Hello everyone. This is my first posting on this forum. My apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong section. I'm 48 years old and was heavily into car audio about 29 years ago. I left the hobby when I joined the Army in 1990. About 16 years ago I decided to get a good stereo for my '88 Honda CRX and got a pretty sweet little system. It cost me a small fortune, but was very clean and the sound quality was quite good. I had MB Quart reference series 6.5" component speakers in the front with an 8" powered Bazooka tube in the hatch. A very tight and clean sounding system powered by a 75 x2 Carver driving the MB Quarts. The Bazooka tube worked fine for me, although I think it was the weakest part of my system.
Anyway in 2002 I bought a Honda Civic EX Coupe, and opted for the "Premium Sound" package (I think it's called). Essentially it was 2 6.5" component speakers in the front, 2 6.5 coaxials in the back deck, and the Honda radio/CD player. The Honda radio started trying to eat my CDs about 2 years ago so I got a Sony CD player radio at Best Buy for $90 or so. The sound quality is actually not that bad for a stock system and it's actually kind of hard to justify an upgrade. That being said I've kind of gotten the bug again, and I have some ideas that need vetting, and I need some input from experts out there on what stuff would sound good. I'm probably willing to spend up to ~ $1500 for a really good system, if that can even buy a good system these days.
I'd like my system to have high sound quality. Volume is not the overriding concern, and I don't need gangsta booming bass. For the front I want a high quality 6.5 component speaker system, but I don't want to spend oodles of cash. I have learned over the years that there is a huge premium for slight improvements in quality. If speaker A is 9/10 in sound quality and costs $499 a pair, and speaker B is 8.8/10 in quality for $199 a pair, it's a no-brainer to go for speaker B. I'm not looking for PERFECT sound, I'm looking for excellent sound at a reasonable price. The problem being I'm not as familiar with the brand qualities as I used to be. That being said I'm looking for efficient speakers, 91db or higher sensitivity, that can handle a solid amount of power.
What ideas do you guys have for good efficient 6.5 component speakers at a reasonable price? I've heard that Focal makes great speakers, and that JL is quite good as well. Focal looks very expensive, but if they are miles ahead of the competition I may end up opting for them. Any other brands that you guys would suggest that may be cheaper and about as good as those? I've heard that some of the old standby brands, Pioneer, Kenwood, and Alpine all make quite good component speakers these days (back in the old days their electronics were good, but their speakers not so great).
My next issue is what to do about woofers. I do want some "oomph", but I'm not interested in gangbanger sound levels. What good woofers do you guys know of that can be driven on about 150-200 watts per channel? I want it to be tight and clean, but yet have enough balls to give me a nice back massage when I decide to crank it up. I've narrowed it down to either running a 10" woofer or a 12" woofer, and I'm leaning towards a 12". I think one would be enough to rattle my innards if it was efficient. I want the capacity for very deep bass, which is why I'm leaning more towards a 12". The 10" would be more convenient if it could reach low enough and with enough authority. What do you guys think would work for a car with the interior size of 2002 Honda Civic?
As far as amps, I'm leaning towards the JL 700/5 amplifier. Puts out 4x75 watts with 1-300 watt subwoofer channel. It's an audiophile grade amplifier for about $549. That is about what I paid for a high grade amp back in the 80's, so I think it's probably quite a good deal. I'm leaning towards keeping Sony radio/CD player just because in my experience the biggest difference in sound quality has always come from speakers/amps, maybe that's not the case anymore. Anyway, if you guys know of any good relatively inexpensive head units with preamp outs for the subwoofer I'd appreciate the info.
I hope to get some ideas from you folks. Sorry if I sound confused from this posting, it's been a long time since I messed around with car audio. Thanks in advance for any tips!
