Help putting together a system - SQ oriented with a budget

[RedlineAccord 10+ year member]

Hey, whats goin on guys? My cousin has asked my help in putting together a system for him for his brand new Mustang. He listens to a lot of hard rock and is looking for great sound quality plus a little bit of extra punch (the stock system is lacking in the low frequency area). He has a budget of approx. a grand, I don't want to go over by too much. I need the works, a HU, front and rear speakers (yes, I know, I told him bout rear fill but he wants it anyways), a subwoofer, wiring, and amplifiers to power it all. Some suggestions would be great to what I should look at.

What I've seen so far by doing a little searching is that Phoenix Gold RSD components are great for the money, so I'm thinking about those up front, and maybe Pioneer rev 6x8's in the back? Hifonics has never failed me, and the prices are great so I was thinking about going with their amplifiers (a ZXi6406 to power the interiors).

Maybe a Pioneer DEH-P690 headunit from sonic electronix seeing as it comes with the wiring and mounting kit plus it has some of the features such as the ipod hookup and USB cable, along with the EQ he wanted. Now what should I do for wiring? And a subwoofer? I was thinking a 12" sub but I have no clue what brand to go for. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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[tcguy85 10+ year member]

i call my setup "budget SQ". none of my setup was crazy expensive but it sure does sound good. look in my sig for my suggestions.

 

[RedlineAccord 10+ year member]

So you're 100% satisfied with those PG RSD's? I'm thinking of maybe picking up a set for myself even. I like the SQ of my speakers for the low price I paid for em but the midbass is really lacking.

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

i can second the RSDs, don't think there is a better set of comps out there for $129 shipped, i love mine and they sound excellent. give them at least 120 watts rms though

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

oh, and with a small car like an accord coupe, forget the rears, not necessary. with 120-150 rms on those RSD's, you will have plenty of speaker for you

 

[morgans432 10+ year member]

Freehold... really close man we are putting a meet together after the new year pm if interested you will get great ideas for your system there.

 

[RedlineAccord 10+ year member]

Sounds good to me. Daishi (if you know him) from the boards is in my car club, and we're installing his Rainbow comps in his new Civic Si soon, along with his pioneer premier headunit. He used to have a mazda 6 but he traded it in for the Si and we ripped the system out of the 6 for a while. Sold his substage cause theres no need for extra weight in a car thats gonna be modded mostly for performance. Also Dvrmstrng lives not too far away from us. Where you live?

Oh and 120 rms would be perfect, I think my 4 channel amp can put out 120 rms bridged.

But anyways... back to my cousin's system. So the PG RSD's are a go. I guess no objections to the Pioneer HU? What should I do for a subwoofer and amplifiers?

 

[Divey 10+ year member]

i can second the RSDs, don't think there is a better set of comps out there for $129 shipped, i love mine and they sound excellent. give them at least 120 watts rms though

I third that aswell. Nice set of comps and you can't beat the price for them. Terry

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

DIYMA12 in a sealed box is a popular budget SQ setup these days.

 

[RedlineAccord 10+ year member]

DIYMA? Sorry, I haven't been up on my brands/models recently. Pharmacy school is kicking my ***.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

DIYMA? Sorry, I haven't been up on my brands/models recently. Pharmacy school is kicking my ***.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=32&osCsid=b95923d922d22339d91549d914f6515f

 

[RedlineAccord 10+ year member]

Thanks audio, only problem I see with that is finding an amp that puts out the approx. 1000 watts it says it likes to have at 4 ohms. Thats a pretty pricey amp you're lookin at. =/ If it was at 1 ohm I'd be able to manage to fit that into the budget.

 

[mvw2 10+ year member]

Hmm...

Clarion DXZ775USB ~ $200

Seas alum neo 1" tweeters ~ $70

Mach 5 MLI-65 6.5" woofers ~ $75

Cadence TXA-6004 150w x 4 amp ~ $180

Dayton Reference HO 12" sub ~ $140

MA AUDIO HK1998 600w x 1 @ 4ohm amp ~ $150

Build a 1.3 cu.ft. ported box tuned to 30Hz ~ $60

Buy a couple cheapy wiring kits/RCAs ~ $60

Total cost: $915

Set the HU crossovers at 3kHz and 100Hz for the tweeter/mid and mid/sub points respectively, generally like a steep slope. Consider trying crossing the mid/sub at 80Hz too.

Add a 3dB low Q EQ boost at 2kHz to fix a slight dip in the woofer's frequency response and brings the midrange presence forward where it should be.

Level match and blend the tweeter and mid and mid and sub. You will probably readjust this a few times. If the tweeters sound strong, turn them down a hair. If the mid sounds overly strong, turn it down a hair(can be done via HU's Fade adjustment or amp gains). If the sub is under or overwhelming, adjust as needed. Don't touch any EQing. Get the overall levels balanced first.

The woofer and tweeter I mentioned really need very, very little EQing, just the slight 2kHz dip and maybe a slight EQ boost around 80Hz if you cross under 100Hz as the woofer's response rolls off from there and will have to be boosted up a hair.

NO REAR SPEAKERS!!! BAD, BAD FRIEND...and smack him with a rolled up newspaper.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif Notice, my active setup doesn't even allow for rear speakers.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif If they're in the rear deck of the car, they will simply get in the way of the subwoofer, and the sub will pound the snot out of them, does not sound pretty. As well, with a good front setup with good power, it will get **** loud anyways, enough so where he won't even want more output.

I will note that I have used all of these speakers I suggest. I currently run the Seas tweeters and have used the Mach 5 woofers along with Dayton's Reference series sub(HF version, sealed). This is a very good budget setup with a good amount of capability but at the same time easy to use and forgiving in nature. The tweeter is metal but a very mild, laid back metal, offering metal kind of detail with none of the harshness. The woofer is laid back and open sounding with a broad, flat frequency response that's easy to work with and provides little coloration. The sub is also very clean sounding with a broad, flat frequency response that's really easy to work with. In the compact, ported enclosure, it can play low, and it can get loud. All of these speakers together create a good end result. The only work you have to do even is to just level balance them by ear and that's just ensuring that when the tweeters are playing X loud, so are the woofers and sub.

The box I suggested is the "ideal" flat configuration for the sub. It will provide the flattest response and most extended low end output for the sub. Building your own is not that hard either, but like everything you do for the first time, a bit daunting.

The HU I have not used. There are a few more active options like Pioneer's DEH-P880PRS, JVC's KD-SH1000, and Alpine's CDA-9887, but they are all $100 more expensive than the Clarion.

I am suggesting active for a couple reasons. It offers a lot of flexability in the build-up of a system. It also allows for flexability as you change from one pair of tweeters to another or a different subwoofer. You have a lot of control over what you can do, and the setup is more fluid in this nature. As well, it's just not all that expensive to do as long as you're not buying $300 speakers.

There's not much to say about the amps. They're just power. The Cadence can be bought from Cadence's own online outlet store, and the MA Audio can be bought on Ebay and is one of the cheaper, not fleamarket ones you can get offering decent power. Remember, don't go crazy with the gains and introduce clipping. It's always better ot be conservative.