New to car audio. Intro and Help

[bl1tzk1213g]

Hello! I would like to quickly introduce myself. People call me Randy, 24 years old, Registered Nurse and proud owner of 2006 E46 M3. I've owned several cars and always focused on performance. I've never ever spent money on car audio. This will be my first attempt on improving my sound system for I feel my sound system sound crap! I know my car isn't very easy to modify/improve sound by plug and play.

My car does not have NAVIGATION or Harmon Kardon sound system. I was planning on getting an aftermarken, almost OEM like NAV system, Dynavin D99+. How important is the headunit on producing quality sound? I chose this head unit because it merges with out dash and OEM look.

My goal is to have a super sound system but not over the top. I want to have a good bass kick but still able to play all kinds of music with clarity (mostly rock/alternative/hiphop). Plan to spend around no more than $700 is possible, give or take. I'm joining any competition or want a trunk shaking system.

-Components in front

-Coaxials in rear

-10" sub

-Compatible amp

-Wires

What are some good brands for each? Bang for the buck if you'd like to say. And where is the cheapest where to get them?

Thank you! Sorry for the lengthy post!

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[calebkhill 10+ year member]

start by finding out the size of the stock speakers, and replace them with same size aftermarket speakers... You could always modify the mounts if you wanted different size speakers, but that makes it more difficult.

My favorite brand to buy equipment with is Rockford Fosgate. But other brands like pioneer, alpine, memphis are good brands. so find the size speakers you need, and check out their sites.

I just bought 4 rockford 6x9s, their highest grade 6x9s they offer for 200 bucks for 4. My alpine amp 75watts rms at four channel was about 250 or 300 a few years ago. And you could probably find a decent head unit and subs used for cheap. Just make sure you get a good head unit, and speakers and amps from a trusted brand. All in all i spent 500 or 600 on all my equipment, not including the head unit, of course I bought an expensive head unit.

So you should be able to get a good one at 700 bucks, just check their websites and see what fits your budget.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

start by finding out the size of the stock speakers, and replace them with same size aftermarket speakers... You could always modify the mounts if you wanted different size speakers, but that makes it more difficult.My favorite brand to buy equipment with is Rockford Fosgate. But other brands like pioneer, alpine, memphis are good brands. so find the size speakers you need, and check out their sites.

I just bought 4 rockford 6x9s, their highest grade 6x9s they offer for 200 bucks for 4. My alpine amp 75watts rms at four channel was about 250 or 300 a few years ago. And you could probably find a decent head unit and subs used for cheap. Just make sure you get a good head unit, and speakers and amps from a trusted brand. All in all i spent 500 or 600 on all my equipment, not including the head unit, of course I bought an expensive head unit.

So you should be able to get a good one at 700 bucks, just check their websites and see what fits your budget.

no no no no no!!!

look at american bass, image dynamics ,cdt ,mmats ,dls .the head unit is very important by the way. there are lots of vendors on the site like myself that can help with equipment and pricing .as soon as you figure out what you want .i would suggest a 5-6 channel amp ,maybe a single 10 or 8inch sub,components in the frt doors and some mids in the rear if you want sound back there.

 

[UnderFire 10+ year member]

Reply #1 is exactly the mindset you should AVOID.

Spend some time here, research, start by choosing a Headunit, then build off of that. Choose speakers, then amps, do not use a pre-built sub box, either build one, or have one built.

You can learn a lot here, just ignore the troll posts.

 

[calebkhill 10+ year member]

no no no no no!!! look at american bass, image dynamics ,cdt ,mmats ,dls .the head unit is very important by the way. there are lots of vendors on the site like myself that can help with equipment and pricing .as soon as you figure out what you want .i would suggest a 5-6 channel amp ,maybe a single 10 or 8inch sub,components in the frt doors and some mids in the rear if you want sound back there.

Ill check them out too

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

To answer the Op's question, the quality and design of the h/u plays a major role in over all sound quality. It is, after all, the device in the system that interprets the data on the CD (or MD or other storage device) and transfers that data into a usable signal for the rest of the system. The h/u is the foundation of a stereo, you cant build a palace on top of a poor foundation. Also keep in mind, the higher the quality in the rest of the system (including the install quality) will affect how much the quality of the h/u is noticeable.