I want to put a good sounding system in my C4. Can I use any receiver, amp, and speakers as long as the speakers total up to the amp output? How much of an amp will I need for good sound? Can I do it for say $750.00 or is that too cheap? Any idea on brands? :thumbs:

 

interesting question.

There are a lot of popular misconceptions with audio. first, speakers are more prone to blowing when they are too strong for the amp, meaning the amp cannot provide enough power, versus, the amp overpowering the speaker.

If you are looking on the cheap, get a good Alpine head unit and 4 nice drivers and be done with it.

For $750.00 you are not going to get an amp included that is worth having.

Going with a good starting point, you will be able to add to it and improve as you go....

 

I assume a driver is a speaker? And how many watts should they handle for a decent system? I am not into the Big Bass Boom thing...

 

I spent $250 for a h/u, $80 for Infinity rear 6x9s and $120 for 5.25" front components. I'm not happy with it, but give me another $300 and I could squeeze in a small sub (~$60), an a good amp for both the sub and speakers.

$750 is about right for your basic system. :yesnod:

 

Alpine head unit installed: $ 450.00 (50 watts x 4, am/fm, cd, mp3, dual illumination (green/amber), detachable face)
JBL Pro Series 6x9's: $170.00
Polk Audio Pro Series 4x6's: $ 120.00
Total: $ 740.00
With a chambered exhaust system, I still don't need to turn it up much. The stereo is much louder than factory (had base system, non-bose).
I also added an SAS Bazooka 10" tube to the back of mine when I want a little richer bass (not thumping bass) that has a built in amp for $ 200.00. Nice thing is I can unplug the tube easily and remove for more room in the back if I want.

 

With the stereo advice from Kale and technical advice from Arisa, I just got done installing a new system in my C4.

Total cost, $715.69 (not including the carpet which I haven't gotten yet)
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=759847 for pics and specs.

Also included, but not shown at the link, are two 5 1/2 CDT's for the front kick panels and two 6 1/2 CDT's for the rear.

Sounds great!


[Modified by Preacher, 4:34 PM 2/26/2004]

 

Okay...let me tell you my story from the research I've done this far, because I'm in the same boat as you with wanting better sound. I have a ridiculous (in quality, not size) home theater setup and have become so used to the sound, that I usually don't even turn on my stereo in the vette.

There is a place near my home here in Phoenix that I had heard through the grapevine does very good work, and have done numerous vettes in their past. It's a small privately owned shop, not a Best Buy or a Circuit City. It's my opinion that those places are fine for headunit installs, but I wouldn't let the highschoolers that work there go near my vette for a complete "rebuild."

This is what I understand of our stock systems: We have a headunit that supplies very little power to the speakers. It runs to an amp, which drives 4 really crappy speakers via even crappier wire. In most cars, you can slap in a new headunit and have much better sound with the stock speakers because the unit driving them is better. This is very similar to home theater setups in that a great set of speakers will sound pretty good with a pretty good receiver, but a pretty good set of speakers will sound phenomenal with a great receiver. Unfortunately, we just can't go that route in our vettes. Replacing the headunit only requires a special wiring harness to mate it to the rest of your stock setup. Additionally, I believe the stock amps would have to be bypassed or removed because you now have the headunit supplying the power. The result there is a lot of money spent above an beyond the purchase cost (on labor, harnesses, etc.) of the headunit just to have "better sound."

To add insult to injury, if you paid the money to go that route you'd still have lousy speakers and wires. So then you're faced with replacing those as well... See where I'm going with this? To have truly great sound, you're looking at a complete tear-out and rebuild from the headunit to the speakers, amps, and even the wires themselves.

I priced a decent Alpine amp (~$400-500), an amp, 2 *amazing* front speakers, and pretty good rear speakers. Oh, and wires. When all was said and done, the quote was $2300. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised at that amount. I certainly can't afford that right now, so I am just living with my stock setup. When the time comes, though, I do plan to do the stereo. When I do, I will do it right. I'm sure it can be done for less than 2 grand, but I don't think you can find all the components (plus labor) for $750.

If I were you, and were hell-bent on improving my system right now, I'd start with the headunit (obviously) and do two really nice front speakers. You're gonna have to bend over and just take the labor-raping you'll receive on adding aftermarket components to your factory setup, but it's the only way that I see it. When you're ready to do more, then add a nice amp, do the rear speakers, and wires. It'll probably end up costing you the same in the end, if not more, because of "repeat labor" (rather than having it all done at once), but you'll be able to get the desired result you seek: Killer Car Audio.

