nraponi

Hi,
I am trying to decide what to do with the audio in my Forester.

From my previous Impreza I have the following:-
Sony MDX-C8500R Mini disk headunit
Sony CDX-727 10 CD changer
Vibe 10" Active sub

To start the ball rolling I've been round a couple of local-ish car audio shops to get ideas.

Both suggested keeping the headunit/changer.

Shop 1 then suggested for the speakers:-
Sub: Kenwood KSC-WA62RC (they've said this may fit under the seats?)
Components: Genesis Profile P16 (to be driven from the headunit).
Costs: 200 (sub) +150 (components) +100 (fitting)

Shop 2 suggested:
Sub: JBL 12"
Components: JBL (6" or 6.5") components
Amp: JBL amp
Costs: 350 + upto 100 fitting

My question is are these reasonable ideas, or should I look elsewhere (and if so where - i'm in Preston) or should I be looking at other kit?

I'd prefer a underseat type sub if they are reasonable so as not to take up space, but if they are cr*p then I'd rather have one in the boot. If this is the case is the sub I've got reasonable rather than spending a lot of money on a different one?

I'm into all sorts of music from classical to pop to rock to Mike Oldfield/Enigma etc and am not looking for a "hear it from 3 streets away" type system - I'd prefer something that sounds "Nice" (all I need to do now is quantify that!). More importantly "nice" from in the car - not necessarily from out

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

nraponi

Hmm, these prices don't look so good looking around on the net.

Any suggestions on kit and/or a third party fitter either in the north west or Manchester appreciated.

Nick

nraponi

OK, so from looking around I am currently thinking about the following:-

1) Keep my existing sub (I'm assuming theres no differences to worry about now its going into an estate shape rather than having a 'proper' boot enclosure?)

2) Get the new speakers (the Genesis ones suggested?)

3) Get a new headunit so I get MP3 and also don't need the changer. From reading here on this site the Alpine CDA-9833R seems to be highly recommended.

Any thoughts? And of course ideas for fitters?

Cheers
Nick

chiark

Nick,

Difficult choice.

First off, you need front speakers so my choice would be the genesis stuff you've mentioned. You really can't go wrong with them. I would, however, recommend adding an amp of some sort for them. A decent two channel for around 100 quid would definitely give you an improvement, or a 4 channel for around 200 will give you flexibility to add a sub off the 2 spare channels in the future. Depends on how you want to budget it.

To minimise the expenditure, I'd fit the sony head unit that you have for now with a view to changing it in the future. Don't bother with a changer if you do go for MP3, it'll sit dormant. Mine does... Plus, installing a head unit is a 10 minute job even for the totally inept

Your sub will sound a lot clearer in an estate compared to a saloon, so try that first. Again, if you don't like it, go for a decent sub in a sealed box and you can't go wrong but as you already have something, try it first.

So, I'd go for front speakers and an amp, and plan on changing the head unit in the future.

Fitting front speakers and an amp should be a 3 hour job, assuming that the speakers aren't a complete pig to fit, so price accordingly. You'll also need an amp wiring kit which "costs" around 10 quid, so look out for stupid markup on that sort of thing, especially if they're strafing you for labour too. As an aside, I'd run 4 AWG cable whilst you're doing it in case you ever want to add another amp... 8AWG is probably what they'd put in, but is IMHO borderline for the length of run and current draw that a decent-ish system can demand.

Cheers,
Nick.

nraponi

Hi Nick
Thanks for the great reply.

Apart from getting the ability to use MP3s, one of my main reasons for thinking of going to the Alpine was that I'd read that its internal amp is quite powerful and of reasonably high quality. Is a seperate amp likely to make "much" difference over this unit? If so then I'd probably go the route you suggest and not bother changing head unit, whereas if the difference is minimal then the MP3 capability would win out.

If the amp is still the best option can you give me any suggestions for brand/model as it seems I am likely to do significantly better buying online etc that trusting the prices being offered by the shops (example the Kenwood sub that shop 1 wanted £200 for I've seen for £130 on the web!).

Cheers
Nick

chiark

Hmm, to be honest I haven't heard the latest breed of internal amps, but unless they've made the unit into a tardis then you can't fit the size of electronics apparently needed for a good quality amp into the same space as a cd reader mechanism and all the other gubbins that a head unit needs.

I'd always go for an external amp, but that could very well be a silly prejudice now. Have a wander over to talkaudio.co.uk/vbb and ask what they think?

For an amp, then the Genesis Profile 2 is 200 quid for a 2 channel that'd be ideal IMHO for your front speakers. However, I have always bought amps second hand as you really can get some great bargains compared to retail... As an example, look on talkaudio again in the classified section - a stereo 200 Genesis for 170 quid... Little bit pricey, but you could get it a tad cheaper. Ebay can be a good place to hunt too.

For 4 channel, I'd consider the Phoenix Gold QX or other series second hand. In fact, there's an phoenix gold M44 on Ebay right now at 150 quid. These are *superb* amps, but are about 10 years old... I personally have soundstream amps, and again like them. I have both a Continuum and a 604 - the 604 should be quite cheap if you can find one. In fact, keep an eye on the Soundstream 405 on there, as that's a very nice amp that used to be compared to the M44 all the time...

Cheers,
Nick.

nraponi

Thanks again Nick.

I've posted the question on the talkaudio board, lets see what they think.

Cheers
Nick