I have a rough budget of $1500 for my audio system. I've decided I'll work from the inside out on my car, since that will be the "comfort zone."
Here is a list of the components I've decided on. My plan is for a decent in car theater with high quality sound for my music as well. It will be controlled by a custom Car PC that I'm building (the car PC is in the budget as well) and I can install it all myself. My concern is WHAT I've picked out. I've been out of the car audio loop for a while, so I don't know what's good, what's bad, etc.
I picked these b/c A) I don't want a lot of bass and B) I want a decent, all encompassing range in the car, nothing drowning out anything else.
Kicker Comp VR 10" Sub $100
Alpine SPS460A - Front $85
Alpine SPS690A - Rear $120
MTX Thunder21D Sub Mono Amp $250
Kenwood KAC-6401 4 Channel Speaker Amp 170
I'm using Crutchfield for the info, I have a guy to go to for all the parts. What do you think? The KAC has preamp out for the sub so I don't have to wire it seperately, which is a big plus and one of the reasons I chose it. I think I've got all the wattages worked out too, so will this system work well?
My car PC works out to $850, so I'm a little over, but my speaker guy says he can knock off $250 for the sub/speakers/amp.
You are going to easily blow $1000 on the HU alone since you are going for an in car theather. Will $500 still cover all of that?
Other than that, have you demoed any of this stuff somewhere, or are you just going by specs?
I was also on a tight budget when it came to my audio. Actually, I just wanted to spend my money on other things and I'm cheap to boot.
Infinity has absolutely AWESOME components. They sound wonderful. They have a very crisp sound.
I wouldn't dare replace my Kicker speakers though. They aren't too crisp for my likings and they have great sound. & I believe the DX series are the cheapest ones made. I am very biased when it comes to my speakers though. =)
Alpine are great speakers as well though.
In my opinion Kenwood makes a VERY good amp as well.
I'm not thrilled with the Kicker Comp subs- I've heard them before and I don't prefer them.
& I've NEVER experienced or even known anyone to have MTX anything.
I'd say you have a decently good list made up. Look around and listen to some different brands before you make your final choice though.
Good luck with your purchases.
WARNING: Do not buy from Sam h (boostedld9). He never sent our item and has had our money for a little over a month now. Has not sent money, won't return phone calls, won't return e-mails. Bad person to deal with. Contacted lawyer! BEWARE!
i have a kenwood kac 8401 and its preety close to the 6401 just with a lil more power and its awesome, absolutly no regrets
Personally I wouldn't recommend kicker subs for an SQ setup..
I've got a 15" kicker and its real "boomy" and loose.. that could also be due to it being such a big sub.. But I've also auditioned kicker 10's and 12's and they also seemed boomy and loose.. personally I like them but for SQ only I wouldn't recommend them.
Also.. I'd suggest going with 6.5" components up front rather than getting 4x6's. You may pay a little more, but you'll get better range and sound out of it than a 4x6. And since you want to do a little car theater.. maybe save up and get one of those in-car Dolby Digital processors.. that'd be cool
Cody Chanthaseny wrote:Personally I wouldn't recommend kicker subs for an SQ setup..
I've got a 15" kicker and its real "boomy" and loose.. that could also be due to it being such a big sub.. But I've also auditioned kicker 10's and 12's and they also seemed boomy and loose.. personally I like them but for SQ only I wouldn't recommend them.
Also.. I'd suggest going with 6.5" components up front rather than getting 4x6's. You may pay a little more, but you'll get better range and sound out of it than a 4x6. And since you want to do a little car theater.. maybe save up and get one of those in-car Dolby Digital processors.. that'd be cool
If they are boomy is not the sub, this is due to the install(poor box tuning) and I don't think he need a processor, he just have to used the build in decoder in the PC.
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
OK not to jack the thread.. but if they're boomy in a sealed enclosure, and I've not ever heard of tuning a sealed enclosure.. so I guess something else is up lol.. I'll check my seals..
Anyways.. Right I forgot he was using a PC also.. it'd be much cheaper to use some software that had the decoding built in.. but if he decides to do Dolby digital .. what about the center channel? I know Pro Logic can "matrix" the right and left channels.. but Digital has 5 (5.1 technically) individual channels for movies.. but then again.. All Dolby Digital processor's come with the ability to decode Pro Logic.. so it may not be such a big deal..
In a car it's such a bad audio environment that between 4.1 and 5.1 is not a big deal, the center channel is not in the your center it's more of a left if your the passenger or right if your the driver and every good dvd player software have a Dolby and DTS decoder and can down-mix to 4.1 with no prob. For the music on every sound-card they have a kind of 3d surround effect.
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
Heh I'd recommend any of the new SoundBlaster Audigy series.. very nice
True jypy about a car not being a good audio environment.. I was just bringing up another point he might not have thought about.. I think I said pretty much what you did.. just in a weird round-a-bout way... I have trouble wording things sometimes lol
The Chaintech Sound Card is $16 and can mix any sound setup I want, up to 7.1 The computer is my expertise, no worries there.
I've heard the kicker in a small, fiberglassed enclosure (simliar to what and where I'll be doing mine) and it was very tight, the exact thing I want from my sub. If you know personally of any other 10's in a small enclosure that gets a tight sound, please, let me know!
I know component speakers will sound better, but will they fit the stock door panels? I won't have time to glass those until next year, I'm WAY too busy for that ATM. If component speakers will fit stock then I'll go with those.
Here's the PC setup, will be placed in the spare tire hold in a fiberglassed enclosure:
Epia M10000 $160
512MB PC2100 RAM $61 - motherboard won't support higher frequencies :-(
80GB WD 7200 RPM Hard Drive $56
Opus 90W DC-DC PSU $160
Lilliput 7" Touchscreen VGA $280
Chaintech 6.1 Surround $16
Panasonic Slim Slot-Loading Combo Drive $73
Compact Wireless Keyboard/Mouse $27 - Just in case the touchscreen isn't enough
Thanks for the links and comments, keep them coming!
For the component install look at the 2nd sticky: Speaker Size Info they show how to install them in the door.
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
And for the sound car use the build in not the pci. The build in via sound-card is better then the Chaintech(C-Media chip). The via chip is 20-bit and the C-Media chip is 16-bit, both have 6 channels(5.1). And another benefit will be that you will not have any card in the pci slot and you can use a smaller case for your pc and will not have any part that can move on the MB or you can plug instead a PCI TV-Tuner card.
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
Sounds like you've got everything under control... Just get some pics up here when its done.. sounds fun
I was thinking the chaintech card b/c I wanted less CPU cycles spent on the audio...but now that I think about it, I dont really need to worry about it
get me a bit more information on what your wanting, are you wanting a completly accurate image for movie reproduction as well as soun reproduction? i think you sub is fine as long as you get the placement, crossover and enclosure built right it will give you accurate bass. your amp selection is fine although personally i'd pick two amps from the same company to keep with the continuity of the install. or go with a single 5 channel amp with sub amp built in. as for your speakers, this is where i would change, i'd run your stock rear speakers high passed at around the 100hz range and adjust the volume down on them. if you run the same power to them they will over power whatever you put in the front, so it would destroy any audio or vidio sound you have. and you should go with a componet set up front that puts out some midbass or your never going to get anything close to accurate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
I'm wanting decent audio reproduction, nothing competition, and video doesn't matter b/c this is the touchscreen I'm using for controlling MP3s and such. Not a big in-car video fan.
Here's exactly what I want:
Better speakers up front
Better speakers in the back
A sub
Amp(s) that can power it
I want crisp sound, no distortion at moderately high levels, with a straight punch from the sub. I can't stand rap or music with huge bassy tracks, so I just want the punch from the drums and the melody from the bass guitar on songs. I want it all hooked up to my CarPC.
