I'm looking to upgrade the entire system for a 2001 coupe. I am planning to do the install myself and would appreciate any insights anyone can share. Here are the components I'd like to get based on research from this forum and previous experience with aftermarket systems on other cars:

1) Kenwood Z828 HU- I like the features of this unit as it seems to have everything I need for my setup, especially the aux inputs...I plan to install a trunk mounted, Hard drive based Mp3 player utilizing this. Question is, until I get the entire system, can I use this head unit to drive the existing speakers by utilizing somekind of aftermarket harness?

2) Alpine ERE-G180 equalizer- small/deep enough to fit in the space directly underneath the head unit. Has excellent tweaking ability including subwoofer level adjustments. This maybe a little redundant with the eq capabilities of the HU, but it allows for easy adjustments on the fly and I think (hope) will have a clean mounted look when installed with the head unit. Question - Anyone know specifically where I can buy a good bracket that will accomodate this DIN plus 1/2 DIN setup? A "finished", seamless look is very important!

Amp- Haven't decided on this one yet. Will probably go for a dual amp configuration with a four channel amp mounted in the rear wall to drive the front and rear speakers, and a bridged two channel amp to drive the sub. Problem is, there isn't enough room on the rear of car to cleanly mount two amps. It would be nice to find a good singe 5 channel amp with enough power to clean drive the sub (rated at 250 watts RMS), but the only ones I could find have only 150W or less for the sub channel. Am thinking about the Phoenix Gold line. Question - Anyone have a suggestion for the smaller sub amp placement?

4) Sub - The JL stealthbox, this unit has the cleanest install in the center compartment. I'm not looking to enter stereo competitions, but am looking for clean,tight, powerful bass. I'm hoping this 10" sealed enclosure will be sufficient, especially if given enough power. Question - Anyone have this unit? What do you think of it?

5) Speakers - Diamond Audio Hex line of component speakers and Boston Acoustics Rally line coaxials. Question - What size speakers can I get if I want to replace the door and rear speakers? Also, dumb question...where the heck are the third pair of speakers located...In the dash somewhere ? What size replacements can I get for these?

6) MP3 player - No question here.......Neo Car Jukebox from http://www.ssiamerica.com. This is a small company that specialized in MP3 players for cars and portable applications. Will easily connect to system via rca aux inputs on head unit. I have this in my other car with a 40 gig hard drive.....I think I have close to 5000 songs on it. Definitely check this out!

Thanks!

 

1, Go with the Alpine CDA-7878. Trust me.

2, You won't need an EQ if you get the above HU. Has a fully adjustable [kick ****] one built-in.

3, See my sig for sub amp models and placement. It's VERY clean and not the most expensive and sounds GREAT!

4, The Stealthbox RULES. You will love it if you give it at least 200 watts! It's tight and powerful! I've heard a complaint from a Convertable owner, but I haven't heard it in a convertable for myself. Also, if I remember right, the dude was a pretty hardcore stereo guy so he may have been a little biased.
Not discounting what he said, just pointing it out.

5, Polk, MB Q, Bost. A, all make great speaks. Just make sure you buy the high end!
Doors: 6.5 / and a twiddler
Back: 2- ways (5.25")

You won't need anymore speaks than that. Maybe a set of column mounted tweets, maybe.

6, Get the above HU and you won't have to worry about crap like this. Good luck! See my sig and take my lead... Pics are there.

 

Sorry, see THIS sig for pics! :)

 

DOOOOOOope!

You said you had a coupe! I have NO idea what size the speaks are in the back of a coupe! NOT 5.25! Everything else I told you holds true, though!

 

Where did you mount your amps.....It looks like under the seats? Do they fit under power seats? And why would you pick the Alpine head unit over the Kenwood?

 

Alpine 7878 is a 9 out of 10.
Kenwood is a 5 out of 10.
Alpine is cleaner, sharper, has better features, will last longer, is sturdier, has better optional equipment, better CD mechanism, XM, MP3, etc., etc., etc.
Get the Alpine HU. The only one that might sound better is the Nakamichi but they have less features, poor looks, and skip more often.
EQs suck. I'd use any one I find for a drop test. All they do is add additional noise and distortion to a clean setup. But they do have shiny pretty buttons. Nuff said.
Here's the best speaker amp I know of. You could go with the one that is half as strong and blow away a RF with 75x4 http://www.mmxpress.com/ads/ads_pq40_2.htm
Here's your sub amp. http://www.soundstream.com/1ch.html
Speakers: Seperates not coax. unless you are on a budget. Get A/D/S 3 series, Boston Pro, MB Quart Qm or Qsd, Focal Kevlar or Utopia. The rest aren't up to the task.
JL sub, if you must like every other C5 on this planet. No one wants to be original and build a monster sub. I wanna meet their PR guy. Oh well.
92TripleBlack
:cheers:


[Modified by 92TripleBlack, 10:49 PM 11/15/2001]

 

I was planning on installing that Neo MP3 jukebox soon. It looks like the Neo's remote control would fit perfectly in the cigarette ashtray area.

