Trying to upgrade my system on a budget
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Trying to upgrade my system on a budget
I'm new to this part of the forum looking for help w/ upgrading my factory system. I own a '95 SC400 w/ the Nakamichi system. The previous owner had 4' Infinity References installed in the front and rear. I've owned the car for six years and I'd like to redo the whole system. I'm trying to achieve a crispy clean sound w/o too much bass on a budget. I have an idea of what i want to do, but my problem is I don't know what's good in my budget and where to look for it.
Plan:
Headunit - Double-Din DVD, CD, MP3 w/ iPod connectivity (Navi would be nice but i don't think i can afford it on my budget). Budget - $300
Speakers - Front and back 6.5". Budget - $200 to $250 for both
Subwoofer - 10" air-free sub to mount in factory location. Budget - $100
Amp - I'm not sure if it's possible to run all of the speakers on one amp, so I'm lost here.
Like I said, I'm new at this so I'm looking for guidance. Can my plan be accomplished w/in my budget? What are the best bang for buck products in my budget? Where can I score some great deals?
Thanks for your time
Mousiee
Plan:
Headunit - Double-Din DVD, CD, MP3 w/ iPod connectivity (Navi would be nice but i don't think i can afford it on my budget). Budget - $300
Speakers - Front and back 6.5". Budget - $200 to $250 for both
Subwoofer - 10" air-free sub to mount in factory location. Budget - $100
Amp - I'm not sure if it's possible to run all of the speakers on one amp, so I'm lost here.
Like I said, I'm new at this so I'm looking for guidance. Can my plan be accomplished w/in my budget? What are the best bang for buck products in my budget? Where can I score some great deals?
Thanks for your time
Mousiee
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I say leave the rears and just upgrade the fronts. I'm pretty satisfied with my Hybrid Audio Speakers and they just introduced an entry line.
http://www.12velectronics.com/servle...82;/Categories
http://www.12velectronics.com/servle...82;/Categories
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I say leave the rears and just upgrade the fronts. I'm pretty satisfied with my Hybrid Audio Speakers and they just introduced an entry line.
http://www.12velectronics.com/servle...e-™/Categories
http://www.12velectronics.com/servle...e-™/Categories
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These Infinities sound great, and are only $110. Not only will they more closely match your rears should you decide not to upgrade, you could get both for less than your budget. I agree that upgrading the fronts is really the only necessary thing, and it allows you some more freedom in the deck if you do the Infinity option.
Clarion unit with nav built in. Not sure on the quality, as the price indicates it has to cut costs somewhere, but if you do the fronts with Infinity, you can get this and keep your budget on track.
If you're okay with no nav and want a good screen with remote, you can get this Pioneer (be sure to add the remote and ipod cable). Great looking screen, and Pioneer is always a quality unit from my experiences.
Not sure on the sub, as I'd be more inclined to go with an enclosure.
Is there an amp already in the car?
Big Mack
Clarion unit with nav built in. Not sure on the quality, as the price indicates it has to cut costs somewhere, but if you do the fronts with Infinity, you can get this and keep your budget on track.
If you're okay with no nav and want a good screen with remote, you can get this Pioneer (be sure to add the remote and ipod cable). Great looking screen, and Pioneer is always a quality unit from my experiences.
Not sure on the sub, as I'd be more inclined to go with an enclosure.
Is there an amp already in the car?
Big Mack
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These Infinities sound great, and are only $110. Not only will they more closely match your rears should you decide not to upgrade, you could get both for less than your budget. I agree that upgrading the fronts is really the only necessary thing, and it allows you some more freedom in the deck if you do the Infinity option.
Clarion unit with nav built in. Not sure on the quality, as the price indicates it has to cut costs somewhere, but if you do the fronts with Infinity, you can get this and keep your budget on track.
If you're okay with no nav and want a good screen with remote, you can get this Pioneer (be sure to add the remote and ipod cable). Great looking screen, and Pioneer is always a quality unit from my experiences.
