[what~the~vu]

I want to put an audio system for my car, but im a noob to what brand is good and what not. i was wondering if you guys can help suggest me components inot having a complete system. which would include speakers, a sub, amps and a head unit. i think my budget is like 800 bucks.

[Stevent]

It's better to go with a known name brand, ie kenwood, JVC, Alpine, etc... If you're looking for a deal, then go to your local car audio shop and see what kind of deal then can give you since you're thinking about going the whole 9 yards.

[kelvin6]

The headunit should be a name brand at least...

Speakers can vary like crazy, everything from some Infinity's all the way to Focal...

Amps are in the same market, I don't like the name brand stuff like Alpine, Infinity, JVC, etc, because there are so many audiophile grade amps out there for not much more (or even less for that matter), such as Autotek (drools), USAcoustics (i'd pick one used as those are solid and very reliable), Soundstream even to the cheaper but very clean sounding Planet Audio. I have a multichannel Planet Audio amplifier and it plays very well and its rating for 50W is actually conservative because it can put out quite a bit of clarity and power much more than any 50W RMS amp i've ever heard.

If you are going to use a amp, i'd suggest getting a 4 or 5 channel amplifier, to drive the speakers in the car and a sub as well. Keeping everything to one amp saves space (and as long as your not going to be doing decible drags, its fine).

If you go this route you can get a headunit that doesn't have a internal amplifier, which can improve sound quality as the headunit has more space for dedicated electronics for the audio portion and for other features.

Its probably unlikely that you live near me, but if you did I can definitely do a audiophile install for $800 or even less.

[DaRkViEt73]

Its probably unlikely that you live near me, but if you did I can definitely do a audiophile install for $800 or even less.

Audiophile install for $800? Just my tube amp alone costed me more than $800...


Just go to your local audio shop and ask them what you can get for $800. I'd concentrate more on the headunit and speakers because in that price range, you can get away with a cheapie sub and amp. That'd be the easy route and I'm quite sure you'll come away satisfied with what you'll be getting.

The better route, but requires research on your part, is to go buy your stuff on ebay which frequently has the stuff for much less. But this route is really only good if you already know what you want and can figure out how to install the stuff yourself or get people to help you. Those audio shops might charge you an arm and a leg to do the installation which negates most of the cost savings of buying them online.

[what~the~vu]

Audiophile install for $800? Just my tube amp alone costed me more than $800...
Just go to your local audio shop and ask them what you can get for $800. I'd concentrate more on the headunit and speakers because in that price range, you can get away with a cheapie sub and amp. That'd be the easy route and I'm quite sure you'll come away satisfied with what you'll be getting.

The better route, but requires research on your part, is to go buy your stuff on ebay which frequently has the stuff for much less. But this route is really only good if you already know what you want and can figure out how to install the stuff yourself or get people to help you. Those audio shops might charge you an arm and a leg to do the installation which negates most of the cost savings of buying them online.

thats what i was thinking. thats why i was asking for like brands and stuff so i can look online for them. if i take it to the shop, they would charge loads for installation. i rather use that installation money and spend on a better sub or amp like you said.

[boost]

800 bucks will get you a good headunit and decent components. start saving up for amps and subs

[Stevent]

if you're for audio stuff online, here's a list of some of the sites http://caraudio.com/

[kelvin6]

Depends, some people do not prefer the sound of a tube amp, hence they don't need or want a $800+ tube amplifier. Secondly there isn't a true 'tube' amplifier on the market, pretty much every amplifier out there is a hybrid tube and solid state amp, because there is no way on earth are you going to shove all the tubes required to make a discrete tube amp, not even in the audio signal portion of the amplifier. If you did make a discrete tube amplifier, the box would be pretty big... plus you have to consider the long term vibration (of driving the car) does degrade the tube life, and the constant heating up of the filaments of the tube heater... don't get me wrong but I like tube amps for its mellow warm sound, but i'd rather have a tube amplifier at home and not in some harsh car enviroment.

Yes you can install a audiophile or just one plain kick ass system for under $800 or right at that range. It also depends on your goal, are you looking for something just to sound clean or do you want something that can produce enough bass to shake up the neighborhood? You don't need lots of $$$ to have audiophile, you just need to know what components of the system are good or not (or if its a good compatibility with a certain other component).

There are many factors in a car audio install that can affect the sound quality... such as sound damping, speaker placement, EQ tuning if needed, etc. Lots of it also depends on the car itself.

If you are also looking for a subwoofer, and are confined in space, I can recommend the Elemental Designs EU-700, which i've had some experience with.

The system that I have in my car took lots of experimentation to get to the point where i'm pleased with it. I've found certain speaker combinations that work and don't work in my car because of speaker placement. I've made sure to get a decent amplifier that sounds very good and is very tweakable for not much $$$, and I'm even using a factory headunit that I customed a RCA pre out adapters so that I can retain the simplicity and stock look of the headunit (because I live in a area of high car vandalism rates). I also built a (yes, I built this from scratch) a line driver to improve and buffer the sound from the stock headunit prior to sending the audio to the amplifier which drives the speakers in the car.

Ok, so I did all this on my own without much experience at all at the time. All I had was some electronics and electrical background and some professional sound recording knowledge. I've never even did a car installation prior to this, except for a headunit. I did have to do lots of custom fabrication, such as building a switching unit for a CD Changer and AUX in device for the factory headunit as well as the preout adapter (which there was a port for on the headunit). I felt that I could save money by buying all the components myself, installing them myself and tweaking it myself. It did take a while before everything is the way it is now, but i'm glad I didn't shell out the extra $$$ for a installer to do it.

What kind of car do you have?

