what do you suggest?

[Static89]

hey guys, im thinking of doing a install on my VT not sure what to choose from tho, not looking at spending over 3 grand on the whole thing so yeah, what do you guys suggest??im looking for quality over quantity, dont care about huge brand names or whatever i just want somthing good that wont kill itself, anything you guys suggest?

[Hot-Rod]

Make sure you get twin subs no matter what system as big boot requires big bass, also i would highly recommend touch screen double din, and cross over 6inch front splitz to start wid.

[Static89]

any good double dins around?? can ya post up a link for me??

[bezz]

I would go the opposite and get a single decent sub, and a single din h/u to start with
I'd spend up more on decent front splits and a decent amp to power em.

[1991_Vn2nV]

I would go the opposite and get a single decent sub, and a single din h/u to start with
I'd spend up more on decent front splits and a decent amp to power em.

What Bezz said. Two subs is not always louder than one. Spend that money on one good quality sub instead.

Single din gets you more bang for ya buck as well, rather than going for a 2 din.

Some cheap 6.5" coaxials for the rear for rear fill. Spend as much as you can on the front splits as that is where the quality of the sound is made. Then look around for amp(s) to suit.

[rcnugget]

yep good set of 6" splits up the front, I find the JL VR series to be pretty good value for money, also the JL slash series amps ( 300/4 + 500/1 ) are awesome, but jaycar are good bang for buck if you want to go that way for amps, I have heard mixed reviews of thier speakers though. Focals are awesome speakers just pretty exy Just upto personal preference

6.5" 2 ways in the rear

good quality sub in the rear depending on what music you listen to 12" 13.5" or 15" even dual 10"s if you like the fast stuff

I would stick with single din you could even get a foldout dvd for your budget

dont forget the alarm

[Tasmaniak]

if you want good sound...forget double din video. If you want lots of bells and whistles and all the pretty things to go with it...look at double din

[Static89]

well i listen to alot of metal and techno sorta stuff , but i also throw in a bit of real heavy maximum bass sorta stuff somtimes, at the moment i have orion cobolts in the front a pioneer headunit with ipod connectivity and all that ****, a 500 watt amp and 1300 watt sony sub floating in the boot oh and im prettyt sure i got some sort of pioneer speakers in the rear doors but yeah, not surebout that

would 2x 10's be good for the sorta stuff i lsiten to? and if i mount them against the tail lights would that put ok sound through the car, i was also thinking a good pair of speakers in the front doors and rear doors and possibly 6x9's on the parcle shelf becouse the duede that had it before me cut big bloody holes in the shelf where he was gunna put them

[rcnugget]

mounting all depends on the sub just try them in different locations see what sounds right to you

[holdenboy]

Dont worry about 6x9s in the rear, unless you really want pure volume over quality.

Buy a decent single DIN unit, Alpine are my choice but i would suggest going into a car audio store and having a look to see what you like.....around the $600-$700 mark will get you a top-of-the-line unit in most brands. Single DIN has much more bang for you buck, but if you want DVD and/or Playstation etc then there is some half-decent single DIN motorised units out there like Kenwood, Alpine etc that do have good features and sound tuning capabilities....but you will pay more than $700.

Front speakers is totally up to you, go into a car audio store once again (not JB or Starthfield - a specialist delaer) and listen to as many splits as possible with a CD that you know well, even take your own in. MB Quart, Boston, Focal just toname a few is what i'd be looking at personally.

Rears can left as they are, and ran off the head-unit.

Subwoofer / box combo is fairly important...a single 12" or 15" will suffice, mounted in a well tuned ported box...firing towards the tailights works best in my experience.

Amp/s again is up to you, but i must stress that the more power you get the better it will sound, if you get a set of splits rated at say 100wrms, then feed them 150-200wrms for the best possible sound from those speakers. For the sub i would go with a dedicated monoblock.....again with more power than what the sub is rated at (if its 500wrms, give it 800-1000wrms even more if you want).

Wiring also is very important, for the two amps you'll want 8awg or even better 4awg for your speaker amp, and 2awg or 0awg for the monoblock...remember power in is power out, you could buy a 3kw amp and use 8awg to power it, but its never going to put out more than 400wrms beacuse it cant pull the current required to make that miuch power. Also a decent gauge speaker cabling too, 12awg to the front would do the job nicely.

Oh yeah, if you have any $$$ left after that, take my advice and buy an alarm, theres nothing like spending several thousands on a system only to have it stolen or just you car damaged when they try to remove the components. Yes an alarm wont stop them from braking a window, but once they hear that siren going they'd have to be pretty keen to keep on going.

