Help on buying sound system

[JamesTrain]

So I own a 2003 Honda Civic EX and I'm looking to put in a sub and some new speakers. The speakers/sub don't have to be top of the line, super good quality, etc. Just something that will be better than stock. I don't know much about technical stuff for audio, and I need some help. I found some really cheap speakers and sub on a site called [url]http://www.monoprice.com[/url] and didn't know if they were complete crap or it would be worth the money.

Woofer: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084404&p_id=6911&seq=1&format=2#description[/url]

Front Speakers: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084404&p_id=6913&seq=1&format=2[/url]

Rear Speakers: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084404&p_id=6912&seq=1&format=2[/url]

Amplifier: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084403&p_id=6910&seq=1&format=2[/url]

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Jewish Paladin]

If you really want things to get louder and sound better, put some money down and get a nice headunit. Seriously, that's all I did, and I'm happy. My stock speakers are louder, cleaner, and get more of a full range.

Also, I have an aux input and even a USB input that will read mp3s off of a flash drive, which is my favorite, because I have a 16 gig drive with damn near 3 days worth of music on it. It's awesome.
Oh yeah, and HD Radio is about the same quality as MP3, which is pretty cool considering most stations in the DFW area broadcast in HD as well.

Then you can start thinking about speakers, but only if you're really still unsatisfied, which tbh, you probably won't.

Here's the slightly newer model. I have the 545U, this is the 548U, which, as far as I know, just has a brighter screen which you can see better during the day, which is a problem I kind of have with mine.
[url]http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xTol0AmejsA/p_113HD548U/Kenwood-KDC-HD548U.html[/url]
It's a bit pricey compared to what you're looking at, but trust me, you'll be happy.

Also, use the outfit my car tool on crutchfield and it'll show you what headunits will fit in your dash (along with speaker sizes, and all that jazz). It saves you a lot of researching.

[Ca5bah]

[url]http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1301300MP/Pioneer-DEH-1300MP.html?tp=5684&nvpair=FFBrand|Pioneer[/url]

I bought these head unit a year ago and I absolutely love it, as Jewish Paladin said the sound quality and volume capability improved substantially.

[JamesTrain]

I already have a JVC KD BT1 head unit. It works extremely good but I can only get it up to about 1/6 of the max volume before it starts getting all distorted and shitty.

All I need to know is if that bundle of stuff is worth the money or if I'm just getting garbage.

[bradley]

100w in the front and 150w in the rear is going to sound like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit and rattle when the bass is high at all (at higher volumes or just with the bass turned up). Get you some fronts rated at least for 250w and rears for 300w, you shouldn't even need a sub or amp afterwards and you'll have a full range of quality sound, and with a good set of 300w+ 6x9's, a lot of thump if you equalize correctly (moar bass, less if you want less thump and higher quality).

Subs are for faggots who want to piss people off at stoplights. They don't increase the sound quality at all, they just make it sound like every time someone hits a bass drum you get rear ended slightly. Nobody likes that shit and I swear to god if you do that I will cut you.

Get some 250-270w 6.5" for the front and some 300w 6"x9" for the rear, use the head unit you have. It'll sound great.

[editline]8th May 2011[/editline]

Those might be cheap but you get what you paid for. Spend the money and get better speakers or regret it later when you have to deal with those dreadful cheap things.

[c0nk3r]

hey man i love blasting classic rock and having the drums bumping.

fuck 300watt go for 20000 watt :science:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cedfX-gzHuM[/media]

[editline]8th May 2011[/editline]

/ the video where his back door is vibrating in and out of the frame slightly

[JamesTrain]

[QUOTE=bradley;29693010]Get you some fronts rated at least for 250w and rears for 300w[/QUOTE]

I can't seem to find anything like this within a $300 dollar price range.

It seems to me that all of the high wattage ones are weird brands, and all the really nice brands (such as Polk) have low wattage; like around 150W max.
Any help would be nice in finding some nice ones. (2003 Honda Civic Coupe)

Here's what I've found:

Front: [url]http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158GT1627A/Sony-Xpl-d-XS-GT1627A.html?tp=105&nvpair=FFSpeaker_Size|6+1%[/url]
Rear: [url]http://www.crutchfield.com/p_068R693N/RetroSound-R-693N.html?tp=105&nvpair=FFMax_RMS_Power|%5brank3%5dOver+75[/url]

[bradley]

You can get two Sony 6 1/2" 250w and two Sony 6x9" for under $100, Pioneer is another option for all four speakers under $100.

