iced_llama
CarAudio.com Newbie
- 1
First off, wow, this place is great!
So today, I went to an audio shop for a cheap replacement CD player for the wife's car and looked around and that old basshead feeling came back with a vengeance. The shop I went to had Sundown audio as their premier brand. I've never heard of it but upon a bit of research, it looks pretty good. I'm just so far out of sorts with knowledge of the industry, I don't know where to start. The brick and mortar setup of the past with amazing display options are all but gone, at least in my area. The shop I went to was once the best in the city by far. They only had one tiny display setup with one brand, whereas in the past, there was an entire room there with nearly 100 head units, 30-40 sets of mids/highs, and 20 or so sub arrays to sample. I don't really have any friends still into this stuff that I could go to for advice so here I am.
Please excuse the nostalgia and rant, but I simply must geek out a bit. My first system was in an '87 Mustang with a low/mid tier Panasonic receiver + an 8" bazooka tube...which I blew...three times. The same Panasonic was put into a 94 Toyota PU, very small standard cab, into a 5 sided box with two JL 10 W0s (back of box was sealed to the cab) with an MTX "20x4" (incredibly underrated) amp, and Boston Acoustics mids/highs. This system sounded amazing and hit incredibly deep but sounded terrible outside. I replaced the Panasonic with a top end Premier, it was incredibly overpriced and supposedly top of the line at the time, it had a 13 band graphic eq and the entire face had to tilt down to change CDs, but no matter what I did, it never hit nearly as hard as the Panasonic. Think the beginning of Hail Mary, the Panasonic was insanely strong on those deep hits. I eventually replaced the JL 10s with some Pioneer 10s...if I recall they looked like diamond flake. They were rather disappointing compared to the JLs...they had more midrange bass but truly lacked the deep punch I'd grown to crave. I moved that system into a Mazda MX3 which I shortly thereafter totaled and I sold all audio gear out of it except the Premier.
Next, I had a Jeep Cherokee with a Memphis Belle amp. I'd put in 3x JL 12 W6 subs which I blew two of simultaneously on one of those ridiculous 90's bass CDs...and that was it, I was done with car stereos...I hate to say it but my 2nd setup, with the cheap Panasonic cd player, the 5 sided box, the MTX amp, JL 10W0s, was by far the hardest hitting and most satisfying rig I ever had. Back then, if I recall, the cat's meow were the Cerwin Vega strokers....
I just bought a 2019 Honda Accord, I'm an older guy, almost 40, midlife crisis mode? Let's just say I made sure I got the sport package + turbo engine + Hondata kit on the way yet had to get something family enough for the wife and kids. I'd like a really nice single 8" or 10"...maybe even a 12" + an amp tied into the factory setup. I by no means want any electrical risk or my car developing major rattles over time. I don't want to add any other speakers to the car and I want to conserve as much trunk space as possible. I no longer seek to be Alma Gates, but think pure stealth with some punch. The most I'd want visually outside of the trunk would be a bass knob up front (with velcro, no drilling!).
Summary of what I'm looking for:
deep + good range bass (inside, I don't care about outside) tying into factory system
no trunk rattle or chronic rattling elsewhere from the sub
a stealth setup taking up as little room as possible in the trunk
no additional electrical needs outside of power to the amp from the battery
Looking to spend between $500-$750. Any advice is appreciated and thanks for listening.
edit...am I posting this in the wrong place?
So today, I went to an audio shop for a cheap replacement CD player for the wife's car and looked around and that old basshead feeling came back with a vengeance. The shop I went to had Sundown audio as their premier brand. I've never heard of it but upon a bit of research, it looks pretty good. I'm just so far out of sorts with knowledge of the industry, I don't know where to start. The brick and mortar setup of the past with amazing display options are all but gone, at least in my area. The shop I went to was once the best in the city by far. They only had one tiny display setup with one brand, whereas in the past, there was an entire room there with nearly 100 head units, 30-40 sets of mids/highs, and 20 or so sub arrays to sample. I don't really have any friends still into this stuff that I could go to for advice so here I am.
Please excuse the nostalgia and rant, but I simply must geek out a bit. My first system was in an '87 Mustang with a low/mid tier Panasonic receiver + an 8" bazooka tube...which I blew...three times. The same Panasonic was put into a 94 Toyota PU, very small standard cab, into a 5 sided box with two JL 10 W0s (back of box was sealed to the cab) with an MTX "20x4" (incredibly underrated) amp, and Boston Acoustics mids/highs. This system sounded amazing and hit incredibly deep but sounded terrible outside. I replaced the Panasonic with a top end Premier, it was incredibly overpriced and supposedly top of the line at the time, it had a 13 band graphic eq and the entire face had to tilt down to change CDs, but no matter what I did, it never hit nearly as hard as the Panasonic. Think the beginning of Hail Mary, the Panasonic was insanely strong on those deep hits. I eventually replaced the JL 10s with some Pioneer 10s...if I recall they looked like diamond flake. They were rather disappointing compared to the JLs...they had more midrange bass but truly lacked the deep punch I'd grown to crave. I moved that system into a Mazda MX3 which I shortly thereafter totaled and I sold all audio gear out of it except the Premier.
Next, I had a Jeep Cherokee with a Memphis Belle amp. I'd put in 3x JL 12 W6 subs which I blew two of simultaneously on one of those ridiculous 90's bass CDs...and that was it, I was done with car stereos...I hate to say it but my 2nd setup, with the cheap Panasonic cd player, the 5 sided box, the MTX amp, JL 10W0s, was by far the hardest hitting and most satisfying rig I ever had. Back then, if I recall, the cat's meow were the Cerwin Vega strokers....
I just bought a 2019 Honda Accord, I'm an older guy, almost 40, midlife crisis mode? Let's just say I made sure I got the sport package + turbo engine + Hondata kit on the way yet had to get something family enough for the wife and kids. I'd like a really nice single 8" or 10"...maybe even a 12" + an amp tied into the factory setup. I by no means want any electrical risk or my car developing major rattles over time. I don't want to add any other speakers to the car and I want to conserve as much trunk space as possible. I no longer seek to be Alma Gates, but think pure stealth with some punch. The most I'd want visually outside of the trunk would be a bass knob up front (with velcro, no drilling!).
Summary of what I'm looking for:
deep + good range bass (inside, I don't care about outside) tying into factory system
no trunk rattle or chronic rattling elsewhere from the sub
a stealth setup taking up as little room as possible in the trunk
no additional electrical needs outside of power to the amp from the battery
Looking to spend between $500-$750. Any advice is appreciated and thanks for listening.
edit...am I posting this in the wrong place?
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