yet another "car audio?" thread (1 Viewer)

[Jason Wilcox]

ok...i'm not all that familiar with car audio and what brands are reputable

also...i work at best buy and the discount on car audio is pretty good

so....i'm looking to geting a cd playing head unit and some speakers for the front

for the head unit i was deciding between a kenwood and a pioneer....their low end stuff....i'm almost certainly going with the kenwood

speakers i'm a little lost with....i'm having trouble demoing them in the store...so i'll turn to you guys instead of some car audio board....i trust you guys more

the question is.....what are your opinions on the following brands of speakers that are available at best buy

-rockford fosgate
-kenwood
-pioneer

any help at all is greatly appreciated

 

[Wayne Murphy]

rockford fosgate is head and shoulders above the other two brands.

Even if you're tight for cash still try to get a small 4 channel amp for all speakers or a 2 channel amp for the rear speakers. The difference in the sound quality will be well worth it.

The rated power on the Head units you are looking at are a complete crock. If you get a head unit boasting X watts and get a separate amp rated for the same you will hear a huge difference in sound quality as well as volume. Let's face it you can't possibly get a real amp with any balls and squish it into a head unit, and still have room left over for the tuner, CD or tape drives.:b

 

[Jeff_Krueger]

Well as far as what you will be able to get at bestbuy the fosgate stuff is going to be your best bet. If you are going to replace your front speakers get the best component set that you can get in your budget. Talk to some installers and see if you can fit front speakers that are bigger than stock, in a lot of cars this is fairly easy to do. If you are going to get an amplifier use it to power your front speakers or a seperate sub. Even though the built in amp on most decks are pathetic it should be more than enough for rear speakers, you want most of the sound to come from the front speakers, so as to establish a more coherent sound stage.

As far as what deck to get I would check out the Pioneer DEH-P6400 it has good set of features including 3 sets of preamp outputs, mp3 decoding and much more, with an employee discount it should be fairly cheap. I'm not too familiar with Kenwood decks so I can't advise there, but make sure you carfully compare the feature set of the different decks you are looking at. In that price category they are probably going to very similar to each other.

 

[Eric Kahn]

If you have not bought your kenwood Headunit (the radio) get one that will play MP3s, then you can put 12 hours music on one CDR and not have to change it all the time
I have a kenwood 7019 which also does Sirius radio but they have other headunits that play MP3s without the sirius feature
most kenwood headunits I have seen recently all put out about 50 watts per channel which is more than adequate unless you want to shake the car with bass and have the next car over hear the music as you drive by

 

[brentl]

"so as to establish a more coherent sound stage."
Yep more clean power on the front channels is the best way to go.
Unless you watch a concert with your back to the performers
Brent

 

[Jason Wilcox]

thanks guys....i was lookin over the crutchfield mag and i think i'll be going with the kenwood kdc217 head unit. it doesn't play MP3s...but models that do start at a good amount more. for front speakers on my accord i think i'll go with the rockford FRC3206U. that kenwood is rated at 18w RMS and the speakers sensitivity is 88db (should be plenty loud in a car enviroment..i don't blast it anyway). although I am tempted to get a cheap 2 channel rockford amp...that would probably be another $90 with installation included. I'm trying to keep this cheap and simple.
The head unit---
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-qfULZ56...=113KDC217&s=0
The speakers---
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-qfULZ56...575FRC320U&s=0
once again thanks....any more suggestions are welcome as the sooner i pick out what i want the sooner i can quit this job

 

[James Spraggs]

I have the Sony CDX-MP70 that I just bought. I would recommend it. It has great sound, and the built in 7 band eq is a very nice feature.

 

[Jason Wilcox]

ok i bought em....got the 3206 which is slightly larger than the 3206U....it should fit....

also got that kenwood head unit i mentioned.....

together they were about $150 and i should have them installed by the end of next week for another $20-30

 

[matthew_rm]

To bad your speakers need to suck
Pioneer head units are nice. Most people on this BB would use seprate amps so the head unit just needs to be cool. (But not crap)
R.F speakers are not all that nice. I don't know about all of you, but I think they are BAD.:frowning:
Pheonix Gold, MB quart are good for the money. MY FAV are focal speakers. So awsome for the money. You can really feel a 5 inch mid bass!
--
I know you work at Best buy so..Im not sure what they sell, I know future shop has Infinity. That stuff is not that bad. PLays loud enough.

