Which Components/ Head unit?

[Infantry1327]

So, I kind of took a little brake from my car and started a new hobby. (salt water aquariums) But now I am back. I will have some extra money coming to me over the next few months. So I am going to finish my system.

First thing I need is a new head unit. I have a few in mind. I am leaning towards the Avic, but the clarion seems to have nice sound controls. Not to sure about the Alpine. Even thow it has amazing sound control I heard the Navigation $ucks. I do want to still use my steering wheel controls, reverse camera, and blue tooth

Pioneer Avic- Z110btClarion NX509Alpine 505P1Eclipse AVN726E

Now door Speakers.

I want a good crisp sound. I listen to mostly rap and have 2 Alpine X 10" subs in the trunk. The door speakers as well as the 6x9's will be powered by a Alpine PDX 4.150, I am open to other suggestions. But I would like to stay under $400

Focal Polyglass 165 VBPolk Audio MM6501 Now 6x9's

Focal Polyglass 690 CVXBoston Acoustics SR95Polk Audio MM691

By the way, Hear is a couple teaser pics of my current project.
Modified by Infantry1327 at 10:11 PM 1/3/2010

[Sushibandito]

I can't comment on the headunits as I have an S13, but as to the speakers, I hear Polk and Infinity have a slightly similar sound quality, which is usually described as metallic and artificial. My brother has Focal speakers in both his cars, great quality, durable baskets, very good materials and can handle quite a bit of power.

I was gonna say that if you are looking for crisp sound 6x9 speakers are generally regarded as inferior in correctly reproducing sound waves. It might not sound perfectly balanced if you have 6.5" round speakers up front, and 6x9's in the back, but based on your musical taste, I wouldn't sweat it. If you listened to jazz, etc, something with a lot of musical clarity, maybe it would make a bigger difference, but if you listen to rap, then you are going to hear the bass notes more than anything else in the car.

Matching components seems to have had a huge effect, I have JBL 6.5" speakers on all four corners, powered by a 450 watt Zapco amp, and it sounds much cleaner and uniform than my last car, which was mis-matched speakers front and rear.

As soon as I can get the box fixed/properly sized I have two 12" Xtants and a 750x2 Zapco sub amp I want to put in my trunk that have been sitting in storage for a little too long.

[Infantry1327]

Thanks for the input. I drive a altima coupe so my stock speakers are 6.5 in the front and 6x9 in the back. I really dont want to modify my back deck to fit a different size speaker. So if anyone knows of 6x9s that will give me better mids and highs, I am open to suggestions

[Sushibandito]

If you aren't opposed to the idea of 6.5" speakers in the rear, I am fairly sure you could find adapter plates. I know they exist for turning a 4x6 enclosure into one for a 4" speaker

Found this on google....

http://www.autotoys.com/x/prod...=1776

Whatever you end up doing, good luck withe the project. Its nice to see other people that take their audio systems seriously and are willing to drop the coin to get quality gear...My home set-up consists of Defenitive 5.1 speakers, Panamax power conditioner, Pioneer Elite amp, lot of Audioquest cabling, and freaking neighbors, so all that bass is worthless.

[Infantry1327]

great thanks. I will defenetly take that into consideration. I think I will probably go with the focal's. but still open for suggestions.cough, cough Doc/Apple/toby

I am about 50% done glassing my first sub box ever. All I need to do is lay one more coat of fiberglass and then its off to the fun part. Sanding, sanding, and more sanding. And after that, I will be doing the other box. So far everything has turned out perfectly. knock on wood. Should have everything complete in a few weeks. minus the 2 other amps I need, components, and head unit.

[mrodrig2]

I am about 50% done glassing my first sub box ever. All I need to do is lay one more coat of fiberglass and then its off to the fun part.

I'm not sure if the box in your pic is at the status you've described or if it was earlier on... but if that's current you may want to add a few more layers. If you can see through it and you can flex the box by hand it's probably too thin.

Also, a tip... you started out with mat which is easier to shape, but now that you have a nice, smooth layer, switch to cloth and you won't have to sand or waste as much resin.

