D M N

Ok well this is what i'm planning on getting. I just want some comments on what the sound quality will be like. (I'm not expecting $1k sound quality, my car doesnt even have a stereo so anything will be better then the Walkman I currently use)

Pyramid 4x6" 3-Way Chrome Speakers 240 Watts Max – 18.99
Pyramid 6 x 9" 200 Watts Max Bridgeless 3-Way Speakers – 16.99
Boss 1.5 DIN AM/FM CD Player with Detachable Face – 99.99
2 - Pyramid 12" Subwoofer 700 Watts Max - 59.98
Pyramid "CRYSTAL" 2 Channel 1000 Watt Amplifier - 69.99
American Accessories 10 Gauge Installation Kit with RCA – $16.99

All this and S&H is - $331.79


I will be buying this at www.cardiscountstereos.com

D M N

Any One??

Justins86bird

I suggest you look up Pyramid on this site and see what people have to say. I think you could buy better stuff off ebay for the nearly the same price.

D M N

yea i know most people if you ask about pyrimid they will say parymid = crap i need more info then that, are they good enough as just something for a daily driver and saturday night cruiser

9177

If you like distortion in your music then pyramid is the way to go. Also if you enjoy replacing stuff due it breaking then your on the right road. If you would like to get something that good for the money you are looking at the wrong stuff. Pyramid is cheapin every aspect but not a bargain buy or good for the money.

FAST RS

I bought pyrmid 6x9's and a amp a while back they looked like they were good quality but before i knew it they blew and made my car sound like crap. Basicly if i were you i would save up another 20 bucks and get some deacent speakers. As for subs i get pioneer or alpine 10's or 12's only 50 dollars more. as for a head unit i would say get a jensen or jvc better quality then boss. Amps if you get cheap ones you will regret it i got a cheap amp and had nothign but engine noise in it. and get at least a 8 guage install kit if not a 2 or 4 guage.

From my own experience i lernt that jsut becasue its cheaper dosent mean it will be cheaper in the long run. I basicly had a set up similar to yours at first it sounded deacent but few months went by then speakers were blowing and i ended up haveing to buy new spearks amps, install kit etc. If i wer you save up an extra 200 dollars and be happy with what you have then trying to cut corners.

tamu130

like they are saying, save up alittle more and do it the right way, so you dont have to do it a second time unless you really want to. there is a good reason why that **** is cheap. get some better stuff and save your self some time later on. i would stay away from jensen and jvc. although jvc has some decent stuff, it is out of your price range. their lower priced stuff is pretty much crap. jensen is crap for anything car audio related. if you cant afford it or you dont want to wait, i would suggest putting in an aftermarket radio and replacing the four speakers. get your amp and subs later.

good luck,
jacob

FAST RS

Check out Ikesound.com they have pretty good deals. Also check Ebay make sure the person has good feed back at least 50 is normaly a good person to buy from. I personaly Like Kenwood and Alpine Very Good Quality. Sonly Headunits are also deacnt as well.

D M N

alright thanks for all the info

D M N

I checked out Ikesound.com but evertime i press on the speaker catalog it sends me into amps section

D M N

ok also is building a sound system like building an engine? by that i mean, that its not what each part does its what everything, as a whole does. Like i should by all the same brand system like all pionner system etc

Justins86bird

Nope. Some make better decks, others make better amps, other make better speakers. Mix and match is the name of the game unless you have a sponsor.