 

[Jason Wilcox]

i'm not gonna argue with my rockford 6.5" speakers...i only paid $50 for them and they retail for $100...may not be the best...but for the price i got them for they should be descent

 

[matthew_rm]

Well in that case. Go for it!

 

[Jason Wilcox]

i'm kinda a control freak when it comes to my audio....i'm a little worried about having them install it.....is it hard to do myself? Do I need special tools? should i just trust them?

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Depending upon your car it can be a PITA to install it your self. I installed my head unit, but had Best Buy install the speakers. You will need wireing harnesses unless you feel like splicing and sodering (not advised) or re running all the cable (major job).

Since you work at BB, it shouldn't be too expensive to have them install it, and it will save you a major headache.

Brian

 

[Jason Wilcox]

i actually just installed some speakers for my friend yesterday...it wasn't all that hard at all....used crimps instead of soldering the wires....but...when i went to see if i could install my own speakers i saw that i'd have to rip the door apart

so i'll just have BB install everything

on another note...i'm planning on helping that friend put together a box for a shiva. following the sealed 25.5L box plans at acoustic visions.

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I have an old Pioneer head unit that puts out 22wx4 RMS. I also have the RF 6.5" coax's (at all 4 speaker locations) though I can't remember the model number.
The one thing the RF's like is a nice "nearly" sealed enclosure in the door. I had installed them in the doors and hadn't done anything else. The mid-bass just wasn't there. So a full year later I decided to try and seal up my door with sound deadening pads from Parts Express and it worked like a champ. I didn't fully seal the doors because that would be bad especially during rain but I covered most of the big holes, put some on the inside of the door and directly behind the speakers. It made a huge difference not only in the noise level but in the mid-bass as well.
So, I suggest if you have a few dollars left over to do a nice sound deadening job on your doors. You won't be disappointed. Stock power levels from a Head Unit need all the help they can get.

 

[brentl]

It's pretty easy to install the headunit if you use an adapter for the wiring harness.
The Front speakers should just screw in to the existing holes. You'll either have a small piece just a little larger than the speaker .... pop the plugs, unscrew the speaker, take off the connecter, put the new speaker in, and away you go.
Otherwise take the door off .... suggestion - grab a auto book for your car it should make it a lot easier to find all the screws and clips.
Or just ask the guys in the install bay.
OH wait speaker wire. If you have the time and 15-20 feet of 12-14G speakere wire hanging around, why don't you rewire the front speaker??
Really easy
Hint, use a wire hanger to get the wire from the doorjam to the speaker.
If you decide to add a small amp that you can hide upfront you are already wired up!
Brent

 

[Jason Wilcox]

err...i ended up putting the speakers in myself and having best buy put in the head unit....everything works fine except my FM reception isn't what it was with the stock radio....is this normal?

 

[Bruce Chang]

I would not trust a head units from Sony, Kenwood, rockford fosgate. They were better in the old days. I have the Sony cdx-c90 which lasted me 3 years and now it's getting repaired, Clarion 9575rz stolen, Clarion 9475 display got messed up, Kenwood excelon 9something the buttons were too small and my friends had problems with theres. Your best bet is to get the Pioneer 840mp or the Alpine's. My friend who's into sound quality has the Pioneer P4 which set him back $1700 for a damm head unit and processor.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i was a senior mobile installer at best buy for a couple years, MECP certified and all that stuff. if youre going to get your equip at bby, i'd get a pioneer head unit, and avoid sony and jvc. kenwoods are a bit problematic lately as well. rockford fosgate makes a pretty good 4 channel amp, i wouldnt fool with any other amps at bby. and what kind of car do you have? the time for the install wholly depends on the make/model of the car. a 93+ jetta will take 10 minutes for head unit install, but an early 90s caprice classic or a new kia sportage is a nightmare. anyway, good luck.

CJ

 

[Jason Wilcox]

hey thanks for the replies guys...i almost forgot about this thread!

i'm very happy with what i've got now. the rockford speakers and kenwood head unit only set me back $150...including install of the head unit.

but do you guys know why the FM reception isn't what it was with my stock radio. does it have to do with the fact that my 96 accord has that integrated antennae thing?



edit: oh and as for deciding between pioneer and kenwood...i was really stuck between two models...the kenwood kdc-217 and the pioneer deh-1400. they were nearly identical in features.....but i chose the kenwood simply because the pioneer's buttons were loose and felt cheap (not only on the store models but on a friends pioneer too)