Yossarian

i've got some $$ to burn, and i've been looknig to get some better speakers/reciever. i don't want an amp or a woofer, basicly because i don't wanna drop more than 200 total.(i'm cheap i know)

i've got a Jensen cd w/aux port now, it puts out 45w. i have 5 1/4 in my front door, and 6x9 on my rear deck. whats the best i can get, and spend the least amount?

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DarkFury

Honestly, on a $200 budget, really there ain't much that will make your stereo sound much better.

Pretty much "deck power" SUCKS as far as "car audio" goes (unless you have a really high power deck like Alpine's 60W x 4 units)... I'd just hold off and save a bit more until you can afford a decent amplifier and then go out and get yourself some good door and rear panel speakers.

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Yossarian

what difference does the amp make? will it blow the speaker i have presently?

they aren't to bad, good for low-mid range decibles, but start to crackle unless i turn my bass way down. will the amp make that worse? better?

DarkFury

Basically, deck power is not necessarily "clean power" (especially from a Jensen product)...

All I"m saying here is... if you currently have your deck powering your factory speakers, there really aren't much better speakers for the money that would sound "great" using deck power. A dedicated amp that has selected crossovers (to make sure that the speakers don't get the lower frequencies that they can't possibly handle... since your "deck" is gonna send a full range signal to the speakers which could potentially fry them if they don't have passive crossovers on them (PACs).

Yeah... you could go out and buy some "cheapie" speakers to drop in your currently locations, but I just doubt that within your budgetary constraints, that they would sound much better.

On a side note... if you were to go out and buy a "powered" bazooka speaker tube and use the high level input from your radio, then that would probably have a greater "bang for the buck" for your $200 investment.

Here is a link to the 100W amplified 8" Bazooka tube on Crutchfield.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-MbvcS1m...search=bazooka


and here is a link to the other bazookas on their site: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-MbvcS1m...search=bazooka

Honestly, that's what I would buy if I only had $200 to spend, and keep the other speakers "as is".

Yossarian

the speakers aren't factory, i know that much, i'll take a look tommorow and see what i've got, mayb that'll help my situation a little bit

DarkFury

Honestly, as long as they play and can produce a decent mid range to high sound, then you'll be golden once you add a powered sub in the trunk.

Basically, this IS your "cheap stereo" option.


Think about this... in my HEMI, I have just the factory radio and all the factory speakers... however I added an MTX Thunderforms pair of 10" subs and an amp and my system ROCKS! It's not "competition level" like my T-Bird, but it definitely rocks hard enough to put an evil grin on my face whenever I wanna turn it up and blast it in traffic.

Yossarian

so even with my little 4x45 reciever, if i add an amp and a woofer i'm good to go?

DarkFury

Within your budget constraints... yes.

The deal here is... you'd tap "signal" for the powered bazooka from your rear speaker wires... then, as long as you get highs and mids from your current setup, the "bass" will be handled by the bazooka.

Thus, for $200 you'd have a somewhat decent stereo (but not ground shaking mind you...).

Bires

On the other hand, the difference between deck power and the sound you get from your speakers through a 4-channel amp is huge. Amp'ed full range speakers are very, very nice. I am actually thinking of getting rid of my 10" sub and just running my full range speakers.


(Anyone in LV wanna buy a used Sony 10" sub, cheap?)

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DarkFury

Show me a decent 4 channel amp for under $200 and I'll show you a car who's audio system is worth more than the car.

Bires

haha.

to power full-range speakers (80RMS/120Peak each) you wouldn't need that large of an amp. I've been shopping them lately...found some decent ones for under $130.

DarkFury

Yet and still... show me your NEW $130 4 channel amp...

Is it made by:

Pyramid
Crunch
Hollywood Labs
LA Sound
AlphaSonic
or any other brand that you find at your local flea market?

If so... PLEASE don't waste your cash on this garbage...

baggio248

I only have a deck and quality door speakers and that set me back about 400.
I have an Alpine 60w x 4 and Cerwin Vega front door speakers and pioneer rear door speakers. I don't know what you can get for 200.

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Bires

http://www.cardomain.com/shop/list.p...order=priceasc

DarkFury

Just what I thought.... most of those qualify for the "crap" flea market list I posted above...


