Car Stereo decisions! Need smart people input!

the RF subs are nice, I had 4 12\'s along with 2 10\'s in my Camaro while in high school, 1700 watts in all.  Great crisp bass, but I began to go deaf, and out grew the need for car shaking bass, thus sold off my system later in life.

Jesus Christ man, the earth already has enough cracks in it.

If I knew how to post a smiley with wide eyes it would be *here* *here* and *here*.

Originally posted by luckee
Go with the diamonds, you will be very happy. I had a set a few years ago before my car got stolen, I was in heaven A small amp on them in the future goes a LONG way.

The MB\'s are also a great choice, but for now its probably better that you get the diamonds.

Thank you luckee!!! First person I found that has heard Diamonds in a car firsthand.  How much did you pay for yours??

I forget the model since it was a few years ago, but they were a  6-1/2 component set in the $300 range.

dude, get the diamonds, they rock.  i have diamond audio speakers in my car and they sound great for all kinds of music, the highs especially are crisp and clear, not harsh and hurtful to the ears.
i never heard MB quart speakers myself, but i NEVER heard anything bad about them, as far as i know, they are great speakers to.
check out my website:
http://students.ou.edu/P/Mitul.Patel-1/

btw, are you going to be running those speakers off of the headunit, or are you going to use an amp?  i wouldn\'t run good speakers like diamond audio M3\'s or mb quarts with just the headunit, thats not enough power.  consider an amp if you aren\'t already.

If you\'re not going to install install it yourself OR buy from the net you\'re really limiting yourself here.  Here\'s what I don\'t like:

- the Sony Xplode HU.  I know you don\'t want to hear it and I honestly don\'t want to say it but Sony car audio is $@&#(&#($@!  You will be hurting with your expensive speakers connected to that weak internal amp.  (and you probably won\'t even know it until you put a decent HU in)

- $500+ to purchase & install 4 speakers?!  I hope 90% of that is speaker cost.

- Mom saying internet: bad.  Tell her Internet: good.

Best thing I can recommend for your situation is to buy the Diamonds (or the MBQ\'s if you can find a matching pair of 6x9\'s), get a job and later on down the road by an Alpine head unit, some PPi, Rockford Fosgate, or Alpine amps, drive to Virginia and let me install it for $25.

I just sold my car stereo btw, car\'s transmission is dying and need to save money where I can to get a new used car. (Link)  It was a sexy little setup for what I paid for it but I was never satisfied with the sound.  Next time around I\'m gonna do it right with Focal or Dynaudio components, RF amps and an Alpine with 4V+ triple preouts. ARRR ARR ARRR...

Good luck with your $500 predicament.

Besides- why do people spend so much money on a stupid steroe in their car- when all they do is listen to some booming bass going around, just use the one you got. Waste of money.

The teeny boppers that buy that crap just to turn some heads with boomy bass are the money wasters.  Most serious car audio people want clarity and transparency when listening to music.  When you get older and you have a 45min-1hr commute to work/class you really appreciate great sounding music in the car.  It can honestly put you at ease at the end of a busy day.

OK, if i can (hopefully) convince my mom to trust the internet for once, I know for a fact that I can get a good deal.  I found some M651 Components for $198 with free shipping.  

Specs:
General
Type: Component
Drivers: Tweeter, Midbass
Drivers per Channel: 2
Crossover Included: Y
Woofer Cone: Titanium Aluminum
Tweeter Cone: Aluminum
Tweeter Mounting: Flush, Surface, Angle
  Specifications
Power(watts): 20-150
Imped (ohms): 4
Sensitivity with w/2.83-V input @ 1 meter (dB SPL): 91
Freq. Resp.(±3dB): 60Hz-24KHz
  Dimensions
Mount Depth: 1-7/8"
Diameter: 5-1/4"
Tweeter Diameter: 1"

Then I gotta find a good 2 channel amp.  Forget about the rear speakers.  Any specific amps to run these?  I notice THX noted PPi, Rockford Fosgate, and Alpine, but I dont know how much an amp is really supposed to run for in price.  I dont wanna irrationally waste money.

Forget rear speakers??  Ayeyaeyae, you\'d want 4 speakers in a 4-seater otherwise you will find the sound lacking.  For prices check out these sites:

http://www.ikesound.com
http://www.zebaudio.com
http://www.carmedia1.com
http://www.crutchfield.com ---> charge retail but have the best cust service and info for your specific car.
http://www.sounddomain.com --> also charge retail but have a great selection.

You might find your speakers cheaper at one of the first 3 sites, and then be able to afford 4.  *crosses fingers*

WORD THX, it\'s even pretty \'easy\' to get great sounding ... eh, sound, in a car. It can r0x0rZ.

Originally posted by THX
Forget rear speakers??  Ayeyaeyae, you\'d want 4 speakers in a 4-seater otherwise you will find the sound lacking.  For prices check out these sites:

http://www.ikesound.com
http://www.zebaudio.com
http://www.carmedia1.com
http://www.crutchfield.com ---> charge retail but have the best cust service and info for your specific car.
http://www.sounddomain.com --> also charge retail but have a great selection.

You might find your speakers cheaper at one of the first 3 sites, and then be able to afford 4.  *crosses fingers*

well, that can be true, but he\'s putting speakers in a 1996 civic coupe.  i have a 2002 civic coupe, and beleive me, i dont need rear speakers, the front speakers do the job well enough.  the only reason i have the rear speakers is for anyone that sits in the back, so they can have sound.

I install car stereos for fun.  I\'ve done it countless times.  $500 for the speakers and stereo install is not a bad price.

Its not a hard job, its just time consuming, and we all know time costs money.

At any rate, the Diamonds are nice speakers, MB quarts have always been a quality speaker.  May I recommend Boston Acoustics.  Everyone hears a bit different, thats why there are so many different options.  But Boston Acoustic speakers are some of the best I\'ve heard.  I am currently running components up front, 2 6\' boston\'s in the rear, and 1 12inch Kenwood sub in the rear.  Just enough bass, but I could use a little more.

Its all about your amps too, getting a nice clean signal and a nice clean amp is very very important for reproducing a nice sound.  I am currently running an XTANT amp for my highs and a kenwood 401m for my sub.  The Xtant amps are awesome, again, they produce a really clean and refined sound that can\'t be found in lesser amps like sony and jensen.  

I would suggest getting components up front 4  or 5.25 with seperate tweeters for the highs - Nothing beats that system.

Forget about the 6x9s - go 6 inch in the rear, you don\'t need that tweeter in the middle of the speaker in the 6x9 in the rear.  The rear of your car is supposed to be fill, you don\'t want sharp highs comming from the rear.

And ignore all the haters, they are just jealous.  Having a good sounding stereo in your car is one of the most important things to me.  I spend many hours in my car, driving to work, driving back and forth from Philly to Boston.  Its important to have a nice sounding stereo.  I am not talking about bass that can shake the foundation of the world either, that is dumb.  But I listen to a lot of Drum and Bass, and having a nice deep bass response is very important.

Here is a directory of pics of my stereo installation - I installed this all myself.

http://www.doodmonkeyradio.com/audi/pics/stereo-inst-4-02/

Pioneer DVD head unit - XM radio - Xtant amp - Boston Acoustic speakers - Kenwood amp - 12 disc changer - PS2 hook up - Lap Top hook up-

Best of luck to you, any more questions and I will help best I can.