i have a 96 civic hatch and i was wondering if you guys could suggest what speakers, sub, amps to buy. i don't know much about car audio. i'm looking to spend a decent amount, but reasonable. i want a clean sound.. kinda like what you would hear at circuit city on demo. any help would be great. thanks!

 

First get a new headunit. That is the most important thing. I always like Clarion's products.

 

i have a alpine cda-9833

 

Buy 2 sets of these http://www.crutchfield.com/App...avf=N

( I really like these and the price is amazing http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=106 )


This amp for all the component speakers http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=115

For the bass get this sub http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=111

Power the sub with this amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=115

Now have a box built for the sub and you have an amazing sound quality stereo. If your looking for more bass get 2 of the subs and twice the amp.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by schmiddr2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Buy 2 sets of these http://www.crutchfield.com/App...avf=N

( I really like these and the price is amazing http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=106 )


This amp for all the component speakers http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=115

For the bass get this sub http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=111

Power the sub with this amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=115

Now have a box built for the sub and you have an amazing sound quality stereo. If your looking for more bass get 2 of the subs and twice the amp.</TD></TR></TABLE>

instead of just getting a seperate 4 channel amp and amp for the sub i would just get an alpine pdx5 amp. 4 channels to power the speakers, and 1 channel for the sub. not to mention the smaller size and the fact that the amps power rating is good for either 2 ohm or 4 ohm load.

but i guess all that really depends on what type of gear you want and how much power you're looking to get out of your system.

if you think what circuit city has to offer would be good then imo you should shop around some more...lol. your question is sort of vague. what exactly are you looking to get out of your system? more base? better sound quality?

 

here's a few suggestions from my side but not necessarily all on particular equipment

1. What kind of music you listen to and at what volume? For maybe the few (or many) times you've been to a club or concert do you find the volume too loud, not loud enough or just right? My Dynaudio tweets cut out on almost every song on Metallica's 'And Justice For All' CD when I listen at "concert volume" yet the set of Alpine TypeR tweets I've got in my truck handle the entire CD just fine.

2. Try and find a dealer who sells both high and mid-priced/reasonably priced gear. Getting advice from a dealer who knows what *is* possible in audio...car or home...will be much more helpful than someone whose never or rarely hears anything better than, as an example, coaxial speakers mounted in factory locs which is what you'll find by most salespeople at places like car toys, best buy, circuit city or any other major car audio chain. When I was choosing speaks for my truck I wanted to find a dealer who carries high-end speaks so there was some 'common ground' between us when discussing options. I've been using Dynaudio speaks for last 2 years and that's my de-facto reference.....I made it a point to mention this to the salesman though i.e. "I've got Dyn's in my car at the moment which are the best speaks I've ever owned....my price point for my truck component set though is 350......I know this is a stretch but I'd of course like to find a speaker for as cheap as possible that will come as close as possible to sounding like the Dyn's". So, he directed me to a set of Alpine Type R 6 3/4" components for 250 which so far I'm fairly happy with especially given the price.

3. Spend as much....AS MUCH.....as you can on speakers and install (especially the install of front speakers) because above everything else speaks and mounting locations matter the most in terms of sound quality. you'll be fairly hard-pressed to pick out the difference in sound of D/A converters in a CD player, type of amp - class a/b/d/etc - but almost anyone can tell the difference in speaks. This has been the cardinal rule of buying audio equipment for very very long time

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AzntaggeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

instead of just getting a seperate 4 channel amp and amp for the sub i would just get an alpine pdx5 amp. 4 channels to power the speakers, and 1 channel for the sub. not to mention the smaller size and the fact that the amps power rating is good for either 2 ohm or 4 ohm load.

but i guess all that really depends on what type of gear you want and how much power you're looking to get out of your system.

if you think what circuit city has to offer would be good then imo you should shop around some more...lol. your question is sort of vague. what exactly are you looking to get out of your system? more base? better sound quality? </TD></TR></TABLE>

i want to be able to turn the volume up and still be clear. i want more bass, but still clean sounding. i listen to a lot of hip hop and r&b and trance.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thekid03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">here's a few suggestions from my side but not necessarily all on particular equipment

1. What kind of music you listen to and at what volume? For maybe the few (or many) times you've been to a club or concert do you find the volume too loud, not loud enough or just right? My Dynaudio tweets cut out on almost every song on Metallica's 'And Justice For All' CD when I listen at "concert volume" yet the set of Alpine TypeR tweets I've got in my truck handle the entire CD just fine.

2. Try and find a dealer who sells both high and mid-priced/reasonably priced gear. Getting advice from a dealer who knows what *is* possible in audio...car or home...will be much more helpful than someone whose never or rarely hears anything better than, as an example, coaxial speakers mounted in factory locs which is what you'll find by most salespeople at places like car toys, best buy, circuit city or any other major car audio chain. When I was choosing speaks for my truck I wanted to find a dealer who carries high-end speaks so there was some 'common ground' between us when discussing options. I've been using Dynaudio speaks for last 2 years and that's my de-facto reference.....I made it a point to mention this to the salesman though i.e. "I've got Dyn's in my car at the moment which are the best speaks I've ever owned....my price point for my truck component set though is 350......I know this is a stretch but I'd of course like to find a speaker for as cheap as possible that will come as close as possible to sounding like the Dyn's". So, he directed me to a set of Alpine Type R 6 3/4" components for 250 which so far I'm fairly happy with especially given the price.

3. Spend as much....AS MUCH.....as you can on speakers and install (especially the install of front speakers) because above everything else speaks and mounting locations matter the most in terms of sound quality. you'll be fairly hard-pressed to pick out the difference in sound of D/A converters in a CD player, type of amp - class a/b/d/etc - but almost anyone can tell the difference in speaks. This has been the cardinal rule of buying audio equipment for very very long time</TD></TR></TABLE>

good advice. thanks!

 

The headunit is the start of an ICE system. But don't spend too much on it. Speakers still make the biggest difference in sound in a car. For example, take a 150 headunit, 150-200 on compo, 150 on a sub and 300 for 2 amps or 200-250 on 1 amp (I'm dutch so I'm considering European prices but I assume that the prices will be the same relatively).

Wether you want 1 or 2 amps depends on what you want. 2 amps from the same line of amps would be better in the sense that if the subwoofer needs a lot of power, that power drainage won't be interfering with the amplification of your compo. On the other hand, it usually is more expensive and takes more space.

One really important thing is installation. Insulate your doors to make them as airtight as possible and use those black mats (not sure what it is called in English) that are heavy to damp your door. Also, try to play with tweeter placement as that can also make a big difference.

What kind of enclosure you want for the sub depends on what you like and the music you play. I usually play electronic music, gabber, hardtrance etc and I think closed enclosures are best for that. They are not as efficient as ported (as in, they don't make the sub play as loud) but the give the tightest,cleanest bass. On the other hand, I can imagine that ported would be right for you if you play a lot of R&B and rap. Try to listen to both systems somewhere in a store or on a meeting.

Which speakers are best - I think most people agree that there are brands that are inferior to the a-class brands, but among the a-class brand it's hard to say that 1 pair of speakers is best. So listening yourself is imperative. If you don't want to spend time doing that, I'd recommend finding out on the internet which a-class brand speakers are popular - they aren't popular for nothing and you'll have the biggest chance of liking them too.