Thinking of getting a system...

[lohman 10+ year member]

First off, let me say that I am pretty new to car audio...I don't plan on doing any of the wiring or installation myself.

With that said, I've been thinking of getting a system for my 05 Civic. I've gone to a couple car audio shops, and have gotten estimates of $750-$1000 (for subwoofer, amp, headunit, wiring, etc. - does not include 6 1/2" speakers). I believe the last shop recommended an Alpine head unit with aux/iPod connector and a 10" JL Audio sub while leaving the stock speakers in.

My main dilemma is this - I am currently attending college in Atlanta and don't use my car (at least not at the moment). However during the summer I use my car back home. I view a system as an investment in my car - I'm going to have it for a long time. However I don't want to spend a lot of money if technology is vastly improving (ie. I'm not using the car much now - in 1-2 years when I use it year round will technology be much better than it is now?).

Any thoughts? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Click to read more...

 

[thaster 10+ year member]

i suggest you do the installation yourself. its not hard at all. Also look for your equipment online. they are probably cheaper than at your car audio shop. DOnt trust car audio shop. they say anything to sell their crap. as for technology, some people are still using the same system from 5 years ago or more.

 

[bsean63 10+ year member]

you got a pm lohman

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

i suggest you do the installation yourself. its not hard at all. Also look for your equipment online. they are probably cheaper than at your car audio shop. DOnt trust car audio shop. they say anything to sell their crap. as for technology, some people are still using the same system from 5 years ago or more.

x2

Best suggestions ever.

A lot of people are still using their original systems from the mid-90's. If you surf the forums enough, you'll even find people selling old school amps, and getting a pretty penny. I mean, technology will always keep advancing. But, as far as car audio world, it's basically plateauing out. There will be many more cheaper / more effecient / more powerful amps in the future. But, you only need about 1-2Kw to subs and 100-200 [300 for high end] for the mid-range / comps. Now, if you want something that'll make your car rattle apart, then sure... you might wanna wait.

But if you're just looking for a nice system to listen to, might as well start buying / installing it now.

In the future, there will probably be better sounding drivers. But, if that's the case, and you really don't like the sound of yours, you'd have the hard part done already. [Wiring is the hardest part of an install //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif Then tuning.] So, it'd just be slip off the + and -, slip on the wires for the new driver, screw in. [For midrange at least. For a sub you'd have to build a new box. But, regardless... that's like $40 dollars for a new box]

After that essay, I'd say go for it now. Save up a bit and install it piece by piece.

First get a HU, then mid-range + amp, then sub + amp.

If you decide on doing it, I'll be more than happy to help you out more and give you advice.

P.S. A car audio shop once try to sell me an amp with 50 more RMS than the amp I had, and said I'd damage my woofers if I under-powered my subs. He also said it was impossible to wire two subs from a monoblock and make it sound good. So, I needed a 2-channel amp.

I LOL'd in his face. After I was done, I explained to him that I knew better. If drivers got damaged from underpowering, every speaker would be evicerated when you turn the volume down. ^-^

 

[backthepack 10+ year member]

some car audio shops know wha they are doing but most of the ones i here about ****

 

[HungNeckTight 10+ year member]

i know poeple who have the same systems for over 5 years. still sounds just as good as a brand new system. as long as you do everything right and use quality parts your system will out live you car. no really when you sell the car chances are you will pull the system out and put it in your new car.

 

[lohman 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the replies //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Although I'm sure it's not too bad, I don't really comfortable doing the installation myself at this point.

I talked to another shop today and liked them a lot (read a plug for them on this forum actually //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif). Anyway, spent around 30 minutes talking to the guy and coming up with a couple different options. Here is one of them (if I can manage to remember it).

Pioneer head unit with aux and iPod connector/USB

Orion Cobalt component speakers up front

Orion Cobalt coaxial speakers in the back

(I think) Orion Cobalt 12" sub w/ box

Amps for both speakers and sub

wiring, installation, etc...

Came up to $1050 with tax

I might be forgetting something, but that's all I can remember. He came up with a similar setup with Kickers instead of Orion, but said clarity would be nearly the same - Kickers would just be louder (not a big deal to me - cost about $200 more).

How does this sound?

 

[Super Pickle 10+ year member]

id say for the money you would be much better off getting some stuff online, then maybe getting a shop to put it in.

 

[lohman 10+ year member]

Bump

Anyone else? Mostly looking for thoughts on the quality of the speakers and the setup itself.

 

[MrDave 10+ year member]

Yeah, best to get the stuff on the net. Then, bring it to the shop. Shops usually charge MSRP and rip you off big.

 

[kross 10+ year member]

Orion Cobalt speakers are pretty cheap. You'd be spending a lot of money to have cheap stuff installed.

Your best bet would be to find higher quality equipment, either new from online sellers, or through the classifieds on here. Then either make a new post entitled "Hey anyone in the Atlanta area wanna help me install my new gear?", or look around for a good shop that doesn't mind installing stuff you bring in, and won't charge outrageous labor fees. Most shops aren't too keen on that.

You will be able to get a much better system, for less money.

If you have your mind made up, that you just want to drop your car off, and come back a couple hours later, and have a new system in it, that's your prerogative, and it is possible to get quality stuff in a car audio store, but it's going to cost you.

 

[mazzasec 5,000+ posts]

what shop did ya talk to?

 

[lohman 10+ year member]

Hmm...I wouldn't mind buying the parts online then bringing them to a shop, but I am completely lost in terms of what's compatible, what exactly I need to get, etc.

what shop did ya talk to?

I'm actually in Augusta, GA over the summer, so I've talked to a couple shops here...the one that I liked the most was Mobile Audio Concepts.