New Guy, New Tech

[Gandhi]

Hey folks, new guy here. I used to do car installs a while ago, haven't really been paying attention to the new stuff and was looking for a little help. I am possibly going to be redoing my entire car stereo in my 04 Grand Prix GTP. I currently run a cheap JVC head unit (want to replace soon) 2 12" Kicker Comps (not VR) with a Kicker Z400 Mono amp. The rear deck is currently 6x9 Kicker CS series and the doors are Kicker 5 1/4 CS series. The subs and amp are about 12 years old and still taking a beating. The cab speakers are about 6 years old. Mostly play metal and hard rock. The cab speakers I'm not worried about (yet). I would like to stick with Kicker or possibly Soundstream. What amps and subs are recommended with todays technology to play tight and full with good quality for metal and hard rock? Sorry i have been out of the game for a while. I would like to keep them parallel, unless anyone thinks it would be better to go with series.

Also, given the type of music i play, Ported or Sealed?

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[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

Hey folks, new guy here. I used to do car installs a while ago, haven't really been paying attention to the new stuff and was looking for a little help. I am possibly going to be redoing my entire car stereo in my 04 Grand Prix GTP. I currently run a cheap JVC head unit (want to replace soon) 2 12" Kicker Comps (not VR) with a Kicker Z400 Mono amp. The rear deck is currently 6x9 Kicker CS series and the doors are Kicker 5 1/4 CS series. The subs and amp are about 12 years old and still taking a beating. The cab speakers are about 6 years old. Mostly play metal and hard rock. The cab speakers I'm not worried about (yet). I would like to stick with Kicker or possibly Soundstream. What amps and subs are recommended with todays technology to play tight and full with good quality for metal and hard rock? Sorry i have been out of the game for a while. I would like to keep them parallel, unless anyone thinks it would be better to go with series.

Also, given the type of music i play, Ported or Sealed?

I'm no genius, just my $.02 on a budget
Amps: Taramps and Pioneer
Subs: Sundown, American Bass, Dayton
Those seem to be the more popular brands if you are on a budget.

 

[Gandhi]

I'm no genius, just my $.02 on a budget
Amps: Taramps and Pioneer
Subs: Sundown, American Bass, Dayton
Those seem to be the more popular brands if you are on a budget.

thank you for the 2 cents. not necessarily on a budget though.

 

[BCotrell]

What’s your budget?

If you’re gonna overhaul, Bite the bullet and Get an new headunit from the start. Grab anew pioneer single din or double din to get a clean signal and a ton of tuning/eq capabilities...One that is active capable. Then go active running tweets on your front channels and mids on your mid rca, all independently run on a four channel amp. Open the cavity holes in your door where your 5.25’s are get some 6.5’s in there. Skip rear deck

soundstream is garbage and kicker is average gear that it way overpriced. There’s many better options once you identify budget...be open minded. Sealed will be good unless you are committed to getting/building a custom enclosure built to the specs of the sub(s) and of course that your okay giving up more trunk space for an optimized ported box.

Your factory alt is 125 amps most likely so minus the 1/3 of that it takes to run your car you have conservatively about 1200 watts before you’ll need electrical upgrade. You can go further with full bridge amp technology.

 

[Gandhi]

What’s your budget?

If you’re gonna overhaul, Bite the bullet and Get an new headunit from the start. Grab anew pioneer single din or double din to get a clean signal and a ton of tuning/eq capabilities...One that is active capable. Then go active running tweets on your front channels and mids on your mid rca, all independently run on a four channel amp. Open the cavity holes in your door where your 5.25’s are get some 6.5’s in there. Skip rear deck

soundstream is garbage and kicker is average gear that it way overpriced. There’s many better options once you identify budget...be open minded. Sealed will be good unless you are committed to getting/building a custom enclosure built to the specs of the sub(s) and of course that your okay giving up more trunk space for an optimized ported box.

Your factory alt is 125 amps most likely so minus the 1/3 of that it takes to run your car you have conservatively about 1200 watts before you’ll need electrical upgrade. You can go further with full bridge amp technology.

ok, yes i really need to replace my head unit. Im not looking for competition amount of power, dB, or equipment. I just want something that sounds great, articulate, and will last as long as the current subs and amp i have now.

Is there anything wrong with JVC headunits? Ive used those for a few years. My budget depends on the quility. Im always willing to pay more for higher quility, but i will still look for a deal on it.

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

thank you for the 2 cents. not necessarily on a budget though.

Then, go with the higher end Sundowns, JL's, or even Fi for subs. The mids and highs are a personal choice. You would probably like Hertz, Focal, and Morel. Taramps has very good amps these days.

 

[Gandhi]

Then, go with the higher end Sundowns, JL's, or even Fi for subs. The mids and highs are a personal choice. You would probably like Hertz, Focal, and Morel. Taramps has very good amps these days.

What head units are you guys recommending these days?

 

[BCotrell]

I wouldn’t use a jvc as of today, personally had voltage consistency issues with the preouts and weak signal compared to the pioneers. For the value I don’t think pioneer can be beat. Do you want a single din or a dual din?

 

[Couchlockd]

You can find pioneer double find with active 3 way networking that's got more processing options than a 80prs for under 300.

This one gives you 24bit dac, 3 way active and 4 volt preouts (F,R,Sub) for $189

 

[Gandhi]

You can find pioneer double find with active 3 way networking that's got more processing options than a 80prs for under 300.

This one gives you 24bit dac, 3 way active and 4 volt preouts (F,R,Sub) for $189

kinda want to stick with Single DIN. Dont get me wrong, i would love a full panel, but for what i need, its not necessary.

Man quality from the older stuff must have gone down hill. that *****. I remember Kicker was basically top dog for a long time, them and Memphis. When i started doing this Pioneer was the crap brand lol.

 

[Couchlockd]

Pionner always had great head units.

 

[Gandhi]

1 more Volt really adds to the price lol. im having a hard time deciding. I dont need a CD player, i want higher quality. I want great audio. single din, good power. Is going from 4 volts to 5 going to really make that big of a difference?

I dont really care for presets, i always fine tune it myself.

 

[BCotrell]

kinda want to stick with Single DIN. Dont get me wrong, i would love a full panel, but for what i need, its not necessary.

Man quality from the older stuff must have gone down hill. that *****. I remember Kicker was basically top dog for a long time, them and Memphis. When i started doing this Pioneer was the crap brand lol.

For $120, this deck is loaded and thought to beat.

Pioneer DEH-S6220BS

CD receiver

www.crutchfield.com

 

[Gandhi]

For $120, this deck is loaded and thought to beat.

Pioneer DEH-S6220BS

CD receiver

www.crutchfield.com

So i checked it out, i like it. I also checked out the next model up, for $30 more, and it loses 2 Volts. How is that possible?

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

What head units are you guys recommending these days?

This deck seems like the go to HU these days.