Autopians - What kind of stereo equipment do you have in your vehicles?

**imported_dl9589** · 01-02-2005, 12:18 PM

Alpine HU, Elemental Designs 12`` subwoofer in custom made enclosure, Avionixx 800.2 amp (bench tested at 1011 watts), Clarion components up front.

**SilverLexus** · 01-02-2005, 02:18 PM

"Sadly, most of the market is geared to boom and sizzle not fidelity."

Very true. Even the $10K systems at NOPI had the worst midrange suckout imaginable. Atrocious.

I would say the ML system on the ES and RX are very, very good but the tone controls need some finessing. You have to boost the midrange and treble for a flat response. At that point it sounds very natural. Bass out the whip-wad, probably way too much and decent mid-bass.

For the GX and LS you get 14 speakers and tremendous sound, on par with the Elliott Scheiner Acura system. Still hirez options would be nice.

"For reference, my home system is built around Martin Logans, Clayton Audio, VPI TNT with van den Hul, Koetsu or Grados, the earliest heavy duty Sony SACD player, and various tube preamps."

Nice rig. I have Maggie 1.6QRs (soon to be 3.6s) driven by Audio Research preamp and amp, Sony SCD-777ES, Cardas Golden Reference cabling plus power cables, large Salamander Synergy stands, Richard Marsh design Monster AC line regulation. I also have a Sony DVD 7700 for DAD disc playback. Looking at a VPI Scout turntable...probably 2005.

**Blazern00b** · 01-02-2005, 10:06 PM

Dang you paid 10$ for the can? Did they sell you a trim ring too for it? I can see for 10$ the can and the trim ring, but thats nuts. I sell them for 5..... those things are always in an installers stash box man, its a cheap and easy way for a shop to make 5 or so bucks, or depending on things, money for beer....

Glad to hear your system is coming along. Decided on any bass yet?

**Scottwax** · 01-02-2005, 10:43 PM

Paul-how do the Cerwin Vegas work with the Bose amp? My main concern is that Bose speakers often have weird low impedence and aftermarket 4 Ohm speakers don`t play as loud as stock. The rears on my car don`t have amps attached to them, not sure about the fronts. A nice set of Cerwin Vegas, Infinity Kappas or Kicker 6 x 9s would probably sound better than the stock paper cone Bose speakers I have now.

...although replacing the factory HU with a Pioneer really cleaned up the sound a bunch!

**Galcobar** · 01-06-2005, 08:31 PM

Alpine CDA-9805 with internal 200W amp linked to the factory system: 2 x enclosed 6" woofers, 2 x 4" woofers, 2 tweeters.

Caveat: it`s a fifth-generation Toyota Celica GT, which means it has about half of the System 10, meaning the quality is about what you could achieve with an Infiniti setup.

GRStilez -- my best suggestion for sound quality and proper sound imaging is AVI`s line of small subs and mid-bass drivers (www.avisound.com). These suckers are hand-built in Canada, and everybody who`s spoken of them raves about the quality. With them, you can actually get bass into the front half of your car!

Scottwax -- an oval speaker is always inferior quality to an equivalently sized and manufactured round speaker. The geometry of circles versus ovals makes for a more uniform flex (or lack thereof) in the cone.

**hkross** · 01-10-2005, 12:40 AM

I am running a Pioneer DEH4600 mp3/cd player to a Alpine amp wich powers Alpine S series 6*9`s (rear) and Rockford FNP2514 Components (front) and Jensen amp Powering a Total Mobile 12" sub.

**travisdecpn** · 01-10-2005, 01:08 AM

Premier 740mp

Kicker 4x10`s

Kicker 3 1/2"

**6cyl's_of_fury** · 01-10-2005, 02:11 AM

Before it got stolen, stripped and torched I had a pretty decent stereo set-up in my Nissan 180SX ( I think they are a Nissan 240SX in the states ) and a lazy 350rwkw from the SR20DET ( 2L 4cyl turbo ). It was a fun car in a lot of respects ( great for drifting

)

Headunit: Double DIN Pioneer with intergrated 6.5" TV screen

Front and rear speakers: MB Quartz premium reference 6.5" splits

Speaker amps: 2 x Kicker ZX460

Subwoofers: 3 x 12" Pioner Bullets with dual voice coils

Subwoofer amp: Kicker ZR1000 ( wired to a 0.33 Ohm impedance IIRC, produced 1300WRMS@ 4 Ohms, at 0.33 Ohm I shudder to think! )

2 x 1 farad capacitors

1 x boot mounted Odyssey 1200 cold crank amp battery

1 x truck alternator

I didnt set it up for dB drag racing, but it put out a pretty respectable 147.8dB. It was more a show set-up ( ie good to look at ). All the photos I have of it are at home ( 2000 miles away )

*sigh* I loved that car

**spotter** · 01-10-2005, 06:22 AM

Eclipse 8443 HU, Avionixx amp, Elemental Designs sub, CDT Audio Eurosports components with no rear fill since I only have a coupe.

