Advice for car audio noob?

[xPlumCrazyx]

I have a 2010 Challenger RT Classic and need help figuring out which aftermarket components would best serve my needs. I am looking to upgrade the factory 6 speaker boston acoustics 276 watt amp system. First off, I will be keeping the head unit no doubt. I have the CD/DVD/HDD/NAV unit and I am not looking to replace it. I don't know much about car audio that's the thing so let's say you have $1000 to spend TOTAL on an aftermarket system for this car. where would you put the money? I'm not going for world class sound but I do want a decent system.

Taking what little I know and combining that with good advice i've already recieved I was thinking of going without back speakers completely and buying a good set of componet speakers up front with an 8" sub and possibly an amp. Does that sound like a decent aftermarket setup for the average person? Do I even need another amp or will the 276 watt factory amp do and if I do get another amp should I still use the factory amp and just add an amp or not use the factory amp altogether and how should it be set up as far as which speakers should go to which amp?

Should I get something like this re-Q - Take control of your factory stereo! to improve the factory unit? or maybe even this http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_1...8.html?tp=84up to imrove the factory unit which i hear will be amazing and might not even require aftermarket speakers because it could improve the factory speakers by leaps and bounds. Lot's of questions I know, thanks.

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[PrestigeSounds 10+ year member]

your first link works but not the second....whats that like a bass processor? i would think a car as new as yours would have an upgraded sound system in it. i dont know the setup in this car as far as speaker locations and so forth but i would think you want to keep the rear speakers for quality staging? If you've got $1000 cap, im sure you can find a way to have an awesome sound. It all depends if your going for a custom audio look or if you just want a stealth setup with crisp clean sound....

 

[xPlumCrazyx]

I guess the first link gets the point across anyway which is factory head units from what I am hearing are tuned so that as you turn the volume up the bass goes down. That way the crappy factory speakers don't sound as distorted as they normally would at higher volumes. which of course anybody reading this knows because if I know that I KNOW all of you do. Thus, I was thinking about installing something like the re-Q, just askin' if that was a good idea. They front speakers are 6X9's the rear decks are 6.5's and the dash speakers I think are 3.5's. You mentioned ''staging'' and that's the thing I don't know much about ''imagining'' ''staging'' and so forth it's all foreign to me. I am hearing though that you don't necessarily need rear speakers, instead you can put that money into better quality front components and achieve a better quality sound. Head unit stays though like I said because I just had it installed and it was a very expensive (factory albeit but expensive) CD/DVD/HDD/NAV unit.

 

[AVX Mike 10+ year member]

If you only have $1000 to spend it won't sound much better than what you have. Quality components alone run $500-$1200 which is what it would take for you to hear a positive difference from your stock boston system. With that budget I would look into a nice sub amp, subwoofer and a quality enclosure. Audiocontrol, Alpine, Audison, JL and a few others make "tuning kits" for your factory system that can help correct some weak points in the factory system. I hope that helps you some.

 

[xPlumCrazyx]

Let's say I spend $1000 on components, a tuner of some sort and a sub... another $500 on a quality amp I guess would be worth it if it would make all the difference in the world in the sound. Or should I be looking into spending that $500 additional elsewhere? And does in in fact make sense to you guys to ditch the rear speakers altogether?

 

[xPlumCrazyx]

Let's say I spend $1000 on components, a tuner of some sort and a sub... and $500 on a quality amp I guess would be worth it if it would make all the difference in the world in the sound. And does it in fact make sense to you guys to ditch the rear speakers altogether?

 

[AVX Mike 10+ year member]

I haven't run speakers in the rear of my car since I worked at a sound quality based shop 5 years ago. No need for them if your front is set up right. Most of the cars that win every year in Usaci don't have any rear speakers. Component set and a sub. That's all you need.

 

[DammitJames 10+ year member]

good read for you Best Upgrades for Any Car Stereo System - Guides - Car Audio and Electronics

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

yeah, I'd ditch the rears all together. To keep the stock hu I'd be looking at something like a re q, JL cleansweep or a rockford fosgate 3sixty.2.The RF unit is expensive kinda, but very nice. The cleansweep isnt' quite a good, but alot better price IIRC. For an amp, I'd get a single 5 channel and call it a day. If yuo want to keep matching gear I'd look at image dynamics.

You can get teh i5800 amplifier, a set of image dynamics 6x9 components and right now they have a sale on the IDQ for factory refurbs. Last time i got one like that it was a tiny *** scuff on the surround, I had to actually inspect the sub to even see what was wrong. Very good deall 99.9999% of the time on those. Check out http://www.wooferetc.com for more info. Anyway that's just one way to go about it, but most ID gear I've used before has been very nice stuff.

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

Lulz at people acting as if you can do nothing with a $1,000 budget.

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

Lulz at people acting as if you can do nothing with a $1,000 budget.

x2 hahaha.

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

Stock systems are getting better and better these days...