First System :)

[SuperNewbie90 10+ year member]

Hey guys, new to car audio but.....

I am putting together my first system (2001 Camry). I am an employee at Best Buy and we get an EXCELLENT discount through Kicker. I'm talking about 60-70% off. Either way, as my first system it makes no sense to look elsewhere considering the prices, so don't bash me for buying kicker. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

So far, I have purchased:

Kicker dual amp kit

RS 6.5 component set (front)

KS 6x9's (rear)

Dual L3's (arriving tomorrow)

My question is regarding amps...I am rethinking the kicker amps. I was thinking the zx350.4 for the front and rear speakers and zx750.1 for the subs. For the price that I'm gonna be paying, (front/rear amp is under $100 and sub amp is barely over $100$) are there better SQ amps. I'm guessing that because my mids are fairly "high end", would JL amps suit me better?? What about Kenwood? I know Kenwood is more of a SQ brand, rather than for SPL.

Also, would it be best to remove the L3's from the pre-fab box and have a different box built for em? I know you guys completely bash the L3's, but hey, since I have already placed that order, switching subs is NOT gonna happen (at least for now).

And just for *hits and giggles, I wanted to add 4 Audiopipe ATX-3220 horn tweeters or either two selenium compression drivers with horns in my rear deck (between the 6x9's). I've heard both of these and they sound great. What do I need to be able to hook these up? Can they be patched in to the 4chan amp for the front and rears? Do I need bass blockers? or will the xover from the mid amp be enough? Or should I get a cheap boss/lanzar amp just for the highs?

Hopefully someone can help me here. Thanks in advance.

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[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Well for around 200 bucks finding a tru sq 4 channel and mono is gonna be next to impossible. I see nothing wrong with the amps u selected both are decent and will do what they are rated to do. When subs come in take out of box and kick the bish in the fire its worthless. So yes get yourself a box built or get one designed and build it urself. Its not really hard at all to do urself and is the cheaper of the 2 routes. U want need nor will u want 4 horns. I ran a pair of sele st-350's in my last setup and to say they were loud is an understatement. A better eq may have given me better results but thats in the past. If u do go with horns u will need some way to power them and set the hpf above 5k "assuming you plan on running any real power to them" again I would not add horns to said setup but its ur ride do as u plz.

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

For a first system, those amps will be fine. I had both of those amps in my previous car and never had any issues. Kickers amps arent bad, its their subs that get hated on because they are so cheaply made and overrated. And if you can get those amps for those prices brand new, then do it. You wont find anything else for better at those price points unless you buy used. The SQ from those amps will be sufficient with the speakers and subs that you have.

There is no need to put compression drivers in your rear deck. If you do that and amp them, they will completely overpower your front stage and give you horrible imaging.

 

[SuperNewbie90 10+ year member]

Ok. So as far as quality and price is concerned, the kicker amps will do? And Disturbed, I see what your saying about the horns. What if I add just one??...would that still be overkill with the front and rears that I have purchased? I just have a vision of the sound I want. There are some days when I just wanna play quality / loud music with NO bass (really just to impress friends honestly). I was thinking I could power off the woofers and just crank up the mids along with the horns. Other than that, I wouldn't have the horns playing on a regular basis. Also, I am little confused. What are the difference between horns / compression drivers / horn tweeters? I would like to be able to get loud screaming vocals?

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Ok. So as far as quality and price is concerned, the kicker amps will do? And Disturbed, I see what your saying about the horns. What if I add just one??...would that still be overkill with the front and rears that I have purchased? I just have a vision of the sound I want. There are some days when I just wanna play quality / loud music with NO bass (really just to impress friends honestly). I was thinking I could power off the woofers and just crank up the mids along with the horns. Other than that, I wouldn't have the horns playing on a regular basis. Also, I am little confused. What are the difference between horns / compression drivers / horn tweeters? I would like to be able to get loud screaming vocals?

The amps u picked are fine and for the price you better jump on them. IMO I would forget all about horns for the moment. Get all your stuff installed and setup and see how u like it before you go off and waste money on something that you may not even need. I dnt run rear fill so I cant say much bout that but ur front stage should be more then enough to keep up with ur subs.

 

[SuperNewbie90 10+ year member]

That sounds like the best option. Thanks for the info.

 

[07denali 10+ year member]

If you don't want the Kicker gear you have, why not trade them for something you want? At the prices you get them for, it's like you're getting just as good of a deal if you could find the right trade. I used the ZX Kicker amp and it worked well. I just sold it actually. I had it for five years with not a single issue but it was on a very modest system.

 

[SuperNewbie90 10+ year member]

Yea, I was thinking about doing that. But most likely, I will check out the kicker stuff since I don't know what is "good" yet. If I had a choice, I would have gone with all JL but there are no employee accomodation for that. And from what other employees have told me, right before I started, they took away the RF accomodation. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif After I made my kicker purchases though, I realized that we have JBL/Infinity accomodation. Do you know anything about those brands?...as far as SQ goes??

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

JBL over Kicker but the GTI/GTO lines only.

 

[07denali 10+ year member]

Yea, I was thinking about doing that. But most likely, I will check out the kicker stuff since I don't know what is "good" yet. If I had a choice, I would have gone with all JL but there are no employee accomodation for that. And from what other employees have told me, right before I started, they took away the RF accomodation. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif After I made my kicker purchases though, I realized that we have JBL/Infinity accomodation. Do you know anything about those brands?...as far as SQ goes??

I think you need to clarify when you say SQ. To some, SQ means HAT, Focal, Hertz, Morel, Rainbow, etc. To others, SQ means just something that sounds nice and clean with little to no distortion. SQ is very subjective so I think you need to be more clear on your goals.

 

[jteske88 10+ year member]

our you the only one you know who spells his name with a Y?

 

[xSPLoder 10+ year member]

If you are looking for SQ, kicker is not the brand for you lol. You can make adjustments to make it sound decent if that is what you mean by SQ. Get the stuff installed and judge if tweets are needed after. But for the price, I can't blame you.

 

[SuperNewbie90 10+ year member]

Then guys. Very good info. I guess I'll be waiting on the horns/horn tweeters then. *takes off ear plugs*

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

Yea, I was thinking about doing that. But most likely, I will check out the kicker stuff since I don't know what is "good" yet. If I had a choice, I would have gone with all JL but there are no employee accomodation for that. And from what other employees have told me, right before I started, they took away the RF accomodation. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif After I made my kicker purchases though, I realized that we have JBL/Infinity accomodation. Do you know anything about those brands?...as far as SQ goes??

Have you just seen the link or have you actually tried looking at the product? Last I knew, the link was there, but no way to log in. I believe that accommodation has gone as well. Would've been a better route for speakers though. Otherwise, I agree with the others. I would've spent the extra money on different drivers, but the Kicker accomodation is very good and had I not had amps by the time I started working there, I likely would've went that route. Only thing that bugged me is the 2 ohm stable thing with them as most sub setups I have wire to 1 ohm.

 

[SuperNewbie90 10+ year member]

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