$25 to the person who can design the best system for under $500.

[lotas 10+ year member]

Speakers: I'd keep the bose, bose speakers are nice and probably wouldnt be much of an upgrade. Although I have the cdt cl61s and they sound nice...but my dad has bose speakers in his infiniti and they sound just as good...

Speaker Amp: I'd power them with a kicker kx150.4 amp 160$ at thezeb.com

Subs: 1 12" Resonant Engineering REs .. 90$ or so ... that will deliver some nice sounding bass, RE is a great brand.

Sub Amp - Hifonics Merlin 150$ from thezeb.com

Wiring: like someone said knukoncepts.com prolly 50$ or so

I dont plan on winning or anything, just trying to throw ideas at you, but I must say it was painful looking through the brands (besides RE and kicker) trying to find something suitable. You have to keep in mind that a lot of brands that willb e mentioned like profile, legacy, hifonics are not top of the line stuff, and if you save up a little more money you will only be buying once, versus spending 500$ on decent stuff and buying again later.

You dont need to buy a whole system at one time, buy speakers and a speaker amp now, and in a couple months get a sub and sub amp. No rush.

good luck!

 

[LivinLoud 10+ year member]

Not to steal your thread or anything, but lotas do you visit cac too?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

1) David Navone 4-channel LOC - $35

-Hands down one of the best line-out convertors on the market.

2) Comps: OZ Audio Vector Components - $115 shipped via member tplaya07

-nsgm13 said he hasn't been able to find a set that beats his CDT's because he hasn't heard these Vectors //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Here is a quote from a very knowledgeable individual who is well respected on a different forum and who's very familiar with the Vector's as well as higher priced speakers when I asked a question about budget comp sets:

....If he doesn't have a lot of cash, I STRONGLY suggest the Vectorcomponents...they blew me away for the price.

3) Comp Amp: Clarion APX201 - $68

-Great budget amp. IMHO much better quality amplifer that has a higher quality company standing behind their products.

4) Sub: Adire Audio Tempest - $150 shipped

-Very affordable and well performing sub. Proof? Quite simply read the forum....one of the best performing subs for under $300; and there are some who actually preferred this sub over their JL Audio W7 (currently the "benchmark sub" supposedly)

5) Sub amp: Clarion APX401.2 - $110

-Same as comp amp description

6) KnuKoncpetz Wires - Very affordable and high quality wires

Then with our assistance build your own ported box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[idiot 10+ year member]

4) Sub: Adire Audio Tempest - $150 shipped-Very affordable and well performing sub. Proof? Quite simply read the forum....one of the best performing subs for under $300; and there are some who actually preferred this sub over their JL Audio W7 (currently the "benchmark sub" supposedly)

5) Sub amp: Clarion APX401.2 - $110

-Same as comp amp description

Are you sure that these two will pair well? The Tempest has dual 8ohm coils, so you can only achieve a 4ohm, 8ohm, or 16ohm load. The Clarion sends 280W at 4ohms mono (if I’ve read the specs correctly… they’re a bit hard to find), while the sub is rated 750W for both coils.

If I don’t have something grievously wrong up there, I would recommend the Hifonics Zeus ZX4000 instead, which sends 400W @ 4ohms. A second can be used as a component amp, as well, if aesthetics is a concern.

 

[jtomsic 5,000+ posts]

Speakers: I'd keep the bose, bose speakers are nice and probably wouldnt be much of an upgrade.

....yea.....right... get aftermarket speakers you'll be much happier.

 

[idiot 10+ year member]

....yea.....right... get aftermarket speakers you'll be much happier.

I don't think you can even combine stock bose speakers with aftermarket amps. Don't they have a strange impendance? (1ohm, I think.)

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Are you sure that these two will pair well? The Tempest has dual 8ohm coils, so you can only achieve a 4ohm, 8ohm, or 16ohm load. The Clarion sends 280W at 4ohms mono (if I’ve read the specs correctly… they’re a bit hard to find), while the sub is rated 750W for both coils.

1st, the amp is rated 380w @ 4ohm bridged. 2nd, that 750w is THERMAL ONLY. Tempest only need 400-500w ported to perform to their maximum. And for all intents and purposes there is no difference between 380w & 400w.....

 

[jtomsic 5,000+ posts]

I don't think you can even combine stock bose speakers with aftermarket amps. Don't they have a strange impendance? (1ohm, I think.)

they all have amps on them already. bose is a good stock speaker but cant compare to the sound of aftermarket speakers in my opinion.

 

[idiot 10+ year member]

1st, the amp is rated 380w @ 4ohm bridged. 2nd, that 750w is THERMAL ONLY. Tempest only need 400-500w ported to perform to their maximum. And for all intents and purposes there is no difference between 380w & 400w.....

I read that it was 380W @ 2ohms. And I never suggested that a Tempest required 750W, only that 280W fell well short of its capability.

• Maximum Power Output 400W • Continuous Average Power Output 200W (100W x 2 into 4 Ohms 20Hz-20kHz @0.05% THD)

• Typical 2-Ohm Stereo 190W x 2 @ 0.5% THD

• Typical 2 Ohm Mono Power 1kHz 380W @ 0.5% THD

 

[idiot 10+ year member]

they all have amps on them already. bose is a good stock speaker but cant compare to the sound of aftermarket speakers in my opinion.

Oh, the amps are attached to the individual speakers? I assumed that they were not, and that replacing any part of a Bose setup required replacing all of it (minus the head unit).

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

I read that it was 380W @ 2ohms.

Nope, that amp is not 2ohm mono stable. That is 380w @ 4ohm mono.

 

[jtomsic 5,000+ posts]

Oh, the amps are attached to the individual speakers? I assumed that they were not, and that replacing any part of a Bose setup required replacing all of it (minus the head unit).

my bose had an amp on every speaker.

 

[idiot 10+ year member]

Nope, that amp is not 2ohm mono stable. That is 380w @ 4ohm mono.

I'm pretty sure that it is. Here's a features list from Sounddomain.

# Customizable Heatsinks and Heatsink Vents# Built-In Variable Low-Pass and High-Pass Crossover

# Selectable 12 or 24 dB / Octave Crossover Slope

# Crossover Frequency Multiplier

# Stereo, Mono, or Summed (L + R) Mono Input Selector

# Line or Speaker Level Inputs

# 2 Ohms Stereo / 2 Ohms Mono Stable

# Gold-Plated Input and Output Terminals

# Bass Extender Boost Control

# Differential Input Stage with Ground Loop Isolation Circuit

# Double-Sided Circuit Board with PWR Power Supply

 

[idiot 10+ year member]

my bose had an amp on every speaker.

Good to know. Thanks. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

I'm pretty sure that it is. Here's a features list from Sounddomain.

Typo. To be 2ohm mono (bridged) stable, it'd have to be 1ohm stereo stable.....and it's not.