What sound system is best for me?

[big_c_43]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what sound systems are good and which ones are not.
I was also wondering what set up would be best for my car? I have a VK commodore, there arent any speakers in the front doors and i dont want to cut any wholes.
I have about $1000 to spend, so plz tell me what u think would be best for me to do.

[yobbo88]

from personal experience the system that is right for you may be absolute crap for the next person. with 1000 bucks you wont get the best of the best but something decent all the same. 200 on a head unit (it will be basic but shop around for one with more than 1 pre-out) 400 bucks on an amp. 200-300ish on a sub in a box or spend it on a sub alone and build the box. around 150 for some entry level splits up the front and a bit under 100 for some basic 6" for the rear fill. bridge 2 channels of the amp for the sub and run the splits off the other 2 channels. rears off the head unit. brands... i like pioneer for the mid quality speakers and maybe a kenwood head unit. decent prices for their lower end stuff but i know their prices get a bit crazy at the top end. cabling will be extra but you may be able to pull some cables from somewhere cheap. if you dont want to cut holes build some speaker pods. buying them is expensive they go for around 150 a pair which i didnt feel like paying. i shop at jb and find if your nice and ask for a discount they seem to go crazy and think they will lose a sale so cut heaps off the price. do the install yourself and save a lot there also. its not hard

[BigDaz]

$1000 isnt much to spend. If i were u i'd get a decent head unit *about the 400-500 dollar mark* and then buy a good set of 6x9's for your parcel shelf and a little amp to run them. Then if/when u want better stuff u atleast have a decent head unit and rear speakers. so u wont have to spend an extra $600 on head unit and another set of better speakers. U gutta try and look in the long run not just the short term situation. Im on my third sound system and have spent over $6000 on the shit coz i didnt research when i first bought stuff. But u might ot be as fussy as me. Im not only a big fan of music but also a musician and demand the best sound for my car, coz i spend alot of 'Dazza' Time in it. So dont go cheap if ur just gunna upgrade anyway.

Just tryin to help, so u dont make the same mistake i did

[mouce]

Hang on...6x9 and 'decent' in the same sentence...nah...do yourself a favour, and if you plan on running a sub in the future, get 6" or 6.5" threeways for the rear. If you're going for SQ that is.

The best sound system for you is one that sounds good to your ears. The only way you'll know if the equipment is right for you is to listen to it. You can look at all the numbers in the world, and get as much advice from people as you want, but no one can tell you what will sound 'good' to your ears.

[big_c_43]

i have seen in catalogs that they put together some pretty good sound system packages. Do u think i might be able to find a good package for around $1000. Also what brands are good and wot are not.

[Joe Peeps]

i originally wrote a whole bunch of non relevant info - this is what happens when you dont pay attention to the actual question, sorry for the inconvenience.
so i amend my post to agree with the others:

Mainstream head unit, 2 channel amp, 6x9's.

The rule when buying car audio equipment is never pay full price. Bargain and dont be afraid to walk out. Good luck

[BigDaz]

i have seen in catalogs that they put together some pretty good sound system packages. Do u think i might be able to find a good package for around $1000. Also what brands are good and wot are not.

Any brand can be good if u buy their high quality stuff.

Brands like Sony, Pioneer and Kenwood are generally cheap for how good they are for the lower range stuff. And alot of the more premier gear comes from brands like Rockford fosgate, Alpine, Focal etc etc. Every brand has cheap stuff and expensive stuff. I bought all fusion stuff **liked the black n green theme and liked the little alien ** and i bought the middle range stuff *still not very expensive* and i'd crack between 120db and 130db, just goin off what mates have and how loud theirs was. although mine can go loud i just like it to sound good, which is does.

[trepaul]

i think he said no holes, so its gonna be hard to get some good staging with no speakers in the front.

just go for some 6x9s and a decent head unit.

[SMIT]

To me it sounds like you dont wanna worry about SQ or SPL just somthing above average, for a 1000 get a pionerr/kenwood deal from stathfield and you''ll be allright. But it might be worth cutting holes in your doors consider this more carefully. You need a front stage, after all this is where you sit.

[BigDaz]

yip. why not do the holes? are u tryin to keep the car original or anything like that?. It might be worth chasing down some 2nd hand door trims and just trying that and if u dont want them OR u wanna sell the car then u can put the old trims back in. Just a suggestion

[garfa]

if you dont want big holes fiber glass a pod and then just make smaller holes to screw the pod to the door trim.

[big_c_43]

Thanx everyone for ur input i am still undecided on what im going to do but reading all of ur opinions has really made me consider this more carefully.

