The topic title speaks for itself. All expert audiophiles please chime in with your pros & cons to each setup. THANKS!!!!


SETUP 1

Alpine CDA 7995 Headunit
ADS 335is (Rear)
ADS 335im(Front)
JL Audio Stealthbox 10" Sub
F357 Alpine Amp


Setup 2

Alpine CDA 7995 Headunit
Alpine SPX 137A 5 1/4"
Alpine SPX 177A 6 1/2"
JL Audio Stealthbox 10" Sub
JL Audio 500/5 Amp

 

The ADS speakers will blow away the Alpines. The amps are both decent but not up to par with the rest of the equipment. Since you found an A/D/S source, get their amps. They are some of the cleanest and most powerful available and are underrated power wise compared to both JL and Alpine. Alpine makes good decks. JL good subs. Neither does anything else very well.

 

Ok...Update to possible setup......

I was at shop yesterday, and the guy recommended the BA 6.5 Pro's up front, and the BA RM6 in the rear. Everything else remains the same.....

Alpine 7995
JL Stealthbox
JL 500/5 Amp
Boston 6.5 Pro (Front)
Boston RM6 (Rear)


Triple Black, you seem to be the guru...what is your opinion?

 

If you are going for Sounds quality I would not recomend using rear speakers. How about this:

Alpine 7995 (Or Clarion)
JL Stealthbox (which sub? I am assuming 1 w3 10?)
Zapco 360 Amp
MB Quartz 6.5 (Front)

 

Went you put tweeters behind you it tends to pull the sound
stage in that direction ... all like my sound stage to be up front.

If you do the MB Quarts, I would ask your shop, to make you some kick
panels for them, that way you get the best image from them .. (since your
new to the hobby, you will be amazed the first time you hear an decent
imaged sound system) .. Imagine sitting in your vette, and listening to your
favorite band .. with the sound stage imaged perfectly you will be able to
indicate differnt points of interest ... for example the singers voice will
come out dead center of the windsheild ... while other sounds will float all
accross , .. its not just a right and left game ... music is mixed so that
it can provide spacing in between ..

if you have a decent home stereo, play with those speakers, get out a tape
measure, and angle them at exactly the same angle, and sit exaclty in the
middle of them ... play your favorite CD, close your eyes, and you should be
able to vision the band as if they were in front of you ... espicially
listen for sounds to come out from dead center ... even though there is no
speaker there ... once you are exposed to this, you will be spoiled ...

 

You do want the rears for filler. The combo you have is fine. As long as you place the tweeters properly, which most good shops will, having tweets in the rear won't hurt your soundstage. Since you are looking at seperates for the front and coax for the rear, this is easily accomplished. The only thing I'd be leary about is the amp. The rest of the stuff is top knotch. The JL amp is probably fine for the sub but your seperates will have a little more noise and loose some musicality next to some of the better amps. The seperates are best picked from what sounds best to you as all are good but the best are the ones that sound best to you. Boston Pro, MB Quart QSD and QM, A/D/S 3 series, and Focal Polykevar and utopia seem to hit the top of most people's lists. My personal favorite so far is the A/D/S but I have the bostons because I got a great deal on them. Eventually though they are being transferred to my Jeep and I'm putting in either the A/D/S or the utopias.
The rear should't however affect the sound staging. If they are, turn down the gains. They should just make it sound more "full" but the majority of your sound should be from the front. Kinda like surround sound speakers in the home.

 

The Boston Acoustics, the MB Quartz, the JL sub and the head unit are all good, although I personally prefer the Kenwood eXcelon head units. But, I have to agree that you do need a better. For example, Kenwood eXcelon and Phoenix Gold both make good amps, but there are tons more. Good luck.