500 Dollar system

[AJ²06 5,000+ posts]

HEY, Im new here, and I was wondering what can I get for 500 dollars, preferably at a retail store like Car Toys or Best Buy or Circuit City. Or any retail stores in TX. Im looking for some bang for the buck here. Wait the install kit is 85 dollars so the subs, box, and amp, will have to total $420. I understand witht hat amount its gonna be a budget system, but Im gonna get this started. Suggestions would be nice. THANX.

PS. Im COMPLETELY new to the car audio world.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7635838&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03087&id=1141762608481

 

http://www.cartoys.com/Default.cfm/p/XOBP12D_2_12in_illumiNITE_Bandpass_Enclosure/

That would save me the box cost right?

Click to read more...

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Your wanting to buy at a "big box" store was an early tipoff that you're new to the game. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wave.gif.002382ce7d7c19757ab945cc69819de1.gif Welcome to the forum. I'm only about 3.5 hours east of you in Shreveport.

You will be able to get a lot better bang for your buck if you're willing to buy from online rather than pay retail. $500 will go much further on the interweb than it will at Best Buy, I promise //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[AcidicDreams 10+ year member]

Buying new, used and on the internet is the way to stretch $500... Check my sig for "woman's car", it's a $500 wonder system... I has just enough bump (won't scare a movie line but it's great to listen to) and the speakers/amps are of the highest quality. You'll likely never find a pair of those speakers laying (the auras) around but there are other deals... spend some time reading threads, checking the classifieds and spend time at the local shops to hear different brands and to compare prices between the internet and the local shops. You'll find that local shops charge about double what you can find online.

For instance my system cost me ~1100 all inclusive. It would retail (some of it's oem stuff but going on equivilants) at ~2700 installed by a local shop. Deal hunting is the way to enjoy your $500.

At very least buy your wires and install accessories online... the markup on those is well north of 100%, ie you can spend $5 and get a 4 pack of 4ga butt connectors online or at NAPA but a car audio shop would sell that at $5 each... Also I spent $17 each on my RCA's, they could easily compare to $50 apeice monster cable RCA's... check http://www.knukonceptz.com/ for your wiring

Also to save money buy a 4ch amp, use the front channels to run your front speakers and bridge channel 3-4 to run a sub. Then either run the rear speakers off your deck or take them out all together... the reason for taking them out is simple, CD's are recorded in stereo, that is Left and Right, not front and rear. There really is no point to having rear speakers.

Also DEFINATELY buy the CD player used. I paid $190 for a MINT condition Alpine 9855. IT was babied for 6 months by the previous owner and it retailed for $650 and still sell for $400 shipped (new) on ebay. Quite a savings and all I missed out on is the warranty. The deck came in it's box with every tiny peice of equipment that came with it.

 

[AJ²06 5,000+ posts]

Your wanting to buy at a "big box" store was an early tipoff that you're new to the game. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wave.gif.002382ce7d7c19757ab945cc69819de1.gif Welcome to the forum. I'm only about 3.5 hours east of you in Shreveport.

You will be able to get a lot better bang for your buck if you're willing to buy from online rather than pay retail. $500 will go much further on the interweb than it will at Best Buy, I promise //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

Hmm... Allright. THANX! AND thanks again for the warm welcome. I flexible and I can go online I guess... just shipping costs might be crazy.

 

[AJ²06 5,000+ posts]

Buying new, used and on the internet is the way to stretch $500... Check my sig for "woman's car", it's a $500 wonder system... I has just enough bump (won't scare a movie line but it's great to listen to) and the speakers/amps are of the highest quality. You'll likely never find a pair of those speakers laying (the auras) around but there are other deals... spend some time reading threads, checking the classifieds and spend time at the local shops to hear different brands and to compare prices between the internet and the local shops. You'll find that local shops charge about double what you can find online.
For instance my system cost me ~1100 all inclusive. It would retail (some of it's oem stuff but going on equivilants) at ~2700 installed by a local shop. Deal hunting is the way to enjoy your $500.

At very least buy your wires and install accessories online... the markup on those is well north of 100%, ie you can spend $5 and get a 4 pack of 4ga butt connectors online or at NAPA but a car audio shop would sell that at $5 each... Also I spent $17 each on my RCA's, they could easily compare to $50 apeice monster cable RCA's... check http://www.knukonceptz.com/ for your wiring

Also to save money buy a 4ch amp, use the front channels to run your front speakers and bridge channel 3-4 to run a sub. Then either run the rear speakers off your deck or take them out all together... the reason for taking them out is simple, CD's are recorded in stereo, that is Left and Right, not front and rear. There really is no point to having rear speakers.

Also DEFINATELY buy the CD player used. I paid $190 for a MINT condition Alpine 9855. IT was babied for 6 months by the previous owner and it retailed for $650. Quite a savings and all I missed out on is the warranty. The deck came in it's box with every tiny peice of equipment that came with it.

WOW... thanks for the info. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Im just looking for the bass sound right now... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif The stock Honda Accord speakers wont need any more juice...:|

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Here's a suggestion to get you started. Bear in mind this is not a Be All End All "you MUST follow my suggestions" pointer...just a quick look into a decent entry-level budget system.

Ascendant Audio Assassin 12"....manufacturer-direct for $90 so I cannot imagine shipping being more than $25 per driver for a subtotal of $115/shipped per driver and $230/shipped for the pair.