D M N

well after doing a little research i decided on this setup
1st I will buy this

Pioneer DEH-P47DH 1.5 Din Headunit - $162
Pioneer TS-A4657 2-way 6X9 - $47.70
Pioneer TS-A6970R 3-way 4x6 - $54.00

Total - $263.70 (w/o S&H) (ikesound.com)

Then this
2 - Visonik V126S4 12" High Performance Subwoofer - $99.98
Visonik VAK1 10 Gauge Amplifier Installation Kit – $19.99
Visonik V2508 800 Watt 2 Channel Amplifier - $174.00

Total - $342.54 (w/S&H) (etronics.com)
am I still running into the same problem?? or will this be better. Also i have never dealt with the 2 online store anyone have any feed back on them and the products?

tamu130

thats alot better. the choice of the 1st list is good. you should be plenty satisfied w/ it. the 2nd list isnt too bad. its not great but alot better than your original idea. you could probably get a better quality amp than that at a similar cost. look at the rockford fosgate and kicker and maybe the pioneer and kenwood amps on ikesound. the ones for similar cost are gonna be better quality amps than your listed above. same thing goes for the subs. and 10 guage will not be big enough. you need atleast an 8 guage. dont think that 10 guage will be close enough, because it will not. do it right and save time and money.

D M N

I want to stick with the subwoofers, alot of people say they are good for what they are worth and I just need some advice on the amp power range I should be looking for??

What about a JBL BP600.1 does are about the same price and have good feedback

Also how much does Ikesound.com charge for s&h i mean with does prices i bet they charge like 25% dont they right??

D M N

JBL BP600.1 600watt amp - $175.50
1 - Pioneer TS-W384DVC 15" subwoofer - $90.00
Lightning Audio sxpk4d 4 guage wire - $62.10

Total - $327.60 (w/o s&H) (ikesound.com)

What do you think this will sound like?

89blackGTA

I dont think pioneer subs are all that great. Alot of people like them. With almost and 15, you will like it. The lows are great. Ikesound doesnt charge for shipping. You can usually save $8-20 per item if you buy it from them on ebay, www.ikesound.com is there user id. They charge for shipping on ebay but it is still cheaper.

Brian

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

:sillylol: :sillylol: :sillylol:

D M N

so will a 15" powered at RMS hit better then 2 12" that are under powered right?

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

way too many variables.

A good quality 10" sub with enough power will hit harder than a pair of cheap 12s with a cheap amp. It'll sound way better too.

IROCamaro87

please... stay away from anything pyramid... i have made that mistake ) : the boss head units are pretty good, I'm running one now and it's doing fine... it just skips a lot... but thats probably because i never got that little mounting kit thing lol, BUBBLE-WRAP all the way!

tamu130

bubble wrap? are you joking? if it skips alot, it is probably not just how you have it mounted. good quality head units will not hardly even skip if you shake them hard or even hit the side of one. but you are right about pyramid.

D M N

591.30 for a ok sound system man thats alot i would rather buy a more egressive exhaust system ... oh well also the wires are all messed up where my stereo use to be i think someone just ripped it out or something there just a bunch of loose wires how would i fix this??

FAST RS

But its 200 dollars more to do it right the first time and be happy then do it half *** and be pissed in 2 months when the speakers blow and it sounds like crap/

D M N

yea your right yo how can they sell products like that like you say = **** i mean is it user error are they over rated or do they need additional parts or what??

FAST RS

It is the quality of product. I got 500 Watt pyrmid 6x9's and my head unit put out 45 watts to each speaker so the 500 Watt speakers were getting 45 watts. At the time im all these can handle allot of power. A month later they blew and since i had no money becasue i spend 30 bucks on the pyramid i had to use 8 inch woofers from my old home stereo speaker's until i could afford new speakers. Then i got JBL i have had them 3 years and sound great.

D M N

how can they get away selling this product i mean isnt that false advertising??

FAST RS

They may be able to handle 500 Watts but i think its jusst a quality issue. I have read that if you get a cheap 500 Watt amp it wont be putting out 500 Watts But if you buy a good 250 Watt amp it will be louder then the cheap 500 watt amp.

