Please allow me to introduce myself..

[Toff]

..I'm a man of little wealth and questionable taste.

Thought I'd do a proper intro so here goes..

Names Toff, I live down on a nice island called Tasmania, that little one underneath Australia. Stumbled across this forum while doing some research on car audio (shocking, I know..) and thought it could be a good place to seek some advice.

I haven't had all that much experience in CA, having only just completed my first install (before that only some speaker/ head unit swaps). I didn't really know too much before I bought the gear, so I ended up with An Alpine 9856 HU, Type R 6.5" coax fronts, Type S 6x9" rears, Alpine V power 4channel amp, Polk Momo 12" sub and Rockford Fosgate mono amp.

Basically I was told beforehand to steer clear of anything Fusion or Jensen, so hopefully I didn't pick too badly.

Managed to fit it all into my '79 Mazda RX7, to say it's a small car is a slight understatement..

As above ('tis a project car so it's not 100% finished yet):

Has a nice sound, not what I'd call audiophile quality but it does the job of covering up the (excessively) loud exhaust which is all I really wanted for this particular car.

However, I've just picked up a second car, '76 Ford Escort Mk2:

And among the various other mods I'm planning for it, I'm going to put in a slightly better system than the current mono AM radio.

This is where I could use some advice, as I'm not too sure what would be the best setup for this particular car. I'll say now that I'm not after deafening sound levels or bass that will make the car jump, this won't be a competition car, rather it'll be my daily drive that I can enjoy listening to without making my ears bleed. That said, I do like to listen to good quality sound, something that is loud but still pleasant to listen to.

Some shots of the interior/ boot:

So, what should I be looking at getting for it? Would like to get away with spending less than $1k, but I'll put it a bit extra if the gains are worth it. Should also mention I'm probably going to buy second hand, seems like a good way to get the best value for money.

Click to read more...

 

[Spc4Mafia 10+ year member]

hmm, it all depends on what you want. its your build and all and people will throw alot of ideas your way but just remember....1 car audio is addictive and 2 its your build, no one else's.

 

[Toff]

Fair enough, I do have some thoughts on what to go with but I'd like to consider all options available. I was thinking 6.5" splits front and rear (been told that 6x9's aren't all that good), obviously will need custom fab boxes as there's no pre-existing holes. Not too sure what to go with for a sub, maybe a single high quality 12"? Dual 8's/10's? Also unsure whether I'll need a second battery, or how to go about wiring that in. Any recommendations for make/ models for this kind of gear?