A noob, a red Solara, and a bad stock stereo.

[Schaan]

I bought a 2004 Toyota Solara a few weeks ago, and I want to remove the stock stereo and put something better in. I have a few parts left over from the system in my previous car, but they are mostly low-end, old, and since the car was destroyed in a wreck, I question whether or not they are in good working order //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

I was looking at the Kenwood Excelon KDC-X491 as a HU. This seems like a good HU that fits within my price range and has the features I need. I was looking for a front USB/AUX port with which to run my iPod, and this has the front USB, 3 4V preamp outputs, and an active crossover. It's going for $160 from Woofersetc, but a local dealer offered it to me for the same price. http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=5290

I bought the CDT ES-610 from Woofersetc last week, only to come home today and find the ES-620 in the package. I looked it up and it was a $200 upgrade for free. http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1109

I know that these are some really nice speakers, and I need an amp to power them. But when I started reviewing what I originally wanted for the system, I found out I'm going to come up short of money and now I have several options.

1) I could get some inexpensive amps (like Profile) and upgrade my subs and their amp. But I don't know anything about their quality or no one anyone personally who has had a Profile. I had some really bad luck with an American Pro amp in the past, and I don't know if I want to give cheap amps another shot, especially on nice equipment this go around. This option would be more money up front than my second option, but *hopefully* would take care of the system for good. The specific amp I was looking at for the speakers was the Profile AP1200. It's rated at 200x2 @ 4ohm, but I'm going to assume that it's a bit overrated and that the CDTs could handle a bit more than 150 anyway.

For the subs, I was looking at getting a single Fi 12" Q dual 2-ohm and putting it to something like this Hifonics BXi 1206D. It's $230, and between this amp, 12" Q, and the Profile, I'd still be well within my budget. I'm concerned about the quality of the amplifiers though. I would also have to deal with the hassle of having a box built for the Q.

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=4199

2) My other option is to reuse my two 12W0s and Alpine amp from the previous car, give them a better installation, and see how they sound. The Alpine feeds each sub about 125W RMS, so it's not loud, but with a single 30A fuse it's at least not power hungry. The previous car didn't have deadened doors or a deadened trunk. All I would be out would be the cost of a wiring kit and the enclosure. I could upgrade the subs at some later point if I don't feel they do good enough, and I could also buy a better amp for my comps now, like a JL 350/2.

I'm going to leave the stock speakers in for rear fill (people do sit back there) and just run them off the HU. I'm also going to get the doors and trunk dampened well.

Any assistance in preventing unnecessary expenditure or acquisition of poor quality amps is greatly appreciated //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

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[chucku 10+ year member]

I think you should reuse the sub and sub amp for now. Buy a jl 300/4 bridged to the cdt comps. Then upgrade the substage and possibily getting another smaller 4 ch to go active with the tweets later. If that sounds right to you then look into a pioneer 880 hu. It will give you the processing you need to do that. A jl 500/1 to a 12w6 would be a nice up grade on the substage but that complete system is going to be close to 2k. I am going through this process right now. I have 1k worth of stuff that was only good enough for awhile. Ill put it in my boat or sell it for a decent loss here.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

profile amps are good for the money compared to most amps in its price catagory. Imo there probably the best bang for the buck amps out there. However, if you keeping the cdt's ( lucky sob) i'd throw more into a quality 2 ch to run those so you wont have to upgrade in the future.

that leaves the substage. save alittle more money and get better gear. The setup you have currently should hold you over till you have a better idea on exactly what you want. I had 2 12" w0 w/400rms to each and they just barely took them in a sealed box...Sounded hella good for what they were.

as for a cd player ...i'd look at a unit with a nice eq with 4v+ outputs. i really dont know much about kenwood but i'll put my .02 and say a higher end pioneer such as the 880prs,p860mp,p8600mpor higher end alpines would be a nice upgrade

 

[Schaan]

ummmm... im gonna have to disagree on EVERYTHING YOU SAID point dexter. . . . I love these posts where you ask me on how to spend YOUR money. . check it out:
I NEED A BUDGET!!! How much you want to spend for your front stage amplifier. This is what is most imporatnt to me, a budget to me to work with, i need numbers. Also, that alpine amp that you said puts out 125 per channel (assuming its 2) would be perfect for your fronts if you think about it. . . 125 per on each CDT is underpowering them yes but you'd save some $$$. If not, give me a number. Give me a budget for your whole system, i'll take care of u //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

I have about $1500 to work with on the rest of the system. The Pioneer Premier 880 seemed to have quite a few advantages over the Kenwood and seems to be more popular too. I owned a pair of Kenwood Excelon coaxials a couple of years ago, and they were easily the WORST speakers I've ever heard. I'm sure most of their products are alright, but I'm just uneasy about going with another Kenwood product. I was looking at the Alpine decks, but their preouts are weaker, and I don't think a lot of them have the processing capability the Pioneer does.

This should leave me roughly $1200 for front stage amp, dampening of the trunk/doors, install, and anything else I want to buy. I could get the a 12 or 15" Fi Q, one of the Profiles to run the sub, and a nicer amp for the front stage, but I don't think I could afford nice amps for both now