Both of them.... I think are available at even normal stores, like a Wal-Mart supercenter with an automotive section.

[editline]8th May 2011[/editline]

o u conker, u crazy

[Imaledgev2]

[b]DO NOT BUY 6X9'S. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE BUYING A SUB[/b]

They are chavvy pieces of shit, coaxial speakers are cheap shit, and do you sit on the parcel shelf when you drive? Purchase some good component front speakers, maybe some small back speakers (side speakers, not parcel shelf shitx9's) get a good headunit, and an amp to power the front ones, then purchase a sub if need be. Component speakers have both a woofer and a tweeter, and have separate external crossovers than are good quality, and wont soak up all the wattage from you HU/Amp.

[editline]9th May 2011[/editline]

[url]http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=4&t=148112&a=1[/url]

[editline]9th May 2011[/editline]

[url]http://midwalesmodified.co.uk/t551-6x9-speakers[/url]

[editline]9th May 2011[/editline]

[quote=Tips&Advice]
Also if you have got a real subwoofer in your tunk,then if your thinking about buying 6x9 inch speakers then forget about it the idea totally! This because the subwoofer will cancel the notes that the 6x9 produces so what is the point of buying them and wasting money? I suggest that you look into buying some component speakers for the front with separate tweeters or coaxial.Component is more expensive but your do get better sq.Coxial is cheaper but instead results in bad sound quality.Well that choice is left between the two so which do you think is best?
[/quote]

[editline]9th May 2011[/editline]

[quote=yahoo]
100% honest, forget the 6x9's and update the standard speakers.

6x9's are just eye candy for the McD's Corsa driving crew, they are a compromise and will never give good sound quality. If you spend the money on upgrading the front speakers (mid and tweeter) as that is where the sound stage comes from so thats where you want the quality. Rear speakers are not needed with a good setup plus your sub if in the boot will cancel them out if mounted on rear shelf.[/quote]

[editline]9th May 2011[/editline]

[quote=saxperience]
i hope the mods dont mind me posting this, but just to emphasie why 6 x9's are bad

Let's start with the contenious issue of 6x9's mounted in the parcel shelf.

If a system has good front speakers, normally 5 inch or greater, and a sub woofer then the whole range of music can be played effectivly.

If 6x9's are then added in the parcel shelf, and are playing full range the following issues occur..
Bass cancellation, due to the subs and 6x9's playing the same frequencies. It also muddles the sound quite badly. Due to the subs and 6x9's effectively sharing the same enclosure. In some severe cases they can even get destroyed due to the subs pushing too much air around them.

Also in this type of setup the sound is dragged backwards, this is down to personal preference.

If the 6x9's are setup not to play full range they can be useful. If they are set up in a bandpass configuration so they only play midbass. Roughly 300Hz-80Hz then they can add the extra kick which smaller components can't. This is useful for car where getting big speakers up front is a problem. However the sound is still dragged backwards quite badly.

In many situations where midbass can be played from the front it is better in terms of SQ to remove the rear speakers. This way the sub bass cannot be pinpointed so all the sound appears to be coming from the front.

thanks to "www.talkaudio.co.uk" for this info

6x9s on a parcel shelf with a sub in the boot will not work!

Simple demo.

1. Unplug you wires from your 6x9s
2. Set stereo at the normal listening volume as you would have it while driving.
3. Sit on the back seat of the car and look at the cones on the 6x9s. See how there moving! With out wires its a miricle aint it? no its not its the air presure that the subs moving in the boot thats making them move. If there where wired up they would be fighting this presure and you would not be getting the maximum you can from your sub.

Also is audio recorded in four channels errmmm NO its recored in two left and right (exept for the very rare 5.1 audio dvds that are availble) so you only need 2 channels which should be at the front of the car as if you were at a concert would you face the front or the back? The human ear is designed to hear sound at its optimum from the front. The reason you can get away with the sub being out of the way in the boot is that low frequancys travel well where as high frequancys dont.
[/quote]

Sorry for all this, but read it before replying - i get so fucking frustrated as to why people still buy those worthless pieces of shit

[JamesTrain]

[QUOTE=Imaledgev2;29707423][b]DO NOT BUY 6X9'S. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE BUYING A SUB[/b][/QUOTE]
And if I'm not buying a sub?

