my dad says that he paid $300 for this car stereo and im trying to think of why? it looks pretty plain. he says it has a built in amp, and it has 2 red and white audio outputs and 1 red and white audio input, but could it be worth $300 depending on the power of the amp in it?

 

You are not gonna get 110WPC out of a car stereo. You might get 15-30 RMS watts per channel (personally I think it is closer to 15). Problem is that your stereo does not have a good means of dissipating heat from a high powered amp. Do you ever wonder why a quality receiver like yamaha, dennon, etc weigh like 40lbs? To be able to supply a stereo with 120PWC *4 you would need to draw in at least 50 amps (12V *50 = 600W). Have you ever wondered how a so called high powered stereo deck does not need anthing other than a factory harness adapter? analog amps are at best 75% efficient.

$300 deck might be sirrus and XM ready along with the ability to control a cd changer in addition to the built in CD player. Obviously it has line in and out jacks a plus if you are running external amps.

 

True, In most every case I've bothered to look, it's been no more than 20w/channel max. As YeuEmMaiMai mentioned, it's all about heat; and a din chassis is to small to tollerate much.

 

yea in the future i plan on getting a 300-400w sub and and ima need a amp, so the lin in and out would come in handy

o yea and i found the specs for it

detachable, fold-down face
multicolor display with level meter
rotary volume control
loudness
seek tuning and preset scan
18 FM/12 AM presets
auxiliary input
2 sets of 2-volt preamp outputs
full-logic controls
automatic music search
cellular phone mute
clock
10 watts RMS/40 peak x 4 channels
CD frequency response 20-20,000 Hz
tape frequency response 50-10,000 Hz
CD signal-to-noise ratio 70 dB
tape signal-to-noise ratio 50 dB
FM sensitivity 12 dBf
2-year warranty

anything good?

 

It's all good. ...and not a bad place to start from either for your later audio upgrades.
One place you always look for audio performance is not so much the 40w max spec., but the db down specs on the signal/noise ratio's. the higher the value, the better. In the digital/cd laser enviroment it's still the mark of a good unit, but it was particularly important for tape replay (controlled hiss).
The Audio range specs are not so important, unless you can hear in the same range as your dog
The two volt (2) audio out spec is good. You want to drive an external amp if you're looking to rock the neighborhood, you don't want to overdrive the radios' output transistors (distortion) - let the amp do the work.

P

 

Whats the make and model # of the head unit? My guess is that it's $300 because it's a combination cd player / tape player. Does he really listen to tapes still? If still, I'd recommend a decent tape head unit combined with a CD shuttle. If he doesn't listen to tapes, for $300 I would have picked up an Alpine CDA 9851 ($280 including kit (if needed), harness, & shipping):

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-z...A9851

» CD receiver with built-in amplifier (18 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels; CEA-2006 compliant)
» motorized, detachable, fold-down face
» plays audio CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs including discs burned with MP3 and WMA files
» Bass Engine (bass center frequency, width, and level, plus treble center frequency and level adjustments)
» BBE sound processing
» source tone memory
» XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio-ready (you can add satellite radio for under $100, plus subscription)
» compatible with Alpine's iPod interface adapter
» CD changer controls for Alpine Ai-NET changers only
» optional auxiliary input (adapter required)
» front, rear and subwoofer preamp outputs
» MaxTune tuner
» 12 FM/6 AM presets
» clock
» wireless remote
» CD frequency response: 5-20,000 Hz
» CD signal-to-noise ratio: 105 dB
» FM sensitivity: 9.3 dBf
» warranty: 1 year

A few key points:
FM Sensitivity is 9.3 dBf compared to your dad's 12 dBf, the lower the number the better it is at picking up weaker stations.
CD frequency response, the 5-20,000 Hz compared to 20 to 20,000 Hz, the lower end on the Alpine will give more bass.
CD signal-to-noise ratio, 105 db compared to 70 db, this is how well it will quiet background noise & the higher the better.
BBE = Barcus Barry Electronics, a method of cleaning up the sound. My Alpine from '99 has this and it really does make the sound better.

Here's a glossery telling you what means what: http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.....html

My advice? Try to get him to return it and pick up something better, like the radio I listed above. Else, if he seems to really like it, just smile and tells him that it looks and sounds great (kind of like when a woman asks you whether you like her hair style, *always* smile and say it looks great, no matter what you really think).

 

lol duly noted, yea i really want a radio that would put out crazy bass. and another queston i just bought RockordFosgate T162C 6.5 speakers for my car here are the specs

Power Handling (RMS) - 75 watts
Power Handling (Peak) - 150 watts
Frequency Response - 60-22k hz
Sensitivity - 88 db

good choice?
i read on that website that "The lowest note on a bass guitar is about 41 Hz. Most male vocalists have a range between 100 and 500 Hz. Cymbals hit at about 15,000 Hz." so having a low of 60Hz is pretty good right?

 

use the pre outs to power some high quality amps that are properly crossed over and problem solved.

 

i just blew $176 on a nice pair on 6x9 275W alpine speakers that bump. but im affriad im not getting the true performance out of them... i have the head unit thats mentioned above. i would need a far better head unit to get the true performace out of those speakers right?

here are the specs

Speaker Features Speaker Type Speaker
Speaker Diameter 6" x 9"
Speaker Design 2-way
Amplification Type Passive


Power Max Output Power 275 Watt
Nominal Output Power 55 Watt
Sensitivity 89 dB
Impedance 4 Ohm
Response Bandwidth 30 - 30000 Hz


Mounting Dimensions Bottom Mounting Depth 2.99 in
Mounting Width 8.74 in
Top Mounting Depth 5.91 in


Miscellaneous Connectivity Technology Wired

General Product Info Weight 3.75 lbs

Manufacturer Part No. SPR-69LP

 

As said before, reguardless of your headunit, you will not get a good amount of clean power out of it. The best RMS power i've seen from a head unit is 24w. What you should do is invest in some aftermarket speakers that sound good to YOU, then power them with an external 4-channel amp rated for 40-100watts RMS/per channel. I would say this is the most commonly over-looked step in a good audio setup. All too often do I see someone with their Sony Xplod-'ed' subs, distorting the F*** out their mids and highs because they're using the headunit's power. The difference you'll hear is night and day.


Modified by AFAccord at 9:40 AM 10/17/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AFAccord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I would say this is the most commonly over-looked step in a good audio setup. All too often do I see someone with their Sony Xplod-'ed' subs, distorting the F*** out their mids and highs because they're headunit. The difference you'll hear is night and day. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree with this. I have a 60 X 4 amp hooked up to my speakers and they sound great. They have plenty of bass for me, don't distort at high volume, and best of all don't vibrate the hell out of the trunk. The funny thing is a lot of people around here think it's dumb I have an amp and no subs. Like I'm gonna add another 50+ pounds to my already heavy accord.

 

so whats the best midrange amp out there?

 

Thats would up for debate. there are a lot of good amps out there. Xtant, JL Audio, Alpine, Directed, Ect. Just look for a good brand with a decent rms power rating and low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion)

 

everytime i up the volume im affriad ima crack the speakers, i know speakers nowdays are built stronger, they wouldnt crack if i cranked up a headunit to the max, you would need a amp to do that right?

 

nice avatar MDL.