New Sound Systems

[Lukey719]

Do any of you fellow THPers out there have sweet sound systems in you car? A lot of my friends here lately have been getting new speakers and such. I know I'm only 18 and I like this kind of thing, but if you guys have any information about this or sweet systems you would like to show off. Thanks just looking for anything about aftermarket speakers you liked or hated. :banana:

 

[Bomb_n_Gouge]

big, annoying, expensive phase I went through at that age, trust me save that money it's just not worth it. And if you do buy stuff, believe me someone will steal it or attempt to. Spend that money on golf.

 

[Smallville]

I have only had stock stereo systems in every car I have ever owned.

I HATE it when you come up to a stop light and the jerk around you is pumping the bass for all of us to enjoy. Turn the crap down unless you are moving. We all don't want to hear and feel it.

Plus, get your hearing checked often. You're going to regret it a few years down the road when you can't hear.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Hmmm... I'm 33 and I still have a great system in my car. I didn't get my first car til I was 22, the first thing I did was invested everything I could into my system. I ended up with one 10" Cerwin Vega sub with a Pioneer 1000 watt amp, Infinity component front speakers and a Pioneer Premier CD player.

Now I have a Kenwood flip out DVD screen, one Kenwood 10" sub powered by the same Pioneer amp, actually stayed with the stock Bose (Infiniti car) door and deck speakers. I travel almost an hour one way for my commute. I need something to keep me sane! Its either that or road rage...

 

[Bomb_n_Gouge]

Hmmm... I'm 33 and I still have a great system in my car. I didn't get my first car til I was 22, the first thing I did was invested everything I could into my system. I ended up with one 10" Cerwin Vega sub with a Pioneer 1000 watt amp, Infinity component front speakers and a Pioneer Premier CD player.

Now I have a Kenwood flip out DVD screen, one Kenwood 10" sub powered by the same Pioneer amp, actually stayed with the stock Bose (Infiniti car) door and deck speakers. I travel almost an hour one way for my commute. I need something to keep me sane! Its either that or road rage...

I had a Kenwood DVD player in my Lincoln LS but, got stolen, along with the brain unit and the ipod interface, and the ipod, they left my golf clubs though...

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Plus, get your hearing checked often. You're going to regret it a few years down the road when you can't hear.

My dad swears I have hearing issues. I played in the drumline in high school and still teach high school drumline and have a very loud car audio setup. I have had my hearing screened basically every 5 years now since I turned 20 and I have zero issues.

I agree though that not everyone wants to hear my car stereo, and I do turn it down if I'm pulling into my neighborhood or at a light and my windows are down.

 

[Smallville]

Trust me, we can hear it and feel it when your windows are up too.

The stock systems they have today in most cars are pretty damn good, they just don't have the subwoofers.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Trust me, we can hear it and feel it when your windows are up too.

The stock systems they have today in most cars are pretty damn good, they just don't have the subwoofers.

My wife's Sequoia came with a Subwoofer!

 

[Canadan]

Trust me, we can hear it and feel it when your windows are up too.

The stock systems they have today in most cars are pretty damn good, they just don't have the subwoofers.

Thisssss! Upgrade the car features BEFORE aftermarket! I had two woofers in my first car, and I was the guy turning it DOWN as I hit the lights.. Just felt really awkward being THAT loud.

 

[Postman]

I have a very good system in my car,I have a kenwood x991 deck,alpine type x ref components up front,a 10 inch Oz Matrix Elite being pushed by 2 cadence amps,doors are deadened and everything.car sounds amazing and can really thump if i want it to.

 

[cammyandcarter]

Stay evened out, mix the bass with nice tweets and get solid mid range components. I'd go with a JL audio 12 and mb quartz components. JL amp will power everything just fine, bluetooth the head unit so you can use your iPhone, iPod, whatever to play your music through and take phone calls.

I liked the big bass but honestly, I get so much more pleasure being able to clearly and distinctly hear and enjoy the whole audio spectrum, from rock to hip hop, a balanced system will be much more enjoyable

 

[Sean]

You'd be amazed at what just upgrading the front speakers will do...and doesn't cost much either.

 

[Lukey719]

I already have the upgraded door speakers and such I'm just pretty much missing the subwoofer. I am not the guy to pull up beside someone at stop light and try and drown their music out tough. I just like to be able to have the capability to get my car loud haha

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Stay evened out, mix the bass with nice tweets and get solid mid range components. I'd go with a JL audio 12 and mb quartz components. JL amp will power everything just fine, bluetooth the head unit so you can use your iPhone, iPod, whatever to play your music through and take phone calls.

I liked the big bass but honestly, I get so much more pleasure being able to clearly and distinctly hear and enjoy the whole audio spectrum, from rock to hip hop, a balanced system will be much more enjoyable

I'm very much the same, I listen to everything truly. In my ipod you'll find Vivaldi to Ludacris, Katy Perry to Zac Brown band. I keep the EQ almost flat and pretty much stays there, producers and engineers are responsible for "the mix".

I already have the upgraded door speakers and such I'm just pretty much missing the subwoofer. I am not the guy to pull up beside someone at stop light and try and drown their music out tough. I just like to be able to have the capability to get my car loud haha

When I first had very little money (before I upgraded to my first Cerwin Vega) I had a Boss 10" sub. I loved this sub and if you're on a budget you can get a dual voice coil 10" for under $50! It will hold up for a while and give you a decent sound for the cost I cannot complain at all.

 

[RonInThornton]

Gotta agree with the comments about being careful of your hearing. After 30+ years of playing in rock and roll bands I have tinnitus and some low level hearing loss from being in front of loud amps.

