New System. Head Unit Important?

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Sounds good. Of course I figured out everything except the head unit. I will do research and pick one and get the sub/amp after.

Whats your budget?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Sounds good. Thanks for the great info. Depending on the installation cost I will either get everything piece by piece and take to them all at once, or take it to them piece by piece as I buy each item.
Where would you buy the box? Something like this?

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_777BB1075V/Sound-Ordnance-Bass-Bunker.html?tp=61651

pure garbage lol.

just do it yourself man. Its actually pretty easy with youtube as your guide like REALLY easy. It literally shows you step by step. All the head unit wiring diagrams are easy as hell too if you get a wiring harness. Its basically color matching thats all. Then plug stuff in. I'm 1000% sure you you can do it, just as a beginner, you dont have much confidence but i assure you once you start doing it, you'll instantly say holy sh*t this is soo fking simple!!

plus you got this whole forum to guide you for any roadblocks you might run into.

 

[MT523]

Whats your budget?

Haven't set a budget other than not super cheap and not expensive. This is my list:

Head Unit: ?

Amp: Alpine MRV-M500 Mono

Sub: 1- 10" Alpine SWS-10D4

Speakers: 4- 6x8 Pioneer TS-A6886R

pure garbage lol.
just do it yourself man. Its actually pretty easy with youtube as your guide like REALLY easy. It literally shows you step by step. All the head unit wiring diagrams are easy as hell too if you get a wiring harness. Its basically color matching thats all. Then plug stuff in. I'm 1000% sure you you can do it, just as a beginner, you dont have much confidence but i assure you once you start doing it, you'll instantly say holy sh*t this is soo fking simple!!

plus you got this whole forum to guide you for any roadblocks you might run into.

I can't lie I haven't even considered doing it myself till reading this but I'll look at some videos. What I'm thinking of doing is taking a list of what I want to the shop and see how much they'd charge plus installation and a warranty(if there is one). If the cost is too much, I'll buy online and possibly try myself. Cause yeah right I don't have a lot of confidence in doing it haha

 

[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

A full system...head unit, 4 channel sub, front door speakers and a sub...is a weekend project as long as you have the tools, connectors/harnesses,etc and you've done some research on youtube, etc. on installation.

You can use a site such as Crutchfield to get a complete list of wiring, harnesses, face plates, etc. for the specific vehicle you are using...it is easy and step by step. Some companies also include complete step by step instructions.

Think of it this way, basically the vehicle provides the power, signal and controls to the head unit and power to the amp, the head unit via the rca's connect to the amp, the amp via speaker wires sends the audio signal to the speakers...that's basically it and the older the vehicle the easier as there are fewer harnesses/connectors for the variety of controls that are run through the factory head unit.

I'd start with the head unit, amp and sub leaving the factory door speakers. As I accumulated the money I'd then buy a good set of component speakers for the front door and be done with it.

Here is the link from Crutchfield for your vehicle without factory sub and synch system...https://www.crutchfield.com/Car/outfitmycar/mycar.aspx

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

CDE-154BT - Alpine In-Dash 1-DIN CD/MP3 Receiver with Bluetooth and Pandora Ready

 

[MT523]

Thanks for all the help! I'll keep watching videos but if you ask me right now my plan is to buy everything and take to a shop/someone who knows what they're doing... I'm just not sure if I have the time to figure it all out and do it myself.

By any chance does anyone know if it be better to put in a single or double din head Unit in a 2009 Explorer XLT?

 

[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

You can go either way...up to you. I'm not a fan of the large double din units that are just expanded single din units but that is just me.

A single din should give you a little storage cubby under it with the face place kit.

 

[MT523]

Cool cool. Haven't got it yet but decided to go with a double din.

 

[MT523]

So an update, I did end up getting the speakers first but only cause I heard them at Best Buy and they were on sale. I went with the Kenwood KFC-650. I'm still going to have the head unit installed first but not sure what I want to get yet.

I will have a shop install the head unit and I'm leaning toward trying to install everything else myself!

EDIT: not 650. I got the KFC-C680

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

So an update, I did end up getting the speakers first but only cause I heard them at Best Buy and they were on sale. I went with the Kenwood KFC-650. I'm still going to have the head unit installed first but not sure what I want to get yet.
I will have a shop install the head unit and I'm leaning toward trying to install everything else myself!

guidelines for shopping for a head unit

24 bit dac is a must

at least 13 bands of eq

time alignment

crossovers

4 volt or higher pre-out voltage.

the rest is just preference towards what kind of "toy" features you want afterwards. Hope your kentucky fried chicken speakers sound decent... if it sounds worse than stock or not even better than stock then dont say we didnt warn you.

 

[MT523]

guidelines for shopping for a head unit
24 bit dac is a must

at least 13 bands of eq

time alignment

crossovers

4 volt or higher pre-out voltage.

the rest is just preference towards what kind of "toy" features you want afterwards. Hope your kentucky fried chicken speakers sound decent... if it sounds worse than stock or not even better than stock then dont say we didnt warn you.

**** really that bad on the kenwoods? They sounded a lot better than my stock speakers in the store.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

**** really that bad on the kenwoods? They sounded a lot better than my stock speakers in the store.

its not that they are bad its just vehicle acoustics can really mess things up. A speaker can sound good on a demo wall because they are in an acoustic stuffed sealed enclosure but when you put it in a car door with nasty reflections and unsealed/untreated doors, they can sound completely nasty due to the vehicle acoustics alone. Physics can fk up the best speaker in the world lets just put it that way.

 

[MT523]

its not that they are bad its just vehicle acoustics can really mess things up. A speaker can sound good on a demo wall because they are in an acoustic stuffed sealed enclosure but when you put it in a car door with nasty reflections and unsealed/untreated doors, they can sound completely nasty due to the vehicle acoustics alone. Physics can fk up the best speaker in the world lets just put it that way.

Ahh ok I gotcha. Well I guess we'll see, they reviews on em are good so will have to see how they sound in my car

 

[MT523]

Picked up an Alpine SWR-12D2 mounted in a ported box. Probably going with the JVC KW-R925BTS head unit(that will be installed first) and I'm not sure what amp I want to get for the sub, but preferably something under $150 if possible.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Picked up an Alpine SWR-12D2 mounted in a ported box. Probably going with the JVC KW-R925BTS head unit(that will be installed first) and I'm not sure what amp I want to get for the sub, but preferably something under $150 if possible.

* NEW * CAB-1600.1 Amplifier - Car Audio Bargain

but keep the gain down until you possibly upgrade later

it'll be an easy resell a few years down the road if you go bigger