[Infantry1327]

Thanks, those pictures are just the first Layer. Just teasers I have put 2 more layers of Matt down, have 3 layers on the front. Now I will be giving it a light Sanding, then I will be switching to mat. I will post new pics when the project is done

But question, when I lay the mat should I cut it in strips or cut the shape of the box in sections and resin them down

[Broadfield]

I prefer the Alpine hands down for head units. I carry or have carried all of those brands listed. The Pioneer and Eclipse have horrendous user interfaces.... I'm not even sure why people keep buying the Pioneer stuff. My installers and I cuss it every time we have to put one in. There are only two navigation software companies out there. I have never really noticed any differences between them. It all comes down to the user interface of the unit. Alpine builds the navigation systems in the Honda/Acura vehicles among others. Alpine has a new double DIN unit coming out in a month or two. Nav will be built in instead of an add-on module. However, the end result is the same to the user.... in other words you would never know if it was a hide-away unit or built-in, but the built-in is more cost effective to the consumer.

SPEAKERS:Hybrid Audio all the way! What is your budget for front and rears? I would focus most of your cash on the fronts. The rears can be a more entry level coax. You are not really going to hear those much anyway.... more for rear fill. Hybrid has a lot of choices and a brand new entry level just released. Basically, their entry level components(Imagine series - $200) compete with the leading competitions $500 components. Their next step up, the Clarus series($450), compete with sets $1500 and higher. Then their Legatia($800) and Legatia Pro have no competition at any price. You will have research them and check out their reviews and all of the technology awards they have won.

http://www.hybrid-audio.com/

Here is a little article you should check out:

May 2008: Car Audio & Electronics Publishes a Glowing Review of the Clarus C51-2 Set; Evaluative Scoring Places Clarus™ Better than Sets Costing Five and Six Times as Much!

In the July 2008 issue of Car Audio & Electronics Magazine, there is a review of the Clarus C51-2 set (5 1/4" component speaker set). The results of the evaluation were glowing.

The highest sound quality score ever achieved, using the new Car Audio & Electronics scoring criteria, went to the Clarus component system. For example, near perfect listening test scores were achieved (9.5 out of 10 on the song "Spanish Harlem" as performed by Rebecca Pidgeon). According to the reviewer, even despite being 5 ¼” midbass, they compared well to competitor’s 6 ½” and 7” component sets! Using a formularized Excel spreadsheet, which subjectively compared the old Car Audio & Electronics scoring criteria to the one adopted relatively recently, it was quickly determined by Hybrid Audio Technologies staff that this was one of the best component sets, if not THE BEST component set reviewed by the magazine in the past several years (as far back as we were able to take our research).

Reader Note: Clarus C51-2 is a $469.99 set of 5 ¼” speakers which was compared to, and found to exceed the performance of 6 ½” and 7” component sets costing literally up to six times as much ($2,000+).

Notable quotes from the reviewer:

"What I found was one of, if not, the best owner's manuals I've ever encountered in my many years in this industry! It is a comprehensive description of the speaker system and a lengthy and very informative tutorial on sound quality system setup in general..."

"To adjust tweeter output, you select between different push terminals (a nice way to do this)...which eliminates the common selector switch that can degrade over time and affect the quality of the connection."

"It was a large sound...other components sets I've auditioned employ a 6.5-inch low frequency driver, so the fact that these diminutive speakers can hold their own against a larger driver is a feat in itself."

"When (Rebecca) Pidgeon's solo vocal starts it's as though she's in the room with me! The image is strong, at eye level, and perfectly centered with a life-like tone. I can even detect the size of the room and there's a feeling of air around the vocalist."

"There's a realistic, sweet sound to the strings...that I've rarely heard from even the most expensive component sets that I've auditioned."

"When (B.B.) King starts singing, his voice is stable and perfectly centered. It has all the rich, soulful character he's famous for and when Lucille (King's guitar) plays, she sounds totally life-like and robust."

"If you and/or your installer completely read the owner's manual that's downloadable for these components, and institute the damping and driver placement recommendations therein, you'll be able to realize the same excellent imaging and staging details these components are capable of producing."

"I wish more speaker manufacturers would take it upon themselves to educate their customers as to proper installation and placement of their products as Hybrid Audio has done."

"After listening to these speakers for literally hours on end, I didn't experience any appreciable listening fatigue."

"From the extremely complete user's manual to the construction and sound of these diminutive drivers, they're a class act by any standard, and they're probably one of the best bargains out there for a retail price of $469.99. It's obvious that the folks at Hybrid Audio did their homework and a lot of research, testing, and listening to perfect this product."

"If you're in the market for a component set for your car audio system, you'll be doing yourself a great disservice if you don't audition these speakers for your application."

We invite you to support our last remaining dedicated car audio publication in the USA, and further, invite you to check out the review of our Clarus C51-2 set!

