Setup for my Z31

[datniche 10+ year member]

Hey everyone. This is my first post here. I am kind of an audiophile with everything but my car, where I'm a total noob. I'm looking to get a nice setup for my 300zx.

I already own an Alpine CDA-117 Head Unit.

After reading around here, I'm unsure what the best type of setup would be. I'm looking into CDT for the speakers as I've seen many recommendations.

A. Component speakers up front, no rear. 2 channel amp.

B. Component speakers up front, no rear, small subwoofer, 4(?) channel amp.

C. Component speakers up front, mid-bassy coaxials in rear, 4 channel amp.

Option A seems great if I can get sufficient bass out of the components.

My car has 6.5" speakers in the front and rear. I'm guessing the shape of the car would work fine without rears.

I'd really like some help choosing how many channels for the amp I need. Specific recommendations would be great for that.

As for budget, it really depends how many pieces I'm buying because those options are pretty different. I'll just throw out $400 total.

Thanks a lot.

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[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

just do components up front on a good amp depending on the bass u like id suggest at least a budget 10 setup. an ssa dcon, and the the ia 5.1 is under 400 and would leave you room to upgrade to two dcons if you wanted more.

personally i used the time alignment on my cda-117 to time align my tweeters separate from my mids by bi-amping the set to where the tweets are on the front channels of the head unit and the mids are on the rears. i never even had to amp my components in my car headunit power was enough for me.

sealing and deadening the doors will improve the midbass output from the mids alot and is well worth the time and money.

 

[datniche 10+ year member]

So I decided I'll get a 2-channel amp and a set of components to start with. Then I can always add a sub later if I feel the need.

Now how the hell do I choose a set of 6.5" components? I see tons of people asking this.. Focal, CDT, Massive Audio, etc.. I know they're all good but I want to choose something for a good reason. ~$250

Thanks

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

So I decided I'll get a 2-channel amp and a set of components to start with. Then I can always add a sub later if I feel the need.
Now how the hell do I choose a set of 6.5" components? I see tons of people asking this.. Focal, CDT, Massive Audio, etc.. I know they're all good but I want to choose something for a good reason. ~$250

Thanks

Get a 4 channel amp and do active crossover on your fronts. You'll be glad you did.

IMO location and care and attention to deadening doors and proper aiming of tweeter is generally more important than what brand of components you pick. Stick with something that's reputable, will handle the power you plan to give them, and has decent warranty/customer support.

 

[datniche 10+ year member]

Active sounds cool but honestly I'm such a noob to this I don't know what I'd even need for that. I'm gonna be having a shop do my installation.

I read something about some head units being able to do active crossover... I don't know if that's relevant but I have a CDA-117 if that can benefit me in some way.

Also...would it be a good idea to get my speaker wiring redone considering the car is 24 years old? lol

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

probably wouldn't be a bad idea ,but may not be necessary .where in the by area are you ,i'm south of salinas,i could do the install and sell you some components and an amp if interested .i do sell cdt ,i'm the bay area dealer for them,also the bay area dealer for ia

 

[datniche 10+ year member]

****..that would have been great but I'm in the north bay so a good 2.5 hours from you. I may be interested in some CDT's though.

So is active really worth looking into? Can somebody give just a quick description...like an example of what I could buy and how the setup would differ from normal. Thanks

 

[datniche 10+ year member]

I'm just gonna stick to passive. I don't think I have the time/money for this active stuff.

Is 60w RMS x 2 @ 4ohms enough for one set of components?

And I still need to decide which components... CDT, Focal, Massive Audio. I don't want anything really harsh and trebley. A decent low end would be nice so I might not feel the immediate need to add a sub. I mainly listen to electronic music but not like house/dance stuff. Beats, experimental, sample-based, non-wub dubstep etc..

 

[datniche 10+ year member]

Another post by me...

So after doing some more reading on speakers, I'm pretty set on Massive Audio CK6V's.

New question:

So I was going to be getting a deal locally on a Kenwood 1502S amp which gives 60w RMS x 2. Is that going to be too weak for the CK6V's? The amp is brand new and I'd be getting it for only $40-$50. Is 60w enough or do I need to go bigger?

Thanks