From ground up, what will 1000$ get me?

[Franklinnn 10+ year member]

I drive a 2005 dodge neon with a 120amp alt.

I have a system that is falling apart and i want to sell it and work from the ground up.

I am looking to spend around 1000$ (not fixed)

Im thinking ill need: (rough estimates)

300$ for 2 battery (1 under hood, 1 in rear)

50$ for new/upgraded wires.

300$ amp

300$ sub

50$ materials to make box

Also 100$ alarm.

Is that a reasonable budget? should i be thinking about a H/O alt? what brands should i be looking for, and should i start to look into coaxial or components? amp for speakers up front? sound deadening?

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[DammitJames 10+ year member]

personally i wouldnt do the batts i would go for a ho alt instead if you need an electrical upgrade also figure in the big 3

 

[power-fanatic07 5,000+ posts]

Good luck on spending 300 for 2 batteries. Good luck on spending 50 for wiring.

You could pick up a single 15" for around ~200, amp for 200-250 which would give you a little more to spend on wiring. What do you mean a h/u alt? I think you mean a high output alt, if you are only going to be running 1-2k watts then I wouldn't worry about a new alt.

You could get away with running some coaxials off your head unit but I wouldn't suggest it. Also, if you are going to be using sound deadner then you might as well get components and an amp to power them.

 

[kurtdirt1 10+ year member]

personally i wouldnt do the batts i would go for a ho alt instead if you need an electrical upgrade also figure in the big 3

X2 may as well just buy an alt for what you plan to spend on batteries...Get a HO alt and a big walmart battery under the hood and call it good.

 

[Franklinnn 10+ year member]

I guess i have a little bit to work with, i have a 150amp inline fuse, coaxials for the current set-up.

Deka intimidator's run about 140$ each, knukoncepts 1/0 is like 1.75$ a foot and ring terminals are like 1$ at home depot with the welding supplies, but i guess i should fix my numbers to ____?

 

[k_schutte 10+ year member]

there are plenty of REALLY good batteries for sale in the classifieds for like $140 shipped IIRC... 1phatclipse is the guy to talk to about batteries!!

Also, your cost is going to depend a lot on how much power you plan to run as well, you didn't mention but I am going to just assume 1500-2000 rms

Amp can be had for $200~, sub I would say $250-$300, wiring $150~ (including enough for big 3, terminals and fuse holder),

batteries $300 (probably a little less, as I said, talk to 1phatclipse)

amp $200

sub $250-$300

wiring $150

box materials $50

--------------------------

$950~

Personally, for electrical, I would just do the Big3 and get a smaller alternator pulley if you are staying under 2K rms.

 

[power-fanatic07 5,000+ posts]

one of those batteries will not fit under the hood of a neon //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[k_schutte 10+ year member]

one of those batteries will not fit under the hood of a neon //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

where did I say to put it under the hood?

however, an HO alt wouldn't be a bad idea instead if you want to save some weight and again, depending on how much power you want to run

 

[mclerico83 5,000+ posts]

are you looking for one subs or 2 subs, what kind of power are you wanting to push

 

[DammitJames 10+ year member]

where did I say to put it under the hood?
however, an HO alt wouldn't be a bad idea instead if you want to save some weight and again, depending on how much power you want to run

save weight and the costs of replacing the stock alt after a little while because its working to hard to charge more batterys plus the amp:fyi:

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

This is how distorted this forum is...adding a 2nd battery before even mentioning speakers that will play 95% of the bandwidth.

 

[Flastrongman 10+ year member]

I saw nothing in your post about what you wanted out of your system. You might be able to save yourself a lot of money and trouble if you use more efficient gear.

How much space do you want to take up in your trunk? Do you have dimensions for the box already?

 

[Franklinnn 10+ year member]

are you looking for one subs or 2 subs, what kind of power are you wanting to push

the best for my price range.

I am open to ideas, im thinking of getting 1 -15" ported/tuned to whatever works best with the sub. I am willing to use about half my trunk which is about 13feet³. Im hopping that my box will still leave room for the spare so maybe MDF/fiberglass if i can learn to fabricate one and physically bolt it to my car's frame

and i am hoping for something upwards of 1500-2000w.

 

[Franklinnn 10+ year member]

i hate bumping my own threads, but here i go..