Just Starting
 

Hey i just signed up for my account here tonight after reading posts for a few days. I am at the first stage in building my self a car stereo. This will be my second major car stereo but my first was sort of failed. I did not know much about it back then so i ended up spending like $3000 (most probably right into the sales man's pocket) for everything and it wasn't that great.

Well that was a few years ago and this time i at least know i don't know much about things lol. I am hoping to pick up some good pointers here on what brands to avoid, which ones to shoot for, what reasonable prices are, what the gimmicks are, ect. ect.

Welcome to the board.......:smilie_da

If you want specific suggestions, a run down on your current situation would help. Vehicle year and model, any aftermarket audio in it already, and your hopes for the new system will help.

Are you looking for a complete system or will you upgrade it gradually?

What is your budget for this project? If you dropped $3,000 on the last one, I can tell you for sure you can put a very impressive system for that much this time around....what you spend the money on depends on what you want out of it....thundering bass heard for miles or a more SQ oriented system?

There are lots of knowledgeable people on here, if you give them something to work with you will get lots of advice.....:smilie_da

HTH

Sound Quality is my aim. I would actually like to keep the bass down to a minimum, like proportioned just the right amount for my music. I want to feel it for sure but what i hated about my last stereo was that the bass drowned out the singing (i listen to lots of Rock) and in faster heavy songs the instruments blended together kind of.

I am putting this in a 1990 Lumina but that could change at any given time. I go through cars quite fast so i want to buy components that will work in anything. I know i might have to take a hit on quality with my sub box because of this but that's just how my situation is. I will be doing all the installing myself.

I want to buy all my pieces one at a time. I don't have all the money up front so i will just sink a few hundred or so per pay check. All i have at the moment is the cheapest Sony Explode Deck on the market and factory speakers. The deck will be the last thing i upgrade though because it works fine for now. I guess the first thing i think i need to get is a 4 channel amp (hoping to find one for around $300, $500 has to be max) to run some 6x9s and 6.5s and then some 6x9s then 6.5s. I have 3 weeks before i will be able to put any money into this so it gives me some good time to read.

Reading is good......listening is better....:smilie_da

Time for you to grab a CD you know really well and take it to a few different places. Listen to it through as many different comp sets as you can, those speakers are going to carry the majority of the sound and it is vital they sound good to your ears. Once you have decided on speakers, then we can talk about an amp to power them.....:smokin:

For $3-500 you will be able to take your pick of many different amp models.....I would suggest you look for front speakers in or around the same price range....rears you can get away with less but keep the front stage as strong as you can.

HTH

^^^Good advice!

I have one set of great 6.5" component speakers that have come back to me (thanks to a CCA member not picking up his COD at the post office.....),they will fit your budget perfectly and I have some great amps to match. Send me a PM or add me to msn and we can get you set up.

Ok so i was reading last night for a while more and i found out my front speakers are 4x6 and not 6-1/2. I am planning on cutting and filling a little around the 4x6 enclosure to make 5-1/4s fit in.

So far i have just been looking at Alpine 5-1/4s. I can get the SPSs for around $100, the SPRs for a little under $200 and the SPXs for about $400.

The thing is my city does not have to many places to go listen at. I know i could probably find some type-r and type-s to listen to but the type-x i would have to just order.

I also really have no clue what other brands i should be looking at. I am all about good deals so it is not like i am set hard on Alpine, i will take any good quality brand if the sale is right. I am hoping to get a list of maybe 10-20 types of 5-1/4 speakers to keep my eyes on over the next few weeks.