so many amps, so little money

[eviltuna7]

Hey. i got some questions i was hopin u guys could help me out with. i just got my license and the car im getting is a '98 Infiniti I30t. which isn't a bad first car, but i gotta do something about the sound. So i'm thinking about getting the Alpine 9813, cause i've heard a lot of good things about it. I'm also thinking about getting an amp, but i dont plan on changing the speakers. so basically i want to know:

1. is the Alpine 9813 a good choice, or what else is there? (below $400)

2. is it worth it to get an amp if im not replacing the speakers?

3. if it is, who makes a good amp, that aren't too expensive

Thanks a lot for your help

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[Bavarian3 10+ year member]

1.9813 is a good choice but u could get a 7995 or a 9815 for under 400 bucks as well.

2.U will more than likely blow the speakers eventually and no i dont think its worth getting an amp for stock speakers.

3.Profile, Us acoustics

And if i was u id get a decent component set for up front and a 2 channel amp to power em, and a nice deck. After that u wont need a rear fill.

 

[street_accord 10+ year member]

I agree with Capone28 ^x2^

Components would be good

 

[Forty-Ouncer 10+ year member]

Id say save some money on the HU and get a decent pioneer HU (like a deh-6500 or a deh-3500, if you dont NEED mp3, mp3s are shitty quality anyways i think..) you can get those 2 decks for WELL UNDER $400. The 6500 is under $200 at so many sites online (do a search at http://www.pricegrabber.com). Then that will give you ~$200 left over to spend on speakers or an amp.

I own the 9813 and have owned several pioneer decks. Sure there are a few extra features on the alpines (time correction, bass focus....) but i personally dont think they are worth the extra $$. THe pioneers sound very good. I had my deh-5500MP powering all 4 of my speakers and going to a 300s RF amp for my 2 10s and my system was loud and sounded great for the price. Other people may disagree but this is just my advice from my personal experiances..

 

[namster44 10+ year member]

You wanna start ahead of the game, buy the 9815 or 7995, or a higher end Pioneer, not the 6500, higher. A good HU is a must for a system, and after you get knee deep into upgrading your car, you will see why it counts to have a good HU.

Oh yea, 8 hours of music per disks ****.....oh wait, no it doesnt.

 

[Forty-Ouncer 10+ year member]

Oh yea, 8 hours of music per disks ****.....oh wait, no it doesnt.

hmm thats funny i remember saying that i think mp3 have shitty quality. I dont remember saying that they ****, or that 8 hours of music *****...

"(like a deh-6500 or a deh-3500, if you dont NEED mp3, mp3s are shitty quality anyways i think..)"

 

[outbacksport 10+ year member]

Get the 9813 or 9815. Both are almost the same but the 9815 has 2 or more features. I have the 9813 and im happy with it. Sometimes theres this noise everytime the face closes after putting a cd in it, and sometimes its not there. I dont know why it does that but it doesnt really bother me. Just remember to buy it from a dealer so you can get the warranty on it. It ***** when you buy something from the internet and find out its not working and you can't return it at all.

Regarding mp3's, I just get disappointed when i listen to my mp3's, poor quality and sometime it skips, maybe bad reading from the 9813, i know it doesn't skips when i played it on my computer. I know you can listen for 8 hrs, but i rather bring the original cd's.

Has anyone tried burning wma's on a cd with the alpine HU's? Doesn't the wma has better quality than the mp3's?

I have to try this, i just keep on forgeting it.

 

[yoratbastard 10+ year member]

The advantage of mp3 is the smaller file size while maintaining the sound quality. wma is just a different format, comparable in sound quality, but the size is as large as cd audio.

If original cd's are ripped to mp3 at 320kb, most listeners could not identify which was which, even with high power systems. Plus the fact that each mp3 disk can hold 6 to 8 standard audio disks.

In my car, the disks get scratch just from the constant shuffling around. At least when they get damaged I can create new copies in very little time and with very little expense.

dbr

 

[mattj 5,000+ posts]

i run an alipne and my cds are scratched beyond belief. alpine still plays them flawlessly!

go alpine!

 

[mrmafioso04 10+ year member]

I have a blaupunkt San Jose head unit it plays mp3's well and has a lot of options, it rarely skips only if your on a really bumpy road. My friend has a pioneer Pioneer DEH-P750MP it is really nice good price too.

That alpine unit is pretty expensive and you can get a nice cd player with the same features for abut 100 dollars less so i suggest you look around. A good place to order stuff from is ikesound.com they got all kinds of deals and I am sure you will find something you like.

 

[yoratbastard 10+ year member]

I agree Alpine's do a good job with error correction. My Eclipse unit would play anything but the car I've got now still has the stock hu and it won't play unless all of the stars are in allignment.

dbr

 

[Shugarra 10+ year member]

I could be wrong but I believe 192k is the cutoff for mp3's to make them cd quality. I've ripped all of my cds at 192 and I can't tell the difference, I can however hear a huge difference at 128 (what most downloaded mp3s are at). 192k mp3s are a couple megs larger but they are well worth the extra time downloading and/or ripping.

As far as having mp3 playing capability on a player, I love it but I'm sure I could live without it. I drive a lot and it's great to have tons of music on one disc. And if you don't want to buy a disc changer it's great for having several cds all on one so you don't have to switch out every time you want to change the cd. It does add on to the price though so you just have to decide if it's worth it to you.

 

[lombardo 10+ year member]

If you're looking into getting a CD changer, that 50-100 bucks is well worth it. As cd changers arn't exactly cheap, and it takes some time to install.

 

[Boomin Granny 10+ year member]

CD's are encoded at 128Kbits/s And 44.1Khz. If you are ripping music off a CD, it is pointless to go any higher(that SQ difference is psychosymatic). If you have music d/led off the web or ripped on to MP3's already. It is pointless to convert it back to .cda(cd audio format) because the MP3's have already stripped away the SQ. Therefore, if you have lots of MP3's, put them on an MP3 disc. You get a lot more listening time and it makes no difference in SQ if they were already MP3's in the first place. MP3's strip away the sounds that are inaudible due to other sounds drowning them out. This is not noticable in most setups, unless you have a really high quality home audio setup and a very tuned ear. The MP3's that sound shitty are the ones that are encoded below 128Kbits/s

 

[60_cent 10+ year member]

When building a system you always start with the HU. If I were you I would get the best one you afford. The HU is self will make you stocks sound a little better. Then when you can afford it replace the stocks and get a nice amp to run them.

Are you plan on running sunbs in the future? If so then I you can also think about running a 5 channel amp to run you entire system, a very clean and simple setup.

I'm personally running a Memphis Belle and I think it is great. Also when you get this far don't for get to address your eletrical system.