My car has around $60K in mods and none of that money is in the sound system. Too be honest the car is so loud at WOT I really cannot hear anything anyway. Since it is not my daily driver (I use it primarily for Road, Drag, Auto-X and car shows) the quality of the sound is honestly not important to me...I Know, I know FLAME SUIT IS ON!! The basic quality of the stock system is fine with me I'm really only upgrading (a little) so that I may show my races on the DVD player at the car shows. System is acutally more for looks then it would be for the sound quality.

So with that said I'm looking for and would much appreciate all advice...but please don't tell me I need to go with XYZ 1000 amp boost turbo charged head unit with (8) 10" subs. My car has an underdrive pully so basically with the stock system right now the lights will dim when the AC is on

Question: #1) If I change to a DVD head unit ie. Alpine/Kenwood/Jensen etc. I was told that I would need to change my speakers since they have their own amps in them...True or False?

#2) I'm really thinking about going with a Jensen DVD 7" LCD (Yes, I do know that Jensen is not a great line) with Infiniti Speakers with no additional amp...would this sound better or worse then the basic stock system that I currently have? The head unit is 4x45 amp front speakers are 180 watt and rears are 300watt.

Any other practical advice? Trying to keep everything including install below $1,200 total.

Thanks,
Rick

 

Rick,

Tall order... but I will try and help.

Go with the Alpine head unit. It will serve you much better than the Jensen, any day of the week.

I don't like saying this, but, there are adaptors that will allow after market systems to interface with Bose speakers... check'm out.

The other option, would be aftermarket speakers.... The Infinity is a good option, so are Polk Audio.

One other option... JL Audio makes a SWEET 5 channel amp... The 500/5. Output: 100x2 (front); 25x2(bi-amped tweets); 250x1.

Use the 100x2 to power a nice 8" midbass and a 4" mid, with the 25x2 to power a tweeter. The 250x1 will power upto a 10" sub in the back. Ditch everything else.

the downside? price, it will run closer to 1800 for all of this, if not more. But the upside? You will be estatic, and it will look uber-cool.

There is this thing called a "stealth box" that will hide the 10" in that hole in the rear. Way cool.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

Thanks for the reply...

Can't use the sub. No room in the car, I have my N20 tank in the traditional middle consule. Also have a roll bar, fire extinguisher mounts, harnesses and a camera mount so almost impossible to find a place to even mount an amp.

Would I need the amp because the head units only put out around 45amps per channel? I know these are probably painfully dumb questions but I really know nothing about car audio.

I know that Jensen is not a top brand, however I looked at the video screen (and this is really why Im installing for the quality of the video) and it looks just as good at the Kenwood, Alpine and Pioneer units that were sitting right next to it. Is Jensen just junk overall??

Thanks,
Rick

 

Hi Nitro,
I do not like Jensen at all either, nor do I like Kenwood. I would go the Alpine route of the 3 choices you listed.

The problem with the listed 45 watts on head units is that it is not a true statement. In reality, it is closer to a clean 12 watts.
You gave a clear purpose that you want this for so IMO this is what you want. Get the DVD player you want, use the front channels to power a set of 4" coaxials (or componets) and the rear channels to power a set of 8" drivers all of which are mounted in the front doors. Finally, add some sound deadening to help out with your road noise. There are some lighter weight items that will help cut down on all that exhaust noise.

PS Say hi to Syliva form Jay in Iowa

 

I concur with knewblew...

the power from a head isn't all that great.

Subs are out... no biggie.

can you take a pic of the rear hatch area? a nice little 4 channel amp might still fit and give some more guts to the sound.