Help a Newb with no Money

[EolGul]

I know almost nothing about speakers and only have $185 to spend. All the other car money is going towards performance. So streeo guys, what is the best that I can do with $185? I've been reading up but am still very confused about just how much better the bigger $ systems are.
Thanks-

[terminaldegree]

What do you have for a system now? Stock regular CD, Monsoon, aftermarket?

You could get a good HU alone for that amount.

You could also get a really good pair of speakers for that amount.

You could buy 4 decent speakers for that amount.

Or you could buy a cheap HU, and get a cheaper pair of speakers for that amount.

You may want to save your pennies and wait a little while. Or take your chances and buy used from friends you know, or roll the dice on ebay. What do you want your system to do now and, eventually, later?

[T-Punk]

If you have a monsoon system anything under 500 dollars wont offer much if any improvement save your money or dont bother (it would really be a waste if that is all you ever plan on spending).

[EolGul]

Right now I have Monsoon with 3 speakers blown, which is part of why I'm upgrading.

terminal, I did a quick eBay search, and is somthing like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...731719297&rd=1 what you're talking about?

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

Eol where in HTX you at? im in htown too...

[EolGul]

Humble/Kingwood. And I'm a huge Sublime fan [img]smile.gif[/img]
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I have a friend who said he can score me a REALLY good system for about $150, but I'm 99% positive it would be stolen from anohter car. And I respect other people's cars a little too much to buy something stolen. So would something like that eBay setup be enough to shake the pavement a little?

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

you have $185 and you want bass,mids and highs?

185 will just get you a decent CD player.

Stay away from anything thats Boss,Pyramid, Legacy etcc...

Im selling my subs and my viper 1200 amp if your intrested, wont be any where really close to 185 bux i guarantee you i make alarms go off left and right.

[terminaldegree]

EolGul,

Sorry, but I'm with Camarowidbass on that ebay auction. If you're patient, you can piece together a nice sounding system all kinds of ways.

I bought my Memphis sub used for $90 with a box from a friend. It's so nice I won't ever replace it until it blows [not anytime soon]

I got a 200W rms [bridged 4 ohm] Jensen amp for $37 on a closeout at Fry's electronics in Austin. Just read the newspapers like a hawk and jumped on the ad asap. Yeah, it's not the greatest brand, but it's better than some of the stuff you were looking at on ebay. 2 years old and still sounding great.

My first aftermarket HU was a JVC that I got for $129. Still works to this day in my oldsmobile, and has 2.5V preamp outs [not ideal but good enough] I bought that and my speakers for about $89 per pair at Crutchfield. Oh yeah, and $30 for a wiring kit. Not the cheapest prices there, but lots to choose from and they're legit.

The purpose of all this is not to tell you the life story of my stereo, rather you can do this on the cheap if you're creative, patient, and ask around. You can't do it [legally] for $185 though. If you purchased VERY carefully and installed yourself [not hard on this car], it would take at least $550ish to get everything [HU, 4 speakers, Sub, box, amp, wiring kit, adapters]. I did my system in pieces as I could afford. It took a year to finish.

There are guys here [camarowidbass may be one of them] who have put thousands into their stereo systems. They know more than me, but I'm really happy with how my system sounds, considering the small amount of money I have put in it. Hope this helps.

[EolGul]

Thanks for the tips. I'm thinking I'll drop some $ on a pos system to hold me over for a while and slowly build up a kickass system kind of like you did. But I am going to order something within the next 2 days because I can't take the stock system anymore. I've abused it to the point that there is literally NO bass left and it sounds like total crap (buzzing and ****), and thats not cool.

[T-Punk]

if you get cheap equipment get a jensen 2x50 amp and some CDT full range (the cdt's are 60 bucks and are very nice). Just do your front speakers.
hear is the jensen auction i recomend http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...732568767&rd=1
Here is where you get the cdt's
http://www.thezeb.com/c-6-1-2-inch-F...akers-6346.htm
then get a decent headunit for about $100. Though i dont really like alpine that much anymore i recomend getting an older modle off ebay (the cda-7863).
there your go for a cheap "ok" system.

[ November 16, 2004, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: T-Punk ]

[EolGul]

just a fyi, all 3 of my blown speakers are on the right side

Thanks for the suggestion, T-punk. Do you think that setup will sound better than a sub/amp combo and will it have enough bass for reggae, rap, and rock?

[T-Punk]

probably not the best for bass, but if you have blown speakers i would adress that first. if you want to spend a little more get an xtant 3300 instead of the jensen (it is a great high end amp and is a 3ch amp so you can run a sub off of it along with your speakers).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...732585744&rd=1
For subs i would recomend nothing less than an infinity reference 12 (this is the bare minimum to me) but if you want a better option get a 12" k series sub from elemental design. www.edesignaudio.com .

[99firebird99]

I think that Infinity subs and speakers are the best there is for a good price!! i have two 12 inch infinity reference subs and they sound great with that 760W Pioneer Amp thats really good. it can take a beating. the guy at ultimate electronice said that it would be a really good system and even let me listen to is in his jeep the exact system that i bought the

Infinity Subs= 170.00
Amp = 150.00
Custom Sub box for firebird = 90.00
Wire Kit 2 guage = 50.00
Dual Xd 7500 HU = 170.00

VERY GOOD SYSTEM!!!

[T-Punk]

Infinity is good but it is not the best. I use to use a kappa perfect and had it running from my old Xtant. It was good but i have since found and heard infinitly better subs. Infinity is a nice sq brand if you have a budget but cant compare with many other brands.

[EolGul]

Thanks for all the advise, everyone. What I've decided to do is take care of all the blown speakers by reaplacing my stock system with some better speakers. After that, I'll upgrade everything else and have a kickass system [img]smile.gif[/img]