Complete Audio System For Under $2000

[TbombsGT]

Why does everyone (ok not everyone) on here love infinity? from a strict factory replacement i guess since they are the better 4x6 out there and are 2ohm available....but thats it. And i even ran reference 4x6's as a quick fix while workin on my build but come on! And btw, Pioneer prs are some of the best SQ components you will hear (for the money) vs what i see most people on here running.

I couldnt imagine reworking my system with $2g available!! Still wouldnt spend it though. $400 would go to deadening/absorbing material(second skin)

[ltpats]

Originally Posted by Metallman56

personally if it were me, i'd only spend about $100 on the rears, and get these for the fronts.

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1078

or any of these i think i'd choose over the kappa's. dont get me wrong, i do like kappa's i think there the best thing BB or CC sell, but i feel all of these are better.

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=2715

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=6846

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=4985

Best Buy doesn't carry the Kappa's only the reference series, big difference (IMHO)

[Metallman56]

my bad, i thought BB sold Kappa's as well. sense CC is closing i guess kappa's will be harder to come by.

TbombsGT i like Kappa's but think there overpriced. just like JL has some really awesome stuff, but there too expensive. you can find things that are just as good if not better through other brands, and spend a lot less money.

i would agree with you though. i think the Premier comps are a excellent steel for the price range there in. they should be priced at around $500 imo, cause they keep up with speakers that cost that much.

[DarkMagna]

With careful shopping, $2000 can go a long way.

Here's what I've got in mine:

Kenwood deck...pretty good for the buck.
Full preouts, hi/low/sub filters, defeatable internal amps, iPod and USB on the face, XM and Sat radio, Blu Tooth capability, Aux out, steering wheel control, etc
$170

Kicker 400.1 for the subs.
Refurbished from factory with warranty.
$130

Kicker 650.4 for the inside speakers.
Refurbished from factory with warranty.
$170

Two Kicker 10" Comp subs.
These will be upgraded this summer, and the wife will inherit them.
$100 for the pair.

BassWorx sealed sub box.
$150

Focal Access 6 1/2" separates for the front.
Local auto sound shop used to carry Focal. Now they carry Hertz. They were blowing this left over stock out the door.
$130

Focal PolyGlass 6 x 9 coaxial in the rear.
Again, same shop clearance sale.
$150

Misc wire....three sets of RCA's, Amp install kit, etc
~$400

Approx 60 ft^2 of sound deadener

Grand total:
$1350


That's far, far below retail cost.
None of the stuff is in the WallyMart category, nor junk like Boss, Pyramid, JVC, etc.

It may not be considered a high-end system, but it's far from low end either.
And lemme tell you........Focal's are all they're cracked-up to be.
They're probably the most detailed, non-harsh speakers I've ever had in a car.
They've convinced me that I should probably upgrade Focal subs too.

None of the stuff was bought used. I just took my time and waited for the sales and good deals. I should mention that this is all in Canadian dollars too....U.S. go even further.

I did the install as a temp install (it was late Nov). It's not a junky install...very clean and stealthy. But this spring, I'm going to do a custom trunk and door pods.

[IanGT99]

^^^ Not a bad system at all. Pretty good, actually. If I could suggest going to a home improvement store and buying a sheet of MDF, Liquid Nails sealant, wood screws, and wood glue for about $35 total. Then get some automotive carpetting and build your own enclosure. Sealed boxes are extremely hard to actually mess up and you can save yourself $100 or more just by doing that. Plus, it's much more rewarding when you build it yourself!

[Metallman56]

if you get kicker amps make sure you get a good long warrenty. every kicker amp i've ever bought (4) i've had problems with. and 2 of them stopped working for no reason. i personally will never buy a kicker amp again. just a heads up.

[DarkMagna]

Originally Posted by IanGT99

^^^ Not a bad system at all. Pretty good, actually. If I could suggest going to a home improvement store and buying a sheet of MDF, Liquid Nails sealant, wood screws, and wood glue for about $35 total. Then get some automotive carpetting and build your own enclosure. Sealed boxes are extremely hard to actually mess up and you can save yourself $100 or more just by doing that. Plus, it's much more rewarding when you build it yourself!