**Carl Anderson** · 01-10-2005, 08:40 AM

The stock stereo in the M3 is adequate at best. I upgraded using the stock head unit, two pair of Boston Acoustic Z speakers, and a 10" Diamond Audio sub. Powering the Z`s is a Diamond Audio amp 75 watt x 4 channels, and for the sub a 600 watt Diamond audio amp. I have had this system for over a year now and am very happy with it. I rarely go to concerts anymore, but with this system it makes you feel like you are at one.

**boscobaby** · 01-10-2005, 08:49 AM

Lets start with what I have now:

Stock Bose Deck, Alpine 4-channel amp (not sure model # but it`s ooold) and a 12" W3 V1

Very simple just have one channel pushing the sub, makes up for the lack of bass my car had stock. I do have some Phoenix Gold Ti Elite components but they are not installed because the crossovers were stolen, but I will get them in soon. About the whole theft, this is what was in my car that was stolen.

Eclipse 7423 In-dash DVD (i think that`s the right model #)

JL Audio 300/4 and 500/1

2 W3 12"

and I was running PG Ti Elite 5 1/4"

Lightning Audio 1 Farad Cap

I had a Pioneer 6500 before the Eclipse In-dash, and before the Pioneer I had an Eclipse 5441. Before the PG Ti Elites, I had Eclipse Point Sources.

I`d have to say I like the 5441. SQ wise it was awesome. It was simple to use not too flashy. Strong preouts improved the signal and made the system louder. However, after a few years the control knob for the volume went to hell. The Pioneer 6500 was awesome. I ended up like the interface much better than the Eclipse DVD, it was easier to install and I could adjust the onboard EQ more than the Eclipse. The Eclipse was nice but I would`ve taken the Pioneer back if I could, but from what I`ve seen of the new Eclipse products, they look better than the Pioneers`. The point source speakers were okay, but they lacked midbass to me and were pretty `bright`. The Phoenix Gold Ti Elites are awesome to me. I also like Diamond Audio s600s from just listening to them, more that MB Quarts. Quart references don`t sound that great to me. The Premiums sound about as good as Diamond s600s. Amp wise, I think the JL`s were awesome. I would buy them again if I had the funds. Phoenix Gold, Zapco, Arc Audio make very quality amps as well.

**tailwind** · 01-14-2005, 04:08 AM

I`m running the stock Monsoon as I type this, but I`m also planning an upgrade. It`s a real pain to work with unless you start from scratch (which I plan on doing.) I`ll have to bypass the factory crossovers, amp, and sub.

For the deck I`m considering an Alpine CDA-9833. It`s fairly powerful and has nice customization options (including color, which is great because my Firebird`s blood red interior lighting is tough to match.)

For the front door and rear seat speakers I`m planning on some 6 1/2" components, something that`ll run on about 40-50 watts. These`ll be powered by a 4-channel amp. In the hatch I`ll have some simple 2-way 4x6s that`ll be powered by the deck (they`re not really necessary with the components, but I don`t want to leave the space empty.)

If I have the desire for some more bass after what`s above is installed, I`ll pick up a Stealth box for the hatch with a 10" sub and a mono amp to run it. I`m not a big audiophile, I`m not sure if the sub will really be necessary, that`s why I`m not going to do it right away.

**gto78** · 01-14-2005, 07:13 AM

I just recently reinstalled my old alpine setup that I saved from my last car. It`s a CVA-1005 head unit, with built in 7"LCD. I also have the Alpine navigation system coupled to that. As for speakers right now I`ve got stock 6.5"rears, and Pioneer 3 ways in the front. I don`t like any of the speakers though, they`re not crystal clear or have any depth to them. Also I put in an Infinity Perfect 10" sub in the factory sub location behind the drivers seat, so noone even sees it there even if you look for it. The sub is powered by a JBL 800 watt amp. The stereo does the crossover work, and the sub also has built in crossover.

heres a pic from the nav system zoomed all the way out, to the point that it shows other states.

**tailwind** · 01-14-2005, 01:02 PM

Just made my purchase. Nice chunk of change.

Here`s the final list:

-Alpine CDA-9833 head unit.

-Infinity Kappa 60.5CS 6.5" components (front doors.)

-Infinity Kappa 652.5 6.75" 2-ways (rear seats.)

-Infinity Reference 6402cfp 4x6s (hatch.)

-Alpine SWR-1041D Type-R 10" subwoofer.

-Alpine MRV-F450 V12 4ohms x 50W + 200W 5-channel amp.

-Stealth box (http://www.subthump.com/acamarostealth.htm)

Decided to ditch components for the rear seats since they didn`t come there stock. The 2-ways will sound fine, and will be easier on the install. Also switched to one 5-channel amp to run the components, 6 3/4ths, and sub off of instead of a 4-channel and a seperate mono amp like I was considering. Also decided to just get the sub. Can`t hurt, right?

Hopefully it`ll be worth it.