I completely understand what your saying though.

Also, are you saying that if I get a good component speaker system for the front, I can just keep stock speakers in the back? or is that only if I buy a sub.

I realize I'm asking a lot of questions here, I appreciate all the help.

[Imaledgev2]

[QUOTE=JamesTrain;29707682]And if I'm not buying a sub?

I completely understand what your saying though.

Also, are you saying that if I get a good component speaker system for the front, I can just keep stock speakers in the back? or is that only if I buy a sub.[/QUOTE]

basically, completely forget 6x9s ever existed for now. Get a nice pair of component speakers to go up front ([url]http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/phonocar-pro-tech-2-815.html[/url] that's just an idea, you see it has the 2 woofers and tweeters for a clearer sound, and crossovers to split the frequencies to the right speakers) and then you should probably purchase a 2 channel amplifier to power the comps, as they wont get their full potential out of the head unit. You can then leave the back speakers as standard, and plugged into the head unit without an amp, and you're all ready for a sub. For now, in my opinion I'd say get an enclosed and active subwoofer (meaning it's practically plug in and play - [url]http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/fli10-active.html[/url] is another example) if you get one like that it means you literally chuck it in the trunk, plug one end into the head unit, and the other into your battery. It's not the best option, but it's cheap, and they work perfectly fine to a certain extent, it has a built in amplifier, you don't have to worry about enclosing it, and a lot of these active enclosed subs come with a wiring kit too. Just make sure that if you do buy an amp, the outputs have to have the same ohms as the speakers requires, and that the amps output wattage per channel matches or exceeds that of what the speaker requires (what it needs is in RMS, ignore the output)

[JamesTrain]

The vibe that I'm getting is that sub's just make a lot of noise. So what I'm thinking is that I'll buy a nice component speaker system from crutchfield for the front, and then the crappy sub from Monoprice for the back.

Component Speakers I'm looking at: [url]http://www.crutchfield.com/s_500SPR13S/Alpine-SPR-13S.html?tp=106&nvpair=FFCustomer_Rating|%5brank1%5d5+stars%5bimg%5d[/url]
Sub woofer I'm talking about: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084404&p_id=6911&seq=1&format=2#description[/url]
Amp for the sub: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084403&p_id=6910&seq=1&format=2[/url]

[Imaledgev2]

[QUOTE=JamesTrain;29707943]The vibe that I'm getting is that sub's just make a lot of noise. So what I'm thinking is that I'll buy a nice component speaker system from crutchfield for the front, and then the crappy sub from Monoprice for the back.

Component Speakers I'm looking at: [url]http://www.crutchfield.com/s_500SPR13S/Alpine-SPR-13S.html?tp=106&nvpair=FFCustomer_Rating|%5brank1%5d5+stars%5bimg%5d[/url]
Sub woofer I'm talking about: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084404&p_id=6911&seq=1&format=2#description[/url]
Amp for the sub: [url]http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084403&p_id=6910&seq=1&format=2[/url][/QUOTE]

The amp for that sub will power it at 300 watts of RMS power, when the sub will need around 400 watts RMS. It will probably work, but it will be a little underpowered and wont reach it's full potential. This is because the amp will either do 300 watts @ 4ohms, or 400 watts @ 2 ohms, and the sub requires a 4ohm power source. (think as electricity as water, and ohms as the thickness of the pipe. A smaller ohm rating will allow more water through, a larger ohm rating will let less water through) so basically you're going to need a mono amp that will output 400 watts RMS power @ 4ohms.

Also, those are some very nice component speakers, however for them to reach their full potential, they would need an amplifier, running 2 channels @ 100 watts RMS power. You can plug them straight into your head unit for the time being, but you'd need to get an amplifier for them to sound nice.

to sum it up, those component speakers (preferably with an amp if you can) in the front will create a very nice sound, and then that sub in the back (try and find one that does 400 watts RMS @ 4 ohms)

[Second-gear-of-]

If you really want a good sounding system, save up a bit more. Get four tweeters, and four 6.5s or whatever the Civic uses. Buy the Appropriate headunit and an amp with the needed wattage. Put two Tweets in the front, two in the back and the 6.5s in the needed spot. Don't get speakers that have a super high bass output as that will distort the mids. Instead, get one subwoofer like an 8'' or something and place it either between the two rear speakers, or get two fours and put them under the front seats so that you can properly hear the sound that they make. Subs in the trunk just vibrate stuff, but put them in an area where you can hear, they recreate perfect drum sounds, and generally add depth to the music.

