Car Audio

MetalRob331 wrote:

Take your vehicle to a local audio store and ask their experts.  That's what they are there for.  Tell them what you are looking for and hear some of their options and then go by price...

Need to be careful with the local store - a friend had a system installed at a local store, then had it stolen a couple weeks later.... by employees at the store - they knew how to disable the alarm system, pull out the entire system and get away in under 5 minutes...... Cops told him it happens all the time - the workers at the local shop rip off what they have installed then sell it for cash.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

HAHAHA! Nice! Sounds good. A friend of mine has a sub and I brought my ipod and plugged it in. Sounded like total crap no matter what I played, most of it being metal. I don't even know why he bought one cause he listens to country haha.

Sounds like your going all out on this I thought you just wanted to go simple haha

I should've said moderate, not simple lol. That wasn't the right word 'cause when I get involved in a project, I get obsessed, I go all the way. But a sub might be overkill and I'm definitely keeping the costs mild, but not cheap. No crazy animated DVD player and disco ball. In fact, the reason why I may be skipping the Pioneer head unit is because of the obnoxious colored strobe.

Country with a sub. Ridiculous.

thejokeriv wrote:

MetalRob331 wrote:

Take your vehicle to a local audio store and ask their experts.  That's what they are there for.  Tell them what you are looking for and hear some of their options and then go by price...

Need to be careful with the local store - a friend had a system installed at a local store, then had it stolen a couple weeks later.... by employees at the store - they knew how to disable the alarm system, pull out the entire system and get away in under 5 minutes...... Cops told him it happens all the time - the workers at the local shop rip off what they have installed then sell it for cash.

That's why I stay away too; I hear of this all the time. But even here in Fresno all the local shops have gone out of business save for a few sketchy locations. Best Buy is about it, and they know jack shit about car audio. I went in to get a pair of speaker wire harnesses and they handed me a stereo install kit. I explained to them what I needed and they let me talk to an installer. He handed me a stereo wiring harness. I said "for F*ck's sake, I need it for the speakers, I'm not installing a stereo." They finally found two harnesses with different junctions--one for Chrysler and one for Chevy--and asked me which one. I said Chevy, like I did before, and they just gave me a blank stare. It was a headache.

Plus the salesmen assume you listen to Drake and The Game and know nothing about RMS or matching amps to speakers. One guy I talked to tried to upsell a unit because it was 50 watts peak per channel, so I asked him what the RMS was, and he literally asked me what that meant. Anyone who doesn't know this shouldn't be selling car audio. But that's Best Buy for you.

Really, though, it's easy stuff. There's nothing complicated about it unless you want to get overly elaborate, and even then DIY is a good way to go. Just do your reading and simple arithmetic right. I call Crutchfield for the Boy Scout questions, they're good to me.

On a final note of this long-winded post, I cranked Accuser's Diabolic and Accept's Blood of the Nations quite loud tonight with extra bass, and Jesus Christ was it breathtaking. Last time I tried that it sounded like garbage.

Ordered my setup today. Alpine stereo with Aux in, USB, bluetooth, and of course CD, a receiver amp which will boost the original 18w RMS to 45 per channel, two rear Blaupunkt speakers, and all the hardware. Supposed to arrive Wed. Looking at component tweeters to see if I can squeeze it in my budget.

corplhicks wrote:

Looking at component tweeters to see if I can squeeze it in my budget.

One word: POLK!!!!

tohostudios wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Looking at component tweeters to see if I can squeeze it in my budget.

One word:  POLK!!!!

That's what I'm leaning toward. Alas, I don't think I can't squeeze them in just yet...

Success!



Only thing missing are the rear speakers (which are being held up by Amazon; that's a rant for another time). Behind the pictured head unit is a small Alpine amp that tweaks the RMS from 18w to 45w (although I have doubts the full 45 could ever be utilized die to several factors). Before the full install I tested with and without the amp and the difference was worlds apart, so the amp was a good purchase for now until I go big league.

Took my 4-year-old for a drive and cranked Iced Earth's Glorious Burden, Overkill's Horrorscope, Judas Priest's Painkiller, Dark Angel's Time Does Not Heal, Cyclone's Inferior to None, and Deep Purple's In Rock and Burn. I was in total heaven, a new world. I turned it up pretty loud and there was no distortion except for Horrorscope which was rattling the door (I need some Dynomat and proper speaker mounts). Just pure, crystal clear sound, every note clearly understood. Burn was the best of the bunch; I put on Sail Away and my kid just started going nuts, bouncing up and down. I'm looking forward to work on Tuesday.

The true test was the Cyclone disc. Underground thrash is my favorite genre and before now it was impossible to listen to anything of this type of production in my truck. Just sounded like garbage and white noise, couldn't tell what notes were happening, etc. Cyclone, for being such an inferior production (yeah, pun intended), sounded quite intelligible and awesome.

So car audio is a great way to listen to music, hands down.

Meant to post this with the above:



It's proving to be quite an awesome deck.

Okay, I'm a little drunk and can't find my way to the delete button for this last post, but I see I've actually already posted this image, so my apologies. Carry on.