Blatant plug: After winning "State of the Art" from England's Talk Audio Magazine, to winning seventeen (17) national- and world-championships last year alone in organized competition, and now getting a review which says that this $469.99 component set is better than systems costing five and six times as much---if there was any remaining doubt---even those that relish in doubting---you have hereby been given notice: THERE IS NO DOUBTING ANYMORE.

[rjdmmfl1]

I prefer the Alpine hands down for head units. I carry or have carried all of those brands listed. The Pioneer and Eclipse have horrendous user interfaces.... I'm not even sure why people keep buying the Pioneer stuff. My installers and I cuss it every time we have to put one in. There are only two navigation software companies out there. I have never really noticed any differences between them. It all comes down to the user interface of the unit. Alpine builds the navigation systems in the Honda/Acura vehicles among others. Alpine has a new double DIN unit coming out in a month or two. Nav will be built in instead of an add-on module. However, the end result is the same to the user.... in other words you would never know if it was a hide-away unit or built-in, but the built-in is more cost effective to the consumer.

SPEAKERS:Hybrid Audio all the way! What is your budget for front and rears? I would focus most of your cash on the fronts. The rears can be a more entry level coax. You are not really going to hear those much anyway.... more for rear fill. Hybrid has a lot of choices and a brand new entry level just released. Basically, their entry level components(Imagine series - $200) compete with the leading competitions $500 components. Their next step up, the Clarus series($450), compete with sets $1500 and higher. Then their Legatia($800) and Legatia Pro have no competition at any price. You will have research them and check out their reviews and all of the technology awards they have won.

http://www.hybrid-audio.com/

Here is a little article you should check out:

May 2008: Car Audio & Electronics Publishes a Glowing Review of the Clarus C51-2 Set; Evaluative Scoring Places Clarus™ Better than Sets Costing Five and Six Times as Much!

In the July 2008 issue of Car Audio & Electronics Magazine, there is a review of the Clarus C51-2 set (5 1/4" component speaker set). The results of the evaluation were glowing.

The highest sound quality score ever achieved, using the new Car Audio & Electronics scoring criteria, went to the Clarus component system. For example, near perfect listening test scores were achieved (9.5 out of 10 on the song "Spanish Harlem" as performed by Rebecca Pidgeon). According to the reviewer, even despite being 5 ¼” midbass, they compared well to competitor’s 6 ½” and 7” component sets! Using a formularized Excel spreadsheet, which subjectively compared the old Car Audio & Electronics scoring criteria to the one adopted relatively recently, it was quickly determined by Hybrid Audio Technologies staff that this was one of the best component sets, if not THE BEST component set reviewed by the magazine in the past several years (as far back as we were able to take our research).

Reader Note: Clarus C51-2 is a $469.99 set of 5 ¼” speakers which was compared to, and found to exceed the performance of 6 ½” and 7” component sets costing literally up to six times as much ($2,000+).

Notable quotes from the reviewer:

"What I found was one of, if not, the best owner's manuals I've ever encountered in my many years in this industry! It is a comprehensive description of the speaker system and a lengthy and very informative tutorial on sound quality system setup in general..."

"To adjust tweeter output, you select between different push terminals (a nice way to do this)...which eliminates the common selector switch that can degrade over time and affect the quality of the connection."

"It was a large sound...other components sets I've auditioned employ a 6.5-inch low frequency driver, so the fact that these diminutive speakers can hold their own against a larger driver is a feat in itself."

"When (Rebecca) Pidgeon's solo vocal starts it's as though she's in the room with me! The image is strong, at eye level, and perfectly centered with a life-like tone. I can even detect the size of the room and there's a feeling of air around the vocalist."

"There's a realistic, sweet sound to the strings...that I've rarely heard from even the most expensive component sets that I've auditioned."

"When (B.B.) King starts singing, his voice is stable and perfectly centered. It has all the rich, soulful character he's famous for and when Lucille (King's guitar) plays, she sounds totally life-like and robust."

"If you and/or your installer completely read the owner's manual that's downloadable for these components, and institute the damping and driver placement recommendations therein, you'll be able to realize the same excellent imaging and staging details these components are capable of producing."

"I wish more speaker manufacturers would take it upon themselves to educate their customers as to proper installation and placement of their products as Hybrid Audio has done."

"After listening to these speakers for literally hours on end, I didn't experience any appreciable listening fatigue."

