New to car audio and need some direction
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-06 | Okay, first let me state my problem. I have finally become fed up with the distortion and overall lack of sound quality my stock stereo has, especially at high volume, to the point that i've decided it's time to upgrade. I have a '98 Audi A6 and have looked around to see what speakers fit my car and every place says something different. So today I took down the door panel and pulled out the speaker. Looks like it's a 6.5" component setup. Same in 4 doors. First thing I want to do is replace the HU. I want one with ipod control so I can stash the ipod in the glovebox while driving and listen to my 60 gigs of music with good quality. I have been leaning towards the Alpine units since I've always been a fan of Alpine. The only other aftermarket setup i've had was Alpine HU with Infinity speakers and it worked fabulously. Of course that was in high school and I didn't really know the difference. Next I move on to the speakers. For now I don't want to spend the money on an amp to power the speakers just to keep the cost down, but if I should may be able to put one in a few months down the road when i have some more money. What I was thinking is put components in the front doors and coax in the the rear once again to keep the cost down. I've also heard that some like coax better in the rear, but I wouldn't really know about that. I really have no idea what speakers to go with. Then I need to install an amp and sub. Don't really know where to go here. My buddy that is going to help me with the installation has said that we should build the sub enclosure to keep cost down. My overall budget for this (including self installation  ) is about $1000 which, when I think about it, seems too much to me, but I understand it's better to fork out more for quality stuff and be happy with it down the road. I just want to emphasize again that distortion at high levels agrivates me like none other. My example song is papercut by linkin park. On my stock setup the song just sounds horrible with any kind of volume. Also, I love a good thump, but it can't be too over the top. It should blend well with the music. I'd appreciate any direction or suggestions as I decide what to purchase. Thanks! |
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Gold Member Username: TjmutlowPost Number: 2575 Registered: Sep-05 | I run the apline 9857 with the ipod spped wire, i think its great(never been a fan of Alpine). I would run The infinity Kappas and just go ahead and run an amp right away, do not wait. you can get the kappas for about 200 and the coax for 95, infinity 7541 4 channel for 180, apline 9857 for 265 and an amp kit for about 30. |
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Gold Member Username: TjmutlowPost Number: 2576 Registered: Sep-05 | even aftermarket radios will distort when turned past a certain volume point...... thats why we use amps..... |
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Silver Member Username: DkchillinVermont Post Number: 185 Registered: Mar-05 | to add to what Ty suggested, throw in an Alpine Type S sub with a decent quality amp that'll push around 300W at 2 ohms, or a Type R with a 500W amp and I think that would be a nice little setup. |
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Bronze Member Username: LongbluesquidPost Number: 20 Registered: May-06 | Doesnt Alpine still carry that $1000 system? which includes Alpine head unit with ipod dock plus type S components and coaxicals with a type S sub and amp. cause that could be a good deal |
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 2 Registered: Jul-06 | So where did you grab these prices from? Here is what I have put together and the lowest prices I could find, mostly from pricegrabber comes out to be 1200: Infinity Reference 7541a 111W RMS x 4 Car Amplifier Multi-channel Amps 242 kappa component: 2 3/4" depth woofer 1" depth tweeter 243 Infinity Kappa 62.7i 6-1/2" 2-way Speakers 98 Alpine SWR-1222D 12 Type-R Series Subwoofer 130 Alpine MRP-M650 Class-D Mono Power Amplifier 205 Alpine CDA-9857 CD Player 279 Also, It doesn't have to be infinity, it's just that infinity and bose are the only brands i have any experience with. Any suggestions? |
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 3 Registered: Jul-06 | Another thing, what type and where should I buy the wire and other stuff for the installation? |
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Gold Member Username: AlteraudiousaConcord Post Number: 1041 Registered: Jan-06 | well i know metra does not make a kit ( harness or dash kit) for the A6 and Scosche only makes a dash kit but i didn't see a harness for it. I am not sure if your car has an amp or not in it but if it does you need to bypass that (if possible) to play. Not as easy as some on here thinks. You can probably change out the speakers but you'll need to find if the amp has a weird crossover on it like the Jeep Cherokees. |
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 4 Registered: Jul-06 | Yeah I'm pretty sure that it does have an amp. And finding out much of anything about the setup in my car is easier said than done. I've done quite a bit of searching to find out more about it with nothing to show for it. And anything I do find seems to contradict what somebody else has to say about it. Wo is me. |
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New member Username: NewtocaraudioAustin, Texas Here Post Number: 2 Registered: Jul-06 | I bought a set of PPI PC 650S 6-1/2" Component Speaker System and I am not sure if these are any good in terms of SQ...Should I have gone a different route? My price range is about 150-300$ I paid 150$ for this set Thank You |
