Ladies and Gentlemen, Hello.

My name is Tim, and I am that lowest of Internet
lifeform, The Lurker.

Hanging around for a number of months, staying in
the background, leeching off information,
contributing nothing, finally speaking up only
when something is needed.

Yeah, that's me. <sigh>. Don't hate me...

Quickly, I'm the cliche middle-aged white guy.
Overweight, bald, dead end job,
can't quite quit smoking,
can't drink the way I used to.
Thank the gods I have a killer wife, otherwise
I'd have probably committed suicide years ago.

Oh, and I like music.
Predomanently rock and roll. Give it whatever
labels you want. If it has a melody and a lead
break, chances are I'll listen to it. If it's 40
years old or 40 hours old.
Some prog.
Classical/Orchestra when the mood hits me.
Jazz that approaches Rythym and Blues.

The important stuff:
I have a 2005 Toyota Matrix, base, with the stock
4 speakers and iffy head unit. And I'm replacing
them.

For the past 6 months or so I've been researching
and planning the sound system upgrade.
Step 1. Head unit.
Step 2. Save money.
Step 3. Components.
Step 4. Save more money.
Step 5. Amp.
Step 6. No poofters.
Step 7. Save even more money.
Step 8. Amp2 and sub.

Or something close to that.

I have the money for the head unit saved and ready
to spend. I have narrowed down my choices to a
couple, and will be asking for people's opinions
soon.

It's going to be a slow process. I started saving
for the head last Christmas. Hopefully the cash
for the components won't take another 9 months.
With my tastes, however, it probably will.

Finally, not only am I the despised lurker, I'm
about to do something that is entirely against good netiquette.

Cross posting.

I'll be posting this on about 5 different car
audio forums.
So, if you see me multiple times, sorry.

That's all. Thanks for reading. I'll be back to
pester all of you for help, input and opinions.

C-me,
Tim.

Haha nice first post! Welcome to the board. Hopefully you will be able to build your setup to your liking, with a little input from some of the board members. :D

[img]graemlins/dawg.gif[/img]

BTW welcome to the board.

hahahaha.... Joe always quick to get some tittie action eh? :D and yes welcome to the board my fair haired friend.... You've just stepped into the LARGEST libray of Car Audio knowledge out there.... Use it wisely I know I have [img]smile.gif[/img]

Welcome. Now comes my constructive criticism. If the factory CD player has the features you want (MP3 etc) I would upgrade the speakers first. That will give you much more bang for the buck than a head unit upgrade. Lets say you have $350 set aside for a head unit. You are going to go out and spend $350 for something that will make absolutely no difference sound wise. If you put that same $350 towards speakers it will be night and day on the sound of the system.

i see a future post !!! [img]graemlins/post.gif[/img]

I agree with Dereck. While headunits are fun to buy and play with, you will get more mileage from a new pair of front speakers.

[img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Good first post!!! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Welcome to the Board.And I'll tell you from Experience this is going to be the BEST place to get your info.....
I started a year and a half ago and I check this thing for ALL Car audio topics.....
Have Fun and talk to you soon.....
[img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/cf2.gif[/img]

Thank you all for the Welcome!

I am currently working on my sophomore message,
which will be asking for some specific input on
the heads I'm trying to decide between, but
for now, a couple of responses.

Pics, lethal? Give me a couple days and I'll see
if I can throw together an avatar that'll give you
some idea. JUST DON'T TELL HER!! She'd kill me
if she found out.

Dereck, Paul, thanks for the speaker advice.
I've been a home audio shopper for years, and for a number of those years I was an avid memeber of
the 'speakers first' club. Purely a suggestion
but if you haven't read it already,
check out the following link from the UHF magazine
website. http://www.uhfmag.com/book1.html.
Be sure to check out "the source of hi-fi" link.
They have a different philosophy on what component
should be first.
When I first started reading their magazine and the book that is excerpted on the website, I
thought they were full of $#!t. Time, reflection
and continued reading have caused me to
reconsider. I'm not saying one is right or
wrong, but it did give me reason to think.

All of that aside, the head is coming first for some very specific reasons. The SQ will be built
over time, but I'm building my monster starting
with the head. My next message might help make it
clear why.

BTW, Paul, is an Omnipotent Bastard Admin even
worse than the BOFH? (Asks the DBA with a
BAD attitude...)

Chuck: Post ? Not so much.
Info slut. That's me. Never satisfied. Also
need a little bit more.

Ray: Kitchener ain't that far away!!
Have you been to Xltronics?

Again, Thanks for the welcome!!
Being accepted into the hometown crowd just
feels better. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

UH is a great mag, and they are right, a good source is very important. You must realize however that you will need to spend a lot of money to get significantly better SQ than a stock deck. And even if you did you would stil be driving craptastic speakers. Take the advise given and upgrade the speakers first. Your stock deck will provide decent SQ.