D M N

you know what i have a friend in a engineering class at the career center i go to i'll have him build me a amp

D M N

how about this DIY 1000 watt amplifier its only around 50

http://www.aussieamplifiers.com/1kwamp.htm

FAST RS

IT is 8 ohm or 4 ohm i would go with a amp that is 4 ohm and 2 ohm stable. 2 ohm you get tighter bass and it is louder and you can use Dual Voice Coil Subs. I paid 120 dollars fo my pioneer IMPP Dual Voice Coil subs They are Very good and am impressed with them. I tried Rockford fosgate they sucked along with the kenwood tornado the cheaper alpine and some other brands.

joezero

The reason brands like pyramid claim impressive numbers on their amps/speakers/etc. is that they use different testing procedures than reputable manufacturers. They will test the amps at a higher voltage, etc. and will often blow up the amps while testing in hopes of getting higher numbers out of them. How do they stay in business? There are enough ppl out there that don't know any better that buy it. Like a lot of the other guys here, I have a couple of pyramid amps sitting in boxes in my closet. You can't really turn around and sell them cause they suck, so you're just stuck with 'em. Before you order anything for your stereo, I'd find a local shop that carries them and take a listen. The last thing you want to do is buy something that isn't the quality you're expecting. I'd hate to drop several hundred dollars down on a stereo and still not have it meet my expectations.

To put the price in perspective, my friend is getting all the equipment for his 4runner from ikesound and it's running about $700. That's still a significant savings over the $1100 and $1400 he was quoted at his local shops.

Jim, I think the "crystal" refers to the plexi on the front of the amp. After all, an amp that looks clear should sound clear too, right?

GarageToys

iTrader: (6)

What I did is I went to the junkyard and found a thirdgen with the radio harness still in it, and I cut it out and soldered it in my car. As a bonus, if you cut the wires in the parts car extra long, once you splice it into your harness you'll have extra slack to pull the deck out farther.

badjuju342

in car stereo,you get what you pay for(at least,most of the time) no self-respecting stereo shop sells pyramid i know of( certified professional installer since 1984) go with name brand equipment,it sounds better,lasts longer,and generally has a better warranty. above all else,read installation instructions and follow them to the letter pyramid= name brand=

D M N

ok did anyone see the DIY amp i mean that looks awsome and cheap

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

You haven't yet gotten the drift of "you get what you pay for" have you?

badjuju342

my sentiments,exactly

joezero

Unless you're an electrical engineer, I wouldn't try building your own amp. If you look at the pics of the guy's shop, you'll see that he has a lot of specialized equipment like an oscilliscope, etc. that the average person does not have or know how to use. These DIY projects are not the home depot kind. People that do these do it because they enjoy building electronics, not because they're trying to save money.

The numbers on a lot of these amps are pretty impressive, but ultimately it's just numbers. It's like bench racing. Just because your car runs at 300 watts and mine runs at 400 doesn't mean my car is going to be louder. There are so many other factors that affect SPL that simply buying the biggest amps and speakers is not a guarantee that you'll get big SPL.

Let me give you an example. I have a friend that wanted to put subs in his car and asked for my help. He went and bought an amp, two subs, and a box. He got a "bandpass"* enclosure because those look cool and are "really loud". He got a pair of rockford fosgate subs because "I don't want to be cheap on the subs. Plus, Rockford fosgate is the very best and is really loud". Then he got some no name amp (power technick maybe? I don't remember off hand) because the guy cut him a deal for that and the box at a flea market. Anyway, he couldn't return any of it, so I went ahead and installed it. In my car, I have a JBL BP600.1, a pair of Alpine type-S subs, and a box I custom built. My car destroys his in both SPL and SQ, because the box isn't quite right for his subs (plus it's a fake bandpass, which sucks) and the amp doesn't put out anywhere the advertised 500 watts. We probably spent about the same amount of money, I may have spent a little bit less. And as anyone will tell you, the type-s subs are nowhere near the be all and end all of subs. But because I did my research and bought quality stuff (even if it wasn't top of the line components) my system is better than his.