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Gold Member Username: AlteraudiousaConcord Post Number: 1042 Registered: Jan-06 | i'll ask one of the installers tommorrow but since we deal with Metra we don't take in any A6 since Metra doesn't make a kit. Unfortunately it may come down to you paid for the car experience not the upgrading options. |
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 5 Registered: Jul-06 | I'm thinking what I'll do is leave all the current wiring in place and just run new wires. This way when I sell the car, which will probably happen here in a few years, I can replace the stock components and put the aftermarket stuff in the next car. I've been reading up about installation and pulled some parts of my car apart and while it will be quite some work, it will be an enjoyable learning experience. I went to a few places around that sell car audio today and wasn't able to find anywhere that had the kappa speakers. Best Buy had the amp and sub as well as the HU so I demoed those and was quite impressed. I'm just a litle worried about buying the speakers without hearing them first. From what I hear the infinity tweeters are harsh and it depends on the person if they sound good or not. |
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 7 Registered: Jul-06 | Me again! What about the Alpine Type-R SPR-17LS? How would these compare to the Infinity? The mounting depth is greater so I'm not sure if they would fit, I'll have to check that out, but I found them for quite a bit cheaper. 140 shipped as opposed to 240. Maybe I should start a post about this as more people might look at it instead of avoiding the "another noob" topic name |
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Silver Member Username: DkchillinVermont Post Number: 187 Registered: Mar-05 | Where abouts do you live? Try and see if you can find a shop that does only car audio, they're bound to have them. Some Bestbuy locations will have the Kappas on hand, but a lot of them only demo the Reference series which doesn't help at all since the tweeters are compltely different materials (the Reference tweeters are a silk dome while the Kappas are MMD - metal matrix dome). I'm one of the people who tend to find Infinity speakers harsh, but it also has a lot to do with how you set them up, how you set the crossovers and how you power them. In general though, I'm not a huge fan of their sound. Quality-wise they're a great product in terms of materials and longevity so I'd wait and see if you can track them down, I know plenty of people who love the extra crisp highs. |
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Silver Member Username: DkchillinVermont Post Number: 188 Registered: Mar-05 | I really like the Type Rs, I think they have a nice full sound and tend to perform well with all kinds of music. Again though, it'll come down to what sounds best to you. If you're still up in the air on brand you might also want to look into the Boston Pro60's or the Polk MOMO 6500's and you can find those for about the same price as the Kappas if you look around online and especially on ebay, but I'd only buy new products from there. |
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New member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 8 Registered: Jul-06 | The only 2 exclusive car audio places around here that I know of won't work. One simply doesn't demo their stuff. The place is tiny and filled with boxes of their product with no way to listen to it. Doens't make much sense to me, but hey, they stay in business. The other place, which was great, was recently sold and I have no idea where they moved to and what the name is. But I just busted out the phone book and I have the day to go a searching. We'll see what turns up. |
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New member Username: Firestomper25Kenmore, Ny United states Post Number: 1 Registered: Aug-06 | ok how do i set up the amp to the hu so i can control it from the hu..... i know i need a cable that goes from my hu to my amp but what is it and where can i get it cheap..... and do i need a cappacitor if my over all rms is at max close to six hundred... but the peak will be around 1600 from the amp and 1500 peak (500 rms) from the sub ..... the amp i have is the kenwood ecxelon something... it a mono channel amp.... and i am only gonna have one 2 ohm dvc sub..... and im gonna wire to be a total of 4 ohm's.... i bought an amp wiring kit but dont know what goes where or how it wire it where.... and i dont want to do it wrong...... you can email me and sugar_daddy688@hotmail.com it would be easyier than here or use aim... me |
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New member Username: Firestomper25Kenmore, Ny United states Post Number: 2 Registered: Aug-06 | sory i cnat help with the above i got some of the same problems too |
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Bronze Member Username: RiskybPost Number: 49 Registered: Feb-06 | 2 pairs of these nice focals http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1160 = about 420$ (hehe i said 420) nice diamond 4 chan http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=183 = about 270$ alpine made for ipod http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_6920.html cord for ipod http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_6458.html 310$ = 1000$ + Shipping. nice setup and some really nice components for that SQ. |
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Bronze Member Username: GidgidonihahPost Number: 11 Registered: Jul-06 | Just an update. I actually went with all alpine. Got everything for just under 1000 shipped. Did the install myself with a little help from the audiworld.com forums and everything is up and running. Sounds supurb! I did have to replace my alternator in the process though. THAT was an unexpected cost... |
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