[what~the~vu]

i have a 98 accord. i just want something that is clear and can bump, but not for the whole neighborhood. just for the ppl in the car.

[kelvin6]

Then I suggest the EU-700 for the sub. Its not wildly expensive, but for its small size it can really dip low in bass. I would recommend the custom ported enclosure (which is oddly the same price as the sub ($70)) from the Elemental Designs website (http://www.edesignau...dv2/index.php). Do not be decieved by its small size it can rival and kill many 8" subwoofers. Save your trunk space and use this lil monster.

As for an amplifier, I recommend a 4 channel or even 5 channel amplifier. I've worked with Planet Audio amps (for my own and friends car) and they are very good sounding for a low price:

Such as:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Planet-Audi...sspagenameZWDVW

Or refurbished ones, which I found to be just like brand new and very reliable with no appearance flaws nor internal flaws:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PLANET-AUDIO-4-CHANNEL...1QQcmdZViewItem

The reason why I recommended these amps is because they aren't too pricy and they are 2 ohm stable, which allows you to use 2 channels to drive the rear speakers and the sub, thus saving money and the room for a second amplifier to drive the sub. I highly recommend using a 4 channel amp to do this because driving the speakers from a amp generally sounds better than driving the speakers from a headunit (factory or aftermarket).

Speakers are hard to say, I like Infinity coaxials, but they don't put out much low bass, if any. The components are a bit better but its hard to say. These speakers are gonna be fine if you do install a sub, and if you put them in the stock door position. They can produce very good highs, and some alright midbass, but you really need a sub for these speakers. Repeat with the same series of speakers for the back, otherwise the people in the back will hear things very differently. Most importantly is to have the cross over settings set correctly (on the amp) for the speakers and the subwoofer for a smooth and seemless transition of sound through the range.

I've heard some really impressive speakers such as Focal, Morel, and Dynaudio (ironically I think they're all Swedish), but the cost will put your system way out of budget.

Headunit... well this is your call, I don't have any specific recommendations. If you do decide to go with the 4 channel amplifier route, the headunit doesn't need to have a internal amplifier, which can save $$$, but in most cases it doesn't. Not having a internal amplifier allows the headunit to run with less electronic interference and noise, thus resulting in even cleaner audio!

[DaRkViEt73]

Depends, some people do not prefer the sound of a tube amp, hence they don't need or want a $800+ tube amplifier.

That's true for some but then again, I doubt many people in general have heard a good setup with tubes before. I'm sure many would be sold on the "tube" sound when they hear it.

Secondly there isn't a true 'tube' amplifier on the market, pretty much every amplifier out there is a hybrid tube and solid state amp, because there is no way on earth are you going to shove all the tubes required to make a discrete tube amp, not even in the audio signal portion of the amplifier.

http://www.milbert.com/
Milbert makes true tube car amps outputting 30 watts of PURE class A, musical sweetness. The Milbert amps definately ARE big though not to mention expensive. You're paying over $100 per WATT!!! Definately too rich for me.

plus you have to consider the long term vibration (of driving the car) does degrade the tube life, and the constant heating up of the filaments of the tube heater...

That's why there's car amps that are designed for a car's harsh environment. Like for example, both the Butler Blue and Milbert amps have soft-starts that feed the power in slowly when you first turn it on so it'll extend the life of the tubes.

don't get me wrong but I like tube amps for its mellow warm sound, but i'd rather have a tube amplifier at home and not in some harsh car enviroment.

Obviously we've got different priorities. I want the best sound possible within my budget and I have not heard any solid state amps under $1200 that have the live, 3d-like sound stage that tubes can give. And SQ is not something I want to compromise on. The days of all boom-boom-boom from the subs and crappy fronts where all the music gets blended together are over for me.

Regardless, I have no major disagreements with your recommendations for the thread starter.

i have a 98 accord. i just want something that is clear and can bump, but not for the whole neighborhood. just for the ppl in the car.

Assuming you want to stay under $200 for speakers, you could try Infinity Kappas for about $120 or so. Coaxials from the Focal Polyglass series are under $200. Diamond Audio is decent for the price. MB Quart are a popular mainstream brand especially if you like music with exaggerated highs.

For mainstream-level headunits, I like Alpines, Kenwoods & Eclipse but I do not have any particular recommendation in the $300 and below price range.

[kelvin6]

To the poster above, i'm not trying to say that tube amps in the car are evil in anyway, I just feel that it leans toward the impractical side. I'm sure they sound wonderful, as I have considered looking for an older USAcoustics Tube amp for the car at one time (but didn't really want to deal with two seperate amps, because finding a used 4 channel version was tough). I've built some tube equipment before (vintage radio, headphone amps and a line driver that I tried to make work in my car!), but even then, I realized that using tubes in a modern car application might not work out too well.
It just really depends on the tube amp itself, if it uses some rare odd tube, well that is something I rather not have. If it uses the common 12AX7 tube, no problem, i'll just let it die and pop in a new one later (since it is so common). If the tube filaments are being soft fed the current, its gonna add to the wait time before any sound comes through the speaker... which if you can appreciate the wait, its great, but for some impatient people like, I want it quick. I'm sure that what you spent on your tube amp, you definitely appreciate it very much, cuz I know I can't.


To the original poster, if in the future you really want a decent upgrade, go for kick pods and put a set of components in them. Its gonna feel like its bite off your legs when you drive! I'm sure for your Accord there are prefabricated kick pods out there, otherwise its going to have to be custom built.

[MeijerBranTM]

i never knew people made tube amps for automobiles... does that mean they have a stand by mode and take a while to heat up? because I know that stereo tube amps you need to and my marshall tube amp you need to...

[what~the~vu]

thanks for the all the input!!