Haha, well when it's something your pasionate about it's no big deal to look into this stuff, besides I just got done lookin at stuff for myself hehe. Even if the install is free with purchases over $150, I would rather have the better speakers... Besides, I don't know if I'd trust the best buy installers with my car... I mean yeah they're trained and have great notes available to them... but... it's best buy... I dunno.
-Doug

 

Lol, that's funny. I actually have a friend of the family who owns a car stereo shop. I looked at the components that you mentioned and will probably go with those. Thanks again.

 

Yeah,

I would also be very cautious about letting Best Buy do the install. Beware of the young guy with his pants around his ankles insisting a test drive is necessary after the install is complete. (ie..Ferris Bullers Day Off Style)

I say get the products from them but get them installed elsewere if you don't have the experience to do it yourself.

 

i was told that if you are not amping the cabin speakers, you want to have your speakers at a sensitivity of 90+ (1V / 1M). I think this is because you are not going to be pushing these speakers anywhere hear their limit, or even their recommended WRMS. The HU's you stated above do NOT run at 45WRMS, they will be closer to 18-22WRMS. Those wattage ratings are PEAK power, which you will NEVER hear. The companies achieve these ratings in a lab environment. They run the HU's until the internal amp basically fries itself, then quotes the wattage rating JUST before it dies. This is peak wattage (or so I am lead to believe). You really want WRMS. The stock HU is only like 7WRMS (or there abouts). So the additional 10WRMS will make a noticable difference. The reason why you want a higher sensitivity is because of the lower power rating. Those speakers are probably around 80WRMS (if not more...RF usually has high wattage speakers). You want the speakers to respond well to a lower signal strength. The higher sensitivity basically means that the speaker responds more. Ideally....you will want as closet to 100 as possible....94-96 seems to be the highest i have seen. 91-93 would sound great. 90-91 is good.

Also....make sure the speakers will FIT. Most 6.5" speakers will not fit, as they are too deep (window gets in the way). Some are to large, and require spacers. if they do not fit, look into some spacers from Lucid. He makes some 3/4" ones that should fit most any speaker. Email, or PM, him and give him the speaker specs (mounting diameter and mounting depth) and he could tell you if his spacers will work. If they are too big, and the spacers will not work, you will need to get some custom MDF rings made....not a big deal (especially if you know a handyman that is good with wood).

Alpine, in general, is a good brand, but they have been having some problems with their swing face HU's (mine is in for repairs now).....apparently the face stops swinging. Most are problem free, though.

John

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Do you want insane sound or something just decent?

If I were you, I'd go with the 50x4 Deck, keep your stock speakers, maybe you'll like how it sounds (BIG maybe)

Or you can get the speakers you want (in your original post), but like the guy above me said, they might not fit, and get an amplifier to get your money's worth out of those speakers.

If I were to run that setup, I would get an amplifier. Just to get the most out of it.

 

John (jw) has made some good points... the others have as well.

you should be able to satisfy your needs with what you plan.

however, if you plan to run via the HU for power, i would strongly encourage you to pay attention to speaker sensitivity. obviously, don't buy the highest sensitivity speakers if they sound like crap. but given a choice, the higher that number, the better it will sound in the car.


personally, i'd buy from Crutchfield before BB would touch my car, and i'd rely on Crutchfield's installation documents to guide you thru it. their install stuff is generally top notch. and their included wiring stuff is

 

Everyone bags on Crutchfield because they sell at MSRP. For the higher end Alpine models this makes a difference (can get them cheaper from etronics, ebay etc.)

But for the low end stuff, they are competitive. Let's take the CDA-9847 for example. Their price is $199. There is a $20 off $100 coupon on the net that works. That takes it down to $179. Free shipping, no tax except in VA. Plus the harness and install guides, and 30 day return, and they are authorized. How much can you beat that by? The ones I checked on ebay were $175 + $25 shipping =$200.

And I agree their support is better than others in general. Last time I bought an amp I was going to return it but was close to 30 days. I called them to check when my 30 days was up, they just said "tell us how long you need and we'll extend it".

Peter

 

well, for people who are already planning to pay MSRP (ie BB, CC, etc.) - i always recommend Crutchfield.
they are solid, stable, very customer oriented, and not entirely unreasonable on their pricing. they include a harness (which you'll pay for elsewhere), their 30 day return policy is very open, they are completely authorized, and their install instructions are top notch.