Loud music when you're 20 isn't worth the constant ringing you'll have in your ears at 50

 

[bonknhead]

Trust me, we can hear it and feel it when your windows are up too.

The stock systems they have today in most cars are pretty damn good, they just don't have the subwoofers.

My wife's Sequoia came with a Subwoofer!

My last two vehicles had subwoofers - a 1997 Lexus LX450 and my current car a 2003 Acura TL. Sound quality in both was great and with ~200 watts of power was more than adequate for my needs.

 

[mhuelsman131]

I just picked up new to me car recently (2006 Mazda3 Hatch) and am in the process of upgrading the stereo. I picked up a relatively cheap touchscreen DVD/Navi head unit and have run some wires to the trunk for some amps and a sub. My brother and I are doing all of the work, including building a simple box to fix the trunk. It takes some more time but it saves a ton on installation and especially on a custom box. A normal box wouldnt allow me to fix my clubs in the trunk either. Finished product will have a 1200 watt pioneer amp hooked up to a 12in Power Acoustic sub and another small amp to power the speakers.

 

[Lukey719]

I just picked up new to me car recently (2006 Mazda3 Hatch) and am in the process of upgrading the stereo. I picked up a relatively cheap touchscreen DVD/Navi head unit and have run some wires to the trunk for some amps and a sub. My brother and I are doing all of the work, including building a simple box to fix the trunk. It takes some more time but it saves a ton on installation and especially on a custom box. A normal box wouldnt allow me to fix my clubs in the trunk either. Finished product will have a 1200 watt pioneer amp hooked up to a 12in Power Acoustic sub and another small amp to power the speakers.

Nice sounds awesome. I've got a 2005 Grand Cherokee and I was looking at a dual 12" subs with a 1000 watt amp. This will be more than loud enough for me, but I love bass in my music and my component speakers are more than enough to handle the competition of some bass.

These are what I was thinking about putting in...

 

[mhuelsman131]

my first car had 2 MTX roadthunder 12's with a pretty weak amp and they still sounded really nice. I wish I had a bigger trunk so i could fit a regular box in there haha.

 

[Lukey719]

my first car had 2 MTX roadthunder 12's with a pretty weak amp and they still sounded really nice. I wish I had a bigger trunk so i could fit a regular box in there haha.

Yeah, I've been planning this a while saving some cash and think I'm finally gonna do it if my parents ok it.
I'm definitely gonna get the right hook up with everything, wires, amps, box, the whole nine yards. I've wanted some sweet subs for so long.

 

[mhuelsman131]

Yeah, I've been planning this a while saving some cash and think I'm finally gonna do it if my parents ok it.
I'm definitely gonna get the right hook up with everything, wires, amps, box, the whole nine yards. I've wanted some sweet subs for so long.

are you installing it yourself or having someone put it in for you? I will tell you that putting it in yourself can be a giant pain in the arse. My brother is the mastermind behind all my stereo systems and head units. He's got all sorts of special trim pullers and really takes his time. He solders and puts shrink-tube on all the connections to make sure they sound good and we dont end up having to pull up all the interior trim again.

 

[Lukey719]

are you installing it yourself or having someone put it in for you? I will tell you that putting it in yourself can be a giant pain in the arse. My brother is the mastermind behind all my stereo systems and head units. He's got all sorts of special trim pullers and really takes his time. He solders and puts shrink-tube on all the connections to make sure they sound good and we dont end up having to pull up all the interior trim again.

I was definitely planning on having it professionally done. When I'm gonna put down my hard earned money I'm gonna make sure it's done 100% right

 

[Johnboy12.5]

Every car I've owned I've upgraded the factory sound system. This includes my first car with the AM radio and single paper coned 6x9 in the dash.....72 Chevelle. Some have been more elaborate than others, but once you've listened to an upgraded system it's tough me to go back to factory! The term good enough with a factory radio and speakers....isn't really good enough. I like having everything from Pandora, Slacker, Sirius XM, as well as podcasts and music on ipod to sound as good as possible!!! Plus it helps that all of this pays my bills too! Currently have a three way component set up for the front and two 12" subs, all driven off of our amplifiers and indash A/V Navi system. Still have room for three golf bags in the trunk too!!

 

[mariusvt]

Trust me, we can hear it and feel it when your windows are up too.

The stock systems they have today in most cars are pretty damn good, they just don't have the subwoofers.

They aren't bad if you spring for the upgraded premium sound setup from the auto makers. I know the stock stereo on our mazda's are garbage, and the base stereo in my dad's jeep isn't any better. My mom has a rogue with the bose system and it's halfway decent. In my car I have the rear speakers completely turned off because all they output is mid range and garbled everything else. Only the front speakers/tweeters output full range sound.

Of course that being said, there are plenty of ways to upgrade a stereo and not be annoying to others. That includes having a subwoofer. The problem with most teenagers is they pride their stereos on how much they vibrate the cars next to them.

 

[Lukey719]

They aren't bad if you spring for the upgraded premium sound setup from the auto makers. I know the stock stereo on our mazda's are garbage, and the base stereo in my dad's jeep isn't any better. My mom has a rogue with the bose system and it's halfway decent. In my car I have the rear speakers completely turned off because all they output is mid range and garbled everything else. Only the front speakers/tweeters output full range sound.

Of course that being said, there are plenty of ways to upgrade a stereo and not be annoying to others. That includes having a subwoofer. The problem with most teenagers is they pride their stereos on how much they vibrate the cars next to them.

Agreed! I'm just trying to put a premium quality full range system in my car. I've got the premium sound package speakers and a 250 watt amp powering the component speakers, but its just missing the thump. Now granted the car can get very VERY loud, but if you don't set out to be loud and annoying I see no harm in having an amazing system.