I need some advice from you guys. I will be replacing the front speakers with new components and adding an amp while keeping the stock HU. I would like some advice on what components and amp would be best for me based on my price range and music tastes. I'm looking to spend around a grand on the new set up and I tend to listen to a broad range of music. I like techno/trance the most but also listen to hip hop, pop, and rock. I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

Alex

 

Have you read the basic faq that is pinned on the top of the forum? That may be a good place to begin. Plenty of brands are discussed so it serves as a good basis to start your search.

I would also recommend listening to a bunch of different speakers to figure out what you like.

 

There are MANY opinions on this topic, here are mine. The advice I provide below is based on your $1000 budget, your desire for better sound, and your taste in music which sounds like mine.

Step 1: READ THE FAQ's IN THE ELECTRONICS FORUM. They are very informative and will help you a great deal in this quest of yours.

Step 2: REPLACE THE HEAD UNIT. I can't stress that enough, you need to start there first. Why? Because if the head unit puts out crap an amplifier will make that crap louder and then your new speakers will play that crap, but it will still be crap. The amplifier rule of thumb in the electronics world is garbage in gives garbage out. New speakers and an amp will be louder, but any distortions in the signal fed to them from the head unit will also be louder and more noticable. If you want your music to be MORE clear and crisp than STOCK then replace the head unit. I, like many others on S2KI, recommend Alpine head units and have the CDA-9831 installed in my car. I also really like Eclipse and have one in my Explorer. What I suggest you do is go to some audio stores and pick up a couple car audio magazines to see what pleases your eyes and ears. Just remember that this is the heart of your system so do your homework or you'll be unhappy later.

Step 3: Speakers/Amp/Wires. This all goes together because if you install good speakers they must be amplified, and the amplifier will require more wires. Here I went with a set of Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1 components, an Audiobahn A4002 amp rated at 100 wrms X 2 channels @ 4 ohms, Kicker amplifier power and signal wires, and Monster Cable 4 conductor speaker wire. The amp I used gives really good sound, and while it's not audiophile quality, it's a good bang for the buck amplifier. I used Monster Cable because it was the only 4 conductor speaker wire I could find in Hawaii, and I wanted 4 conductor because its easier to run speaker wires once rather than twice to each door for the components. Monster Cable is good stuff, despite being run by a bunch of idiots and priced on the higher end of the speaker wire price scale.

You could just install the head unit and then listen to your system, and if your satisfied with the clarity and volume just stop there. Or if your mind is made up that your going to spend this money then just do it all at once and save yourself the double installation fees, the choice is yours.

Shopping List:
Head Unit: Apline CDA-9831
$305.00 shipped to Hawaii - HookedOnTronics.com

Wires(power, signal, speaker, fuses): Kicker & Monster
$105.00

Speakers: Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1 components
$260.00 shipped to Hawaii - HookedOnTronics.com

Amplifier: Audiobahn A4002T
$179.99 Circuit City
(The in store price is 199.00 but there is a Web Only price of 179.99 on their website,
buy it online and you can pick it up at your local store.)

TOTAL: $850.00 NOT INCLUDING INSTALL
I did all of my own work, but you should be damn close to $1000 dollars if you shop smart.

Here are some pics:

Amp and Xovers in the trunk, the amp lights are built in to it:



Two angles on the Head unit:






Tweeter mounted on the door (MY00 didn't have tweeter pods)

 

Thanks for the in depth response. You have a great looking set up. I have read the FAQ and about 40 pages of posts so I didn't just ask this question without doing some research. I know the smartest, easiest, and cheapest way to improve the sounds quality is to simply replace the head unit. However, I would like to keep it for a couple of reasons; if the sounds quality doesn't improve enough from the new components and an amp then I may eventually replace the HU as well. I know this will limit how good the system will sound, but I've heard that the '05 HUs put out a better signal than earlier models, so we will see.

It seems like MB Quart and Infinity speakers are really popular on here, I will go listen to them for myself. Are there any other brands that I should try listening to while I am at it? A different member posted about MB Quart Reference RAA4200 amp that is on clearance. The specs on it look really good and it has four channels so if I want to expand the system later I will be able to. Does anybody here have this amp, and if so what do you think of it?

Thanks for all the help, this place is a great resource.