Not sure on the sub, as I'd be more inclined to go with an enclosure.
Is there an amp already in the car?
Big Mack
Clarion unit with nav built in. Not sure on the quality, as the price indicates it has to cut costs somewhere, but if you do the fronts with Infinity, you can get this and keep your budget on track.
If you're okay with no nav and want a good screen with remote, you can get this Pioneer (be sure to add the remote and ipod cable). Great looking screen, and Pioneer is always a quality unit from my experiences.
Not sure on the sub, as I'd be more inclined to go with an enclosure.
Is there an amp already in the car?
Big Mack
The car has the factory amp; which i think is no good w/o the factory head unit.
Mousiee
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Headunit - I think you can get a Pioneer AVIC-F700BT in the low $300s on eBay these days. Has nav, plays mp3, etc., but doesn't play DVDs, but can play video off a memory card, Ipod, etc. Or you can spend a bit more and get the F900BT which will play DVDs. You should go to a stereo shop and play around with diff head units to see which ones you prefer. I personally prefer Eclipse and Alpine, but they might not have any units in your price range.
Speakers - I suggest leaving the back speakers alone since they'll be sitting on the same deck as the sub and probably won't sound that great regardless. I would recommend Image Dynamics CTX65CS for front speakers. Best entry level speakers imo; do a search and you'll find a lot of positive reviews. I think they're about $180 online. I have the CTX65CS in my SC and some $500 Diamond Audio Hex components in my M-B and I don't miss the Hex at all. Keep in mind that you'll need to fab some adapters if you go with 6.5" components though. The eBay 6.5" adapters don't fit quite right but you can try those and modify them.
Free-air Sub - I would get an Image Dynamics ID10, but they're $160 online. If you don't want to spend that much, a lot of people seem to like Elemental Designs 11Kv.2 or SQ10 and are both < $100.
Amp - I'm really not sure what brands are good now, but I think a lot of people like the JL Audio Slash amps. Not sure how much you wanted to spend on the amp(s), but the JL Audios are usually kind of expensive unfortunately. You'll want either 4 channel (for the f/r speakers) + 1 channel (or bridged 2 channel for the sub) or a 5 channel amp. Personally, I prefer to have separate amps for the f/r speakers and the sub because if they ever need to be serviced, it'll probably be cheaper. You could also just keep the stock Nakamichi amp and just get an amp for the sub if you don't really blast your music. I opted to just keep the Nakamichi amp myself. If you do decide to get a new amp for the f/r speakers, you'll probably want it to put out around 50W-75W rms and for the sub, 300W rms should be good.
Last edited by potatoBBQ; 02-06-10 at 06:35 PM.
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You can keep the factory amp for the f/r speakers even if you replace the factory head unit with an aftermarket one, but unfortunately, no one seems to have been able to get the stock sub working w/ an aftermarket head unit on the Nakamichi systems. So you'll need a separate 1 channel or 2 channel bridged amp to drive either the factory sub or an aftermarket one. If u wanna go cheap, u can actually just keep the stock Nakamichi sub and get a cheap $50 amp to get it working again.
Headunit - I think you can get a Pioneer AVIC-F700BT in the low $300s on eBay these days. Has nav, plays mp3, etc., but doesn't play DVDs, but can play video off a memory card, Ipod, etc. Or you can spend a bit more and get the F900BT which will play DVDs. You should go to a stereo shop and play around with diff head units to see which ones you prefer. I personally prefer Eclipse and Alpine, but they might not have any units in your price range.
Speakers - I suggest leaving the back speakers alone since they'll be sitting on the same deck as the sub and probably won't sound that great regardless. I would recommend Image Dynamics CTX65CS for front speakers. Best entry level speakers imo; do a search and you'll find a lot of positive reviews. I think they're about $180 online. I have the CTX65CS in my SC and some $500 Diamond Audio Hex components in my M-B and I don't miss the Hex at all. Keep in mind that you'll need to fab some adapters if you go with 6.5" components though. The eBay 6.5" adapters don't fit quite right but you can try those and modify them.
