Guys I've heard so many conflicting views, what should be done first HU or front speak replacement, or lucid/Spod rear speaker adder or a combination? For those of us on a limited budget like myself (I have a MY00), what should the first step be?

And the BONUS question...how much should one be looking to spend on each step. FOr example if the lucid upgrade, which speak housing set is the best bang for buck.

Bonus 2: Which ipod adapter is the best value?

 

FOR THE RECORD:

1st. Headunit
dramatic improvements can be achieved with this single upgrade. get a highly rated, high power headunit from a major manufacturer.

2nd. Front speakers
the quality of this choice will determine if an amp is necessary. If the purchaser is interested in full range sound, buy a four channel to prepare for a sub.

3rd a. Rears
These are for rear fill only, and generally can be run off the headunit amp. many EJ's don't even run rears.
3rd b. Subwoofer
This can be expensive and requires some thought as to the placement and type of sub to be installed. A ten in the trunk is the most popular, and with good reason.

DO NOT EXPECT GOOD SOUND FROM THE STOCK HEADUNIT WITH AFTERMARKET SPEAKERS. THIS DOES NOT WORK. The stock headunit sends out a terrible signal, and even with an amp you will get louder bad sound, rather than achieving greater quality at all volume levels.

when amping: Over power your speakers by about 33% Under powering causes more damage than overpowering.

IPOD:
the Alpine KCA420i or similar is a decent stealth solution, however it is expensive. the FM modulator is a terrible solution esp. if you live near/in a city.

Optimally, i.e. bang for buck, you should hardwire the ipod into your Headunit, the most basic method would be taking a 3.5 mm headphone jack to RCA, then plugging the RCAs into an Aux in on the back of your head unit. you control the playlist via the ipod itself. by far the best interface to date.

hope this helps

 

PS> cost is dictated entirely by the quality one hopes to achieve.

you can spend as much as you want, but for a high quality system expect to pay between $1k to $2K.

You get more for your money if you ask around. check the "Deals of the Week" thread.

Listen to your fronts before you buy them. These are the single most important element in your system and most of your decisions hinge on what kind of power your fronts require. Your taste in Sound is different than mine and hopefully different than Mane's , so find some stereos in your area and plop in your crazy music and listen to how they sound. make plans accordingly... and think a few stages ahead so your system can grow without trashing what you've already got.

Also: Cables. if you go the extra mile on your Head Unit and speakers, get the better cables (knuconceptz.com) and you won't be disappointed.

 

Fact: You will get a FAR better result losing '00 speakers than you will losing the '04 speakers.

Fact: The stock HU pretty much sucks from any year.

Fact: Suggestions of upgrades based on budget is listed in the FAQ.

 

There are lots of conflicting views because there are lots of different budgets, different listening styles, and different preferences in terms of space people are willing to give up.

I will recommend having a clear idea of how much you want to spend and exactly where you want your final destination to be. This can be aided by finding fellow S2000 owners and listening to their systems...or just figuring out a goal and asking on the forum as to what it would take to get to that goal.

Now, if you're going all the way (deck, amps, fronts, and sub) but just want to spread the costs over time then do it this way:

1) Deck - You can enjoy the extra functionality as well as the slight increase in power to the stock speakers.
2) Amp(s) and fronts - It's pretty worthless to do one without the other...Amp the stock speakers and you'll just get loud garbage. Install upgraded component speakers without an amp and they'll be too quiet to be worthwhile
3) Sub - For that extra bit of extension

Bonus 1
Deck - Depends what functions you want. Decks that have everything I need start at $200
Amp(s) - Depends if you go two or one
Speakers - $300 or so
Sub - The subs I really like are in the $300 to $400 range

Bonus 2
Deck with an aux-in + a component-to-1/8" adapter

 

Bomb,
i agree with you on all points with the exception of this small detail. i believe in both cases you are likely to blow the speakers.

The stock speakers have an extremely high sensitivity rating and are designed to work from low low power (3 watts? i don't know the power rating of our stock deck) But if you plug in a 150 watt amp and turn the volume up, well you can guess what will happen. blammo.

Similarly high end components thaty are designed to run on 150 watts of power will sound awful and will be damaged if you starve them of the power they need. you can blow a high end speaker by running a low power distorted signal to it.

However, you can match decent fronts to a decent head unit. Although most EJs will shudder at the thought of not having a seperate amp for their fronts, better sound (in compairison to stock) can be achieved by matching highly sensitive low power speakers (Infiniti reference) to a stock deck (Alpine 9833) without a seperate amp.

Of course it will not compare to what many of us have, but we have to keep in mind that many other people's goals are much more modest than ours. If they choose budget over sound, they do have options.

 

[QUOTE=Willie Gee,May 30 2005, 04:21 AM] Bomb,
i agree with you on all points with the exception of this small detail.

 

[QUOTE]FOR THE RECORD:

1st. Headunit
dramatic improvements can be achieved with this single upgrade. get a highly rated, high power headunit from a major manufacturer.

2nd. Front speakers
the quality of this choice will determine if an amp is necessary. If the purchaser is interested in full range sound, buy a four channel to prepare for a sub.

3rd a. Rears
These are for rear fill only, and generally can be run off the headunit amp. many EJ's don't even run rears.
3rd b. Subwoofer
This can be expensive and requires some thought as to the placement and type of sub to be installed. A ten in the trunk is the most popular, and with good reason.

DO NOT EXPECT GOOD SOUND FROM THE STOCK HEADUNIT WITH AFTERMARKET SPEAKERS. THIS DOES NOT WORK. The stock headunit sends out a terrible signal, and even with an amp you will get louder bad sound, rather than achieving greater quality at all volume levels.

when amping: Over power your speakers by about 33% Under powering causes more damage than overpowering.

IPOD:
the Alpine KCA420i or similar is a decent stealth solution, however it is expensive. the FM modulator is a terrible solution esp. if you live near/in a city.

Optimally, i.e. bang for buck, you should hardwire the ipod into your Headunit, the most basic method would be taking a 3.5 mm headphone jack to RCA, then plugging the RCAs into an Aux in on the back of your head unit. you control the playlist via the ipod itself. by far the best interface to date.
....
PS> cost is dictated entirely by the quality one hopes to achieve.

you can spend as much as you want, but for a high quality system expect to pay between $1k to $2K.

You get more for your money if you ask around. check the "Deals of the Week" thread.

Listen to your fronts before you buy them. These are the single most important element in your system and most of your decisions hinge on what kind of power your fronts require. Your taste in Sound is different than mine and hopefully different than Mane's

 

If you have an 00 don't bother doing anything before changing the speakers.

If you have $200 to spend and an 00 the biggest improvement you could possibly make would be a set of reasonable consumer grade speakers.

 

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