LXOGOOD

CURRENT SETUP: No more spare tire

fireballs gs400

I will try and take pics for you. My setup is something you might like. Trunk room, and box is not in the way, its behind the rear seat. jl w'7's have a stigma for being loud, but depending on the size you can get a excellent sound. My 2 10's hit 140ish db's plus its very clear. 8's would be a nice custom setup as well. 13 inch would be just BANGIN!! good luck whatever you pick.

00lexondub

iTrader: (2)

wow what a wonderful thread this has turned out to be

let me giv eyou my opinion,
in the show scene, a system is mandatory, expecailly if you are tryin to win/.
now as far as buying a 100 sub or a 2000 dollar sub it dont matter, what the judges looks for at shows is the install and the quality of it, .. now with that being said you do now want to gi buy a LEGACY amp or a knock off anything when doing a show car, AUDIOBAHN has some crazy new stuff out for this year, i am honestly thinking iof dumpoing my audio equipment and going with all audiobahn equipment, if you arent into loud bass like i am i would seriously considered gettin something with a single sub that is enclosed in a plexi glass boax (with lights, for shows like HIN), and build some amp racks on the sides off the spare, if doing only a single sub you can get to your spare and still make it look very nice, i would also throw some suede in the parts that arent either glassed or wrapped ins omething

what i would reccomend for you, since you really just want a stock sound, is to upgrad all your door speakers (i am running FOCAL utopia comp and rear speakers) then do a simple amp for the mids/highs and a amp for your sub/subs, i would also suggest that if you are gonna keep the stock headunit, is to install a EQ, this way you have total control over your system, with this you can removes all your subwoofer bass and have just a somwhat "stock sound" wiht the new door speakers, then at shows you can either crank it up or just have it for you, thats up to you at the show!

njzprettyboy

hey johnny,

i dont know, but from what i hear audiobahn is like the rice of the AV world. you should stick to some higher end stuff, as your car is pretty high end. focal, dynaudio, even diamond would be dope. it will cost a little more, but if you are going to spend good money to install the stuff, you night as well put good stuff in. i ave diamond s600 components, image dynamics IDMAX 12", and PG titanium amps. I am probably gonna redo the trunk this winter. Below are pics of what it looks like right now, although as soon as its out the the body shop, all black carpet will be wrapped in black suede. Also, the neons will be changed to white and red. Also, there are carpeted panels on both sides. The stuff on the bottom is for the air suspension.

jtanoyo1

J, if those guys who tell you that all you need is just some "sort of" amps and subs to complement your overall look, I think they are very wrong.

Putting 2nd-tier audio in your trunk is almost like putting 20" knock-off chinese wheels on your ride just because you want to save some money. Sure, you are not competing to win the best audio system or the best SQ or the best SPL, but I think the judges will deduct your points for making a half-azz system in your car.

In my Aristo for example, a lot of people have been wowed by the magnetic ribbon tweeters that I have used up front (they are like $500/pair tweeters ONLY) because my aristo was one of the first to use a home-based tweeter in a car. Now, isn't that the whole point of car shows? To see where the next limit is being pushed? To wow the patrons and judges? To show the rest of the industry what could be done?

I also did the black marble paintjob in the trunk. A lot of people here have done it for interior pieces and even whole new car paintjob in marble, but I don't think anyone has ever done it for trunk pieces because they are not easy. I even contemplated to hire an air brush artist to airbrush the marble look onto the fiberglass pieces, but decided against it ONLY because it's taking too long.

Now I am not saying you should run out and buy the first $20,000 macintosh amp coupled by $100,000 Wilson Audio drivers to be put in your car. I am just saying that you need to balance things out a little bit. Putting substandard branded amps with substandard subs will make people give the "eww, he DID NOT put that in his car!" look and I don't think that's what you want.

Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

I completely agree with J on this note. NT2shabby, you seem to know a lot about high end audio, but what you don't understand is not everyone is willing to lay down 1500 a pair for focal utopia's, dynaudio's supreme drivers, or 5k an amp for mcintosh, zapco or some other high high end manufacturer. I also pride myself in knowing a lot about audio systems, and I consider myself to have a very very nice budget system. I picked up Focal K components for around 300 a pair, 3 12w6's for around 250 a piece, and I have some very nice Autotek amps that run 2400 watts of the cleanest power I've heard, along with a 400 watt Autotek amp to run the Door speakers. All in all, I think i might have spent a total of 4k, and with the addition of my Eclipse double din AVN unit thats coming, it might bump up to around 5.5k. You have to know what kind of sound you want. Go with name brands like focal and dynaudio. Even their lowest grade components(my friend has them) will out play any name brand speaker like pioneer, alpine and such. Subwoofers: I have never dealt with any higher higher end subs such as focal or diamond, so my personal opinion from hearing friends systems are that the JL W6's are very excellent subs. I know, and I am admitting that they are not the absolute greatest. But for the money, they have excellent SQ and range all through bass, and will hit incredibly loud. Another sub I really like is the Alpine Type R's, the 2005 models have been re-done and they are nice. They are a very tight hitting sub, but they lack in the low low range of bass, which is bad on some rap songs.

TLW, you need to first come up with a budget, then decide what you want to focus on the most: Your Headunit, your door speakers, or your trunk set up. If you are just looking for Trunk set up points from the judges, I would go all out with 2 12's fiberglassed into the trunk somewhere, and a nice headunit. No one sees your door speakers, only you will hear them, so you need to decide how you will address that. I would just persoanlly get the Focal Acces components for 180 a pair. They will literally blow your eardrums if you match them with an amp that will cleanly drive them. To go with your chrome look, why don't you get two Eclipse Aluminum 12's and your choice of amp. JL makes some good quality amps for a reasonable price. But as I was doing, keep a look on e-bay, you can find some brand new Zapco competition amps for rediculous prices, mainly because people don't know who they are.