Free-air Sub - I would get an Image Dynamics ID10, but they're $160 online. If you don't want to spend that much, a lot of people seem to like Elemental Designs 11Kv.2 or SQ10 and are both < $100.
Amp - I'm really not sure what brands are good now, but I think a lot of people like the JL Audio Slash amps. Not sure how much you wanted to spend on the amp(s), but the JL Audios are usually kind of expensive unfortunately. You'll want either 4 channel (for the f/r speakers) + 1 channel (or bridged 2 channel for the sub) or a 5 channel amp. Personally, I prefer to have separate amps for the f/r speakers and the sub because if they ever need to be serviced, it'll probably be cheaper. You could also just keep the stock Nakamichi amp and just get an amp for the sub if you don't really blast your music. I opted to just keep the Nakamichi amp myself. If you do decide to get a new amp for the f/r speakers, you'll probably want it to put out around 50W-75W rms and for the sub, 300W rms should be good.
Headunit - I think you can get a Pioneer AVIC-F700BT in the low $300s on eBay these days. Has nav, plays mp3, etc., but doesn't play DVDs, but can play video off a memory card, Ipod, etc. Or you can spend a bit more and get the F900BT which will play DVDs. You should go to a stereo shop and play around with diff head units to see which ones you prefer. I personally prefer Eclipse and Alpine, but they might not have any units in your price range.
Speakers - I suggest leaving the back speakers alone since they'll be sitting on the same deck as the sub and probably won't sound that great regardless. I would recommend Image Dynamics CTX65CS for front speakers. Best entry level speakers imo; do a search and you'll find a lot of positive reviews. I think they're about $180 online. I have the CTX65CS in my SC and some $500 Diamond Audio Hex components in my M-B and I don't miss the Hex at all. Keep in mind that you'll need to fab some adapters if you go with 6.5" components though. The eBay 6.5" adapters don't fit quite right but you can try those and modify them.
Free-air Sub - I would get an Image Dynamics ID10, but they're $160 online. If you don't want to spend that much, a lot of people seem to like Elemental Designs 11Kv.2 or SQ10 and are both < $100.
Amp - I'm really not sure what brands are good now, but I think a lot of people like the JL Audio Slash amps. Not sure how much you wanted to spend on the amp(s), but the JL Audios are usually kind of expensive unfortunately. You'll want either 4 channel (for the f/r speakers) + 1 channel (or bridged 2 channel for the sub) or a 5 channel amp. Personally, I prefer to have separate amps for the f/r speakers and the sub because if they ever need to be serviced, it'll probably be cheaper. You could also just keep the stock Nakamichi amp and just get an amp for the sub if you don't really blast your music. I opted to just keep the Nakamichi amp myself. If you do decide to get a new amp for the f/r speakers, you'll probably want it to put out around 50W-75W rms and for the sub, 300W rms should be good.
Now I'm leaning towards keeping the Nakamichi amp to power the f/r speakers, and buying an amp to power the new sub. I didn't know keeping the Nak amp even an option; Thanks!
Question about the Image Dynamics CTX65CS: About the tweeters; did you place them in the factory location or did you place them somewhere else?
Mousiee
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Thanks for the great info.
Now I'm leaning towards keeping the Nakamichi amp to power the f/r speakers, and buying an amp to power the new sub. I didn't know keeping the Nak amp even an option; Thanks!
Question about the Image Dynamics CTX65CS: About the tweeters; did you place them in the factory location or did you place them somewhere else?
Mousiee
Now I'm leaning towards keeping the Nakamichi amp to power the f/r speakers, and buying an amp to power the new sub. I didn't know keeping the Nak amp even an option; Thanks!
Question about the Image Dynamics CTX65CS: About the tweeters; did you place them in the factory location or did you place them somewhere else?