[rcnugget]

Dont worry about 6x9s in the rear, unless you really want pure volume over quality.

no there is no point in 6x9 when you have a sub they dont givey ou more volume they sacrafice clarity to provide freq response under 80hz not louder volume

Buy a decent single DIN unit, Alpine are my choice but i would suggest going into a car audio store and having a look to see what you like.....around the $600-$700 mark will get you a top-of-the-line unit in most brands. Single DIN has much more bang for you buck, but if you want DVD and/or Playstation etc then there is some half-decent single DIN motorised units out there like Kenwood, Alpine etc that do have good features and sound tuning capabilities....but you will pay more than $700.

shop around you can get plenty of 12 month old dvd headunits under 700 in single din format, you shouldnt need to spend anywhere near 700 if you are just after a basic good sounding system without dvd

Front speakers is totally up to you, go into a car audio store once again (not JB or Starthfield - a specialist delaer) and listen to as many splits as possible with a CD that you know well, even take your own in. MB Quart, Boston, Focal just toname a few is what i'd be looking at personally.

I disagree again some of the guys that work at JB and strathfield are very intelligent when it comes to good all around setups and will usually give you quite a good deal if you buy the whole system of them as they work on commission

Rears can left as they are, and ran off the head-unit.

why would you tell him to spend 700 on a headunit then leave factory speakers in the rear powered by the headunit what you need to do is just get some nice clear 2 ways in the rear and power them off your 4 channel amp otherwise passengers will have nothing but distortion in thier ears at anything about 1/4 volume

Subwoofer / box combo is fairly important...a single 12" or 15" will suffice, mounted in a well tuned ported box...firing towards the tailights works best in my experience.

proberbly the only correct thing you have typed in your whole post

Amp/s again is up to you, but i must stress that the more power you get the better it will sound, if you get a set of splits rated at say 100wrms, then feed them 150-200wrms for the best possible sound from those speakers. For the sub i would go with a dedicated monoblock.....again with more power than what the sub is rated at (if its 500wrms, give it 800-1000wrms even more if you want).

I highly do not reccomend this, audio manafactures put a rating on speakers for a reason, not so you can double the amp power and it will sound good, you are more likely to blow them than sound good, you can proberbly safely exceed them limits of the rating by 10-20% but even that on some speakers is danger zone

Wiring also is very important, for the two amps you'll want 8awg or even better 4awg for your speaker amp, and 2awg or 0awg for the monoblock...remember power in is power out, you could buy a 3kw amp and use 8awg to power it, but its never going to put out more than 400wrms beacuse it cant pull the current required to make that miuch power. Also a decent gauge speaker cabling too, 12awg to the front would do the job nicely.

also not true, im running 4ga cable with 2200 RMS and managed to get 143+ db @ 31hz. 0ga for 500w rms is just plain overkill and will cost you lots of money. one 2/4ga run from battery will be ample for the average install.

[holdenboy]

OK...here we go again,

6x9s will give out more volume expecially when they will be mounted in the parcel shelf as opposed to 6" speakers mounted in the bottom of the rear doors firing at the rear passengers legs. How do they sacrifice clarity in ANY way when high passed at 80hz? if anything they will be more efficent at reproducing 80hz and above, once again especially if they are mounted in the parcel shelf.

If i quoted $700 for a "basic good sounding system" then i would have been wrong, i quoted $700 for a TOP OF THE LINE head-unit from the leading brands.

SOME of the guys that work at those stores are knowledgeable....but the factis the dont stock brands like Focal, MB Quart etc do they?

As far as replacing the rear speakers, firstly do you know what staging is? it will be ruined if you try overpowering or even coming close to matching the output of the front stage, ive done a system in a VX before and advised against replacing / externally amplifying the rear stage....after i did the system for him i gave him a listen and then disconnected the rears.....he liked the sound alot more afterwards and now he has $200 rear coaxials sitting in his doors that dont even get listened to. Also with the passengers hearing distortion.....if the system is tuned right the rear speakers wont start to distort untill the rest of the system starts, and thats just BASIC tuning lol.

When makers of amplifiers test them for power ratings, they are at 14.4v and with a fixed impedance, this is VERY far from the real world. Amps put out less power once voltage drop is taken into account, and not to mention impedance rise the speaker creates by heating up the voice coil. Yes they may produce 500wrms for about 1/2 a second, then once they have to deal with the real world.....that figure will considerably drop, maybe 400wrms for a decent amp, maybe 300wrms. I personally run "1500wrms" into subs that are rated at 300wrms, and they take it fine (for over 12 months). The bigger danger is underpowering them and feeding them a clipped signal, which WILL damage any speaker / subwoofer.

