Need some Headunit/speaker advice

[mission-inc]

Disclaimer: I don't know much about car audio :gag: .

I got some money for Christmas that I'm planning on putting towards my Jeep's crappy audio. My friend has an amp and sub lying around that he said he'd give me for free. I don't know the specs or anything on em', but you can't beat free.

Now I have about $400-500 that I would like to spend on a new head unit and some badass speak's.

I like stealthy head units that don't require you to take out every time you need to conseal it. I had a unit before that would flip around and be completly black. I really liked this design except the wiring to the rotating head was weak at best and after a few years cracked and stopped working. I really like panasonic's ghost screen head unit, but I remeber them being pretty pricey. Also, a high school buddy use to have a head unit (forget the brand) that I think was called "chameleon" or something. Anyway it had a really good way of hiding itself. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

For the speakers I was thinking of getting alpine's, because of their reputation. Any recommendations?

I'd like to spend about 200 on the speakers and between 200-300 on the head unit (maybe). If I can get away with an awesome system without spending all this money that'd be great too.

I appreciate any and all suggestions. :wave:

 

[imma honky]

Alpine HU, MBQuarts in all corners. Quality is costly!

 

[fluidmotion]

pioneer would be a better route then alpine. its just as clean and has all the same features. you can also go with eclipse as well. but i agree with mission-inc, mb quarts all the way around. their speakers have the best sound quality

 

[Gridikal]

MB Quarts lower end speakers are not worth sh!t.
Their higher end models kick ass.

here are some more to look into for ya...
-Kicker SS series
-JBL GTI series
-ARC audio
-Diamond Audio
Crossfire makes some mean amps, as well as the new kicker SX series. JL amps are sweet if you get the slash series as they are fool-proof for the most part and give you the exact output that is needed for the speakers regaurdless of input voltage. Their E series amps are affordable and their SQ rocks. JL components are nice, as well as their subs. Xtants X series subs if I recall win frequently on the audio SQ circuit.

Putting high end speakers in stock locations with no other modifications is a waste of money. You want good sound?, move the speakers as close as possible to be equal distances from your ears (ie, kick panels) mount them in STURDY- acoustic friendly material. Putting a 300$ set of components into a sheet metal door is like buying a H2 to go do some rockcrawling.

HTH

 

[Beej]

mount them in STURDY- acoustic friendly material. Putting a 300$ set of components into a sheet metal door is like buying a H2 to go do some rockcrawling.

What would you suggest he put them into? Fiberglass and MDF?
Oh, I'm just ribbin'. Mission-inc., listen to the dewhead, he knows his shiznit.

 

[Atl XJ]

I wouldn't recommend Pioneer headunits. My DEH-P5500 is a POS. I've had a lot of trouble with the display on it. It used to blank out intermittently and i would flip the face down and put it back up and it would start working again. Now, only the bottom half of the lights on the display work no matter what I do so you can't read anything on it. Its a real PITA, and its barely over a year old. I've had a few Alpines and the quality was much better. My next headunit will be another Alpine.

 

[fluidmotion]

atl xj, i use to sell pioneer as well as others. pioneer model decks have a one year manufacturers warranty so you can send your deck back and get a brand new one. they are very easy to work with too. if you have a premeir model deck then it has a 2 year warranty. it seem like you just got a bad deck. ive had friends and saw a lot of people when workin at the stereo shop who had pioneer decks for years with no problems.

 

[Atl XJ]

Thanks for the advice, my warranty just expired a few months ago. I should have taken it in when it first started to mess up. It functions fine, its just very difficult to decifer what the display is reading. The reason I went with the Pioneer is because my friends always had good luck with them and I really liked the looks and features of it so i thought id give it a shot. I don't think Pioneer's quality is what it used to be because recently I've heard a lot of complaints about them. Others having similar problems.

Sorry for the hijack.

 

[XJCasper]

I like the inexpensive Clarion 645 hooked up to Infinity 5 1/4" Seperates and coaxils in my Jeep. I also like the Alpine 9811 hooked up to an amp and Infinity Seperates in my Spec V.

I would recommend Infinity. I would recommend Clarion. I would recommend Alpine, if it is affordable. I always shop Ebay. Just pay attention to the ratings of the seller.

 

[Centrevillemx]

I mounted Pioneer 6.5" Speakers in the rear hatch when I got my new Head Unit for Christmas. I mounted them to the the trim in the back and sound very good with no rattling. They cost me 19.00 for the 100w max pair.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/705000-705999/705728_4_full.jpg

 

[beav350]

I had a chameleon deck for a few months, it had a stupid sliding/flipping 2 piece display to hide the buttons while playing (stupid) & blank out to nothingness when off. Why a few months? It was made by Jensen, OEM audio in some jeeps, & that trash is, well..., trash. I have Boston components in the front, & the little dome tweeters fit perfectly on the dash in the corners with velcro. High freqs. roll right off the windshield & into your ears, aaahhhhhh... Sit in your driver seat facing forward just like you're driving & have a friend hold a tiny mirror nice & straight to the front of the tweets, & when he moves it around you'll eventuelly see you ear in the mirror. Have him anchor it right there. Repeat for the other side & youll hear music like never before.