I especially like the "Crunch Gangsta 4100" for $119.... nice marketing there. Complete with "bullet hole" graphics as well.



http://www.cardomain.com/item/CRUBMF4100

Either way... it still would be recommended to just get the bazooka if $200 is the spending limit for ALL components to make his stereo sound better.

ski

Chose one of these, Yoss:

1) Bazooka 8" powered sub - $180 shipped


2) Sony 10" 4-Ohm Subwoofer ($50 shipped)
Q-Logic 10" Sealed Enclosure ($60 shipped)
Kenwood 120W RMS bridged amplifier ($100 shipped) or
Profile 200W RMS bridged amplifier ($80 shipped)
TOTAL: $190 or $210
or

Option 1 is if you just want some basic boom
Option 2 is if you want a decent sized boom. Some people will say "Stay away from Profile, it's not an Alpine/Kicker/RF/etc.". Of course it's not! It's priced much less. But if you're even considering a Bazooka tube, the quality power coming out of that is comparable to a Profile amp. I owned a system from Radio Shack (when they sold MTX rebadged subs and I'm not sure about their amps). I had one 12" and a Radio Shack amp at 200W RMS bridged. This baby had a nice, clean, LOUD, boom to it, and worked well for music such as classical too. So before you naysayers spit on Profile, think about his budget. Profile also has a 3 year warranty, Kenwood has 1 year.

I only take time to post tons of information when I think it will really help you, for example, when rajat wanted a WRX and was looking at alternatives:
http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showpo...1&postcount=10

I hope this will help you

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DarkFury

Heh... I blow "snot rockets" on Profile.

You do get what you pay for... BTW, even Kia and Hyundai give you 10 year 100,000 mile warranties, but does that make them better than Honda, Toyota, or Nissan?

AlpineJay

One more suggestion is to visit your local Circuit City/Best Buy or whatever the large electronics store is around you, and get them to sell you display units. Oftentimes (I know this, I work at CC right now) the "open box" items are priced at or below cost for managers to get rid of closeouts, so your money might end up going further than buying closed-box Profile.

Bazooka Basstube isn't a bad idea, because a system like yours most likely lacks low end. If that's filled by the Basstube, then it wouldn't sound as bad.. Like DF said, it wouldn't be the best, but I guess for $200 that's the best you can do. Look into those open box amp/sub combos. I know my store (Livingston, NJ) has a few MTX amp/Sony subs going under 200 open box.

ufcrusher

I COMPLETELY disagree with you on this one. For car audio you never want to buy the displays or OB returns. When I worked at Good Guys, I have seen the abuse that our displays went through and how often we actually had to replace the units because some idiot kid came through and through it would be fun to crank it up. Especially with OB returns, 90% of the time someone installed it, abused the hell out of it and then returned it.

As for your thought about being at cost or below....for the most part you are off. Regular speakers are all marked up 50%. OB are usually marked down only 30%, hence there is still 20% profit for the store. For head units, amps, and other electronics, the markup isnt as much. It really depends on how high up the product line you are going on. The lower end units are generally sold at or below cost, as they are loss leaders. Its what they advertise to get people into the store. As you go up the line you generally see incremental increases in prices. (i.e. the unit 10 is $99, the Unit 12 is $199, the Unit 14 is $299...etc.) However the actual cost increase is generally only half or less. Kenwood Excelon units that retailed at $500 would be only $330 at cost. Thus, even at 30% off the $500 unit there would still be profit for the store.

One thing I think everyone failed to note is that tubes work really well in trucks and hatchbacks, but not so well if you are actually going to be separated from the sub by the trunk. One trick to save money is talk with the guys at the install shop and see about having them design you a box on the side. At the big retail stores, they are hourly and so they will make more money if you pay them directly than if they did it in the shop.

You will have to tell them whether you wanted a sealed or ported box, the box size, etc.

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AlpineJay

I guess my managers here work differently. I know for a fact that the Roadshop manager here generally marks them down at cost or below to get rid of them (some Circuit City stores have an overage of open box products, and my store happens to be one of them). As for the abuse, I would ask for the history of the item in question. If they are displays, I agree that it shouldn't be purchased, but if they were OB returns that weren't installed in a vehicle (they're easy to come by here, again, don't know abour elsewhere).

You are right that regular speakers are marked up around 50%, with head units around 30-40%, etc. Low end units on "sale" are sold very close to cost but sometimes you stumble across something ridiculously priced...

My amp, MTX Thunder801D, in my store is going for 179.97 (.97 endings at CC indicate open boxes) right now. When I bought the amp at store cost 8 months ago, I believe it was somewhere around 280 range. Again, all this depends on your luck.

DarkFury

Personally, I've had good luck with buying "display models"... I still have a 10 disk Sony CD Changer that I bought about 10 years ago that plays flawlessly. MSRP at the time was around $399 but I got it from CC on "display" for around $179. Now granted... the "equivalent" changer probably now sells for around $179 today, but back then, this was a STEAL of a price.