I am a firm believer that there comes a point for every person where buying "better" components makes no noticable difference. Most of us do not have to listen to audio on a day to day basis, so we won't notice if the 15khz range is 1 dB higher than the 10 Khz range. But almost everyone can tell the difference between extreme low end (pyramid, boss, legacy) and higher end stuff (alpine, Jl audio, etc.) So I'd encourage you to go to a few local shops and listen to stuff. See how accute your ears are, and make your decisions based on that. I have a friend that I'm doing a system for who is very accustomed to his Bose home theater, so he is having to go with infinity and alpine components to match that level of SQ. My dad on the other hand can't tell the difference between the sound out of a megaphone and a $10K home stereo, so he's fine with just the stock system. So it's important to find where you fall in your listening preferences before you make your final decision.

D M N

ok so from what i see my problem is the lack of information to completly understand yea'll ok so i want to know a couple of things

what does it mean when a speaker says coaxin 2 way 3 way etc??

voice coils on a subwoofer..... is that good? and does it matter what they are made of?? i.e. "...With aluminum voice coils......"

4ohms 2 ohms...... what does it do??

is bigger better?? (i.e. 10, 12, 15, 21)

will a good quality 10" with plenty of power from a good amp, hit harder then a underpower 12"??

I'll think of more

87LTcamaro

ok........i think you need to focus here. youre gettin ahead of yourself. your original budget was $331 now your talkin about gettin a full "real" system. IMHO you should lose the walkman first. buy a good powered head unit sony, pioneer, alpine, JL audio, anything like that. just pick one of those ive never heard anyone complain about them. then get some good 4x6s and 6x9s. then you can save your money and listen and learn more about subwoofers and tweeters and amps. dont just go to some store or internet place and throw your money at them! just tryin to keep you on track here man. good luck.
-Ryan-

joezero

A SEARCH would find you all the answers that you need. But, since it seems more and more difficult to find posts with actual answers, I'll go ahead and answer your questions here.

1. When you see coaxial speakers that are 2 way or 3 way. 2 ways have 2 speakers, and 3 ways have 3 speakers. The more speakers per, um, speaker, the better it can reproduce the sound. (Here comes the theory part) Music is comprised of a virtually infinite amount sound waves. When you have a single speaker cone, it has to move such that it produces each sound wave. For instance, lets say that there is a 1 KHz wave. The speaker will move in and out 1000 times in second. Now if there is a 10 KHz wave, the speaker has to move 10,000 times while still moving those initial 1000 times as well. This isn't a problem since the two are easily divided into each other. The problem comes in where you have a frequencey like 3456 Hz. So by using two or three speakers to reproduce the sound (the 2 or 3 way coaxials) you are able to reduce the number of odd frequencies each speaker has to play. This, in theory makes the sound clearer because fewer frequencies are lost or distorted. The down side, is that the crossover, the part that directs the certain frequencies to each speaker, can reduce the sound quality. That's why getting something like pyramid 2 ways is a bad idea. The components used for the crossovers (as well as all of the other parts of the speaker) are really cheap. So you may end up loosing some frequencies at the cut offs, or you may see some spike because both speakers are playing the same frequencies.

2. Voice coils on a sub. A speaker works by using an electromagnet to push the speaker cone in and out. The part that controls the movement is the voice coil. So when a sub has dual voice coils, that means there are two sets of connectors that the amp plugs into. One of the main reasons for doing this is to allow you more wiring options. For instance, lets say you have a sub that requires 300 watts RMS. But your amp can only put out 300 watts at 2 ohms. Well, if the sub has two 4 ohm voice coils, you can wire them in parallel so that the amp sees a 2 ohm load. Here's the resistance lesson. Resistance (the restriction of electrical flow) is measured in ohms. The greater the ohms, the harder it is to push electricity through the circuit. The reason this is so important, is because amps can put out more power at 2 ohms then 4 ohm. But naturally there is a catch. The more power an amp moves, the hotter it will get. So some amps cannot handle a 2 ohm load, because they would burn up. Other amps are stable all the way down to 1 ohm. What this means to you is that you need to match the total resistance of your subs to the output of the amp at that resistance. For instance, I have 2 alpine subs and a JBL amp. The amp is two ohm stable, but at 2 ohms it puts out 600 watts. 600 watts would probably be enough to toast my subs. So what I did, was get the dual voice coil 4 ohm + 4 ohm subs. I wired the voice coils on each sub in series. This means that the positive of one voice coil, and the negative of the other are wired together. This makes the overall resistance of the sub 8 ohms. Since I have two I wire the subs in parallel, so that the positive and negative wires are connected together. This is then connected to the amp. Since the two 8 ohm subs are in parallel, the amp sees the resistance as half of that, so it sees 4 ohms of resistance. At 4 ohms, my amp puts out 300 watts, so this keeps everybody happy.