(takes a breath).......

I will admit though your score is impressive, but im sure it will increase will 0awg. Oh and i didnt say use 0awg for 500wrms, i said 0awg for 800-1000wrms. YEs, one 2/4awg will be ample for the average system....but the average system does not consist of a 300+wrms front stage amp and a 800+wrms monoblock which is what i suggested.

Im speaking from over 10 years of experience, and i take the time to read and reply to alot of peoples questions and problems....if this type of crap continues i really cant be bothered helping anyone.

Edit: Sorry VTberlina89 - just trying to steer you in the right direction mate.

[1991_Vn2nV]

no there is no point in 6x9 when you have a sub they dont givey ou more volume they sacrafice clarity to provide freq response under 80hz not louder volume

shop around you can get plenty of 12 month old dvd headunits under 700 in single din format, you shouldnt need to spend anywhere near 700 if you are just after a basic good sounding system without dvd

I disagree again some of the guys that work at JB and strathfield are very intelligent when it comes to good all around setups and will usually give you quite a good deal if you buy the whole system of them as they work on commission

why would you tell him to spend 700 on a headunit then leave factory speakers in the rear powered by the headunit what you need to do is just get some nice clear 2 ways in the rear and power them off your 4 channel amp otherwise passengers will have nothing but distortion in thier ears at anything about 1/4 volume

proberbly the only correct thing you have typed in your whole post

I highly do not reccomend this, audio manafactures put a rating on speakers for a reason, not so you can double the amp power and it will sound good, you are more likely to blow them than sound good, you can proberbly safely exceed them limits of the rating by 10-20% but even that on some speakers is danger zone

also not true, im running 4ga cable with 2200 RMS and managed to get 143+ db @ 31hz. 0ga for 500w rms is just plain overkill and will cost you lots of money. one 2/4ga run from battery will be ample for the average install.

What the hell is your problem? Just give the OP your own reply instead of picking apart someone elses who is trying to help (rather than start an argument like you are). Half your post is a load of crap as it is, its obvious you're not trying to help but try and b/s your way into an argument or big noting yourself.

Grow up, or go home.

[VrWagz1]

Sorry if this has been said but theres alot of crap here already and its still the frist page. But best thing you can do is go for quality name brand gear for the amps and deck, i like jvc stuff personally.
If you have a good quality deck and amp it will hardly matter what speakers you buy(as long as they are half decent), they will make them sound crisp and clear.

Try to get some class b stuff if you can get it in your budget, try to steer clear of class d stuff like "response" gear. Though it sounds ok, you will only get that real quality sound out of really good gear.

My main point, reaserch and spend the extra on your amps(including the one in the head unit), and cheap out(a little bit) on speakers if you have too, as thats where your gonna get that quality sound,

[Joe Peeps]

this thread - funny stuff.

6x9's: dont bother.
rears: personal prefernce but your not going to be sitting in the back, yeah?
amps: headroom is a good thing but not worth blowing the budget over
fronts: the money melon.
HU: 2 preouts, otherwise whatever looks good and you like the interface
subs: less is sometimes more but not all subs are created equal. factor in enclosure cost too
wiring: the bigger the better for <800watts - 4g = fine as said, more power, go bigger.

wise man say, 3k is a serious budget. head out to a few stores see what they offer.

take a peek here - take note of the caveat preceding the lists

Fhrx Studios - Audio / Visual Specialists

peace and love

[ucwepn]

For a sub go with a single JL 12w7 ( powerful bugger)

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_subs.php?series_id=9

[Static89]

yes, screw the strippers........... ^_^ anways lmao i asked for everyones opinion, so stop taking cheap shots at each other just chill peoples,lets all hug it out?

[Joe Peeps]

nice man, you caught that before i deleted it - good ol Bender! lol i decided to keep on topic and got rid of it. the stores in qland that have a good rep from reports include northfield marooka and cartunez. not sure how close they are to you. keep us posted, happy looking!

[Static89]

lmao, got a few of my threads on instant email notification :P

love your quote on your sig aswell >.>

anyways, i was thinking bout hitting up JB's becouse i know a guy there thatl do me a pretty good deal, he gave the dude i know a 1000 dollar hi def tv with his 4 grand system >.> so yeah was thinking bout going thru him but just seeing what else is out there and yeah im in capalaba, i can get to marooka pretty easy aswell

Mark

[1991_Vn2nV]

The problem with JB's is they don't sell any of the really good brands, most of the gear is crap. Great for headunits though, you can pick Pioneer headunits up at great prices at JB.