Alex

 

hahhaha, i just bought this amp from crutchfield. well, evidently, it is simliar to rockford power. seems to be made with bigger guts. it claims it is a qual mono, but it doesnt have 4 power supplys in there. a friend of mine opened his up and there are 2 power supplys. i just installed my couple days ago, and i am still doing some subjective listening against my rockford t15004.

i can say i am gettting turn on/off pops. i plan to add a relay to see if it solves the problem. i will do another post as soon as i get a chance to play with my eq and do some real listening.

i can say it is solid as hell. no matter what, it is worth my $240.

 

Thanks for the input I will probably be purchasing it in another two weeks, assuming it is still on sale and you don't report back that it blew up or something. Where do you have it mounted and are there any cooling issues? I was thinking of getting the amp rack and putting it where the spare tire is. Do you think it would overheat?

Alex

 

SC Alex,
I was originally going to do exactly what you said... replace the door speakers, add amp, and leave stock HU. However, after doing lots of reading on this board, I opted instead to ditch the factory HU and go aftermarket.

Ipod integration was also extremely important, too. So, my original plan was to go with the Neo-ion ipod integration, and amp + new speakers.

However, not being the car audio expert (I'm an engineer, so I'm technically OK, but not a car audio guru by any means), I went with the advice of this community. What finally tipped the scales to go aftermarket was $$. The neo-ion was almost $200, vs. a new Alpine HU + ipod controller for $329. That sealed the deal.

So, now I have the Alpine 9851, and the ipod controller. I also picked up the Modrify DCI, as I dig the dash controls. While doing the install, I also pre-wired for an amp -- ran a fat wire from the engine bay/battery area to the trunk, and 2 RCAs + remote turn on leadfrom the HU back to the trunk.

So, what's the result? Sound improvement is HUGE compared to factory HU. (I have an '04, so it's probably the same HU). I was amazed at how much better it sounds now, without any amp or good speakers. Modrify's DCI is even better than the factory dash controls (speed sensitive volume feature is AWESOME). Ipod integration is far superior to Neo (I can fully control the pod from the HU, plus get full song/artist info on the HU).

In short, start with the HU, and do the amp and speakers as phase 2 if necessary. I'm going to add the amp and speakers myself soon, as the sound is still not good enough at 70 mph with the top down.

Swapping the HU was very easy. Getting it out of the S2K is childs play compared to the few other installs I've done.

 

so here is my short writeup on the MB RAA4200

again, solid solid solid.

this thing rocks my RF Power. it is a bit more dynamic than my RF T15004. which has been benched to do 260 watts @ 4ohm with all channels driven @ 14.4 volts.

so that is my first impressions of the amp.

onto the subjective listening.

before tuning:

this thing is quite a bit better than the RF power. the RF power is a warm sounding amp, where as the MB is a more neutral sounding amp. the midrange is sweeter than the RF. on the midbass side, it seems to be about the same. on the tweeter, it does better on the top end extension.

after tuning:

WOW! i like this amp steps beyond my RF power. after a 4 hour tuning session with my H701. it sounds a lot better. mainly on the midrange side. it is so controlled and so sweet. i cant even explain the difference. the only way to describe it...

i went to a comp on the 22nd and 29th. same judge for both events. the difference on the SQ portion between me and second place guy was 1 point on the 22nd and on the 29th it was 17 points.

my overall staging, imaging, tonal accuracy, linearity score went up.
i think that should explain itself

i paid 700 for the RF and i paid $241. so good, i am goig to order another one


the bad...

turn on/off pops
i hear that some are pretty bad, but mine is pretty slight. there is no movement in my midbass during the pop. i have heard in some cases, when powered to a woofer, it moves about 1/4 of an inch.

i lost 5 points for the turn on/off pop.

so in the end, well worth the money, i dont think anything can touch this amp in the $230 range.



Edit: there is a $20 gift certifcate at fatwallet.com for purchases at crutchfield. in case you were wondering why it is $230 instead of $250.
any questions?

 

Thanks for the great review. I'll probably go with this amp too. Right now I am out of town so I haven't been able listen to the speakers I am trying to decide between right now. I think I read in another post that you are located in Irvine. I'm in HB, would you mind if I listened to your setup sometime? Thanks for all of the help. Without this forum I would be lost.


Is there any way to get rid of the turn on popping?

 

[QUOTE=SC Alex,Jun 1 2005, 09:50 PM] Thanks for the great review.