Stereo Component Recomendations?

[Viper Specialty]

Well, These are the parts I have decided on so far:

-Kenwood 911DVD player(DVD, TV, Stereo Control, Aux, Touch screen)

-Rockford Fosgate HX2 Power 12" sub/enclosure

-Rockford Fosgate G1X1000 *OR* 800a2 amp

Now, I need to decide on the following components, or let me know if stock components are excellent quality and dont need to be changed:

-Door Speakers
-Tweeters
-Rear Speakers
-Center subs
-amp to run interiors

I would like to set is up so interiors do vocals, center subs do mids, and sub is lows. let me know component sizes too! Thanks!

 

[2tall]

Went Kenwood X959 head, 88100DVC subs x2, and CDT comps front, CDT brax rear.

Not that I've had a whole lot to compare to, but this quite good.

 

[Snake Bitten]

Final GTS...you may want to consider Kicker SoloBaric subwoofers...tight, well defined bass, and they require alot less air space than the Rockford Fosgates...Kicker also has an excellent line of amps...and for the door speakers and tweeters, IMHO you cannot beat MB Quart...

 

[Makara]

If you want the best, get a McIntosh amp. I love mine. MB Quart makes a pretty decent speaker as well. For bass, JL audio. 10w6 should do you well.

 

[SapphireGTS]

Come on guys. Let us not forget that an Automobile is the WORST acoustic chamber you could build a stereo around. Dont blow your money on the best equipment because you will never optimize it. Of course, unless you are a freak an want ALL the best

which is fine of course.

I went with alpine V drive amp (fits in factory amp location using factory bracket) and eclipse speakers with an alpine head unit.

 

[Viper Specialty]

what arethe specs on a solobaric? that HX2 Power is gonna be hard to beat.

 

[Mike Brunton]

I had the kickers in my car and they were awesome. I put the new speakers in the stock locations first - BIG improvement. Then I went with a new head unit and amps - even bigger improvement.

As for your question on the stock components - the factory speakers are TERRIBLE and are probably the worst part of the whole system. My upgrade from stock speakers to better ones made 75% of the difference. Getting a new head unit and amps made the other 25%.

 

[Snake Bitten]

Stillwater Design's (company that makes Kicker subs, amps, even mids and highs...no head units) website appears to be down right now...but here are some specs of an 8" and a 10" Solobaric subwoofer.

Model S8L7...$159.00
Size (IN., CM) 8, 20.32
Impedance (OHMS) 2ohm DVC, 4ohm DVC
Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS PEAK) 900
Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS RMS) 450
Sensitivity (dB 1W/1M) 84.9
Frequency Response (HZ) 28-100
Mounting Depth (IN., CM) 4-11/16, 11.9
Mounting Cutout, Square (IN., CM) 7-5/8, 19.3
Min Rec Sealed Box Vol (CU. FT., LITERS) .33, 9.4

Model S10L7...$199.00
Size (IN., CM) 10, 25.4
Impedance (OHMS) 2ohm DVC, 4ohm DVC
Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS PEAK) 1200
Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS RMS) 600
Sensitivity (dB 1W/1M) 85.4
Frequency Response (HZ) 24-100
Mounting Depth (IN., CM) 6-3/8, 16.2
Mounting Cutout, Square (IN., CM) 9-1/2, 24.1
Min Rec Sealed Box Vol (CU. FT., LITERS) .66, 18.7

Check out the air space, mounting depth required for the Kickers verses ANY Fosgate sub...If you had a ton of room, the Fosgates would be fine, but you don't...I would recommend replacing the factory Alpine head unit with a high end Alpine head unit, replacing the factory amp with an Alpine V12 4 channel for the mids and highs, (ebay the factory gear to recover some of your $) replacing the factory speakers with MB Quart separates (comes with the correct crossovers) Two kicker solobaric 10's (or even 8's would be slammin!) and either a Kicker or Fosgate amp (to drive the subs)...Maybe even another Alpine amp bridged to run the subs, so everything looks cool...