If you need any help, pm me and we can even chat on the phone. If you aren't planning on fiberglassing, I have a box that holds 2 12's on the rear deck from my old set up and you can still get to the spare tire. Its finished with black vinyl cvers that look really slick.

All in all, go with quality components and you can't go wrong.

Lexis11

Guys this actually has become a grea thread after the departure of the shabula. Anywho everyone has good ideas and each and everyone of us knows a little bit about this game. It is no secret I sell JL Alpine etc so I rep it. I understand it is NOT the best but there is no market up in this neck of the woods for the Dynaudio, Zapco,Tube amps etc. I did my system with all JL and I know there are much better out there but for me and many others it sounds awesome and looks good.

I think the best advice in this thread was to figure out your budget then decide which way you want to go and from talking on the horn to you I understand you don't want anything to crazy so which ever way you decide to go it will be just fine.

00lexondub

iTrader: (2)

johnny,
i forgot here is a pic of my system, it does really well at shows, i know this becuase i just received my last HIN score sheet from vision entertainmnet..

LEXUS_KID

iTrader: (4)

Hey J I got you on this one give me $2000.00 and you will get the folling:

1. JL 500/1 for the sub

2. JL 300/4 for the high's

3. JL 12 W 7

4. ALPINE CVA-300 or Something else

5. BOSTON 5.25 PROS Front and Rear

How's that sound I've had quite a few systems and this is pretty much the best bang for the money I haven't heard a better sub for the money that compares to the JL 12 W 7. I know from when we talked. Your not looking for something crazy like others here on the forum are. Just a little something to make their eyes go like this did you see what he has in there. This is pretty much the final step you need to say your car is complete. I'm sure you will take all this advise and put it to good use. What ever you decide you got my vote bro

TLW

WOW and then WOW again ..man you had two hot systems

hmmmm ...i really like the top one ....because like you said ..you were still able to retain your spare

btw are there more shots in your gallery of the old setup

thats basically what i want ....now i know what my budget and im really not sure

if i went from 500-1000 how would that be or if i went 1000-1500 ...id prpbably like to cap my self at 1500 and even that is pushing it

who knows maybe once i get some SOUND ...ill start to fall in love with that and create some super system LOL

last thing i wanted to say

Guys thank you so much ...there is a ton of people here with incredible knowledge of audio

and i thank you all for sharing it with me .....the AUDIO NOOB

LXOGOOD still have the old setup somewhere ???

Mrbig

I was thinking system as well not sure, don't want anything to crazy .........

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Is this just for parts or are you including install? If the latter, sadly, it's going to be really tough.

jmecbr900

Here is a quick shot of my setup. I used that ledge I mentioned earlier. I wanted to retain as much of my trunk space as possible. I have no spare, but I still can use the majority of my trunk with the stock mat in place.

Again, it's all about personal preference. If you want a clean and functional setup, there are a few very nice examples already in here of ideas you can use to still keep your trunk functional.

The least expensive install is going to be a carpeted (as opposed to fiberglass or painted) enclosure that comes out just far enough to house the speakers you get, but not enough to block access to the spare. From there, you'd have to mount the amp(s) to either that enclosure or the sides.

One of the things that haven't been mentioned yet is that the install will play a much more key role in how your system looks overall than the components chosen. If the install is no good, then even the most expensive equipment will not win you any competitions. I would concentrate some of my efforts in talking to reputable and preferably recommended shops about your ideas. Feel them out. If they know their stuff, they will tell you right out of the gate what they can and can't do w/i your budget. Don't waste your money on hype. If it's a certain "look" you're after, then the majority of the budget will be spent there. If it's sound you're after, the majority will shift to that. If it's both.......you may need to re-consider your budget a little.

Props for gathering info and doing your research BEFORE going and getting anything done. Too many people let yingyangs dictate what should go in their car rather than the other way around. Put in YOUR car what YOU want. You're building a system first and foremost to satisfy YOU. If others and judges like it too, then that's gravy. Unless competing is your career, you shouldn't build your system based on someone else's preferences.

Good luck.

jmecbr900

Since I can' t upload but one pic at a time, here is a quick pic of the amp rack. Of course, no spare for me. But you can see what I was talking about earlier better.

Hameed

Just as an example, I have been planning an audio system for a very long time (and I have no idea when I will do the actual install as I have run out of $$ now! ) and this is what I have purchased so far.

Keep in mind that my goals are different from yours Johnny. My goal is to compete in an IASCA type of SQ competition.

Here is the hardware I have purchased so far:
Head Unit and Equalizer:
- Pioneer Premier DEX-P9 and Pioneer Premier DEQ-P9 - $1500.00

Front Components
- Seas Excel E00018 - http://www.madisound.com/pdf/seas/e018.pdf - $302.00 for a pair
- Fountek Neo CD 3.0 - Ribbon Tweeters - http://www.madisound.com/neocd3.0.html - $200.00 for a pair

Amplifiers:
- Zapco C2K-2.0X and C2K-2.5X - Used - $750.00 for both

Subwoofers
- Focal Utopia 27WX (11 inch sub) - Used - $250.00 for one. Still need to get another one.

Sound Insulation
- Tons of sound insulation - Second Skin Audio and Cascade Audio - roughly another $300.00

You can see that the cost of the hardware is already at $4K and that does not include wiring or the install.

The install and tuning is even more important than the components themselves. A crappy install with high end components will make your system sound like crap. I would buget another $2K to $3K for a quality install and tuning (and that does not include any fancy fibreglassing).