Car Audio Advice

LyricalGomez · 03-05-2003, 11:10 PM

Rockford Fosgate sucks, they make cheap equipment that has a metallic sound and overcharge for it.

Bose overcharges but at least they make quality stuff.

Keyser Soze · 03-06-2003, 12:47 AM

I'm going to wait to hear what Nissan quotes me on the Bose system before I make my decision.

Goatweed · 03-06-2003, 03:37 PM

LZ, I used to think mom & pop stores were the best place to go, but my next install will be at Best Buy or CC - I do plan on buying the gear on my own, however. I'm sure most small stores are good, I just had a really bad experience with one and most of the others here suck so my options are go out of state or go corporate. Since I'll supply my own gear, corporate isn't so bad.

As for Bose speakers, they really are the best out there - car audio, home audio, Hell even their headphones are sweet - but they all cost way more than they should, but being the best out there they can charge a load of $$ and obviously people pay it. Me, I wouldn't unless I were buying a new car and they were an option in the radio package.

Pioneer makes a solid head unit, but they can be too bassy at times, especially with finicky subs - if you buy a Pioneer, it's best to listen to it. You should listen to any unit you buy, but especially a Pioneer. Kenwoods are nice when they woork, but they do break often and most times they're expensive to repair. I personally like the sound of Sony heads, I have an old one that, when it's connected properly, really kicks ass. It's about 10 years old now, so I can imagine how the newer models sound.

My wife's Altima came with a stock Nissan Radio/tape/CD player and I was gonna take it out and go aftermarket, but I might just replace the speakers and drop in a box with 2 amps. The CD player NEVER skips and the radio comes in crystal clear. My beat up Sable has my Sony in it, but it needs major work, those assholes really fucked up the installation.

Keyser, Nissan will probably charge you an arm and a leg for that Bose system. They tried to charge my wife $45 for a small, plastic nub that you screw into the floorboard which in turn holds the floormat in place - $45 fucking dollars for a piece of plastic that's no bigger than a penny. made a big deal out of it and since we brought the car in for routine (and covered) maintenance, one of the mechanics just gave me the piece on the side.

Also, if you have an alarm on your car, make sure you tell whoever does the install about it, and tell them not to fuck around with any of the power or sensor connections. One time I had a system installed where they sistered up the power lead right off of the power lead for my alarm and anytime it went off, I blew a fuse in my head unit.

LyricalGomez · 03-06-2003, 04:22 PM

The real reason Bose can charge so fucking much is that they hold patents on alot of the technology, and they don't allow anyone else to use it. Take their wave radio system, that is not expensive to make, but because nobody else is allowed to make it Bose can charge 1000 bucks for a radio and get away with it.

Goatweed · 03-06-2003, 04:33 PM

that radio does sound pretty sweet, but I'll take my home theater over it any day of the week.

Weird NJ · 03-06-2003, 04:37 PM

Give me 700 to 800 dollars. I'll do your radio. :-D

Keyser Soze · 03-06-2003, 04:40 PM

Weird, send me specs.

I got the call from Nissan today. To take the base model stereo system and upgrade it all to Bose it will cost, make sure you are sitting down for this one, $3228.79.

Hello aftermarket. I should have got the track package, it wasn't even $3000 more than the package i bought. Oh well.

Weird NJ · 03-06-2003, 04:48 PM

go to <a class="postlink" href="http://www.Crutchfield.com">http://www.Crutchfield.com</a> to do your shopping. They give you lots of freebies with your purchase for the install and their website could custom recomend what your car needs.

BTW They do make MINIDISC recievers. As for CD's you should get a changer that does MP3. I did. :-D

Edited By Weird NJ on 1046969631

Keyser Soze · 03-06-2003, 05:26 PM

Weird, do you have any recommendations for speakers and head units?

Weird NJ · 03-06-2003, 06:00 PM

My personal preference is and has been Pioneer for ultimate configurability. Sony is a good staple right now. Alpine is good too and I hear very compatible to stock radios. Blaupunkt has a good reputation for sound although I haven't played with them much. Speakers are a lot different then headunits. There is a lot to choose from and you have to check the specs carefully. Go 2 way or 3 way speakers if you are not going to be spliting up the sound with amps or subs.

Edited By Weird NJ on 1046975239

Weird NJ · 03-06-2003, 06:31 PM

I realize what I said abut headunits might sound generic, but it's probably because it's hard to go wrong if you stick to the brand names. The only real differences are the features included. It would pay to add an equalizer or find a headunit with a good one built in becuase than you have more frequencies that you can adjust as compared to bass or treble and really fine tune the sound. As for amps I don't have as much experience. As far as I know they are good for boosting sound output for high-wattage speakers and good for seperating highs - mids - and lows to the respective speakers.

Keyser Soze · 03-06-2003, 06:34 PM

I checked out Crutchfield and their prices are the same that Tweeter quoted me.

Do you know of any particularly good EQ? The stock radio takes up a bit of room and i'd like to add an EQ to not only tweak the sound but fill more space abandoned by removing the stock radio.

Weird NJ · 03-06-2003, 08:07 PM

The good thing about Nissan is that you should have a Double DIN opening. So you can install one unit and a change compartment; or you could install 2 units such as cd or minidisc and the other a full Din equalizer
[Image: l130DEQ7600.jpeg]

; or the 3rd option which is a radio that's Double DIN
[Image: l570WDX500M_V1.jpeg]

As for brand of EQ, I'm a Pioneer person. I've seen one that they made that had no buttons and was fullscreen with removable face.

Edited By Weird NJ on 1046981392

Keyser Soze · 03-06-2003, 08:12 PM

Would it be possible to have a head unit that primarily plays minidiscs and then hooks up to a 6 disk changer in the rear?

Weird NJ · 03-06-2003, 08:15 PM

Yes.

Sony MDX-CA680X
MiniDisc receiver with CD/MD changer controls
[Image: l158CA680X-f.jpeg]

Sony CDX-757MX
10-disc CD/MP3 Changer
[Image: l158CDX757M-f.jpeg]

This would be pretty good I think

Keyser Soze · 03-06-2003, 08:30 PM

Not crazy about the style of the display. Got any cooler looking MD head units?

Weird NJ · 03-07-2003, 03:49 AM

Yes. Let me just find my magic bag. With MiniDisc recievers there isn't a lot to choose from. Crutchfield only gave 4 options, 2 of which were Kenwood and the other was Blaupunkt but I don't think they make a CD changer. And it would be in your best interest to get all the units in one brand so that they link up. I'll just leave the shopping to you.

And when you're ready, you can drive that nice new shiny car down to me in the ghetto and I'll fix it up real nice. :-D :thumbs-up:

Keyser Soze · 03-07-2003, 04:16 AM

Will I get to smoke up with Danked too!!?! Confused

mokey:

Danked · 03-07-2003, 04:22 AM

Oh, I quit.

Keyser Soze · 03-07-2003, 04:23 AM

liar!