I'm more concerned about sound quality and quality products than loudness, and also dont really wanna do custom kick panels cause thats just one more thing to cost $$$ and to be installed.....
I'm thinking like a pioneer head unit around 200 bucks (All this stuff new, not off eBay), but dunno about what else.....What would you guys recomend for speakers, sub(s), and amp(s)?
Thanks
-Chris

 

keep your stock speakers if they're in good condition and run a small 4 channel amp to them to save money.

 

start with quality head unit and speakers, and upgrade from there. A decent set of 4x6 plates and a 6.5" coaxial (on a custom panel) in the rear speaker location will work well. a good 4x6 pair can be had in the $130 range (it goes up from there) and 6.5's being more common start in the same place.

later down the road consider a small 4 channel amp uprade. 2 channels bridged to power a 10" sub and the other 2 channels driving the front end. lots of possibilities, but for $600 you're pretty limited.

bmoney

 

well okay, lets put it this way....
whats the best system you could put together with 600 bucks.
I know its not alot, and i know its not gonna get the best of the best, but hey...i'm 16, in highschool, working as much as i can to get $$$.....yeah, i could probably afford more, but my priorities are more toward going fast than car audio and stuff.....
130 bucks for a set of speakers? hmm....i was thinking more like a 200 dollar pioneer head unit, a pair of 80 dollar speakers up front and maybe like some 60 dollar speakers in the back, a decent 150 dollar sub, and the best amp i can get for all that that costs close to whatevers left.....
I know its not gonna be anywhere near perfect or near the best, but.....ya know? I just want something that sounds good, can get fairly loud, has some punch to it, and is the best that can be had for the $$....Pleanty of kids at my highschool have 400-700 dollar systems in their cars.....but most of them probably sound like ***, cause instead of trying to get the best stuff possible for the $$, they buy the biggest sub at Best Buy that has the most peak watts, the cheapest amp that will give them the most power, and the head unit that looks the coolest (Same goes for speakers too)
I'd rather have a 600 dollar system thats not that loud but sounds really good (for 600 bucks) than a 600 dollar system that will rattle the car next to its licence plate, but sounds like a wet fart.....
lol
so, best complete system for 600, MAYBE 700 dollars (like if the only amp i can get and stay in the 600 dollar limit sucks *****, but for 60 dollars more i can get a real nice amp, then 660 would be no problem at all.....or whatever)
thx

 

dude look on ebay for sure I just picked up 2 Phoenix gold tantrum 10s.(300rms) for like 120.00 The amp to power them was kinda expensive(around 320) but well worth it since it retails at 600.00 and subs retail at 200.00ish each when they were still available.(theyre discontinued.)

anyway. I say get a ebay head unit(new in box) from either alpine or clarion. They make awesome head units. Id also suggest infinity kappa and polk MOMO for 4-6s.

you building the box? Keep in mind the airspace of your subs u buy when building it if thats your route.

Nate

 

yeah i had said no e-bay before, but after looking through ebay last night i cleared up the confusion i had (from what i had seen, alot of the stuff was less than different sites, but shipping was crazy.....but now i see that even with the crazy 40 dollar shipping, its still a good deal....
so yeah, i might do ebay i guess :-)

 

well, granted sony products are not the best but my system is not all that bad for the money that i put into it. I bought two alpine type r 12" for 80 bucks but i had an insider. you can get them for 100 each at ikesound. these are very decent subs for a great price. then i bought two refurbished, yeah i know but i was cheap when i bought them and they are still working, sony 760 watt amps for 100 a piece. the last thing i bought was a pioneer 7600 mp for 300 when it first came out. I know my stuff isnt top of the line but it does pound and sound really well.

 

Just remember that if you are going to be installing a sub you will also have to pay for wiring for the amp. At the minimal, you will be spending around $40.

 

I just did a whole system in my girlfriend's car for $500 (minus head unit). This also did not include materials costs for the sub enclosure. You should be able to score a reasonably decent used head unit for $100-150, and if you wanted to retain the stock speaker location, you could substitute the $150 components for less expensive 4x6 speakers. This will leave you with enough money for enclosure materials.

Anyway, here's an approximate break-down of the equipment I used.

Phoenix Gold T400.4 4x50 amp. Refurbished, Under $200 from sounddomain.com.

2 Tangband W8-740c subwoofers from creativesound.ca. They have gone up to $50 each, but I paid $30 at the time.

1 CDT cl-61a component set from thezeb.com for $150.

1 Phoenix Gold 4AWG wiring kit from Parts Express for around $50

1 cheap set of RCA cables for around $5.

Now... for your car, you should easily be able to find one decent sounding 10" sub for $50-80 instead of the 2 8" subs I used. The Kicker Comp subs come to mind. Likewise, I'm not sure if any more of those refurb Phoenix amps are around, but you can get a good quality 4x50 amp from JBL for under $200.

Learn how to use a saw and some wood glue, and you can make your own box for $20.

You CAN have a nice system for $600, but you need to be very thrifty and look very hard for the best deals possible. And please, please, if you only take one bit of advice from my answer, let it be this:

Don't fall into the trap of buying low quality junk based on its ratings. If the power ratings sound too good to be true, they are. The 4x50 watt amp that I am using in my girlfriend's car will pound the **** out of any 4x100 or 4x200 watt amp from cheap companies like Boss, Volfenhag, Legacy, Pyramid, and the other 3 million korean or chinese made garbage that's out there.

 

I like looking for last years model when a completely new model line comes out. For example, the new PG Xenon stuff came out and 6 months later I was pickup up PG Titanium amps and subs for way less then ebay and with a warranty from dealers.

Plus, always try to pricematch.

 

I got my infinity 4X6 kappas for 90 with shipping off ebay.

the infinity 6x9's are running like 110 (give or take a few bucks) with shipping

I heard the infinity basslink single 10inch is 200 give or take a few. I thought a single 10inch ampilfied sub would sound ****ty, but I heard it in a 4th gen camaro and the quaility was awesome, it bumped extremely hard for its size and was a deep clear bass. It isn't for you if you want to wake up your neighbors from 5 blocks away but it is perfect for you if you like accurate deep bass.

You can spend whatever you want on a head unit. Shop around and find oen that fits your needs. I have had aiwa, pioneer, and sony and pioneer was the longest lasting of the the three. My aiwa is still working but has problems reading burned cds.

 

hmm....
anyone know much about Boston Acoustics speakers? Theyre fairly inexpensive and from what i've heard of them, theyre real good....

 

I got a set of Audiobahn 4x6s with the audiobahn crossovers (frickin awesome) for $40 off a custom car forum, If your on a budget, used stuff can sometimes only be the way to go, I have 2 12s 1400 watts of amp, nice deck Kappa 6x9s and Audiobahn 4x6s with crossovers for around $500

 

Very good stuff. You can't go wrong with Bostons.

 

what size box did you use for those subs?? just curious maybe it'll give me a starting point

 

I used a ported box with .5ft^3, tuned to 35hz. Since this would require a ridiculously long port, I build a slot port.

Here's a pic of the enclosure with the panel off so that you can see the inside. The center section was used as an amp rack: