I bought a 04 cav to replace my 98, and have been looking at audio upgrades alongside engine.

Here's my plan right now:
Decent double din
Component fronts
Decent rears
2 12s

I was looking at jl stuff and came across these, and seen they make 6x9 adapters for components, so what would these in both the front and rear sound like? https://www.amazon.com/JL-Audio-C2-650-6-5-Inch-Component/dp/B0036D1DQI

Sorry for the double post, please delete this one.

Jl audio is the best in the business. If u can afford it then thats what id get


ReD RaiN

T!M8!T wrote:Jl audio is the best in the business. If u can afford it then thats what id get

Even with it being a lesser quality line?

The biggest thing is to run an amp to the components in the front. Make sure you seal your doors well and use mdf for the speaker adapters.

Don't spend too much time or money on rear speakers. True SPL guys don't even run them. Don't amp them, and get something cheap and most importantly low wattage. I've always liked pioneer for a cheap and low wattage option that doesn't sound like garbage.

For subs it all depends on what you want. You can achieve amazing sound with a decent single 10" in a sealed box. But if you want two 12s, go for it.

When you choose your head unit, be sure to pay attention to the pre-out voltages and that it has a dedicated subwoofer output. High end will have 6-8 volt pre-outs where junk will have 2 volt. 4v is middle of the road and about as low as I'd like to go personally. The lower the voltage, the more signal noise and eventual distortion you get. The last two head units I've had were 4v and sounded decent.



"In Oldskool we trust"

Y3llowCav wrote:The biggest thing is to run an amp to the components in the front. Make sure you seal your doors well and use mdf for the speaker adapters.

Don't spend too much time or money on rear speakers. True SPL guys don't even run them. Don't amp them, and get something cheap and most importantly low wattage. I've always liked pioneer for a cheap and low wattage option that doesn't sound like garbage.

For subs it all depends on what you want. You can achieve amazing sound with a decent single 10" in a sealed box. But if you want two 12s, go for it.

When you choose your head unit, be sure to pay attention to the pre-out voltages and that it has a dedicated subwoofer output. High end will have 6-8 volt pre-outs where junk will have 2 volt. 4v is middle of the road and about as low as I'd like to go personally. The lower the voltage, the more signal noise and eventual distortion you get. The last two head units I've had were 4v and sounded decent.

When you say sealing the doors, are we talking about the enclosures you can buy that keep the elements off the back of the speaker, and supposedly help the bottom And?

Why do most people not worry about the rears? Because most don't have people that ride in the back? *I like to party* 😂. And why low wattage? So it doesn't draw from the other channels? Or so it doesn't sound underpowered?

What's a decent double din/gps that's still budget minded? Not looking to pay 600 right now, I was looking at like power acoustik / pioneer

Speaking of speakers, can you recommend a good brand?

Diana Welch wrote:Speaking of speakers, can you recommend a good brand?

Every brand has different tiers of product, the higher tier the better.

But some brands I've played with are alpine, JL, pioneer, Kenwood. And I've messed with the cheaper ones like Pyle, Sony, *low tier kicker*, and they are ok for some people, others not so much.

All in opinion

Pioneer is prob one of the better head units, alpine too but pricey. As mentioned every brand has their high and lower model line. As far as i kno u cant buy enclosers for the doors. Use a product like dynamat for sound deadening or i heard furnace wrap works just as good for a fraction of the price. Ppl sometimes dont run speakers in the back cause in higher end setups u wouldnt be able to hear them all that much and if its that loud u prob dont want ppl in the back


ReD RaiN

T!M8!T wrote:Pioneer is prob one of the better head units, alpine too but pricey. As mentioned every brand has their high and lower model line. As far as i kno u cant buy enclosers for the doors. Use a product like dynamat for sound deadening or i heard furnace wrap works just as good for a fraction of the price. Ppl sometimes dont run speakers in the back cause in higher end setups u wouldnt be able to hear them all that much and if its that loud u prob dont want ppl in the back

When it comes to sound deadening, which is the correct way to install It? Inside the outer skin? Or over the support? I was under the impression that on the skin would be the most efficient at cutting down rattle.

Attachments

DynamatOnInsideOfOuterDoor.jpg (54k)
3-13-11-1977-camaro-dynamat-door-sm1.jpg (688k)

Trevor . wrote:

Diana Welch wrote:Speaking of speakers, can you recommend a good brand?

Every brand has different tiers of product, the higher tier the better.

But some brands I've played with are alpine, JL, pioneer, Kenwood. And I've messed with the cheaper ones like Pyle, Sony, *low tier kicker*, and they are ok for some people, others not so much.

All in opinion

You have a point. Thanks for these suggestions.

Ive never installed any myself tbh but id imagine itd work best the closet layer to the interior covering all the holes and such, prob be difficult to mount it behind the support.. If u just did the like the first pic then sound would still travel through the holes to the sides and other areas u cannot get to


ReD RaiN

Trevor . wrote:

Y3llowCav wrote:The biggest thing is to run an amp to the components in the front. Make sure you seal your doors well and use mdf for the speaker adapters.

Don't spend too much time or money on rear speakers. True SPL guys don't even run them. Don't amp them, and get something cheap and most importantly low wattage. I've always liked pioneer for a cheap and low wattage option that doesn't sound like garbage.

For subs it all depends on what you want. You can achieve amazing sound with a decent single 10" in a sealed box. But if you want two 12s, go for it.

When you choose your head unit, be sure to pay attention to the pre-out voltages and that it has a dedicated subwoofer output. High end will have 6-8 volt pre-outs where junk will have 2 volt. 4v is middle of the road and about as low as I'd like to go personally. The lower the voltage, the more signal noise and eventual distortion you get. The last two head units I've had were 4v and sounded decent.

When you say sealing the doors, are we talking about the enclosures you can buy that keep the elements off the back of the speaker, and supposedly help the bottom And?

Why do most people not worry about the rears? Because most don't have people that ride in the back? *I like to party* 😂. And why low wattage? So it doesn't draw from the other channels? Or so it doesn't sound underpowered?

What's a decent double din/gps that's still budget minded? Not looking to pay 600 right now, I was looking at like power acoustik / pioneer

Here's how its done. Cascade or second skin are the only brands I would put in my car. dynamat is junk: Install Procedure

Rear speakers are for a little rear fill only. Rule of thumb, when in the front seat if you turn your ear toward the back and can hear the rear speakers, they're too loud. It's ALL about front imaging. Just making noise isn't what sounds GOOD. The stage needs to be in front of you. That's why so many systems have tweeters in the sail panels. It moves the stage up and forward.

Low wattage rear speakers because you're running them off of the head unit that puts out 15-20 watts rms a channel on a good day. And even that number may be high. People go out and buy 150 watt speakers and try to drive them with a 15 watt head unit. Then they wonder why they don't get loud, distort and sound like crap. Check the specs. The secret to pioneer's drop in speakers out performing most others for the same price is that they are super low wattage to be run in non-amplified systems like most of the cars they're going in to.

Pioneer has always made good head units for the price. I had an older DEH-P600UB that was a fantastic single din. Look into the premier line stuff from them. I've never been a double din guy, especially in j-bodies. They take some work to stuff in there and they never seem to mount nicely. Plus, I never liked touchscreens.

For speakers, really depends. As someone else said, everyone has better and worse lines. Stay away from most of the best buy stuff. JVC, Pyle, low end Kenwood, Kicker, Alpine are all junk. Kenwood and Alpine have higher lines that are decent, as does Pioneer. JL has always made good equipment and is US made, but obviously you pay for it. If you want to step up in the world, look into brands like Rainbow Audio and Sundown Audio. Sundown makes some sweet woofers. I have an awesome set of 6.5 components from rainbow that I never installed but just looking at them and the crossovers shows me how quality they really are.



"In Oldskool we trust"

2 headunits I came across today that weren't 2watt.

Alpine INE-W960- 4 watt preamp output.

Jensen VX7021- 6 watt preamp output. *but looks like it's aimed at Apple, and I'm android*