A clue-less dad

tunnelgas

Junior Member
I am a 38 year old father of a soon-to-be 16 year son. He bought a Jeep Wrangler with his mowing money as a first vehicle and is looking to put a much better stereo system in it. The wife and I are going to do something along this line for his birthday but I really have no clue where to start so I figured I would take a shot at this forum and see if I could get some info. A few questions are as follows:

1. What constitutes a "good" stereo?

2. What should a "good" stereo (budget minded) cost?

3. Are most stereos now IPOD accessible?

4. How important is the fact that his vehicle is "topless" going to be the components used?

For the record the previous owner installed JVC speakers in the dash and it has a 2-speaker sound bar in it as well. I found the receipt for the stereo that is currently in it and it was a $149.00 JVC detachable face single CD with no IPOD hookup which he wants to replace. There is no amp or sub installed.

Thanks in advance...

Clue-less Dad

 
does he like pounding bass, or a nice beat? a good stereo system IMO would be a really crisp, clear sound with nice smooth bass good responsive bass but depends on how he likes his music, what does he listen to in terms of music genre?

 
What would be your budget? It's going to be hard to keep the bass in if he has that soft top, but it shouldn't matter a whole lot for component speakers.

 
Appreciate the well typed and clearly defined questions, you'll find that alot of the people here will give the new people a hard time. To address your questions.

1. A good stereo, is a relative term. Some say it is overwhelming subwoofer bass ( 10" or larger subs ) others say its a balanced front stage ( the smaller speakers in your doors etc )

It really is up to you, it sounds like he already has a decent basis to build on and if you added a newer cd player ( and yes most are Ipod compatible now )

For the Jeep topless questions, you probably want to check into jeep specific speakers, like the sound bar mentioned. Maybe take a visit to the local 4x4 supplier, our local one carries a large number of jeep stereo stuff. Although items like that sound bar may not sound the best, they will be alot more functional than most.

Really look at what you think HE wants and then go from there.

For your budget you should avoid anything like Pyle, Lanzar, and Pyramid, other brands you see listed on eBay for like $4.99.

A decent cd player should run $200 or so, component set for a very nice sounding front stage can be found for around $100...

 
the mans asking for audio advice. not setting it up for you to make a smart ass comment
Is that how you look at it? A sarcastic remark it wasn't, so don't put words in mouth, please. Must be something wrong with "mowing" to you but, not I.

 
I would look into brands such as Image Dynamics, Focal, Rainbow for door speakers. A good set of component speakers (mid range,tweeter, and crossover) for your doors can be bought for a little more than $100. I personally, if on a budget, would just look at their lower line products. You can almost be guaranteed that if bought from one of those companies and installed correctly then you should not ever have any problems with them. You will want to match up the RMS or continuious power of the component speakers to the RMS of the amplifier. If the component set says 150rms get an amplifier that run 150x2 at the correct ohm load.

Wires for the amplifier for a component amp should be pretty cheap. Knukonceptz has decent, non-pricey accessories.

I personally wouldnt even put a subwoofer in an open vehicle like that. Noise violations will come WAY too easily with something like that. And those are very costly. If you do decide to add a subwoofer be sure to hide it extremely well. If anyone sees it, then it will be stolen. You could possibly do like and 8" under a seat and then the amplifiers under other seats??? Custom fiberglass get kind of costly.

A good cd player should run about $200 or more... pretty much you take your pick, or get him to. JCV, sony, power acoustik, dual.... etc. will very possibly give you problems. I would stick with kenwood, alpine, pioneer, eclipse or something like that.

Another key component to a "nice" sounding system is sound deadener. I would go with a minimum of 36ft^2 so you can cover the places you are putting the components it. Secondskin carries a superb product.

Overall, i would go with atleaste a $200 cd player, at least $100 components, a decent 2 ch. amplifier, and as much deadening as possible. This SHOULD, provided you stay away from sketchy brands and have it installed by someone who knows what they are doing, give you a very nice sounding system.

 
Maybe take a look in the car build log section and see what some of the guys are doing. You will get some ideas of what is going on now in stereos.

 
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