As far as bigger subs. The bigger your get, the louder it should get, provided you do not underpower the subs. The catch is that 10s sound a lot tighter than 12s that sound tighter than 15s. If all you want is loud boomy bass, then 15s are your ticket. If you're more concerned about sound quality, you may want to look at smaller subs. As to what is truly louder, there is no real answer. Go check out something like a JL audio 10w6 or an adire shiva. I think those 10s will surprise you. Consequently, go find the cheapest 12s or 15s a shop has and listen to 'em, I'll bet you those 10s sounded louder and better. Nobody here can tell you what you want, you have to decide for yourself. The cheapest (free) way to do this is to go to local stereo shops and listen to what they have. Ultimately it's your money, so it doesn't matter if anyone here agrees with what you buy, so long as you like it. I will say tho that it's hard to be happy with something that breaks every six weeks.

D M N

hey thanks joezero that stuff helped me alot i kind of see what your saying. man!!! i wish i payed attention in physics class all that you where saying my class was learning with the whole ohms and resistence and sound waves stuff... owell i'm getting a better ideal of what i want now thanks again man

grafx

like someone mentioned earlier try E-bay. I plan on purchasing a new reciever for my car and found some killer buys.

FAST RS

if you buy from EBAY MAKE SURE the seller has good feedback i say at least 50 positive with little negitive. I bougt a EQ off ebay used i got it and it didnt work i spend 120 dollars for it it took me for ever to save up for one since i made 120 dollars a week. Also make sure its not one of those lits where it looks like they are selling a 500 dollar Alpine cd player but it is really a list that tells you where you can buy it. You have to read each auction carefuly. Most the sellers on ebay are good its the few bad ones that ruin it for everyone.

D M N

i really would like to stay away from ebay i have had a bad experience with them. Ok back to the new setup i have

Pioneer DEH-P47DH 1.5 Din Headunit - $162
Pioneer TS-A4657 2-way 6X9 - $47.70
Pioneer TS-A6970R 3-way 4x6 - $54.00

Total - $263.70 (w/o S&H) (ikesound.com)

JBL BP600.1 600watt amp - $175.50
1 - Pioneer TS-W384DVC 15" subwoofer - $90.00
Lightning Audio sxpk4d 4 guage wire - $62.10

Total - $327.60 (w/o s&H) (ikesound.com)

I'm still up in the air about the 15"

I'm thinking about maybe
2 - Kicker Comp C12-4 12" -$108
or-
2 - Pioneer TS-W34C 12' - $90


They are cheaper then pioneer and i have heard good things about kicker any suggestion and i like more of the dual subwoofer look then the mono it just looks better

88TAJeff

Try this:
http://www.carsound.com/cgi-bin/ubbc...i?action=intro
You will learn alot from this site.

89blackGTA

Kicker all the way. For $18 more you are getting WAY better subs.

Brian

SuPeR SpOrT

I am running a 300 watt Pyramid Pro and it is fine, runs like a dream.

D M N

HAHA your going to be flamed

SuPeR SpOrT

Cost me 20 bucks, so LOOK AT ME CARE

Hey wanna hear something else I bought a sony xplode head unit today, now there going to RAPE ME AHHHHHHH!