I have a system in mind. Critique it.

[91ser 10+ year member]

So, I have decided to upgrade my stereo system. I have things in mind for it, but I want to see what people on here thought before I pulled the trigger. Probably a bad idea, since I know a lot comes down to opinion, but it cant hurt.

Car:

2003 Mercedes CLK500

Already purchased:

Pioneer AppRadio2 (I have heard great things about this when using a different app. The name slips my mind. And it was on sale at crutchfield)

Potential Equipment:

Massive Audio NX3 amp (2 ohm stable on stereo channels, 1 ohm stable for sub)

RE Audio XXX 6.5" Components (2 ohm)

RE Audio SXX 10" Dual 2 ohm (wired to 1 ohm)

Suggestions? Substitutions? If you give a suggestion, please make sure its in the same price range. The other set of components I was considering was the Hertz set. Anyway, let me know what you think!

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[TaylorFade 10+ year member]

It would help if you put what those price ranges are so people don't have to either search for them or know them off the top of their head.

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

First thing that pops into my head is to be sure you have the depth for those components. IIRC they're pretty deep....may not even be worth it for what you want.

List budget and goals.

 

[91ser 10+ year member]

Budget: I was hoping to stay in the $900 range for components, a sub (or two), and an amp.

Goal: Clean sound that is well balanced, but I can occasionally turn the sub up for listening pleasure. I will not be running any rear speakers, as the CLK does not have traditional rear speakers. The "rear" speakers are at the back of the door, pointed directly at the seat. So, components up front, a sub in the back. I am thinking of doing an IB setup for the rear sub. The stock location of the sub is on the rear shelf. There is no ski pass thru on this car. So I wanted to mount it on MDF and seal off the truck from the cabin completely. I have seen a build thread on it before, and it doesnt look terribly hard to do.

Also, I was going with the Massive amp, because I would like to keep the stock mounting location to keep everything well hidden. The size of that amp should accomplish that, and from the reviews I have read, it puts out pretty decent power.

What other info can I get you?

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

Just out of curiosity, why RE?

 

[joselr3668 10+ year member]

I would double check your clearance I have those xxx 6.5 and they are very deep if they fit they are awesome but make sure you read up on proper door installation and on the amp I don't think its big enough for the speakers. I would do a 4ch and run active and a mono for your sub. or get a bigger 2ch and a mono if you want to run passive(using the supplied x-overs)

 

[91ser 10+ year member]

Just out of curiosity, why RE?

Why not RE? Ive heard good things about them. Can you suggest something that would be much better in the price range? Like I said, I considered Hertz, ID, and CDT. With CDT, I always feel overwhelmed with choice in the same price range.

 

[91ser 10+ year member]

I would double check your clearance I have those xxx 6.5 and they are very deep if they fit they are awesome but make sure you read up on proper door installation and on the amp I don't think its big enough for the speakers. I would do a 4ch and run active and a mono for your sub. or get a bigger 2ch and a mono if you want to run passive(using the supplied x-overs)

I will double check on those clearances. I guess I never considered running a 5 channel amp and running the speakers active. Ill do some more research on that topic. Thanks for the suggestion! The Massive NX5 is not much more expensive, and then I could save the cost on the crossovers.

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

Why not RE? Ive heard good things about them. Can you suggest something that would be much better in the price range? Like I said, I considered Hertz, ID, and CDT. With CDT, I always feel overwhelmed with choice in the same price range.

I was just curious. You don't hear a whole lot about them, I was simply wondering how you heard of them. I see that you've been on the forum for a good 8 years now, but I'm not sure how much you're on. Most average people have never heard of the company. Anyway, I totally understand where you're coming from - you can find 15+ brands of subs in the same price range, and choice can get hard sometimes.

 

[91ser 10+ year member]

You are right I have been a member here for 8 years, but you are also right (probably judging from my post count) I am not on the forums a lot. But I do a lot of browsing on here whenever I choose to upgrade my stereo. Usually, I just browse through the threads and see what speakers are being reviewed the most. Since I just started to come back onto this sight, I notice there are some new brands that I didn't know about last time I was on here. But I always remember people raving about the RE subs, and I heard good things about the RE components. However, I could be swayed to go with other brands. I have always liked CDT. It sounds like Hertz and ID are good. And this new one, Morel I believe, sounds like they produce good sets. I guess the advantage I saw with the RE components is they are 2 ohm, meaning you can deliver more power to them from an amp. More power from an amp usually = better (again, in general, not always true). Which is why I had my mind set on the RE. But, I know the people on here are a lot more knowledgeable than I am. So, I figured I would throw up the question, and see if I would be swayed to a different setup.

After researching the active setup, I dont think I have enough knowledge to pull this off. I have this feeling that the people designing the passive crossovers can do a better job than I could with an active setup. Unless it just sounds harder to setup than it really is. I have never used a crossover before the amp to setup a system, and just feel I dont have the expertise to do this correctly.

I was just curious. You don't hear a whole lot about them, I was simply wondering how you heard of them. I see that you've been on the forum for a good 8 years now, but I'm not sure how much you're on. Most average people have never heard of the company. Anyway, I totally understand where you're coming from - you can find 15+ brands of subs in the same price range, and choice can get hard sometimes.

 

[joselr3668 10+ year member]

I was just curious. You don't hear a whole lot about them, I was simply wondering how you heard of them. I see that you've been on the forum for a good 8 years now, but I'm not sure how much you're on. Most average people have never heard of the company. Anyway, I totally understand where you're coming from - you can find 15+ brands of subs in the same price range, and choice can get hard sometimes.

I have been using RE for about 6 years now and I am yet to be displeased I also use MASSIVE audio and have had allot of good luck with them but I have also been installing and tuning for over 15 years and its a passion not a job(usually lol) allot of what you use has allot to do with install and tuning.