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Car Audio Help

Which Brand to go with

  • Sony

    Votes: 1 11.1%

  • Pioneer

    Votes: 4 44.4%

  • Kenwood

    Votes: 4 44.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .
Kocher93

Kocher93

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So for Christmas to myself, I think I'm gonna step away from getting too ambitious on my drive train and fix my audio. My Pioneer head unit took a dump on me about a month ago and I can't take it anymore. As much as I love hearing my grapplers on the highway, I want my music back. I don't listen to radio at all, I have my Ipod or my S3, so I hear I can just use an amp. So I go searching and all of a sudden I'm being smacked with all these big terms like ohms and channels and series and parallel. I suck when it comes to electrical/audio. I have two kickers up front and two 6x9 pioneers, I don't know the specs on them, their from the PO. So if I were to go to the electronic store and grab myself an amp and a sub, what should I look for? Also Merry early Christmas, came out of freaking no where
 
It's been a while since I was into the whole system thing, but usually if you go to the store they should be able to point you in the right direction if you tell them what you need. Just don't let them talk you into the most expensive option, unless you actually want top of the line, and if that is the case, I would recommend JL Audio for everything except the head unit. Otherwise, I think most brands are pretty decent now as long as you aren't going to a flea market to get them. As far as features, it sounds like you will probably want a 2 or 4 channel with an aux input for your iPod. The channels will determine how much control you have over the balance of your speakers, so depending on how much of a stickler you are about sound quality will determine how many channels you want. A four channel amp will allow you to hook up 1 speaker to each channel for full control, a 2 channel will allow you to hook up 2 speakers to each channel, which is less recommended and provides less sound control.
 
Get a 4 channel amp (anything with 50 watts a channel RMS will do fine) and wire it inplace of your head unit. (probly need a tad bigger powerwires) then get a cable that goes from an Ipod plug Or small headphone plug to RCA plugs and hook them into the amp inputs.

Simplest way would be just replace the headunit.

JL audio's subs are AWESOME but the rest of their line is overpriced hype IMHO. the full range speakers actually sound worse as you get more expensive:dunno: At least thats the way it is in the shops around here.
 
Cheapest and easiest would be replace the head unit with one that has a plug on jack for accessories. That's what my pioneer has and I play my iPhone through it. Then if you need it you can still Play CDs or Listen to radio. Subs don't really
Matter until you get over 12 inch. Most sound about the same and have the same ratings on the cheaper speakers. Where you will get the best sound is going to be a higher quality amp. What kind of box you put the speaker in makes a ton of difference as well. I used to build my own boxes using the specs from the speaker specific ratings and air space needs. Then figure out what kind of box will work best with the air space in your specific vehicle. and building for That specific speakers range. My friend had a oscilloscope to Figure out the Best position in the vehicle to make the sound waves push harder as well. Crazy how much difference that makes. If you build the system specifically for your vehicle you need a lot less speaker to produce the same amount of sound. I had tw kewood tens and a fosgate 1000 watt amp that pushed harder than my buddy's two 12 inch speakers.
 
Agreed JL Audio is overpriced for their full range speakers, but their amps are just as awesome as their subs, especially if you can get your hands on an old Slash series monoblock. Realistically though you don't need something like that. As shady said, 4 channel with 50 watts rms per channel(typically designated as 504 or 50.4 in the product name) should do good for what you want.
 
Id have to rewire everything its all from my po and the wiring has been a mess since ive gotten it theres speaker wire hanging and shtuff so i just want to make it nice and simple. I dont use cds at all me and my gf just have i pods and phones and i dont like listening to radio. So a 4 channel amp. Then its just speakers and power?
 
The amp needs its own constant fused 12v source. So use a fairly large wire from the battery to the amp. Then use an equal sized wire for the ground as well, as amps use their own ground. Then the amp needs its signal wires for each individual channel. Then the outputs go to each speaker individually. On top of that it needs a "turn on" wire to activate the amp when the key is turned either forward to the run position or backward to the accessories position. You could just run this wire to a switch if you would like, and power the system without the key itself so you can listen to the radio without having all the other stuff turned on. Its quite a bit of wiring. I run a 400watt 4 channel for 4 6x9s. Then I have the headunit powering 4 tweeters and 2 3.5s in the dash. Finally an 1800watt for my two JL 12in subs. I ran my sub amp off of a switch so I could turn it off, while leaving my speaker amp on, if I ever need to go without subs, as mine beat quite hard and can be distracting sometimes. And it makes it easier to tune the highs without the bass being pounded into your skull at the same time.

The only thing I havnt messed with or seen how its done is how to run an Ipod, ect without a headunit. I would assume you would need some sort of headunit to have the signal wires and such. You can buy fairly cheap ones with a USB and an AUX to power whatever you would like, MP3, IPOD, Droids, ect.