[VKStevo]

if u wanna do a decent system, u will have 2 do holes in your doors and chuck in some 6.5 components, if ur gonna get a sub, dont get 6x9's in the parcel shelf, ive done this, bad mistake, was good b4 i got subs, but now sounds crap, the pioneer 6" coaxial are good for the parcel shelf, they sound pretty nice but not sure of the price, also our vk doors arent very big so will have 2 get spacers as well, make sure u get component (seperate tweeter) for the front, another bad mistake from me, get good speakers for the front, coz they are the 1's u hear the most, clarion subs are pretty reasonable for a cheap price (talk them down heaps, i got 2 375W rms subs and 2 mono amps, and all the wiring plus cheap boxes 2 do the job all for $650, retail was 1100, imagine if u just wanted 1 sub) actually if u want just 1 sub and still want it 2 crank, i'd probably go a better brand sub, otherwise 1 of these will definately do the job.

also get a good head unit, paid $450 for my alpine, best thing i did, tonnes of power, good sub, bass and treble control control, as well as many other controls

[semi]

also get a good head unit, paid $450 for my alpine, best thing i did, tonnes of power, good sub, bass and treble control control, as well as many other controls

yeh, 17W RMS. tons of power

[garfa]

yeh, 17W RMS. tons of power

i thought of saying that but no, thought it best to not be sinicle again. good to see you keeping up the torch!

[VKStevo]

ok maybe that came out wrong, and its 18 lol

um, well for a system that used 2 run straight off the head unit, it used 2 crank heaps and put out a fair bit of bass

now ive chucked subs in with amps 2 run them and if i crank it up i could probably deafen myself, so for that 18 watts it cranks pretty nicely, of course i intend 2 put new components in the front and run amps 2 them so i can get clearer sound, not louder

and with the alpines, they have 4 volt preouts which give better sound and stuff than the normal 2 volt 1's

hope u understand wot i mean

[VKStevo]

1 thing i can say about this site is that the members are very picky

[garfa]

we are not picky at all, if you are concerned about 4volt Vs. 2volt preouts. stuff all difference for most people.
and no the 17Wthe h/u delivers will be ok, but will clip and destroy the spekaer. doesn't mean its not loud just that its crap loud.

[VKStevo]

yeh exactly wot i meant, it definately aint quiet, but as i sed i want 2 get components and run amps 2 them 2 get better sound quality, but its all expensive so it will happen slowly like the rest of my car

[semi]

i thought of saying that but no, thought it best to not be sinicle again. good to see you keeping up the torch!

you mean cynical? haha

[semi]

ok maybe that came out wrong, and its 18 lol

um, well for a system that used 2 run straight off the head unit, it used 2 crank heaps and put out a fair bit of bass

now ive chucked subs in with amps 2 run them and if i crank it up i could probably deafen myself, so for that 18 watts it cranks pretty nicely, of course i intend 2 put new components in the front and run amps 2 them so i can get clearer sound, not louder

and with the alpines, they have 4 volt preouts which give better sound and stuff than the normal 2 volt 1's

hope u understand wot i mean

Yeh mate, i get what you mean about the 4V preouts- but just one thing
You know that the internal amplifier in the HU has little effect on your subs, as you're running from pre-outs- these come from before the power amplifier

[VKStevo]

ok im not quite understanding wot u r getting at

when i bought my head unit, i had a choice of 1 that had 1 2V preout, or another 1 that had 3 4V preouts for $50 more, i was advised to go for the 2nd 1 because of the more preouts, it is easier to set up amplifiers to the speakers, about the 4V, they told me it wouldnt make the subs any louder, but what told me what it does do is reduce the level of noise that u get with the 2V preouts

if thats wrong, blame tonkins, not me

[garfa]

its not wrong at all, its just not a huge importance in most proples stereos.

semi: you know i cant spell at all! do you pick on disabled people usually
(just j/k)

[semi]

ok im not quite understanding wot u r getting at

when i bought my head unit, i had a choice of 1 that had 1 2V preout, or another 1 that had 3 4V preouts for $50 more, i was advised to go for the 2nd 1 because of the more preouts, it is easier to set up amplifiers to the speakers, about the 4V, they told me it wouldnt make the subs any louder, but what told me what it does do is reduce the level of noise that u get with the 2V preouts

if thats wrong, blame tonkins, not me

no, no what im saying is that the 18W RMS i quoted before doesnt effect your sound when you are using an external amp. The 4V preouts do have an effect.

garfa, i made that point because i was being cynical

[VKStevo]

no, no what im saying is that the 18W RMS i quoted before doesnt effect your sound when you are using an external amp. The 4V preouts do have an effect.

oh yeh i no that, i was just confused as to wot i sed that made u tell me that, oh well

but personally how the speakers are set up now, from the 18 watts it puts out compared to friends who have different brands, i think mine puts out much better sound just from the head unit, of course i want better eventually so i will run all my speakers off amps then turn the internal amplifier off so it can put all of its power towards playing better quality music