And I want to personally thank Final GTS for posting this thread, as I had convinced myself that I was not replacing the factory set in my RT...but upon further review...(this is going to cost me $4000!)

 

[slaughterj]

How about some suggestions for economy-priced stereo system upgrades for an rt/10? I know less than nothing about stereos, so truly basic information would be appreciated!

 

[Snake Bitten]

Best bang for your buck...get a reputable car audio shop to replace your factory speakers...stay away from Best Buy, Circuit City...and tell them to put a "cap" on you rear speaker(s) that blocks all frequencies from 100 hz and up..."cap" the door speakers to block the frequencies for 100 hz and down...

Front speaker components..$350.00
Rear speaker(s)................$200.00
Caps...............................$ 10.00
Installation.......................$ 60.00

Budget Upgrade................$620.00

Will sound 100 times better than factory!

 

[King GTS]

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[GaryA]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by slaughterj:
How about some suggestions for economy-priced stereo system upgrades for an rt/10? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

John,

What do you consider economy grade? I have an RT/10 and have a pretty good system that didn't break the bank. Of course that's subjective and depends on what you consider affordable.

 

[jimandela]

slaughterj,
one my budget i am going to only swap out the door speakers
with mb quartz they seem to be the best.
cost from a local shop $149.00
hope to have them put installed in a few weeks.

good luck


JIM

 

[slaughterj]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GaryA:
John,

What do you consider economy grade? I have an RT/10 and have a pretty good system that didn't break the bank. Of course that's subjective and depends on what you consider affordable.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well GaryA, I don't even know anything about stereo component prices, much less stereo components

so I'm not sure how "economy" one could get...I'd like to not exceed the ballpark Snakebitten priced out, and jimmandela's figures for the door speakers seemed decent to me. I'm gathering that to go economy, I'm just looking at changes to the speakers, rather than the head unit and amp. Also, I really like bass, but understand that I am limited in that regard with an rt/10. Suggestions?

Thanks for the info Snakebitten and jimmandela!

Any other suggestions for what brand names to go with for the various speaker/tweeter components for an economy upgrade?

 

[MiamiJeff]

Not sure if it is still being made & supported, but there is a unit called the Alpine Mobile MayDay HCX-B200A with a GPS that, in addition to navigation usage, ties into their alarm system so you could be notified if your car was stolen (involves a monthly monitoring fee, believe it was monitored by a company called ATX Technologies) and if your local police like to chase car thieves in a Viper, they could via the GPS data. Somewhat like GM's OnStar system. Might as well consider a head unit that supports XM satellite radio, if so inclined...

 

[slaughterj]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by slaughterj:

Any other suggestions for what brand names to go with for the various speaker/tweeter components for an economy upgrade?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Umm, help?

 

[Gerald]

John,

Head to your local stereo shop, they are professionals and can show you different models and component choices.. ANY GOOD name brand headunit like Kenwood, Alpine, etc makes cd players, changers, woofers, tweeters, and full range speakers. It's not that difficult.. Stock for stock, Vipers have HORRIBLE components and just about ANYTHING you get, even some KMart Jensens are leaps and bounds better sounding that the stock speakers, etc..

Don't worry about bass if your economy minded. Generally RT/10's won't yeild any bass between the seats no matter what kind of speaker you put in there. If you want some nice bass, always keep your top on and put a 8 or 10" woofer in the passenger footwell..

Gerald

 

[SapphireGTS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Any other suggestions for what brand names to go with for the various speaker/tweeter components for an economy upgrade?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kicker, Apline, Kenwood all have GOOD Economy series stuff.

You could redo all the door and rear speakers for $200-300 total from Kenwood or alpine. Thats a GREAT starting point. I would then get an apline CD player like I have in mine (200 bucks) and if you are feeling crazy you can get an alpine V amp for 250 bucks.

I am a kicker fan but the alpine stuff fits so well in the viper.

I do have eclipse speakers in the front but I would say they are comperable to the 6.5 inch alpine. I dont know all the different series by heart but if you can find an alpine/eclipse/kenwood pair of speakers for 100 bucks then they are going to work great!