As far as trying to make a "custom box" for his stereo... once again, I think you are missing the major point here. Custom boxes COST MONEY... and he only has $200 to spend. Even with a "pre formed" box, a cheap speaker and a cheap amp... once again, you're pushin' that $200 limit. Now if the budget was a lil bit bigger... then yeah, I'd recommend some "separate components" to produce a much better sound, but as it is... I still think that for UNDER $200... the SAS Bazooka bass tube is still the best option as far as what it can do, and the amount of space it actually uses to do it in.

As far as having it in the trunk versus in a hatchback... that is pretty much irrelevant since BASS is OMNIDIRECTIONAL... pretty much it will travel and fill up whatever space is in front of it. Now if his trunk is completely sealed (as in AIR TIGHT) then yeah... it wouldn't be all that great there. But bass has the wonderful powers of being able to penetrate "soft barriers" (such as rear car seats) to provide it's boomy goodness to the passengers inside.

Now I wouldn't go and put a tweet or a midrange in the trunk... because they are "directional" and are adversely affected by any kind of barrier in their way, but for BASS... that is no problem... especially since we aren't trying to entertain the block here.

Trust me... there is "too much" of a good thing sometimes. I can testify to that as the amp I have pushing my subs in my HEMI is WAY more powerful than the factory stereo... therefore I had to turn the gains all the way down just so the bass didn't become "muddy" and drown out all the vocals. Now if I should ever decide to add a second amp and some better door and rear panel speakers, then yeah... I'm gonna turn that gain up... (WAY UP!!!! ), however in keeping it in line with the stock stereo, having it turned down and providing a nice "complimenting sound" to the stock speakers equates to a "balance" which is nice and pleasant to listen to. Honestly, I think that the bazookas can do the same thing.

As a matter of fact... I remember back to about 15 years ago... this one guy had a Dodge Spirit (which has a trunk) which had 4 6" Bazooka tubes in the trunk mated to what I think was a 500W amplifier... and MAN... that car would KNOCK YOUR DAYUUM HEAD OFF!!!! The bass was incredible... especially considering that these were dayuum BAZOOKA TUBES!!! Honestly, after that demo, I never knocked them again... however personally I do still prefer custom built cabinets with my own choice of subs. However on a budget, the SAS offerings are still a very "value minded" and quality product.

Aiight... I'm startin' to sound like a "sales rep" here. I tell ya what... just buy whatever the HELL you want... it's your money. I've basically gave you the best advice I can... it's up to you to decide if it was worthwhile or not. Good luck either way.. and enjoy whatever you get.

ski

True, but can you buy a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan for under $10,000? I rest my case. He's got $200 to spend, not $300 or $400! CLEARLY if he had more, I would recommend something better, but he doesn't, and I've built a comparable system for $200 that was really bangin' Even if you think it's a crappy amp, it works, it pushes the sub, that's all you need.

DarkFury

All you did is further substantiate my point... personally, I'd buy a Domestic (which you can get for under $10K if need be) before I'd buy one of those "other ran" Korean cars in that example.

Why buy what I percieve as a "crappy amp with crappy speakers" when I can buy what is perceived to be a decent amplified enclosure (the powered Bazooka) and still spend the same amount of money and stay under budget.

Either way, I'm done.... he can make a decision based on all the evidence and opinions posted above.

Yossarian

oi, my head is spinning

ski

Regardless what you pick, buy it from Crutchfield.com or Circuit City/Best Buy. Don't chance it on eBay.

sizemic1

I guess with $200 i'd replace your 6x9's with a nice set of Inifinty Kappa 3 way 6x9's. My old kappas kicked ass.

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ufcrusher

What you really need to do is go get a job at your local Circuit City, once you are there for a certain length of time you will have your employee discount and if you are in the mobile area normally you can buy directly from the manufacturer, although it has to be for you only, so long as its to display to customers. This way you can get what you want for less and make some money. (FYI, Kenwood actually has individuals who come and check on this and monitor online auction sites for mis use of the program...since they have the serial numbers of what they give you, it leads to big problems and termination of employment. I am sure that the others check too.)

AlpineJay

Circuit City has accomodation programs directly with manufacturers such as Infinity and Polk. Both of them have stuff that are pretty good as far as speakers are concerned. Beware though, that the employee discount rate just went up to store cost+40%, so the discounts are not as good as they were before. If you were to pay for labor to put it in, though, it's still 50% of published rate.

You don't really even have to work a certain amount of time before managers start selling you stuff - they are generally pretty lenient about it. It might be worthwhile looking into.

Apex

Bah, I'm going to have to start learning about car audio stuff. Too much info.

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brainsmile

if you're gonna try for employee discounts work at BB...

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