Not sure what kind of wheeling you do, but keep that amp high and dry. I mounted all mine, keep in mind I have a Suburban, in the factory spare tire area, all above the floor line, to prevent water from getting to it.
 
Yea it does seem like a pain in the ass compared to a simple head unit. I guess ill just grab another head unit and some wiring and suck it up. I only listen to my ipod so music quality isn too high a 150-200 head unit should do? And as far as brands kenwood, sony, pioneeer, etc. I have old friends who knew everything about audio, i personally dont understand it.
 
I only use Pioneer. I like them because they, until my last headunit, had never changed the plug in. So I did it all soldered and blah blah, and could buy a new headunit and plug it in, and not mess with wiring. I changed mine out once every few years and put my old one in my work car.

Now wiring an amp in for speakers is a PITA. I used probably more than 250ft of wiring running back and forth and ect for all my new speakers. But the sound is much better. Honestly not worth it IMO if your not into it, I just did it as an experiment really. With one amp and a 10 or 12in sub, with speakers ran to your headunit, it will sound pretty good anyways. Just have to set the headunit up right with the crossover and high frequency passes and blah blah audio talk.

What really made the big difference to me was Dynomatting the floor, and doors after I bedlined them. Way nice.
 
My last head unit was a pioneer, I think I might try a kenwood this time around for nostalgia purposes for my dad and his old kenwood in his ramcharger. I think a new head unit will be going in, I'll keep my 4 speakers and just leave it alone before it turns into something, thank you guys for all the help
 
Check out the Sony decks. I have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DSXS310B...892&sr=8-3&keywords=sony+car+stereo+bluetooth

The unit has a USB plug on the front, a tray with a USB/Apple plug where the CD player would be (so there is NOT a CD player), and also has bluetooth. I put a little USB flash drive in the inner USB plug and call it a day. Sometimes I stream Pandora from my cell phone.

The deck controls the USB/phone/iPod controls.

What I would do if I were you would be to pick up the new deck and install it. If things sound good, call it a day.

Sounds bad? Get new speakers. Go to a local store and LISTEN to them. Pick what sounds best.

If you want more volume, look into an amp and subwoofer. I like reading Amazon reviews and seeing what people like there. Beware lack of warranty if you buy online.

Be sure you fuse any amp power lines, no more than 18" away from the battery.
 
Any head unit with the adapter plug in on it for accessories will work. Nice to have a usb for a flash drive. That will leave your phone handy and you can pur a ton of music on the new flash drives. Most I've seen are 50x4 these days. I have the duel headphone jack wire that plugs into the headphone spot on my phone and plugs into my head unit. Sounds good and only 120 bucks. Mines pioneer as well. If you don't need the bass rattling your brain it is a much easier install. Won't have to do so many cream wires and hiding them can be a pain as well.
 
The kenwoods are the best sounding unit I've had. I've had a bunch:rolleyes: ( I have a car buying problem:D) I keep coming back to kenwood. Navigating the menu seems simpler too.
 
There are some really cool head units out there now. I was just at Best Buy looking for a new unit for my Harley and really liked the ones w/ the front USB port and built-in MP3 players.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchp...##1##3&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n


I have an iPod classic but I don't want to use it on the bike. I don't want all the vibration to mess up it's hard disc or the chance of it getting wet or stolen. (I wouldn't want to keep it in a truck I'm wheeling for the same reasons.) I was thinking about getting a new, smaller nano just for the bike, but that's another $200. The sales girl suggested one of the new hi-cap thumb drives. SanDisk makes one that holds up to 32MB (same as the new nanos, 8-10k songs) and would stick out of the head unit less than 1/4". At $25, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying another iPod and if something happens to it you can just buy and burn another one.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchp...##0##3&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n
I really liked the layout and buttons on the Kenwoods. They were bigger (better when wearing gloves) and seemed simpler to use. Most of the head units w/ 40-50 watts per channel should give you plenty of sound if you just want a simple system w/ speakers at all four corners. If you're thinking of running amps and sub-woofers, you definitely want some pre-amp outputs; front/ rear in stereo and a mono line for bass is standard. Half the money you're expecting to spend should be on the speakers. They're what actually make the sound so don't skimp.

My advice would be to take the truck to some place w/ a car audio section like Best Buys, talk to one of the sales reps/ installers, and design a complete system. You can do the install at home if you like, this type of wiring is pretty basic.
 
xsmokey11499x said:
check out the pioneer DEH-980BT

Thats the deck I had.. till it got stolen
Click to expand...

They sound good but its like navigating a computer trying to get through the menus on the last couple i've owned/played with
 
I havent had one in 8-10 years so I dont know how they've improved:dunno:
 
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