sound system

[stooie]

Hey guys ive been looking at getting some speakers since i got a job. i have been keeping my eye on some alpine gear.... it would be greatif anyine had any ideas. i have a 03 vy

[acarmody]

Whats your budget mate? We could suggest some other gear that would be better. Also what type of music do you listen too? And what are you wanting from the system, eg, subs, or no?

[stooie]

yea im not sure of my budget as i probably wont do it all at once. and i listen to everyday music and some stuff with a fair bit of bass.... so yes looking a subs aswell.

[Delish-VY]

no matter how much stuff ur gunna get, i would still recommend putting a budget on a project like sound system upgrade cos before you know it ule have spent like 1200 bucks quite easily

[acarmody]

$1200 is cheap, I think all up with continual upgrades I've spent over $3500. Much cheaper to do it first time, or to buy piece by piece but get the good stuff.

OK Stooie are you keeping the stock headunit or getting an aftermarket one?

[acarmody]

OK if you don't want to spend much, try these as front door speakers, Great set of splits (Bargain!) .

And maybe these to drive it, Shopping Secure - Car Audio Specialists - Option Audio OAC160

[Delish-VY]

you have wasted your money if u spent 3500 lol, i used to get pure crisp sound out of my last car as loud as I could bear it without any distortion and that whole setup only cost a grand, anything more than that is just for show or completely unnecessary

[acarmody]

What did you get for $1000, as in what speakers, subs and amps.

And yeah I did waste a bit of money by upgrading stuff instead of buying good stuff to start with, my current stuff cost me, $2900, with most of it at cost as it was ex-display stuff.

Actually let me give a new estimate, my initial system cost me $1500 with installation, upgraded part which cost about $1000, got rid of that in parts, other stuff which I never installed cost $500 but got most back by selling it, and what I have now cost $2900, so yeah I have spent close to $6000 getting to where I am now.

[Delish-VY]

cant remember the exact stuff we put in, but me and my mate installed it ourselves as i was a techy at the time and hes an electrician, we put in a clarion head unit and splits i think, kenwood sub and cant remember what kind of amp, but it was in a smaller car (p.o.s vectra) so it damn near blew ur ear drums lol

[acarmody]

Fair enough, smaller cars are gonna be cheaper to make loud. I currently have 600wrms going into door speakers and even at full volume I can stand it.

[Delish-VY]

oh yeah we also made custom 6 x 9 speaker boxes to sit behind the rear headrests, im about to start in on pimping my car out with sound n cant really decide on what I want to do, definately gunna replace all speakers and put in a amp + sub but not sure if i can be assed replacing the headunit

[SuperSixty6]

oh yeah we also made custom 6 x 9 speaker boxes to sit behind the rear headrests, im about to start in on pimping my car out with sound n cant really decide on what I want to do, definately gunna replace all speakers and put in a amp + sub but not sure if i can be assed replacing the headunit

Also Quoted for a nice response...

Listen to this man, He knows about SQ!

[acarmody]

Now now play nice, this isn't helping the OP. SuperSixty6, Delish-VY didn't say he had the best system, he said "used to get pure crisp sound out of my last car as loud as I could bear it without any distortion" . If Delish-VY was happy with that setup then cool.

Delish-VY I'm sure that if you heard some truly top-of-the-market gear you would agree that it is better, but if you like what you got then its your choice.

BTW SuperSixty6, having that sort of system I'm guessing you go in comps and stuff. Any idea when the next Brisbane comp might be on, I would really like to go to one to see what others have and maybe to enter. Or is there a website with dates or anything?

[stooie]

im looking at replacing the head unit....and im not sure how much to spend as i will be byeing parts sepratly so i will be keeping an eye on how much money i spend on the audio as i would like to do other mods to my car

[Fun_Bucket]

you have wasted your money if u spent 3500 lol, i used to get pure crisp sound out of my last car as loud as I could bear it without any distortion and that whole setup only cost a grand, anything more than that is just for show or completely unnecessary

Why is it completely unnessacary? Could we not argue that anything larger than a 2.0 engine, is unnessacary, or that fitting wheels any larger than 15'' stock is pointless?

Some people enjoy audio, simple as that, whether it be in the car, or at home.

