I need duff duff

[Golf Houso]

Lol that was an amusing thread, I wonder why no one was warned there. Keep the slagging for another site, I learnt that the hard way...

Change of subject...

What is the best value for money audio enhancement product for a car? Head deck? Amp? Someone tell me since I'm such a tightarse

[Mrk_Mickey]

Hmmm...best value for money? Surely it's gotta be speakers..you can get better sound quality obviously for price of the speakers.

If you bought amp, you'd need cables, more labour time, and probably better speakers unless u just wanted to run your stocks off the amp.

you've got an alpine headunit, and unless you want to give that to me i wouldn't be changing if i were you

[Golf Houso]

[QUOTE}

you've got an alpine headunit, and unless you want to give that to me i wouldn't be changing if i were you[/QUOTE]

Hmnn good point, it is a rather good stereo anyway, I didn't realise until I had driven the car for a while. Hmnn I'll have to think about it some more...

[Mrk_Mickey]

[QUOTE}Hmnn I'll have to think about it some more...

I hope by that you don't mean think more about your headunit..I'm going to stick to the assumption that you're thinking more of speakers! When personal funds become available () i shall be purchasing a lovely set of Kicker speakers from ebay. They'll work out to be 100 bucks per pair (two pairs), plus postage of maybe 80 bucks for the four speakers? that's cheaper than $220 a pair from JB HI-FI which is the only place i've seen them.

Mind you, this isn't very cheap..i'm looking for very good quality speakers because i'm amping them - if you're looking at amps, i might need to upgrade mine if you're at all interested..but if not, walk right into your nearest strathfield and see what they have to offer - speakers make a noticeable difference for, let's say, a good price!

[Elwoods 2LGL]

My Mega Low Budget Tightwad System does me just fine

My total cost so far is $90 give or take $2 for adhesive foam

Sony 4x45w CD Headunit ( $35 from cashies ) CDX something blah blah
Front 6"'s in doors were already there ( FREE - woot,woot! )
Front Tweeters in dash - with inbuilt crossovers - ( $10 Jaycar discount table )
Used Rear Panasonic 6x9's ( $20 mt gravatt markets )
Massive Fujitsu10 4 Channel Amp ( $25 rocklea markets )
12 Inch Blaupunkt 400w rms Subs ( FREE from a mate if i repaired one of the 12's) loaded into a dual 12 carpeted slimline angled cabinet

I got the particular Sony head unit because when you use the RCA SUB out from the onboard crossover, it applies a low frequency cut off for the onboard amp channels ( Front splits and Rear 6x9's are run on headunit cut off at 80htz )(if youre not sure - that means the lower bass frequencies are cut off at that pre determined frequency ie 80htz here)
This also means the head unit sucks less power when its turned up quite loud
( ever seen the lights on your headunit dimm to the bass ?)

The Fujitsu 10 amp is a 4 channel unit and is running in dual bridge mono mode IE using it as a 2 channel amp to provide a bridged channel for each of the Blaupunkt 400w rms subs in the boot - Always make sure your amp has a good fused positive source from the engine bay and a secure local earth ( No the screws holding it down arent enough )

The sub is pretty heavy so I just stapled some velcro on the bottom of it and it grips damn firmly to the boot carpet ( it lifts out the whole boot floor when you take the sub out)

If you put your head back in the seat it shakes your eyeballs with a bass kick and thats loud enough for me


Wiring
Head unit - used existing power
front speaker - existing speaker wire
tweeters - came with free wire - woot
6x9's - 1 run of old 4 core power cable
Sub Amp - Positive line from engine bay I used an old 10 amp power lead and twisted all 3 cores together
Subs - Old 15amp power cord from amp to cabinet -

Brand names are great if your into that stuff but nobody can even see the damn logos on my subs in the boot or the name badge on my hidden amp and if you want to pay out the arse go right ahead.

Keep in mind what sound you want and above all dont just slap in any old crap look at the specs to see what the stuff is capable of - no name gear sometimes out performs the brands by far . . . .and some

Always happy to give free help to any dubbers in brisbane PM me

[Water Boy]

Got some doof today! Be pumping tunes soon.

Ol mate big Steve knows what I got Its fully sick bcuz it Pioneer

[HOLEIN1]

Hmmm...best value for money? Surely it's gotta be speakers..you can get better sound quality obviously for price of the speakers.

totally agree Mrk Mickey, speakers give a good improvement on sound vs. buck

dont listen to some of the other guys, im sure everyone here appreciates your input, the more conversation around this subforum the better, things have been a little boring/quiet around here as of late...

i consider myself to have a sound knowledge on car audio/installs (i have been mucking around with stuff for years, done short TAFE courses, built custom fibreglass boot installs etc etc) yet i still dumb things down when i do post to help others undersand in laymans terms...

although i have found that it does depend on what sort of speakers you are actually starting off with. for example, the standard speakers in my MK4 were reasonably good when i changed to an aftermarket HU as i was able to drive them with more power and less distortion

this was only a temp solution while i got some otehr stuff installed, however you get the idea...

hypothetically if i had changed to aftermarket speakers with the stocky HU i dont think i would have reached as much of a improvement as the standard unit are absolutley ****ehouse... nameley due to the fact that it lacks any form of decent HP/LP crossover (most HU's have this these days, even the cheapies)

not sure what the OEM gear in the MK3's are, however as always, i recommend a decent HU, some reasonable speakers and if you can stretch it, a small 2 channel amp to run them

i bought a pioneer unit today (for my brothers workhorse) with MP3, ipod control detach face, remote and 2 sets of RCA's brand new from JB HiFi all for a tiny 120 bucks. add a set of speakers for around 200 or so and mabe a small second hand amp off a forum etc and you can have a reasonable system for well under $500. might also add that something like this may be upgraded later down the track with a sub or rear fill speakers easily. again i have seen 'cheap and cheerful' sub and amp combos from autobarn etc for under $200

may seem alot to some, but these days a bloody ipod can cost more...

just some thoughts... keyboard warriors take your marks! haha

[Fury]

Shameless plug, but check out www.mobileelectronics.com.au

Huge community dedicated to wonderful car audio


If your budget is only $500, then i'd look at spending ~$200 on the headunit, and $300 on a decent pair of 2-way 6" splits.
Headunit of your choice - whatever looks pretty and has the features you want.
The 6" splits will sound better then any 4" will. They'll player lower, and give you a more full sound. I would recommend something along the lines of Hertz HSK165's, JL Audio VR600-CSi's, Crescendo Opus 8.6's, Boston SL60's etc...

Cabling should cost very little (speaker wire from headunit to speakers), and installation shouldnt be difficult so you could attempt it yourself.

Run the splits off the headunit, and run the stock rears for the meantime (i'd recommend against rears altogether, if you want justification, let me know and when I have time to write an essay i'll tell you ).

If you find the sound isn't enough for you, look at purchasing an amplifier down the track.
A small 2ch amp to power your front splits (~2 x 75wrms) would suit fine, and run the rears off the headunit.
Then buy another amp (monoblock) and a subwoofer... and let the addiction bite

[Water Boy]

Man who knows how the **** you operate the head unit... I know how to put in a CD and turn up the Volume loud.

BTW I got my Head unit all wired up today

[Fury]

Man who knows how the **** you operate the head unit... I know how to put in a CD and turn up the Volume loud.

BTW I got my Head unit all wired up today

I'll have to take a photo of my headunit + processor + spaceship remote for you then