Getting sound system...need advice

[PhroZen101]

Ok, I have been looking into getting a sound system and I was told by one of my friends that I should get this:
-JL W3 D2 subs
-Rockford 500A2 amp
-and some receiver(dont know which one to get yet. What should I get. And lets say money is not an issue)
What do you think about that set-up. Would you change anything or am i good to go?

[Peyman]

well everything ive heard of JL audio sounds amazing, no doubt about it their shit is the best, my advice, buy my damn 2 12" 450 watt subs off that are brand new for 70 shipped, thats my advice

[jzga]

all depends on what your lookin for and how much your willing to spend but the options are endless ..

[Pte Socks]

a good setup man... the w3's are very decent subs and the w3v2's are even better. As for the amp.. another suggestion would be the JL 500W rms mono amp and alpine mrd-m500w rms mono amp.. those would be other good buys for the amp.. but all in all.. id say go for it

[wags]

Well as far as receivers go most people will say alpine until it loses all meaning. Personally I got the Panasonic CQ-HX1083U head unit and I <3 it! I found it for around 300 shipped at a VERITABLE online dealer [ http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.asp?product_id=CQ-HX1083U ] I found it for like 250 shipped at a yahoo store but I had a terrible experience with that (I'd rather pay the extra 50 dollars and actually GET the unit).

[car audio dave]

alpine and eclipse are nice. eclipse will be tough to find online, they are very careful about that.

when you say money is not an issue you probably dont know that you can spend over $40k on a sound system, so to some degree money is an issue.

my usual advise is to build the system one piece at a time unless youve got unGodley amounts of money, in which id reccomend selling your GA and buy a corvette.

back to the subject at hand. an great deck is the alpine CDA9815 or the 9813. i have the last years version of the 9815 called the CDA 7995, but im gonna probably buy the 9815 soon.

good amps are built by: JL audio, Eclipse, Boston Acoustics, Phoenix Gold, Diamond and are all reasonably priced. i find MTX to be a waste of money at this point. their older stuff is great, the new stuff is mass produced.

good subs: JL audio w3v2-d4 or d2, JL audio w6v2-d4, eclipse aluminum or titanium series, crystal, memphis, ... theres actually a lot of good ones out there.

[jakebeez]

LOL, where to get started. Lets start off at the head unit (reciever) because its probably the most important thing. All depends on how much you want to spend and what your looking for. I'd say get them in this order:
Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, Panasonic
If you got about $360 bucks shipped to spend get the new Pioneer DEH-P850MP or the DEH-P8500MP off ebay (brand new). If you dont need all the fancy features just want something nice and pretty that will work forever, get the DEH-P7400MP (can be had from dealers for around $220).

Second I'd recommend upgrading your front speakers (more important than the rear) but if you dont want to do that its cool...just gotta hope the lyrics can keep up with the bass in the back.

As for subs, those 12w3s are good all around, theres stuff out there that will sound better, and also stuff that will get louder for the price however, so it depends what your looking for....do you want crisp tight bass, or something that will get so loud your friends will want to get out of the car, lol.

Amps, I'd steer away from JL, great amps but not worth the $ in my opinion. The Rockford fosgates are good, it all really depends on your subs ohm loads.

Car audio is tricky good guys and best buy will sell you stuff and throw it in your car for you. You can spend half the money online and get twice the products, twice the sound, and even better warranties. Email me at jakebeez@yahoo.com and tell me how much your looking to spend on a deck, subs, and an amp, and all throw a couple of options your way. I've been in car audio for the last couple years I'd be happy to help.

[birdhouse]

ummm... ok... IMO, Best Buy BLOWS for installs... i had a horrible install done on my second ever cd player there (in my GA, nonetheless)... they had soooo many crossed wires behind that thing, that i'm very surprised my car didn't catch on fire... Plus, Best Buy doesn't carry any brands that I truly like... If you're gonna do the store install thing, or even buy from a store, go to Circuity City. They gave me a great price on my system, did a VERY clean install, and you can't beat their prices on warranties.

Car audio is tricky good guys and best buy will sell you stuff and throw it in your car for you. You can spend half the money online and get twice the products, twice the sound, and even better warranties.
Wow... are you talking about getting "even better warranties" off of an online place?!? EBay = BIG NONO! most people that sell Car Audio stuff on there that say they're from some company usually aren't a licensed dealer of whatever brand they're selling, meaning that all warranties from them are void. I gotta give it up to usedcaraudio.com and carstereo.com, because they give great warranties, but it's too much of a hassle to send the unit or whatever back to them, or to the manufacturer. Like i said, Circuit City, or even Best Buy, have the best warranties cause in most cases, you can just exchange your bad one for a new one... it also helps to have a friend that works in the car audio dept., too ;)

[jakebeez]

Hey, there are a couple of sellers on ebay with Warranty, ofcourse none as easy as curcuit city or best buy. There are SOME companies. I was referring to sites such as www.thezeb.com and www.sounddomain.com not only do they sell products for a fraction of the cost you'd pay at cc or bb they sell products that are way better for way less money, and are in almost all cases authorized to carry out any manufactorers warranty, and some even have extended warranties like optional at cc or bb. After all my experiences buying off the internet (even off classifieds) I'd never buy anything in the store unless it was marked down 50-75%.

[car audio dave]

Originally posted by jakebeez

Car audio is tricky good guys and best buy will sell you stuff and throw it in your car for you. ....

funny you mention good guys..i work there. yes we are expensive, but you must remember that we are one step above circuit city in product quality. i wouldnt use good guys and best buy in the same sentence. we do all kinds of show stuff (maybe not up north) and lots of fiberglassing where BB only does basics, and they cant even do that right.

i dont find JL amps to be overpriced. you get basically Phoenix Gold quality amps at a lower price. PG is overpriced. fosgate is low priced because its mass produced and wont last long. there are solid amps that cost less than JL amps, but the quality still isnt there.

[birdhouse]

lol.. wtf is good guys? :???: i've never heard of that, dave... i live in NEPA (near scranton) and would love to check out one of your stores if you got some good quality car audio stuff :D