Mousiee
Heh, I don't work for Image Dynamics or anything, but I've been using their subs for more than 10 years and haven't found any reason to switch to anything else. I mean, there are definitely better subs like Dynaudio, etc. but not in the $100-$200 price range. The CTX65CS though were the first set of components from ID that I've tried and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they were... especially for $100.
I was just thinking too, if you don't really want too much bass. You might want to try just keeping the Nakamichi sub with a cheap $50-$60 150W-200W amp. If you do decide to swap out the sub though, you might want to consider JL Audio 250/1 amp. If you don't mind used, I think u can get them on eBay for anywhere between $100-$150 depending on condition.
Last edited by potatoBBQ; 02-06-10 at 07:18 PM.
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I placed the CTX65CS tweeters in factory location. If you do decide to go w/ Image Dynamics, check to see if they have any dealers nearby; I was able to get much better prices from a local dealer (http://www.advancedcarcreations.com/main.htm). I got the CTX65CS for $100 and the ID10 for $130. If there aren't any Image Dynamics dealers nearby, you might want to try calling ACC to see if they're willing ship and if you can get them at those prices (they're kind of inconsistent on the pricing depending on who you talk to unfortunately).
Heh, I don't work for Image Dynamics or anything, but I've been using their subs for more than 10 years and haven't found any reason to switch to anything else. I mean, there are definitely better subs like Dynaudio, etc. but not in the $100-$200 price range. The CTX65CS though were the first set of components from ID that I've tried and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they were... especially for $100.
I was just thinking too, if you don't really want too much bass. You might want to try just keeping the Nakamichi sub with a cheap $50-$60 150W-200W amp. If you do decide to swap out the sub though, you might want to consider JL Audio 250/1 amp. If you don't mind used, I think u can get them on eBay for anywhere between $100-$150 depending on condition.
Heh, I don't work for Image Dynamics or anything, but I've been using their subs for more than 10 years and haven't found any reason to switch to anything else. I mean, there are definitely better subs like Dynaudio, etc. but not in the $100-$200 price range. The CTX65CS though were the first set of components from ID that I've tried and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they were... especially for $100.
I was just thinking too, if you don't really want too much bass. You might want to try just keeping the Nakamichi sub with a cheap $50-$60 150W-200W amp. If you do decide to swap out the sub though, you might want to consider JL Audio 250/1 amp. If you don't mind used, I think u can get them on eBay for anywhere between $100-$150 depending on condition.
Mousiee
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I would probably try running the factory sub w/ an amp like this or something similar:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+KAC-5203.html
If it turns out it's not quite enough bass for you or if the factory sub eventually gives out, you could always use that 2 channel amp to power you front speakers or try it out with an aftermarket sub.
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As for the ID products, they've always had a good reputation, but I'm a little down on them due to the fact timbre matching between speakers does come into play in a smaller cabin. Since the rears are Infinity, getting Infinity fronts makes more sense to me.
Keep in mind also that if you go with an IB sub (factory mount style), you'll need more power to control it properly. Since you're not looking for a lot of thump, you'd probably be very happy with a moderate 10" sub in an enclosure, taking out the factory sub to let the bass in easier, of course.
Big Mack
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Best thing to do would really be try to listen to a whole bunch of speakers to get an idea of what you want, but unfortunately it's often hard to find all the speakers you're interested in playing at the same stereo shop wall.
Last edited by potatoBBQ; 02-07-10 at 04:31 AM.
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Yes, there is a reason. The majority of your sound should come from the fronts. Since the rear has already been upgraded, and since they are there simply to provide fill, you don't need to spend money there. Saving $$ in this area allows for more budget in the areas that need it (like fronts or deck).
Keep in mind also that if you go with an IB sub (factory mount style), you'll need more power to control it properly. Since you're not looking for a lot of thump, you'd probably be very happy with a moderate 10" sub in an enclosure, taking out the factory sub to let the bass in easier, of course.
Big Mack
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Mousiee
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