Actually, that's exactly what I did when the system was in my S10 Blazer.
I built a dual chamber, sealed box to fix exactly between the wheel wells, and to follow the angle of the backseat.
I built it to almost the largest air space, as defined by Kicker. I wanted it sealed for better transient response (tight) and large for better low frequency extension.

For the bottom-end Kicker subs, they really moved the air!


When I bought the Grand Am and was in the process of moving everything out of the truck and into the car, it was already the middle of November.
I just wanted to git 'er done before it really got cold. As it was, it still took three weekends.
I had to gut the interior twice. The first time was to run all of the cabling. Power down one side, signal cabling down the other. But I had to put the car back together so I could drive it for the next week, to-and-from work.
The second time was for sound deadening. Let me tell you, doing the inner and outer door skins took a lot longer than I'd expected.

Once spring is here, I intend to build a custom trunk.
I plan to build custom fiberglass sub boxes that will fit into the bulbous areas behind the taillights. Then, I hope to take molds and try to market them.

The only thing that I'm still waffling on, is whether to upgrade the two tens to two twelves.....or go with one slightly larger (13") Focal. I'm thinking that last one....

[DarkMagna]

Originally Posted by Metallman56

if you get kicker amps make sure you get a good long warrenty. every kicker amp i've ever bought (4) i've had problems with. and 2 of them stopped working for no reason. i personally will never buy a kicker amp again. just a heads up.

Yeah...I've read no shortage of threads with people saying this stuff.
So far, mine have been flailing away without issue for almost a year.

I actually like them. Absolutely no noise (balanced inputs likely help), lots of true power (not the typical fake inflation from lesser brands).

I often take the tales of failure with a grain of salt.
With cheapo brands, failure is to be expected.
With better brands (I'm not kidding myself into believing that Kicker can be considered a top brand - but I don't believe they're junk either), they usually get popular and proliferate for good reasons.

I was huge into car stereo 20 years ago. I've always been passionate about home stereo and home theater systems....alway been an early adopter and have always had good, to great systems.
I've also got a college diploma in Electronics Engineering and a diploma in Networking and Telecommunications...so I also understand a little more than the average joe. That said, there's no shortage of people that commit far more passion to this stuff and have forgotten more than I'll ever know

In all my years of amateur experience, the majority of failures typically fall into the owner's hands and far less often to actual faulty equipment - although that will, of course, always occur too.

Failures are usually more about sloppy installs:
- slapping equipment in place, instead of proper, solid mounting
- shoddy wiring. not using appropriate wiring, not taking enough care to run it properly and protect it, etc
- expectations. A shocking number of people don't recognize distortion and clipping....blissfully cranking their system to the breaking point and beyond, without ever even realizing that they're exceeding the system's capabilities.
I've lost track of the number of times I've heard peoples systems (home and car) cranked to the point of clipping....but it's so loud that they don't seem to notice that the system is actually screaming in pain....and my sensibilities silenting feeling the equipment's pain

Just because their system gets loud, they don't seem to realize that their system isn't capable of that volume without significant distortion. It's not until some of them have heard a good system, that they realize that there's simply loud, and there's loud but still clean and clear. A good system (up to a point) won't seem to be all that loud, until you try talking to the guy beside you!


Don't get me wrong. I'm not putting you into any of those categories. I don't know you, your installs, knowledge, etc.
It's entirely possible that you did everything right and still got lemon equipment.
I'm hoping mine's not ;-)

Cheers.

[Metallman56]

im actually not surprised reading this. my guess is its a lot of kids that think they know how to install, but really have no idea wtf there doing.

when i replaced all of mine i took the amp out, and hooked up the new amps to the exact same wiring. all of which have worked fine, and are yet to give me any trouble whatsoever.

i was just giving a heads up.