....so those are my thoughts. Please realize that I only wrote what I understand to this point. I could be wrong on the technicalities of some of these points (like the wiring harnesses, costs, etc.), but for the most part this is what I've gathered from talking to car audio professionals and reading posts here on CF. At any rate, best of luck to you. As always, post with any other questions, updates, etc.!

 

THe problem is with the labor you pay to have somone install a system for you.

I had never installed a system, never gutted a vette and am only middling handy with autos.

With advice from folks here (KALE!) and some last-minute emergency help with a battery problem from Arisa, I installed a complete system (5 speakers, 2 amps and a head unit) in 3 1/2 days, workin from about noon to 5 pm.

The interior of the Vette is easy to take apart, the only hard spots were selecting a spot on the firewall to *cringe* drill for the power leads, and creating a spot to mount the amp and sub.

It is definitely doable with a few basic tools and time. Labor from a professional installed can run as much as your equipment!

 

Better yet, when Circuit City says they will install it for $50 and it takes them 1 1/2 days to install because they want to do it properly. They had my Vette for over 12 hours total, but it came out top notch. Sometimes, it is better to let the "pros" do it. I used to do stereo installs in college. I looked at doing it myself until I realized how much cutting needed to be done behind the deck. Decided to let someone who is used to cutting to do the job.

 

It can be done for 750. Easily, especially if you do the labor.

Main thing is go ahead and get the headunit, amp and front speakers. Get a pair of rears when you can afford it. 300 headunit and 300 amp and 150 5.25 components up front will give you a good head start.

 

I guess Im a little lost. Are you telling me to get a 300 watt head unit and 150 watt front speakers?

 

JVC :cheers:

 

300.00 for a headunit
300.00 for an amp
150.oo for front speakers


750.00 Total Wiring and RCA's are not that expensive.

 

Alpine products? any others?

 

I agree that with $750 (and you doing the install) you can put a pretty decent sounding system in your car.

 

:iagree:

 

I installed eclipse 8053 dead head top of the line in 2002.Two alpine spr 6x9 in rear a jl w3 10" sub also installed a 800watt sony 4ch amp .Reality power of amp is about 100 watts usable power anything above that is distortion.Im going for quality of sound not just quanity.Eclipse is a good brand and the face plate stays on they cover it for theft for a year.Extra components are expensive but the quality is there .I spent about $800.00 total and another $300 for The Commander and the navigation system add on ah forgot cost me another hundred to activate a map cd. http://www.eclipse-web.com/


[Modified by crash1mac, 12:09 AM 2/27/2004]

 

Sort of.
Speakers will take a suprising amount of power - providing it is clean and undistorted. The problem is when the amp "clips", and square waves are sent to the speaker. This means the speaker "stalls" at the end of its travel - no back EMF - burnout.
Similar to leaning on an electric drill so hard thet it stalls - the drill burns out!

What you really want is an amp that will deliver more power than you use, and speakers that will handle that power. How much is that- Ah ... there's a question....

The other problem is that this subject is purposely designed to be confusing, amp and speaker manufacturers like to quote big numbers, so sometimes they even invent their own way of measuring the watts to give a big number. Unless the watts output is quoted as AES, or DIN, the numbers are pretty meaningless.

If you want a bit more on this check out one of the FAQ's on my website (second question)

http://rockfactory.co.uk/PAdept/FAQ.htm

A quick and dirty way to assess a speaker power capability is the size of the magnet - the bigger it is the more power handling it has.

I know there are no answers here, but maybe a bit of useful background.

John

 

Yes you can do it for $750 http://www.ikesound.com
Alpine CDA-9827 MP3/CD HU $220
Kicker K6.2 6 1/2 components for the front $99
Infinity refrence 6953i 6x9s for the rear $55
Rockford 301x 4 way amp for componets $120
Rockford 351M Sub amp $135
Rockford HE2 4210 sub $90

Total $719 plus shipping

Just mount the sub in one of your rear compartments yourself and you should be able to take care of the rest
I put this togeather in about 10 min so you can mix and mach diferent pieces

 

What does "bass engine" mean on the Alpine products?