2002. While its not the perfect setup it is light years better. I am amazed at how well the rears sound, especially at speed with the top down.

I agree the rears are a better $200 choice if you are staying with the stock hu and no amp.

Here's what you do: Save up another $120 or so, and go to www.shop4sound.com. Get a Cadence Q3000 amp ($130), and a set of Cadence 6.5" Neo components (6.5" woofer + tweeter) for $180. Add about $20 of wires (8 gauge kit from www.knukonceptz.com), and you will not have to upgrade any more, ever, unless you need more bass, then just add a sub. Install all this yourself, your total cost will be ~$330 and you will have GREAT sound. Forget the rear speakers, forget the head unit upgrade, this is all you need. The speakers are only 2" deep, so they won't require you to make heavy mods to your car, and the amp will take line inputs from your stock head unit, so that's no big deal. It will feed the speakers more than 100 watts/channel RMS, and it won't screw up your imaging by putting sound behind you like those rear speakers will. 100 watts/channel up front will be PLENTY loud, trust me, and the quality will be great. If you want to spend a little more, even better speakers by JL Audio (XR's, about $250) and Focal (from $200-350) are available. I'd stay away from MB Quarts, they tend to be really harsh, but if you like them, feel free, it's your opinion that counts.

BTW, I am not associated with any of those websites, but I know plenty of satisfied customers from caraudioforum.com, and the equipment that I recommended is solid (I will be buying that Cadence amp soon). Good luck :)

Oh, and btw...if you do decide to do something other than an amp/speaker upgrade all at the same time, I would recommend NOT powering a component set off of your stock head unit. You really need to feed them a lot more power than what your stock headunit can put out, and you may damage the speakers by cranking the volume (you will need to to get an audible signal at 50+mph) and feeding them distortion. If you can't afford to get an amp and components at the same time, I would either buy the components and not install them until you get an amp, or go to your local stereo store and get some $75 Pioneer coaxial speakers, or something similar, and just run those (without the stock tweeters) until you can afford to adequately power a component set. I'd just hate to see you drop a ton of coin on a nice new set of component speakers, and then accidentally damage them before you get to hear them with some real power.

I bought Lucid's 4 1/2 inch Polk setup for the rear. It was a huge improvement, well worth every penny. 5.25 should be even better.

Thanks for all the input guys...

Hondaguy- I see what you are saying about not having enough power for an aftermarket comp. set from the stock head unit. Regarding the amp...the price looks great...but would it mount under the seat? If I'm going to do an amp I would be hoping to mount it under the pass. seat to save space. I was looking at the Blaupunkt PA2100 which, although it is more than $200...seems like it would fit under there and still give me 2x100 RMS power.
I'm not looking for overkill here..as the car isn't exactly a prime candidate for audiophile listening (that would be an understatement)...just a good clean system that can be loud and still clean. If I understand correctly the speakers you recommend will install with no extra drilling/cutting/etc and then a 2x100 amp will pretty much get me to where I want to be?

Thanks again.

I just installed the Blaupunkt 2100 inside the spare tire. Fit easily, is totally invisible, and takes up no usable space.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bdoob
[B]Thanks for all the input guys...

Hondaguy- I see what you are saying about not having enough power for an aftermarket comp. set from the stock head unit.