Profile AP1000M monoblock amplifier from a known, trusted seller on eBay, $108/shipped. This amp makes 500w when shown a 2 Ohm load. Each Assassin has a single 4 Ohm voice coil. When wired in parallel they will create a 2 Ohm load like this:

500 for this particular pair of 12s is a pretty good match. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Now you've got a decent set of 12s and appropriate amplification for them and I've only spent $338 of your $500 budget. That leaves you over $150 for wiring, enclosure materials, etc and likely will still leave enough for lunch at BK //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[SAG3 5,000+ posts]

you dont know crazy shipping costs

 

[AcidicDreams 10+ year member]

Hmm... Allright. THANX! AND thanks again for the warm welcome. I flexible and I can go online I guess... just shipping costs might be crazy.

shipping is nothing compared to the markup dealers charge. Just ship everything ground. Also you are capable of doing the install yourself. Trust me, it's not hard and you'll find a welcome to help community on message boards. Just search your questions first to make sure they haven't been answered 100's of times or you will get hounded.

Now for your next lesson. Forget everything you think you know about car audio. Including what your friends have to you. For instance Rockford Fosgate is NOT this shizznit. It's overpriced mid-level junk. It'll work fine but you'll pay way too much for the performance it will deliver. Next lesson, Dual is JUNK. 3rd lesson, prefab sub boxes are JUNK. 4th lesson, you likely will only need 1 sub to be happy with $500 for now. There are some nice subs out there for less than $100 that you could build a box for yourself.. In fact here is a website:

http://www.ascendantaudio.com/assassin12specs.html

$90 for that sub, $20 for the wood and $5 for glue. $115 for a **** nice sub that will murder those duals. Then with your 4ch amp that delivers ~300w bridged you'll be set...

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

You're a bit late, Acidic //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[AJ²06 5,000+ posts]

Here's a suggestion to get you started. Bear in mind this is not a Be All End All "you MUST follow my suggestions" pointer...just a quick look into a decent entry-level budget system.
Ascendant Audio Assassin 12"....manufacturer-direct for $90 so I cannot imagine shipping being more than $25 per driver for a subtotal of $115/shipped per driver and $230/shipped for the pair.

Profile AP1000M monoblock amplifier from a known, trusted seller on eBay, $108/shipped. This amp makes 500w when shown a 2 Ohm load. Each Assassin has a single 4 Ohm voice coil. When wired in parallel they will create a 2 Ohm load like this:

500 for this particular pair of 12s is a pretty good match. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Now you've got a decent set of 12s and appropriate amplification for them and I've only spent $338 of your $500 budget. That leaves you over $150 for wiring, enclosure materials, etc and likely will still leave enough for lunch at BK //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Hmm... make sure u go slow with me here... Newbie. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Oh and whats the RMS on those SUbs? and 500 wats, is that MAX or RMS on the amp. Whats the difference between MAX and RMS watts?

EDIT: 350 rms on the subs... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

EDIT2: Im vegetarian... lol Anywhooo....

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I will say that Acidic's suggestion of http://www.knukonceptz.com for your wiring kit will save you heaps over that $80+ kit from Best Buy or wherever.

Another good resource for wiring and related accessories is http://www.darvex.com. The owner of that site also sells on eBay under the username bag-boy. He combines shipping and has good prices whether you buy from his website or his eBay store. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[AcidicDreams 10+ year member]

You're a bit late, Acidic //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

doh

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Hmm... make sure u go slow with me here... Newbie. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Oh and whats the RMS on those SUbs? and 500 wats, is that MAX or RMS on the amp. Whats the difference between MAX and RMS watts?

The RMS on the subs is a rated 350w but the specsheet suggests running around 200 or so to them.

I split the difference a bit and say 250w should be a good bet.

500w when shown a 2 Ohm load is the RMS output on that amp.

RMS is the real-world usable output that you might realistically see as the amp's output.

Peak or Max wattage ratings are good for nothing more than some marketing department to feel as if they have done their jobs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif It is an immaterial number and you'd be well advised to simply ignore it.

 

[schism13 10+ year member]

Bestbuy is not totally out of the question..That is if you can get your hands on employee discount/ don't want an entire system..However if you can get your hands on the employee discount (which is pretty big in car audio due to the markup) I would get 2 Alpine Type-R 12"s.. (the only subs i would buy there) Now there 220 each..but you can get them for 110 a piece.. so thats 220 for 2..then buy a amp wiring kit, again if you have discount a 4 gauge should run about 35 dollars..Now for the wood for the box..3/4" MDF $25ish..then some GE silicone 2.. it shud be about 7 bucks and 1 shud do..now find someone or build it yourself..now thats 220+35+35= 290..that leaves u 210 for a amp..id suggest looking in the classified section here and finding a nice used amp..i think the only type-rs they carry at bestbuy now are dual 4 ohm..so 2 = 1ohm or 4ohm load..now with an rms of 500 i dont think a used 1000watt@1ohm amp will be hard to find..however you still wont have a headunit, front stage, or upgraded electrical so u just purchased 1/3 of a system for 500$..save up and add the rest..hope that helped you gl man

 

[AcidicDreams 10+ year member]

ohh and here is a reasonable amp to start with

EDIT: you only want subs...

As for RMS vs MAX

RMS = Max unclipped power

MAX = Max clipped power

Clipping is a BAD thing. It's squared off sine waves, they cause the speaker to overheat and blow.

So basically ignore the MAX rating on ALL car audio equipment. RMS is all that matters

EDIT: Beaten to it again... ****