 

[Wolf]

I had 4x 5.25" Infinity Reference speakers in my old 85 XJ, replaced the hair-thin factory wires with monster cable, and an out-of-box $150 Pioneer head unit. Sounded awesome, very clear sound even on the highway with the windows down.

 

[junkxj]

I personally hate pioneer car audio stuff. There home stuff is ok, but there car stuff is really bad in my opinion. I have a clarion head unit. They are as clear as far as noise quality as any thing out there. the only problem I know of is if a cd is scratched at all they will not play it. As far as speakers go, you can't beat MB or boston. These are expensive, but with car audio you get what you pay for. If you already have a sub and amp, then you will need the cables to hook it up properly. These are not cheap if you get quality stuff. My suggestion is to build your audio system as you have the money and not skemp too get every thing at once. To make the mids and highs sound really good defently look into a four channel amp to power them. Most componet systems are not made to run off of a head unit, and will not sound very good with out a clean sourse of power. Also, as mentioned before, if you put good speakers in the factory places with out any sound insulation then they will sound like crap. Just my 4.5 cents

 

[Quarterwave]

Hi guys,

A little while ago I posted a more extensive thread about this in the OEM section on the site and got some great combo ideas from other Naxja members - just do a search and you should find it no problem.

For the record, I use a Pioneer DEH4600 (?) head unit which pretty much plays anything I load into it aside from DVD, it has a nice display and the most adjustable EQ than anything that I could find in it's price range. It's price was US$169 installed from Best Buy with a $20 mail in rebate.

Speaker-wise, I use Infinity 6002i's in the front which, apart from drilling new mounting holes, needed no fabrication to fit, and Infinity 5002i's in the rear hatch and it's a nice, punchy combination that looks like a factory system. Granted, it won't flex windows with it's bass output, but it still sounds great.

Finally, I agree with checking out Ebay - there are some great deals on there - esp. for speakers. For eg : I got my Infinty's (both front and rear) for about US$50 shipped.... which is a lot better than the US$100 a pair price that they are currently being listed for....

Hope it helps,

B Rgds,
Quarterwave

 

[DrMoab]

Seeing a trend here....Everybody that has had problems with ONE headdeck is saying Don't buy these....So does that mean that because your ONE failed they are all bad? Most people say stay away from Sony head units....I usualy would agree but I have had an old(about seven years now) Sony deck in my jeep that has survived everything that I have thrown at it...Its the only stereo that I have ever owned that plays old and scratched CDs.
I replaced that with a new Pioneer Premere deck...Don't know the model...Its one of the higher end ones....Anyway bought it and hooked up their XM box but pulled it out because I never drive my jeep and the Camry really needed a good stereo.

Now let me tell you about Alpine....The company I work for has 11 Kenworth semis...Kenworth sells all there trucks with Alpine stereos. Not a single one of these....not ONE still works. Everyone of them has lost the display screen. So in my opinion Alpine sucks and thats not from just one unit....Funny thing is....They are all different models so its not just a single model problem.

 

[crazy4moab]

Also, a high school buddy use to have a head unit (forget the brand) that I think was called "chameleon" or something. Anyway it had a really good way of hiding itself. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I have one of these and I love it. Its made by JVC and yes its called the Khameleon. When the headunit is powered up the faceplate illuminates and a control panel slides out of the bottom. To access the CD player you touch and hold the bottom right corner of the face. The control panel will suck back into the headunit and the front panel slides down. Its pretty cool. It has great sound quality. I've had it for about 2.5-3 yrs and have had no problems with it at all. Its mid priced too. Mine cost about $250.

As far as the speakers go, JBL's are very good. Have good clean sound. They can be pricey though. A buddy of mine had taken his Dodge truck to stereo compitions and won several contest. I'll have to find out what speakers he's using. I don't remember the name of them but do know that they are also mid priced so they won't clean you out.

Just check out some brands that you know and put them through the tests. See how they perform. Talk to some peeps in the stereo shops but make sure that you get the guys that know what they are talking about. Not the young punks that just want to make a sale.

Good luck in your quest, grasshopper. I feel that you will......when the time comes.......make the correct choice. May your ancestors warm the soles of your feet and massage your heart during this important journey :worship:

See ya...............Mikey