[bezz]

Try to get some class b stuff if you can get it in your budget, try to steer clear of class d stuff like "response" gear. Though it sounds ok, you will only get that real quality sound out of really good gear.

Sorry to nitpick... i agree with the rest of your post, but in recent years full range class d amps have improved in quality dramatically. You'll find a heap of award winning SQ cars in australia running Apline PDX, Eclipse XA models and some Pioneer models, all full range class D ICEpower amplifiers.

They aren't that expensive either, I know for a fact you could pick up something like an Eclipse XA4000 for less than $400 second hand that'd absolutely blow away many equivalent class AB amps in terms of SQ.

As for response gear... can't comment on the sound quality of them as I've never run them!

[holdenboy]

LOL, yeah sorry guys...couldnt let him get away with crap like that.

but as Joe Peeps said, 3k is a serious budget.....take your time and shop / listen around to as many different products as possible, then you'll have the best chance at finding a product you really like. Even doing some research on the net on products you would consider, then ring up or go into a dtore that stocks these products and see / feel them in the flesh.

[jjFarking]

Hiya Mark
Pretty much everything has been said here already. Not that that stops me from adding my 2 cents worth
The sky's the limit when it comes to buying audio gear for the car.
What you need to keep in mind is what you're ultimately trying to achieve sound-wise.
Don't forget that you'll be spending money on getting sound in a car..
Sounds a little too obvious?
Allow me to explain.
A car is as acoustically sound, as a brick is wind co-efficient. A car is also noisy - no escaping that; wherever you go will be noisy too. Not only will your sound system have to compete with the car's native noises, it also has to compete with all the other traffic, road noise, weather and last, but not least, your own ears.
Many sound-offs show just how good car audio can be and that's terrific stuff, but the same "award winning" equipment doesn't sound so great once the car's in normal use. Granted, it will still sound awesome, but nothing like it would be when it's neatly parked in a quiet environment & the engine's off.
Sound is a very subjective subject to get right. Ultimately, quality is firstly decided by your ears (if it sounds perfect to your ears, you have the right combination - even if it might sound like crap to someone else's hearing) and, secondly, the quality of the components used.
You can get some surprisingly good output from some mediocre type brands that are readily available - it just depends on what you want to hear from them.
Personally, I spent (after some serious haggling and more than a $1200 discount) $3400 on a sound setup that, after tweaking the settings to my hearing (rather than the default doof-doof setup), sounds as good as any competition setup when in motion.
Whilst my setup will happily punch out well over 120dB, I don't need nor want this kind of loudness. How on earth am I going to hear the emergency sirens from Ambulance/Fire/Police/etc at that kind of loudness?
Sure I'll have it blasting the nuisance into my neighbourhood when it's parked on the driveway, but only there and never whilst driving. It's not worth the safety risk..
What I am after is quality of sound (you mentioned quality over quantity), which means frequency response.
My system's setup to have a usable response of 22Hz-20KHz (it can go a little lower/higher respectively, but that's not necessary) and will do so up to a volume that'll still be too uncomfortable for my ears to sustain for more than about 5 seconds.
At normal volume levels, it sounds awesome.

A quick run-down of what I got:
1 Eclipse CD3200 head unit (CD/MP3/WMA/USB/iPod/etc);
1 pair of Soundstream SST6.9 6"x9" installed into the rear parcel shelf (enhances the overall soundfield, rather than having all the mid-range & above at the front and all the bass-only from the rear);
1 pair of Eclipse SC6500 front splits;
2 Eclipse SW8000 10" 625w RMS @ 3ohm subs in a custom sealed box (with internal divider so each still has its own chamber);
1 Eclipse XA4200 (4x 200w @ 2ohm RMS or 4x 100w @ 4 ohm RMS) - driving the front & rear speakers;
1 Eclipse ZA1200 mono driving the subs @ 600w RMS each;
1 Soundstream SCX2 2 farad capacitor;
1 Automatic aerial.
As part of my haggling, I got a reduced price on installation and the custom sub box for free
Rear-door speakers have been disconnected. They're not overly useful anyway, considering their location.

Not saying this is what you should get, but with a slightly cut-down version, you can have a great sounding system, without exceeding the 3k limit (if that's what you're still aiming for).
I'm sure there are countless combinations to choose from (as the above suggestions clearly show), so shop around and let your ears decide.
Well, maybe your wallet has a greater influence, but you know what I mean