I was on a Sunday cruise to a village further west to look at some audio equipment for my 90. I liked the Alpine unit which is XM ready, bluetooth and mp3, 200 watts. Speakers I wasn't sure about either the Pioneer or the Alpines. The XM module to make it work on the head unit is $130 for all the pieces. I don't think I need an amp. I am not an audiophile but know when something sounds good and I don't need to shake the windows of the neighbors with the bass. Hardware around $450 and $150 to $200 to install it in the car. Does that sound about right? What would you rec on hardware? Thanks

don't let chimps take that car apart.

read my audio FAQ before going anywhere... we will revisit tomorrow night!

I just picked up an Alpine 9887 to replace the 7930 deck that I have had for almost 15 years now. I am dissatisfied with the look of the current Alpine decks, but I will suffer. Trust me, even with the new decks, you will want a separate power supply. If you drive with the windows down or the top off, you are going to need at least 40w. I pulled all the interior out, installed some sound deadener, steam cleaned the carpet and am running all the wires again. It's a current WIP, and I had to abandon the project to get on a customers car.

BTW, I second what Andy said about not letting anybody touch the car to do audio work. They are all hacks!

I hate the misconception that amps = loud bass. Yes, amps can be used in conjunction with a subwoofer to create excess amounts of low frequencies, but amps serve a much higher purpose for car audio than just amping subs.

Amplifiers used with a good mid range speaker component set simply make them sound better in every way. If you can use an amp in your plans you will be very happy with the results. Just saying. LOL.

With what everyone said...

Alpine is still one of the better head units. I am also a fan of Eclipse.

I am a huge fan of amps. Internal amps are wussy and will leave you feeling rather cold, really.

Have you read my FAQ???

Yes, generally more amps = better sound quality with less effort.

I'm sure many of those audio installers are capable of doing it right, but they would rather do a rush job on it. Unless you know the guy, you're better off doing it yourself and taking your sweet time.

The last Alpine deck I bought I tried running with no external amp, the damn thing hummed and it was a common problem for that model so I returned it. They have some decks with no internal amp now. I wish they'd get with the program and redesign their head units, I hate the look and the controls aren't intuitive.

BTW for wiring, you can get some ribbon wire that lays flat under the carpet. The stock pre-amp speaker wiring can be used, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're trying to be a complete cheap ass. It's very thin gauge and probably more prone to interference.

I lined my interior with sound mat, (waste of time IMO), and put the amp behind the drivers seat. A small amp will fit under the passenger seat if it's a manual seat track. There's also some creative places to mount speakers and subs. I have a few pics on the link in my sig.

I recently hsd a Pioneer AVIX 710 unit installed in my "93. They wer able to use the stock amp from the original premium system so sound quality is still excellent. I changed units for functionality, not volume. That said, the unit I bought has bluetooth capability (works exceptionally well!), USB and SD card ports, Ipod integration and a wide screen nav system. It was kind of pricey, but it fits very nicely in the radio slot and looks almost stock.

I don't have a problem with using installers on these projects as long as they are quality installers that you trust. Just expect to pay a lot for that if you get it done. There are a lot of good products out there, just shop around.

Matthew

Oh god....This thread brings back bad memories for me...Don't let a bunch of dumbasses install your system! I did and it was never right. I finially got everything fixed with just basic speakers and a CD/FM/AM radio...I used kenwood all around though.

Thanks guys, I am pondering all my options. I believe I will use a seperate amp but does that just increase the amps you get in the head or do you buy a unit that has no amp power on it's own? This audio stuff is greek to me.

I just read Centralcoaster's again and answered my question. Thanks M

Quote:

Buy a separate amp, doesn't matter what head unit you use. For the most part, high end competition head units are not internally amplified. You will not find many basic head units w/o internal amps.

Matthew

Quote:


Exactly. I only buy head units that either don't have an internal amp or I buy head units that have an internal amp that can be SHUT OFF. I have no need for the paltry 17 watts RMS per channel from the head unit. Sure they all claim 50...OOOHHH...but it's sugar coated and over rated. No way would I let an internal amp power my drivers.

For instance, I usually cut the speaker wire outputs off of the head unit wiring harness. In fact the plug goes into the head unit with four wires...power both constant and switched, ground, and amp remote.

I went cheap and used the head unit amp to power my rear speakers. Rear speakers aren't important anyways.

Then I have a 4-channel amp powering the front component speakers, and the other 2-channels of it bridged to power a single subwoofer. 6 channel or 5+1 amps are two damn big to fit in my car, and I didn't want to bother with 2 seperate amps.