Figure I'll keep the stock C5 system, but add a sub and maybe some sweeters in the A pillers.

Of course now I'm stuck trying to decide on getting the JL Audio stealthbox, or tyring to build my own setup in the middle compartment. Moving the stock CD changer sounds like a PITA, which makes me wary of the stealthbox approach...

 

Stealthbox is a good product but over rated and over priced. You would do better with the same cash if you built your own or paid a shop to do it for you.
92TripleBlack

 

Chadwick, you can get a stealthbox shipped to your door for $379 if you email "NJ2Enterprise@aol.com". They are based out of Costa Mesa, CA. and I bought mine from them.

Moving the factory changer is SIMPLE. VERY SIMPLE.

 

Hmm!! Great price.

Really? I was reading the instructions for installing it, and they talk about using a rivet gun, etc. That seems like overkill. How'd you wind up moving it and installing it? Was it hard to remove the bracket? Obviously the wiring is the easy part. :)

I was taking things apart at night this week to see how easy it would be to dynamat the entire rear end. Looks easy so far!

 

Chadwick,

No need to dynomat entire rear section. Would weigh WAY to much.

As far as the CDd changer.. There are four studs that hold it in place now. Remove the nuts and pull it out. I simply cut the factory wiring harness and added a 2 ft piece of wire to each wire in the harness and moved the changer over to the side compartment. (This was done on my last car that I relo'd the CD changer on for Nitrous purposes - still the same outcome no matter the purpose.)

No need ot rivet it. You can either you sheet metal screws to screw into the rear <but be careful.. Fiberglass strips easily..> or you you can you nuts and bolts. You will have to pull out the tail lights for the latter of the two options! :) Still, not a biggie.

 

The Z828 is a nice piece, becareful of certain alligations. It's transport and some other underpinning are close to the same across the board. Reliability, SQ, etc, is not a problem. Why Z828 upfront, why not x917 instead. Then you can shut off the internal amp if your worried about ultimate SQ. The specs on the x917 are great.

Stay away from in-dash EQ's, if you really need it, go 12v converted Rane, Orion DEQ-30 (If they are still alive!):blueangel:: or Zapco, etc.

Amps are like a-holes, :eek: everybody's got one. PG Titanium is nice, but $$$. Stay away from "D" class if your worried about SQ, there is a difference.

JL, well to talk about anything else is taboo! (There is better out there!) :rolleyes:

Diamond Hex w/ silk domes, Ah, my choice. But Focal, MB, Boston Pro are all good. Go 5.25 or 6.5's.

Any questions, feel free.

 

why is everyone so against eq's? Are they really that worthless? Also, anyone have a good mounting location for two amps? The space under the seats seem too small.

thanks

 

The HU should have enough control, I know the Excelons do.

Anything more than that, you really should go upper end. Lower end in-dash pieces just degrade the signal and make your SQ worse.

 

They are worthless. They serve two functions. Seperating frequencies and modifying them. The seperating function is more cleanly done with a crossover. This is either in the unit or seperately. This puts the bass to the subs, and so on. Most amps and good decks have the ability to do the bass frequency seperation and level adjustment built in. Good quality speakers will have their own crossovers built in or included.
The other function of the crossover is to level off the output giving you a flat frequency curve. In home systems, a good crossover will do this over 20+ different frequencys. The car however usually gives you 5-10 frequencies. Invariably, the owner puts the highs and lows up and leaves the mids alone or lowers them. This has the same effect as increasing treble and bass on the deck or engaging the loudness function on the deck.
All this would be harmless but for the fact that most crossovers add distortion and engine noise into the system. The result is that you have a fancy gadget that does nothing new that adds distortion and engine noise for a few hundred bucks. But it does have pretty buttons. You would be much better served putting the cash to upgrading other components to higher quality items. If you want to hear my system some time I could arrange it. I am in Jersey City often as my girlfriend's relatives are from there.
92TripleBlack :cheers: