$2K Budget. What Would You Do?
 

So I've been trying to brush up on my car audio knowledge as I've been out of the game for almost a decade and man have things changed. When I ordered my BRZ one of the first things I decided was I was going to build a decent system this time around.

To put things in perspective, here's my last system which was installed in a 2003 Dodge Stratus R/T.

Alpine IVA-D900 Head Unit
Alpine PHA-H510 5.1 Processor
Alpine XM Radio Tuner
Phoenix Gold Ti900.7 Amp
Boston Acoustics Pro 5 1/4" Components up front (95 Vintage)
Boston Acoustics Rally 5 1/4" drivers in the rear (95 Vintage)
Infinity 3" center channel
Boston Acoustics Pro 10" Subwoofer (2001 Vintage)

This system sounded fantastic! I miss it to this day. But times and cash flow being what they were I couldn't afford to replicate it in my cars I've owned since then.

Until Now.


So I've budgeted myself $2000 for my new system. I'm hoping you guys can help me flesh it out. I've been in talks with cruzinbill and 2forme about building a system but I wanted to see if anyone else in the forum wanted to weigh in.

Right now here's what I have in mind.

Use the factory head unit for now.
Use a DSP like a Bit1 or a 3sixty.3
Get a Package 2 from RammMat to treat the doors and trunk area.
Get a set of Speaker Tweekers from Second Skin

So I've budgeted $260 in sound treatment. That leaves $1740 for components.

As far as speakers I really like the Hertz High Energy line but I've heard great things about Rainbow and Focal. The Focal's sounded a bit bright to me though.

Amps is where I'm really stuck. Class A/B vs Class D was a huge deal 10 years ago when I was into the scene. Has Class D finally matured to the point where there's really no discernable difference in audio quality in a automotive application? Who's amps are people liking? I'm hearing good things about the new PDX line as well as the PPI Phantom line of class D stuff. For Class A/B I've always loved PG but since they're gone Zapco would likely be my second choice.

Man if I had an extra 2k I would put it in the bank and save it...

I'm just like you, except I had no experience with car audio. My friend JoeBoxer, who is on this forum, helped me with all my audio. He adviced me to get the JBL
JBL MS-62C 6-1/2" 2-Way Component Speaker System, JBL GTO-3EZ 3 CHANNEL 1050 WATTS GTO CLASS AB/D AMPLIFIER, 2 MS-10SD2 10" Car Subwoofer, Soundstream WK-4G 4 Gauge Complete Amplifier Installation Kit, and $200.00 worth of sound deadening. Sorry I copy pasted this from eBay. I got everything and hopefully will be installed this weekend

I'll likely end up around that mark, but i'll be doing it in stages. Replacing the headunit on my lunch break assuming the bypass and iPhone cable arrive with the Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS: EDIT: just realized that's a pic of the 8500BHS, but they look identical except the 8500 has a detachable face.

http://i.imgur.com/uTYjhRh.jpg

Got that for >$400 on Amazon. I'll be running all my apps (Waze, Escort Live, etc) on the main touchscreen via a spare iPhone 4 that I have (until the iPhone 5 cable comes out.) I almost went with the AppRadio2 but it's limited unless you have a phone plugged directly in to it. You can't stream music via bluetooth from your phone to the AppRadio2, for example, but you can take calls via bluetooth. The unit i went with is a more traditional head unit that also adds the appradio functionality, should be the best of both worlds.

Then sometime in the near future I'll be going with the OEM Audio Plus system. I'm not an audiophile, but can appreciate a good sounding, well balanced setup. That will run about $1100 replacing the factory amplifier with a new DSP amplifier, replacing the tweeters on the dash, and adding an 8" sub in the trunk.

That'd leave me 500 still to upgrade to OEM Audio Plus's replacement door/dash/rear speakers when they come available.

As far as sound deadening, I am planning on adding some SecondSkin Damplifier Pro for the doors, then a combo of Damplifier Pro and LuxuryLiner Pro for the trunk floor/cabin floors.

Used Fujitsu Lifebook in dash
5x40w RMS mosfet amp
Stock speakers

.....less than $100

Materials to make it look nice and integrated into the car.

More than $100.....

Look at ZED Audio Corp, pretty cool stuff.

Check this thing out.

http://www.devium.com/wp-content/upl...6347677176.png

http://www.devium.com

If anyone uses an iPhone, This works with them up until the newest iPhone 5. Simple, Clean, and almost future proof.

xjohnx I was planning on going with the higher end Pioneer in the future when I had some spare cash to do so and pairing it with a MK808 micro android PC. There's a Scion dealer here in town who has the OEM Audio Plus system in a tC I've been meaning to listen to. A lot of these kits have failed to live up to my expectations and I'm hoping to avoid that issue.

JBL must have come a long way since the last time I was into car audio. At one point they were considered a step above Jensen but a lot of people now seem to really like their products. Then again, Alpine went from being a top tier company to big box junk.

Part of the reason I went with the AVH-X5500BHS is that it's also a fully functional traditional head unit without the phone. Built in HD radio, CD, bluetooth streaming, etc available. Plus the 7" screen is well worth it for me.

You have piqued my interest.

I'd love to hear your impressions of it. I've been really close to pulling the trigger but am waiting for either a sale, some more good feedback from people that have heard it, or hearing it myself.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...5&postcount=15

There's a link to another post he made about this idea in a little more detail.

There appears to be some issue with the desktop mirroring in that it's not currently allowing the full screen to be used as a touch interface. It seems to cut off 2/3rds down the screen. Mind you I haven't personally tested this, only going by what I've read on other forums. My alternative was to consider using something like a Xenarc 7" touchscreen display paired with the Micro Android PC. The downside to that is I lose all the inherent functionality of a true head unit such as an FM tuner and a CD/DVD player. I'm planning to order one of these MK808 devices to play with it here in the near future. If nothing else, it'll make a good HTPC.

That being said, the headunit is the last of my concerns. Amps and speakers are what I'm most interested in.

I am for full functionality. With the CD/DVD player and FM tuner and such, But with the state of media being transferred and distributed in mostly means other than physical media(CD/DVD) I think having an integrated Disc drive isn't as important as we used to think.

I too was thinking about a standalone touch screen display. I think integrating the MK808 with something like a FULL 1080i 7-10 inch touch screen would be the best option. You would not need to use an APP to view the MK808 on some/most largely manufactured in dash NAV/MEDIA unit. And you can use the FULL capacity of resolution output the MK808 has been designed for.

FM tuners are a very standard feature with most basic android operating systems.

The Lilliput 7" 619AT 1080P monitor supports up to 1920 x 1080 which is like a decade ahead of pioneer.

Keep us posted if you end up getting one of these cool little machines.

The 619AT supports input up to 1080, but physically outputs the same resolution as the Pioneer. 800x480.

I went and bought an EVO 3D on ebay for 100$ in excellent condition. It works pretty well and I can just toss it in the glove box. I have a 160GB iPod that has my entire music collection so BT streaming isn't necessary (nor would I want to sacrifice the audio quality by running BT). I was interested in the MK808, but went the EVO route because it has it's own screen in case I can't get it connected to the unit.