"From the extremely complete user's manual to the construction and sound of these diminutive drivers, they're a class act by any standard, and they're probably one of the best bargains out there for a retail price of $469.99. It's obvious that the folks at Hybrid Audio did their homework and a lot of research, testing, and listening to perfect this product."

"If you're in the market for a component set for your car audio system, you'll be doing yourself a great disservice if you don't audition these speakers for your application."

We invite you to support our last remaining dedicated car audio publication in the USA, and further, invite you to check out the review of our Clarus C51-2 set!

Blatant plug: After winning "State of the Art" from England's Talk Audio Magazine, to winning seventeen (17) national- and world-championships last year alone in organized competition, and now getting a review which says that this $469.99 component set is better than systems costing five and six times as much---if there was any remaining doubt---even those that relish in doubting---you have hereby been given notice: THERE IS NO DOUBTING ANYMORE.

Maybe in my next car, I will give these Hybrid Audio components a try... Boradfield has been raving about these for a while now...

I have rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem" on DVD audio, and with my current setup it sounds great... I've also listened to it in a $15,000 setup consisting of a custom 8 channel Tru-technologies amplifier, and a 3-way Dynaudio setup consisting of the Esotar2 - 110 tweeter, Esotar 2-430 midrange, and the Esotar2-650 midbass driver. Subbass was provided by a 12" Diamond audio D6. The music was cleaned up with the Bitone sound processor running fiber optic audio through a 1-off custom developed mobridge adapter.

One defenitely does not have to spend 15K on a sound system, but when you do, it sounds amazing!

Infantry,regarding head units, you need to pick and choose your battles of what you're looking for. Regarding sound , noen of those units you listed actually live up to the 5V prouts that the company claims, so I would consider running a sound processor.. the Bitone is one of the best Digital EQ's/ Active crossovers I have ever used. And for only ~ $800 its a great buy IMO.

I'm running the Kenwood DNX-8120, and the newer DNX-9140 is an even better unit. Strangely enough, one of my buddies had engine noise that he just couldn't get rid of with his 8120, and he switched to the top of the line Eclipse unit, and no more engine noise.

truth is, regarding head units, there are faults with all of them, if you're picky enough. BUt if I were starting my system over, I would give those hybrid audio's a shot... and if you get the Legatia series, I doubt you will ever have to change components again!

[Infantry1327]

Thanks. I checked out those hybrid speakers and they look pretty legit . Can u email me a price on the clarus and legatia 6.5" speakers including tweeys.

As for the head unit, will. The Kenwood adapt to use my stock steering wheel controls, blue tooth and reverse camera.

Beoadfield- do u have any literature on the new alpine.

[Broadfield]

As rjdmmfl1 said, none of those radios are going to be "ultra" high-end sounding radios. However, you aren't using "ultra" high-end sounding amplifiers, so what's the difference. They will all be very good sounding units though. The Alpine you can add the hideaway Imprint EQ unit. It will bump up preamp voltage to 4 volts. It will have graphic or parametric, time alignment, crossover control and gain control. You can also use the auto-tune feature with the optional mic and software. Otherwise if you are wanting ultra high sound quality, you are limited to a handful of older radios. The old Alpine 7909, the old Denon DCT-R1 etc. However, these are just plain CD players.... nothing fancy as far as options. So you take the good with the bad. Crutchfield actually has info, although limited, on the new Alpine piece before Alpine's website does

http://signature.crutchfield.c...20217

After CES is over, there will be a lot more published info on this unit. I'm assuming Alpine will quickly update their site with thorough specs on it.

The Alpine will do your steering wheel controls with an optional $59 adapter from PAC. None of them will interface with your OEM Bluetooth assuming it's built into the OEM radio, but it can be added to the Alpine for around $100. As far as your backup camera, you would simply need to tap into the video signal from the camera and adapt that signal into the camera input on the Alpine or whatever unit you go with.

As far as the Legatia's, are you going to need x-overs, or are you going to by-amp them?

[Infantry1327]

I will be running the components. Off a alpine 4.150 to match the 1.1000 I got from u. I am also going to. Get another 1.1000 so each sub will have its own amp. I will probably get. A sound processor like doc recommended

[Mattv609]

good stuff broo. i did the exact same thing wit my sub glassed out that whole side. took madddddd longgg, but the finish project came out so good that ill neva regret doing it.. have funn ahah.

[Bizzare]

I was wondering what type of speaker and sizes are in the stock 08 altima coupe?