Well you can get very high quality speakers and subs today for minumum prices. If you are not concerned with having the New Year model I would suggest going with last years subs. Pretty cheap. Kicker's are great, so are Infinity's. I have used both of them and a few other brands. All have different characteristics based on their construction (material of cone, magnet size, voice coil, surround.....ect). I couldn't recommend a particular sub based on SQ cuz I am a SPL Person myself. Shop around, and have fun!
" There is a such thing as too much money for car audio"
2 MA Audio 120XE 12" Subs $100
1 Soundstorm 800 Watt 2 Channel Amp- $135
3/4" MDF Dual 12 Box- $40
Hitting 134 Decibals and being recommended for hearing conservation- Priceless!!!
I was reading this thread and I just had to respond. I work at Circuit City and this is my field so if I sound like I'm running a sales pitch I'm sorry its a habbit.
The Alpine Type S speakers are a good brand with a tinny sound quality. They also don't handle a lot of power, the 6 1/2 are only rated at 35W RMS. (just using the 6 1/2 for reffrence)
Speakers
What I would recommend to you would either be the Infinity or the Polk Audio.
The Infinity speakers will give you much cleaner and clear highs. However they arent that great for lower mids. If you have a nice subwoofer set up the Infinitys are the best way to go.
The Polk Audios on the other hand will still give you the nice clean and clear sound but they will give you a more of a full range speaker. It will give you a little lows, mids, and highs not to much of anything with a nice balance of sound.
As for where you buy them, thats up to you. I have tons of people come in with stuff that is not working from crutch field. Circuit City also has the Infinity and Polk Audio speakers buy one get the other half off a lot of the time. Right now the Polk Audio are on sale.
As for me I have the polk audio front and rear speakers running off of a Alpine V12 amp. Trust me those speakers can scream.
Amps
Amps are not cheep. I have to say dont get a Kenwood amp. Their amps have had so many problems. Dont get me wrong there are some that are decent.
I have to recommend MTX, Audiobahn, Rockfords not bad but expensive, and power acoustic.
Check out this site crutch field Isnt the cheapest.
http://www.epinions.com/elec-Car_Stereo
Before you make a purchase let me know what you are getting and for what price.
E-mail me befor you buy something
Just thought of this.. where are you mounting the PC? I'm sure you know that
magnets + PC parts = dead PC
Cody Chanthaseny wrote:Just thought of this.. where are you mounting the PC? I'm sure you know that
magnets + PC parts = dead PC
lol Really what part ?? the only part that doesn't like magnet is the old magnetic disk (3 1/2 and 5 1/4 FD) and who is using those?? The new hard drive aren't very sensible to magnet also.
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
My cousin was just telling me the other day about when he and one of his buddies were working on a PC, putting in a new video card and sound card. After they were all done and went to fire it up, it was totally screwed up. After messing with it a while they realized that one of the screwdrivers they were using was one of those magnetic ones. Now they have a dead motherboard. Sure, something else could have went wrong, but they've done this type of thing a million times and nothing ever went wrong till they used a magnet screwdriver lol. If I were doing this I'd wanna be on the safe side, but.. Ecotec seems to have a good handle on what he's doing so I'm sure he's already thought of this
This is not because they used a magnetic screwdriver, this is probably something else the electronic chip are not affect by that, static electricity maybe, not unplugging the computer and inserting those card maybe, just moving a old computer causing bad contact maybe you have so many other that can cause those prob.
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
The computer is going in the spare tire area, fiberglassed enclosure and windowed. It's not going to be affected by the subwoofers, I've tested the PC while running - as close as 1.5 ft and it works. No trouble. Motherboards, CPUs, hard drives, and ROM drives have no trouble with magnets. The only thing you don't want to do is put a magnet near a CRT.
The brand reviews are really what I need. I'm leaning now towards Infinity/MTX setup (Infinity speakers, MTX amps) and the Kicker sub.
Just so its clear, I'm using crutchfield as a reference for the specifications, I am going through a 3rd party for purchasing them.
Thanks, keep the comments coming