[Delish-VY]

I enjoy audio aswell, and i do understand that with a stock head unit there are limitations on it obviously but i prefer the aesthetic feel of the stock head unit and dont want a big gaping hole in the dash, and yes as he pointed I didn't say I have the best system I said it gave me crisp sound to as loud as I would want it, and 20k IS definately a joke ammount and completely unnecessary...compensation perhaps? oh well music is music and if you want to put a sound system in your ...vt as i can see...that is worth probly 5 times what your whole car is worth...thats up to you..i hope you have a blast

[acarmody]

Acarmody - I use too be into a little SPL, But not anymore. I can't remember the sites i use to be on so sorry i can't help you out there. Just because of the high price don't assume it is an SPL build, It's actually SQ - Which personally i think music is all about.

Damn, I can't seem to find a guide or something about comp dates. I missed the last one because I was still building the sub boxes. Oh well I'll just ask at Northfield Moorooka, they seem to have a lot of quality systems they might know.

[Villan_au]

As your lookng at a sub or 2 maybe have a look at this kind of box as they are not that big and lite as well and fit nice in your car. I have 2 of them left and right side running 2 soundstream SPL12 subs for some kick arse bass. Im still using the stock head unit with line converters to changr it to RCA outs in to a soundstream ref 405 amp with kenwood speakers. Its loud and pumps like hell.

[JB3s VY]

LOL at this thread!

To the OP, as im sure youv noticed, audio gear is such a personal choice. Depending what you want out of it, some might consider 1500 too much, where as some might consider 5k cheap!

Im assuming you just want your average, run of the mill system.
You will save alot of money if you can install yourself, as it means you can hunt around shops like strahtfield, JB hifi ect ect and buy bits one by one as they go on sale.

Alpine gear would be fine, iv found there Type R stuff is great value for money, not too expensive but still decent SQ. If you want to spend less, alot of people wouldnt be able to hear the differences between the R and S type alpines so they are good aswell.

If your going to do the one by one shop around thing, dont lock yourself into one brand, some people will tell you not to mix brands ect, but from my experience (and lack of true SQ knowledge) i dont think there is anything wrong with mixing!

Oh and also, no point buying top line speakers then stinging on the amp, buy speakers subs and amps that are well suited to each other to get the most out of your money.

[Delish-VY]

yet again I find myself agreeing with JB, well said. Not everybody dedicates their lives to sound but we still enjoy it! , wish you luck finding a good combination for a reasonable price...let me know what you end up going with cos im fairly close to starting on mine n ide like to know how urs goes

[whitey66]

snip > I prefer the aesthetic feel of the stock head unit and dont want a big gaping hole in the dash, < snip

A properly fitted double DIN DVD headunit looks a lot better than original,and works better too.
Gaping holes ????
Stock headunits in all Commodores are crap imho,the amount of them I have sent back over the years for warranty speaks volumes for their poor quality.
One customer had 3 replacements during the warranty period.
The headunits are built down to a price,not to a quality standard.

[Delish-VY]

im all for getting a dvd heaadunit except it would now be completely pointless because im pretty sure its illegal to have a dvd screen visible to the driver while the car is on

[whitey66]

im all for getting a dvd heaadunit except it would now be completely pointless because im pretty sure its illegal to have a dvd screen visible to the driver while the car is on

I think you better check the rules.It's illegal to be able to play a movie while the car is moving,most sets are set up to prevent this from the factory.
The DVD screen is also used as a touch screen interface to control the unit,or your Ipod or whatever else you have connected to it.
I have my Pioneer DVD player fitted with a reversing camera,which I think should be standard on all new cars.
And the fact that you can load a DVD disc full of high quality MP3s,you only ever need one disc in the car and you don't have to worry about CD storage or somebody stealing your music collection.
The standard headunit is crap,and you will never realise it till you fit something better.

[Delish-VY]

i have replaced standard head units before, and in case you didnt realise I said i know ill get better quality with a non-stock headunit but it will look average, so yeah way to point out the obvious, but yes i did go to autobarn today and they said the same thing about not having a movie on

[VY Woodsy]

just get a facia kit so you don't have a big hole in your dash... they are only like $50... aerpro make them...