Hello,

I own an 02 s2000 and I am looking to upgrade my sound system. I read through the FAQ but I still have some questions.

I want to have really good components in my sound system (so basically I want to start replacing the OEM parts slowly with REALLY good parts).

Obviously I will start off with wires.

Does the quality of the wires matter? If so, what differences does it make?

Also, how important is the headunit? I understand that more expensive ones offer more features but does the quality of sound actually continue to increase all the way to the most expensive HU?

I basically want to end up with new HU, speakers, twitters, small sub, amps, and possibly rear speakers. Of course, all of this will be over a course of probably several years (1-2), which is why I want to buy quality parts so that they will never have to be replaced.

Right now I have about 700 dollars to spend on this project. If the wiring and the HU is really important then I will be willing to spend all 700 on them however, if lets say for example, HU soundquality caps at maybe 300 dollars and wires dont matter, I will have about 300 dollars left over and I will purchase speakers (if I can get good ones for 300).

Thanks for the input!

 

Yes, quality of wires matters. That does not mean, however, that Monster cable is the best bang for your buck. Check out www.knukonceptz.com for wiring. Less expensive than most places.

Yes, quality of HU counts. This is actually one of the big ones - your speakers/amp(s) can only reproduce/amplify the signal that is provided to them. Distortion from the HU is amplified by the amplifier and reproduced by the speakers...

I wouldn't worry about rear speakers. A quality set of speakers in the doors with an appropriately sized quality amp will produce plenty enough sound that you don't need rear speakers (besides, how many concerts have you been to with speaker cabinets behind the audience?). Music is recorded in stereo and should be, therefore, replayed in stereo - not in surround sound.




If I were you...I'd do something similar to what I did with my last build. I started stockpiling parts until I had everything I needed to do the build right the first time. Took me a few months, but it was well worth it to not have to tear into my truck every month or so when I had the next bit to install.

 

1. No need to start with speaker cables if all you're doing is replacing the HU. You will want some decent speaker cabling to go from the amp to the speakers, with the wire gauge determined by how much power you're feeding the speakers and the length of the cables. First pick out the HU, speakers, and amp.

2. Wiring from the HU to the amp is pretty important. Knuconcepts is good.

3. Read up on wiring locations to minimized interference.

4. A good HU is important. I like the Pioneer PRS 800. These are "budget" competition decks. I'm sure there are others out there. Stay away from Alpine though.

5. Do it all at once for sure! If you can't afford it, save some more. All the above applies to a sub as well.

6. Top it all off by plugging your iphone into the system and pissing off audiophiles everywhere.

 

not sure why you'd say that.

until an in-car SACD player is available, nothing offensive to an "audiophile" using an iphone full of apple lossless files as a digital transport via USB connection.

 

Thanks for the input.

How come you advise to stay away from alpine?

I was actually looking at the cda-9887 and the pioneer DEH-710bt (premier version)

 

Alpine is pretty notorious for having a high pitch at 3-5Khz that's virtually impossible to work out.

I know I've spent much time in the past trying to get rid of it, and nothing could till I just removed the Alpine HU.



Amazingly, Jeff and I seem to agree on a few points

 

LOL Bang on. It seems like every single Alpine HU produced in the past 10 years have had that 3-5K harshness. It used to bug the hell out of me until I just swore off Alpine HUs! All the modern ones are also fairly featureless except for the IMPRINT doodad in a couple of their higher end model which I must say I don't have experience with. Dollar for dollar, the Type S and Type R speakers also underperform IMO.

I sound pretty anti-Alpine here, but I'm really not. I really like both their Type X speaker lines.

 

I've heard from a reliable source some things about Alpine that made me completely swear off their products.

Bottom line: I refuse to install any Alpine product in anyone's car. Don't care who it is, how much they spent, etc. I just won't do it. YMMV

 

I'm very happy with my Imprinted 9887, and everyone who's heard it is similarly impressed.

The Imprinting makes a massive difference, although the acoustics of the car are the biggest factor in determining sound quality rather than the head unit per-se.

See this thread, https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=733733 all the cars show a brightness peak between 1 and 2kHz, and they all use different speaker/amp combinations.

Put simply, make sure you get a head unit that allows you to smooth out things like that.

As for cabling, get some decent stuff, but there's no need whatsover to spend big money, as the others have already said, good cables won't make a bad system sound good.