[Sparky'sGA01]

I personally have an alpine 9887 head unit and love it. And i fell in love with kicker ever since i first layed eyes on them. so i chose to go all alpine speakers with alpine type R's in the rear which sound decent and wasn't expensive at all. and went type S's in the front doors since i couldn't find a set of type R's in 4x6.

and went with a kicker 350x4 to power all the speakers. then for subs i have 2 '07 version kicker L7 15's powered by a kicker 750x1 amp cause i love my bass!

and with a little help from the local guys i got it all for under $2000 but the subs were used so that might be why...

[Metallman56]

its 2:15 am, i'm bored so here goes, my $2,000 system

Head Unit
Pioneer DEH-P410UB $169
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=7504

Front Speakers
Boston Acoustics Pro50 $300
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=20344

Rear Speakers
Boston Acoustics S953 $100
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=3379

Subs
2) JL Audio 12W6v2 $658
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=12514

Sub Amp
Boston Acoustics GT-28 $390
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...Product_ID=128

Front And Rear Amp
Kenwood Excelon KAC-X40 $188
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17653

Wiring

Sub Amp
Stinger 4 Gauge Power Wiring Kit $80
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=5798

Speaker Amp
Stinger 8 Gauge Amplifier Wiring Kit $40
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=6427

that brings the grand total to $1,925. the extra $75 is to buy a box, and the install kit for your head unit. the box you should have custom built, and depending where you buy it from $50 to $75 is about what you'd pay. but like i said have it custom built for those w6's.

Notes: $300 for a pair of BOston Pros is a awesome deal. you'll be hard pressed to find anything that sounds better for $500. note how i didnt give you the 6.5's as the 5.25s should be a lot easier to install, and you can hide them behind your door panel.

when i was putting together this system i wanted to give you a little bit of variety. however when i came across the gt-28 sub amp, i couldnt resist. i paid $1000 for this amp in 05 i think it was. and to see it for $300 is a kick in the balls, but you cant pass it up.

as far as subs go i almost went with boston g5's. the pair would have been about $500 cheaper and imo they sound a little bit better then the w6s. however, i think the w6s are a little bit louder so thats what i recomended. i say you wanted kicker subs, and figured SPL was more important to you then SQ.

so for $2000 your system should push about 140 db give or take. that number also depends on if you put your subs in a sealed or ported box. your mids and highs should both sounds excellent. and if you wanted to say some money you could cut out the rear speakers all together. i personally like the sound of the rears, but a lot of people think they take away from the fronts. either way thats your call. i hope i didnt miss anything, its now 3:07 am and i'm tired and going to bed.

[IanGT99]

Originally Posted by Metallman56

im actually not surprised reading this. my guess is its a lot of kids that think they know how to install, but really have no idea wtf there doing.

It's funny you mention that. A few years ago, I saw a few high school kids hanging out in the bank parking lot on a Saturday afternoon. I was walking to my car when the one kid was showing a few others his "system." In the trunk, he had an old Cerwin Vega 12", a Pioneer 10", and two old paper cone 8's he took out of home tower speakers. It was all thrown in the back of a crappy Blazer in a couple of shoddy plywood boxes. I got in my car and nearly passed out from laughing so hard. Just figured I'd share...

[Metallman56]

good story. nothing like high school kids with there awesome "systems"

[IanGT99]

I wish I would have taken a picture. Everytime I have a bad day, I could just look at it and instantly giggle uncontrollably.

[Metallman56]

and more importantly post it on here so we could laugh with you. you should see if he has a cardomain.

[IanGT99]

Oh man, I know there's some bad ones on cardomain. I mean, at 16-17 years old, I wasn't too keen on the in's and out's of car audio, but for the love of all that's holy.... some people just shouldn't bother.

[TbombsGT]

HeadUnit:
really nice SQ oriented hu


Front Stage DLS 3-way
try to beat it for the money


Substage
nice single 12...add $100 got to 2 tensif you chose

Amp
amp sex(this is a little pricey, could prolly save some $$ here but not sure if its worth it)

And $300 in deadening....i really like Second Skin....used first time last week

under $1400 in equipment...Amazon has Kicker's wire stuff and awesome prices...prolly $100 more than enough for install s

So, $1500 later....properly installed you have one very sweet sounding GAGT

That HU is prolly the best "deal" in there