[JamesTrain]

[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;29729336]If you really want a good sounding system, save up a bit more. Get four tweeters, and four 6.5s or whatever the Civic uses. Buy the Appropriate headunit and an amp with the needed wattage. Put two Tweets in the front, two in the back and the 6.5s in the needed spot. Don't get speakers that have a super high bass output as that will distort the mids. Instead, get one subwoofer like an 8'' or something and place it either between the two rear speakers, or get two fours and put them under the front seats so that you can properly hear the sound that they make. Subs in the trunk just vibrate stuff, but put them in an area where you can hear, they recreate perfect drum sounds, and generally add depth to the music.[/QUOTE]

This is pretty much what I'm leaning towards. I read a lot of stuff about 6x9's being crappy so I might just put 6.5's in front and back. My problem is I'm on a tight budget and I would go with your suggestion, except Amp's are really expensive. I don't want to buy them used because I don't want it to burn out in a month or so, and I don't know how good it was taken care of.

So now my question is... Anyone know where to buy cheap Amps, or is that just what it is?

[bradley]

Cheap amps are just that - cheap amps. Don't buy one unless you plan on it randomly failing on you one day. A good amp is going to cost you probably more than the speakers you'll want to buy.

[Second-gear-of-]

A good way to do it, if you have an actual source of income. Buy things one part at a time, like head unit first, then speakers, then amp.

[c0nk3r2]

or be a grubby ass motherfucker and steal it all

[Second-gear-of-]

That is also a good choice. Most places are overpriced anyways, SHOWEMWHOSEBOSS

[c0nk3r]

[QUOTE=c0nk3r2;29743038]or be a grubby ass motherfucker and steal it all[/QUOTE]

this

:downs:

[JamesTrain]

ONE more question :D

How bad will a sub sound without an amp? I would assume really bad, but I wouldn't really know.
I would DEFIANTLY buy an amp at one point, but if I have a good deal on a sub right now, should I buy it and then get the amp when I can afford it?

[Second-gear-of-]

It's not a good idea to run a sub without one. If the total wattage goes over the amount that the headunit can put out by itself it's going to be really quiet and sound like shit with popping and stuff. Also, when ordering the speakers, make sure the OHMS are all the same.

[Bubbaluke]

You can't run a sub without an amp, there's no open channels on your head unit. Do some research and go to your local pawn shop. They dont know shit about amps so they make them all the same price. I got a 1000w rockford fosgate amp for 60 bucks.

[Rævskjegg]

Buy an active sub if you have very limited money.

active subs are subs with built-in amps so you just connect it directly into the headunit

[Superwafflez]

[img]http://www.robinsonpoyner.com/RADIOAMPSSPEAKERS/MTX-Terminator-TNP212D-319.jpg[/img]

I don't get the hate on subs? I kept my stock 15yr old BMW 10 speaker sound system, changed the head unit out for a new alpine with all the bells and whistles and added that monster of a sub. Sounds fucking great!

[Rævskjegg]

I love subs :buddy:

I have to upgrade my set soon

[Adius]

I like subs when they are not overly obnoxious

[Second-gear-of-]

[QUOTE=Superwafflez;29771339][img_thumb]http://www.robinsonpoyner.com/RADIOAMPSSPEAKERS/MTX-Terminator-TNP212D-319.jpg[/img_thumb]

I don't get the hate on subs? I kept my stock 15yr old BMW 10 speaker sound system, changed the head unit out for a new alpine with all the bells and whistles and added that monster of a sub. Sounds fucking great![/QUOTE]

Two subs sound horrible.

Generally, the larger the sub, and the more wattage it has. The worse it sounds.

An 8 inch ranging from 70 to 170 watts is perfect for making music sound good, but it doesn't complete the package.

[c0nk3r]

i think it depends on where you live, people would cheer you on if you had crazy bass around here, where as other places they would be like HEY SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU WIGGER

[Superwafflez]

[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;29772857]Two subs sound horrible.[/QUOTE]

Sorry sounds awesome, I get compliments all the time from mates who have singles.